If you could do it over...

[hslighting]

So I've read a lot of the 'What colleges should I look at?" and I've seen the college demographics but I wanted to put a new spin on the college question, if you wouldn't mind taking part:
If you could do it over and attend any college (Specifically for a Lighting Design/Tech Emphasis) where would you go to school? Why?
It doesn't have to be the college you attended, just one that you would choose after your experience in the industry.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Les]

Interesting question, and you might get some unexpected answers. It has been said here before (in this field at least), that the school you go to is only "as good as your first job". Once you get through a certain door in the industry, the school you went to and what you may have learned there becomes a blip on the radar and likely has very little effect on future opportunities (again, within the industry, and this may not be everyone's experience). All I know is that once you work for a few big companies, they stop asking you about school and are much more interested in your "working knowledge".

I guess if I had it to do over again, I would probably go for an electrical or mechanical engineering degree, and perhaps minor in Business. Heck, even Computer Science or Electronics would be pretty useful. I learned pretty much everything I need to know about theatre by getting out there and doing it (and learning from others who had done it for much longer) - in a variety of situations and working all kinds of positions. That said, I'm in Live Events/Pyrotechnics and you seem to want to do theatre, so YMMV. Just try not to limit yourself to tech theatre. Make yourself as well-rounded as possible because you may need something to fall back on. A Tech Theatre degree just seems to lose it's relevance rather quickly once you get outside of our little corner of the universe. I know you don't see that happening right now, but life is funny like that.

I just think you'll find very few seasoned pros who will say "man, I wish I had gone to a bigger/better school". They may even say the opposite. I'll be as curious as you to read the responses.

 

[Footer]

I would have gone to school for mechanical engineering or asked my parents for the 50k they spent on my education, moved to Chicago or NYC and start sweeping floors. I would not have forced myself to only look at BFA programs. You really are your resume and who you know in this industry. School does not matter at all if you have a full address book and the right gigs. Hell, the real goal is to never need a resume or portfolio.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[gafftaper]

To me being able to spend time with my family is the most important thing. I am the theater manager for a high school performing arts center, I previously was a community college TD and a drama teacher. Although the really cool jobs some of my friends here on CB have make me drool, I have a stable job, a retirement plan, health care, sick leave, and paid vacation. More than half the time I get to go home at night and see my kids. That's the most important thing to me and I plan to stay here a long time. So this is really the top of my ambitions and I'm loving my job.

It was a long weird path to get here. I have a history degree, 70 credits of theater related classes scattered over 25 years, and a masters in education. In some ways I wish I would have gotten a theater degree. But in the end every job I have ever had came by word of mouth and recommendations of friends who knew someone. I have not needed a theater degree, the education degree was far more important in my career.

 

[zmb]

I have not needed a theater degree, the education degree was far more important in my career.

The most involved theater people I know aren't the ones with drama or theater degrees and have experience in some other line of work.

I'm doing the college thing right now for engineering and not theater, and my advice: get good grades.

 

[ruinexplorer]

Had I known that I was going to end up working in theater, I might have chosen a different school, or at least worked toward a four year degree in order to be able to teach. Then again, the system has changed quite a bit since I was in college.

As others have said, knowing where I am now and how I got here, I probably would have spent less on college. Work experience will get you farther in this industry in the long run. Spend the money on industry specific manufacturer training (for equipment you wil likely use) and get to work.

 

[hslighting]

Thanks all for your responses. I definitely expected a lot of work experience responses but wow, now it's clear just how important it is in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Tex]

I don't regret the theatre degree at all. I DO regret not finishing sooner. I was on the 12 year plan; school for a while, act for a while. If I had, I could be retired from teaching now and working as an actor again. I love my students like they were my own kids, but I'm ready for a little me time. 5 more years...

 

[xander]

My experience in the lighting world has taught me this: You want to be a production electrician? Get a degree in EE or similar. You want to be a programmer? Computer science or similar. You want to be a big time designer? Get a graduate degree in Lighting Design from a big name school (that doesn't mean your undergraduate has to be big and expensive).

Designing is the only time school actually matters, and that is only at first. The theater business is all about who you know. Use college to work local theaters, get on the Local overhire list, volunteer. It's the only time you wont be entirely stressed about making a living. To be a good electrician you should learn about electricity, how to hang a light is not hard and can be learned on the job. To be a good programmer, you should learn how to think like the people that made the computers to get the most out of your console, you can learn specific brands by reading the manual. To be a good designer, you should learn history, art, dramatic analysis, business, CAD, but most importantly make CONNECTIONS. The single most valuable thing about the big name, ivy league, deign graduate schools are the people you meet and assist while you are there. They will carry you into the business world after you graduate.

That's not to say these are the only ways. And I'm sure other parts of the country/world are different. This is just my experience from New York.

Good luck,
-Tim

 

[derekleffew]

Tim has some very good points, but I take slight exception with the below.

... To be a good programmer, you should learn how to think like the people that made the computers to get the most out of your console, ...

I contend that a programmer must also have most, if not all, of the sensibilities of a lighting designer. Knowing what every button does and every possible function of the console is not enough.

I've told this story before...
Years ago I encountered an experienced Vari-Lite Artisan programmer who didn't know how to mix CMY on a VL5 in order to create amber. I had to tell him how to build every color palette.

A designer may say to a programmer, "Build me a happy bluish look." Now ten different good programmers will create ten different appropriate looks, but the people who wrote the console software will likely just push <all fixtures> <blue palette>, and say, "Is that okay?" No offense to people writing code for consoles, but they have a different perspective (as they should).

Often times I see, not on Broadway or legit theatre, but in concerts and industrial shows and everywhere else, the programmer does more actual designing than the official Lighting Designer. And very often the programmer does both roles.

 

[TheaterEd]

Honestly, if I could go back, I'm not sure what I would do differently. I went to college because it was the right thing to do, not because I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn't even know you could go to school for theater. I was from a VERY small town, and I didn't have any idea that theater was an actual profession. I guess I always figured it was just a hobby for people, since that's what it was for me. From there, I pursued acting, and finally decided that I wanted to become a theater teacher so that I could spread knowledge of theater to high school students. Once I ran out of acting classes to take, I took all of the tech classes I could and graduated with a degree in theater education. From there I stumbled upon a HS Performing Arts Center management job, which lead to a Management/Teaching job. I honestly am looking forward to/ hoping to work here for the next 30 years. If they don't fire me, I don't want to leave. We are rebuilding this program, quite literally, from the ground up, and the director and I get along very well.

I'm now approaching my 10 year HS reunion and looking back, I wouldn't change a darn thing. I have summers off to volunteer and get more experience with different theaters in the area, I work with professional acts from around the world, and I get to share my love and knowledge of theater with the next generation.

As for advice. I would tell you what I tell my students that have asked about pursuing a tech theater job (most of this advice I have gleaned from the folks that have already responded to this thread).

If you can be happy doing anything other than theater, then go to school to do that thing and let theater be your hobby. However, if you can't I would recommend you look at getting your undergrad at a state school or whatever is cheapest. Save a big name school for your Masters. Make a good impression on your teachers, don't show up hungover, and work your tail off. Who you know will get you places. Your teachers and your peers will be an invaluable resource when it comes time to get a job. The hard working Techs that went to school with me are all working at lest semi-professionally. The slackers.... not so much.