The Ultimate Career

Over the course of this semester, I would like to focus on learning more about my desire career in the field of theatre. After completing three years of service in the Israel Defense Force, I moved to Los Angeles with the intention of studying theatre and becoming an actress. I began my studies in Santa Monica College and after two years transferred to the University of Southern California to complete my bachelor degree in Theatre Arts.

Arriving to Los Angeles, I began to understand the competitive nature of the entertainment industry. I also noticed that Los Angeles is better known for its film industry rather than theatre. As a result, I began to ask myself if Los Angeles is a suitable city for pursuing a stage career. Since I’m expecting to graduate within a year, in Spring 2008, I would like to start planning my next move. Should I stay in Los Angeles or move to New York or London where theatre is more popular and better known? In order to reach a decision, I need to learn more about the theatre industry in Los Angeles.

My first step in the research is to find out how many theatres exist in Los Angeles. Next, I would like to check statistically how many people go to the theatres and what is the average age. Then, I wish to check which genre is most popular and desired among theatre viewers. Is it, for example, comedy, drama, tragedy, opera or musical theatre? What comforts me at this point is that I can find all the answers to my questions in the Internet. Thanks to the advanced computer technologies we have today I can pull any piece of information in a matter of seconds and this process lenient my work greatly.

Researching about the theatre industry in Los Angeles will benefit my long-term goal to become an actress. Up until now, I have been involved with theatre work within an educational institution and did not yet have the opportunity to work in the industry. Therefore, as of now, I do not have enough knowledge and experience to decide where is the right place to advance my profession. I’m hoping that communicating online with people that are familiar with the theatre industry, reading blogs and joining forums on the subject will provide me with useful information to complete my research.

Another aspect that I would like to research is the option of becoming a theatre teacher for elementary school children. Prior to my arrival to Los Angeles, I promised to myself to remain practical during the entire journey of becoming an actress. As soon as I became aware of the competition in the entertainment industry, I paved for myself another road that will guarantee a stable future from a financial point of view.

The idea of teaching theatre came about after three years of being a first grade Hebrew teacher in a Jewish Day School in Los Angeles. I created a special way to reach my students by using acting as an integral part of the learning experience. Sharing my creativity with the children individually and in groups was done on a regular basis with the intention of expanding their imagination and ways of thinking. Teaching them how to build on each other’s ideas, develop tolerance, self-expression, and interpersonal relationships was done through acting exercises. Quickly I discovered how much I love children and how satisfying it is to be an educator. I became a strong believer in the potential of applied theatre in education and I’m interested to further explore this field.

In my research, I would like to find out what are the requirements to become a theatre teacher in educational institutions or independent theatres. Do I need to have a degree in theatre and education or one of them is sufficient? Do I need to have experience in teaching drama. Also, I’m interested to know what is the average yearly salary that teachers earn.

The ideal career that I wish for myself is to be a part time theatre teacher and a part time stage actress. I am not sure if these two positions can go hand in hand together but I intend to try and work hard in order to achieve this goal. I hope that over the course of the semester I would gather enough information to help me better define my future career.