Story time (gather round ye children)...
(I won't name names as I heard this story second or third hand, but believe it to be a reasonably accurate account.)
A long, long time ago, in a place called Atlantic City, a young engineering student applied for a part-time followspot operator position in a casino showroom. Since he had a little community theatre or HS experience, he got the job. After a few months, he fell in love with the technical aspects of live entertainment and told his boss he wanted to either quit engineering or change his major to theatre since he'd decided that's what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. "Do either of those things and I'll fire you," his boss stated. "You've come this far; stay in school and complete the degree."
A short time later, a new show was opening in Las Vegas, where the boss had moved, and needed an automation operator. The boss remembered the student; he got the job and moved to Las Vegas. After a few years of doing the same show twelve times a week, he grew bored and started his own automation company. We've spoken often (almost always favorably) of the company here on CB, and the company was recently sold/merged/absorbed by a larger firm.
Moral of the story--one can get an engineering degree and do theatre on the side, but one can't get a theatre degree and do engineering on the side. Just about any degree is more valuable than a degree in theatre, it goes back to "If you can find ANYTHING you enjoy doing as much as theatre, do that instead."
Just my 2¢, FWIW.
.
(I won't name names as I heard this story second or third hand, but believe it to be a reasonably accurate account.)
A long, long time ago, in a place called Atlantic City, a young engineering student applied for a part-time followspot operator position in a casino showroom. Since he had a little community theatre or HS experience, he got the job. After a few months, he fell in love with the technical aspects of live entertainment and told his boss he wanted to either quit engineering or change his major to theatre since he'd decided that's what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. "Do either of those things and I'll fire you," his boss stated. "You've come this far; stay in school and complete the degree."
A short time later, a new show was opening in Las Vegas, where the boss had moved, and needed an automation operator. The boss remembered the student; he got the job and moved to Las Vegas. After a few years of doing the same show twelve times a week, he grew bored and started his own automation company. We've spoken often (almost always favorably) of the company here on CB, and the company was recently sold/merged/absorbed by a larger firm.
Moral of the story--one can get an engineering degree and do theatre on the side, but one can't get a theatre degree and do engineering on the side. Just about any degree is more valuable than a degree in theatre, it goes back to "If you can find ANYTHING you enjoy doing as much as theatre, do that instead."
Just my 2¢, FWIW.
.