How vital is high school theatre?

It really depends on where you want to go to school. Cornell (Ithaca, NY) has no specific requirements for any of the performing arts departments. You simply need to get admitted to the college of arts and sciences and at the beginning of your sophmore year declare your major. They don't care a whole lot about any prior theatre experience. If you're good enough to get in the school you're good enough for them.

UCLA on the other hand will pour over your resume, portfolio, essay, and interview you. As others have said they're looking for potential, but they want to see that you've already shown that you're intelligent, have alot of drive and self-motivation, and have some of the inate skills necessary for your major. They want to see that you've taken advantage of what your school offers. If it has a theatre program and you never designed lights for a show they'll want to know why.

Quite frankly though I'll generally prefer someone who's worked with John Himmelberger in Nebraska to someone from an Ivy (when I was hiring people).
 
At my college it is very vital that you know what you are doing to get admitted into the program, acting or technical. They give you one semester to try and learn enough before you go before a pannel of professors and they will decide your fate. They usually accept all tecnicians into the program, but some actors get turned away.
 
Its not required, but it really, really, really helps. Not only are you learning skills that will help you imensely as you progress through your career, but you make connections. I just got out of HS and work as a voulenteer for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; this sets me in a very favorable place when I apply for a paying position next season. I got this opportunity through my HS tech theater program. Do not underestimate the value of a HS tech theater education, it will take you places fast.
 
I agree with chaosleader. If i never took a chance with the class, i would never have met the TD at the highschool which in turn led me to another local theater director, which in turn led me to my lighting mentor(unofficial), which in turn fueled my interest and ultimately led me to the school which i am attending now.

So there are connections that can be made in HS theatre.
 
Absolutely. That's when the theatre bug bit me, and here we are over a decade later now, and I still enjoy it. Arguably, I still have to do it.

In high school it's about learning the mechanics of theatre production. If you're one of the lucky ones, you'll start to learn and play with design, but most I've seen deal more with the mechanics. How the light works, how to drive a board, and so on. In college you work more with the design, with experimenting, but it's in high school that everything starts.

Because of the theatre bug, I switched majors early in college from EE to theatre, and I learned a lot and had a great time getting that degree, and I was able to work on some really good shows that otherwise I wouldn't have been part of.
 

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