Performing Arts Schools

Although you'll find a lot of stories circulating that claim "stars" were "discovered" and became "overnight successes," you probably shouldn't put much stock in the truth of these stories.

Stars of stage, movies and television are very rarely (if ever) "discovered." Stars are made, and without the necessary training in any of the performing arts, success (overnight or otherwise) is highly unlikely.

Those who take their craft seriously, no matter what their chosen medium, know that there is a lot to learn. They know that they need training, but not just any training. They need training in the performing arts, and they know that they need to get that training by studying under those who are in a position to know — those who have actually had some measure of success on their own or who have a reputation for teaching others how to be successful in the exceedingly difficult show business profession.

Innate talent is simply the raw ingredient of success in any medium of the entertainment industry. Talent isn't even a scarce commodity. Lots of people have talent. The difference between those who get to actually use that talent to make a better-than-good living in the entertainment industry and those who only "wish" for success is training — and training for the entertainment industry is found at performing arts schools and colleges.

The most famous of the performing arts schools is, of course, is Julliard in New York City. It's tough to get into Julliard, though. There are hundreds (thousands) of applicants and only a very few are accepted each year. But Julliard, while it is the most famous and the most prestigious, is not the only performing arts school.

Today many colleges have performing arts curriculums included in their bachelor of arts programs and there are hundreds of performing arts schools located in every state of the union.