Student Blog: Lifelong Lessons Learned from Theatre

I’ve been acting in the theatre industry since I was four, and I've had the opportunity to perform in productions ranging from school to professional and regional work across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. From a very young age, I learned crucial skills that will stick with me forever and have little to do with talent, acting, singing, or dancing ability. 

1. Time Management

I’ve always gone to in-person full-day school, even while balancing shows outside of school. Sometimes I’d end school and go straight to rehearsal, a voice lesson, or dance classes, a lot of the time not getting home until late. I’ve even missed school days for rehearsals for professional theatre, as well. Through those busy days, I learned to use my time wisely. That didn’t mean I never got to hang out with friends, watch movies, or go out to dinner. It did, however, mean that I learned to stay focused in class, do homework on the way to rehearsal, or during long breaks when I wasn’t onstage. I’ve always been a firm believer that school is very important. I knew that if I wanted to do theatre, I’d need to build a strong work ethic and schedule. Now, as a high schooler, I’m able to balance the rigorous academic work while continuing to build my theatre skills because of the strong time management I built at such a young age. I thank my younger self for that (and obviously my family who drove me and my teachers who supported me). 

2. Resilience

If there is one word that describes an actor, it’s resilient. This industry is full of rejection. You hear “no” more than “yes” by a huge percentage. However, through the rejection, I’ve learned to use it as motivation to get better. I remember getting cut from two separate auditions for my dream role, Matilda in Matilda the Musical. I didn’t give up and ended up playing the role twice. There are also dream roles that I’ve been down to the final few several times, but didn’t book. 

Rejection is certainly not just in theatre. It happens in all stages of life, including job interviews and college applications. Learning rejection young built my strength to get up and continue to try, even when it’s hard. One of my favorite quotes is “If you knew you were one hundred rejections away from your dream, think how excited you’d be every time someone told you no" (Unknown). 

3. Empathy

Sometimes I’ve gotten a role over a close friend. Sometimes they’ve gotten the role over me. Sometimes I’ve rocked an audition, and someone else didn’t. Sometimes I’ve messed up, but the person next to me sounded excellent. If you’ve been in this industry for a while, you’ve probably been in all of those scenarios multiple times. Through those experiences, I’ve learned how to be humble and aware of others' feelings, as well as my own. Theatre is such a small world, and I’ve ended up working with so many people whom I’d auditioned with prior. My motto is to treat others with kindness and respect, just as I’d want them to treat me. 

4. Responsibility 

To create a strong production, each actor, individually, has to hold up their own end. Between memorizing lines, remembering blocking and choreography, and showing up on time to rehearsal, responsibility is key. I've been in productions where there is demanding choreography, like Annie or School of Rock: The Musical, and roles that have demanding lines, like Matilda. From early on, I learned how to take my own notes on dances and practice over and over again, and take a monologue and break it into chunks. I learned how to communicate in advance to my parents if a rehearsal was going to be done early. All of this, just like time management, has helped me as I’ve gotten older to make sure I am putting in as much work as everyone else. 

Whether you’re a parent deciding if your child should join theatre, or a fellow young actor who can relate to these lessons, I hope that you see the personal traits and abilities acquired that go beyond the foundational talent skills.