Career in Educational Theater Tech? Am I crazy?

[Fountain Of Euph]

Hi all,

Forgive me if this is a little to personal, but I am really in a hole.

I am about 2/3 of the way done with a education (music, specifically) degree. It has been a bit of a haul, and I am feeling a bit burnt out. Additionally, my GPA issent really up to snuff to apply for licensure. An administrator has taken interest my plight, and has offed to help me get some coursework in theater so that I can be marketable in the tech industry when I graduate. The condition is I would have to leave the music ed program. I have been working in the industry for a few years at this point, and know my stuff well enough, but have no formal training, just hands on experience. I really love teaching music education, and hope to return to in a few years.

Here is my real question: what kind of opportunities are there in educational theater (specifically tech) without a teaching certificate or a BFA? I would probably end up with a BA or a Bachelors of Music in technology or somthing similar. Is this even somthing I could pursue? I do want to return to school for a teaching certificate at some point in the future. I think it is also worth saying that I have pushed cases in the past, and am not scared of pushing them in the future. A little hard work never killed anyone....



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[TheaterEd]

The teaching certificate really goes a long way in getting a job at a high school, that being said, having hands on experience and a bachelor's degree will help you land a job as a facility manager if you can find one in your area. I have my theater ba with teaching certificate and I got my start as a .6 performing arts center manager. After three years I found a new job full time as a Technical facilities manager (auditorium manager). The teaching cert and licence really helped in my current job as I am able to teach the tech theater course.

How far away are you from the teaching cert? I know it took me an extra semester, but it was totally worth it.

Also, start looking for jobs now, and applying. See if you can't get the job with your experience alone.

 

[Lextech]

Just so you are aware, in higher ed you might get a shop type position or a facilities gig but to teach at the university level normally requires a MFA or at least a Master's in your field.

 

[Fountain Of Euph]

Just so you are aware, in higher ed you might get a shop type position or a facilities gig but to teach at the university level normally requires a MFA or at least a Master's in your field.

I am looking for something high school or below, hopefully. I don't even pretend to know enough for a college gig.

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[Fountain Of Euph]

How far away are you from the teaching cert? I know it took me an extra semester, but it was totally worth it.

The concern for me is that my GPA is too low to apply for licensure. It would take a miracle and multiple semesters to get to that place. Some of my music profs would say too much time behind one desk as opposed to another....

Is it any help that I have been the student TD for the school of music. Is that relevent work experience, or do I need non-academic creds.

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[TheaterEd]

I find that in the school setting, any tech experience is relevant tech experience. I got my first job based on the fact that I had a degree and new how sound and light systems worked. Also, I interview well I feel like if you have the degree, and the certificate from your college, that getting the license is not as hard as you think it is. Once you have the degree, your grades will not matter as much as your ability to do the job.

 

[TheaterEd]

One more thing, keep an eye out for schools opening new performance venues. They tend to not hire anyone to manage them until the last minute and that kind of planning could lead to you being the most highly qualified candidate. Example of a recent venue . I would be checking their web page's job postings weekly to see if something pops up. My most recent job was posted in Late September / Early October for a start date in November. In the educational market that really limited the field on people who were even looking at that time. That being said, I had three years of experience working at a much larger venue, so I had a huge leg up on the competition.

 

[Fountain Of Euph]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Unfortunate, I was not grated admission into the music education program. What I have deiced to do is finish up with a BA in music and then after graduation enter a alternate teacher education program for music and theater. Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[StradivariusBone]

Your story is very closely related to my own. I did graduate with a Bachelor's of Music Education and spent 7 years of my life knocking around as a band director until I absolutely hated it and was beyond burnt out. When I decided to leave the profession I spent some time getting CompTIA certs and job hunting (looking for an IT helpdesk type gig), but noticed that a position as a theatre manager in the district opened up. I applied and the rest is history. My background in technical theatre was limited to live sound and programming lights, the latter of which I had learned by necessity while being a band director at schools with no one technically inclined who would hang around the theatre. Rigging and set building was obviously an area I had to do a lot of learning very quickly, but there is a good network of managers in this area that help each other out. I've been doing this for 3 years or so now and love it (not always the hours, but it beats teaching band).

I saw somewhere once that it's not what you know or even who you know, but it's who knows you. The hiring team at my current gig knew me as a band director (I had actually worked as an itinerant music teacher here for about 30 days the year prior- very long, annoying, and boring story) and they knew my work ethic. They also knew I could be trusted with a 4.5 million dollar building with a heavy performance schedule. So did the previous TD, which helped immensely in separating me from other applicants. My best advice is if you don't feel like you're going to love teaching music, then you might not want to go that route. Peer pressure to continue a music ed degree (as opposed to switching majors) was especially high at my college, and not surprisingly a lot people I went to school with are now out of the profession too.

Teaching in general is a very grating and difficult profession right now that is chewing up and spitting out remarkably good professionals, who under normal circumstances should be 30-40 year veterans before retiring instead of quitting to sell car insurance after 5 years. Even on its best day it will still be a job that is not 100% desirable. There are rewarding moments, but you have to be able to use those to carry you through the crap if you want to survive it.

As others have said, the teaching degree is helpful. I do not need to maintain my certificate here because I'm support staff and not officially a teacher, but the fact that I had it and 7 years of being in charge of kids helped. Our drama teacher handles all that stuff with our kids and I train them and treat it like a workplace more than a classroom.
I would take a long time to sit and think about my options. If I were in your shoes today I'd have already switched majors to either electrical or mechanical engineering or an IT-related field. Both are areas where I've since discovered an affinity I didn't have when I was younger and both are areas that pay well in the current market. Once you get out and get married and have kids it greatly restricts your ability to change gears and the pressure to keep a paycheck, no matter how small it is, in lieu of getting a second (or third) education that might lead to a better career- well, it's hard. And no one really explained that to me when I was in college, so I kept at it head down, blinders on and wound up with a degree that sits in my closet.

I don't know you and please take everything I've said with a large grain of salt that merits a stranger's advice on the internet, your story just resonated with me obviously. Only you can make the best choice for you at this time, and I wish you the greatest luck in that decision!

 

[josh88]

Teaching in general is a very grating and difficult profession right now that is chewing up and spitting out remarkably good professionals, who under normal circumstances should be 30-40 year veterans before retiring instead of quitting to sell car insurance after 5 years. Even on its best day it will still be a job that is not 100% desirable. There are rewarding moments, but you have to be able to use those to carry you through the crap if you want to survive it.

aint that the truth...

 

[dwardMICS]

I've been the tech teacher for a dozen years now. There is a real opportunity, like others have said, when a new space opens. Or if a new program emerges, or a new school is built. For a time, I worked at the Performing Arts School here, and since I left, they like to bring in folks with more technical expertise than educational background. You just have to keep looking.

As a lifer (sadly/not sadly, this is the job I was supposed to do-I can't get out!) in theatre education, it is a total grind. But for me, I live for show night. We kill ourselves for hours during and after school in order to get to that moment. I feel so much excitement and joy during performances, and afterwords, before hand. It's just a high I can't get elsewhere. At the end of the day, I'd rather suffer the crap of mis-scheduled students who try to steal anything not bolted down, or think Theatre is a joke class so long as I can work with my production company to make plays that create awesome memories for the kids and their families.

Just keep looking around. In some areas you can find those facilities jobs, or even teaching positions (you can go in lateral entry, or do a charter school), that want a high degree of technical theatre experience.