Andy Haefner
Active Member
Hello Everybody,
I'm sure many of you have seen my previous post in this forum, Am I Making The Right College Decision? (it even got pinned to the College Education FAQ!) well now i'm back to pick your brain about careers in Theatre.
As a bit of an update to my last post, I am in my second year as an Electrical Engineering student, I find i'm well suited for it, and I love applying what i'm learning in the real world too. Ive continued my work with my local IATSE union, and am seemingly on a never-ending quest for knowledge (both pertaining to this industry and EE).
Now in Jan. of 2020, I took a gig designing the lighting for a local School's Annual musical, at the time I didnt think much of it, and I had no idea what I was doing. I read up on a few books and gave it my best shot, In the end It turned out OK, However, coming back this year with so much new experience and knoweledge, Ive realized how rewarding and fulfilling designing is, Seeing a beautiful creation aid in telling a story, Ive caught myself realizing "when did I learn how to do this". It simply ignites a passion for me I never realized I had, being creative and practical at the same time.
Anyways, to get to my main question here, (Sorry for the long-winded Intro) Ive seen both in the College Education FAQ and various other posts how if you want to become a broadway designer, you better have an MFA. Understandably this makes sense, However I was wondering, can teaching yourself and getting as much real-world experience as possible replace this as a qualification? I realize networking is a big part of it too, and theoretically,
[real world experience >> networking+Portfolio >>Job].
Now im not entirely opposed to getting an MFA in the future, but i'm going to be completing my EE degree in 2023, particularly with a Elective concentration in Optics and Photonics. I gotta have that backup plan or alternative career path if needed/wanted for future me. But Going to college for a total of 7 years doesnt sound all that appealling to me, when I could be building a portfolio and gaining more and more experience in the next 5 years instead. Granted I know a MFA program would also give me some real world experience, but I might have to do another BFA just to get into an MFA program.
On the other hand, if I solely went with real world experience, there is a handful of community theatres around me, as well as multiple school districts I could look into submitting resumes/portfolios to in the future, again, thats not to say I cant do both, but I dont want to be wasting time and money on school, which was never needed in the first place.
Id love to hear your thoughts on this, better yet, if anyone on here is a broadway designer and would like to speak up, Id love to hear from you.
I'm sure many of you have seen my previous post in this forum, Am I Making The Right College Decision? (it even got pinned to the College Education FAQ!) well now i'm back to pick your brain about careers in Theatre.
As a bit of an update to my last post, I am in my second year as an Electrical Engineering student, I find i'm well suited for it, and I love applying what i'm learning in the real world too. Ive continued my work with my local IATSE union, and am seemingly on a never-ending quest for knowledge (both pertaining to this industry and EE).
Now in Jan. of 2020, I took a gig designing the lighting for a local School's Annual musical, at the time I didnt think much of it, and I had no idea what I was doing. I read up on a few books and gave it my best shot, In the end It turned out OK, However, coming back this year with so much new experience and knoweledge, Ive realized how rewarding and fulfilling designing is, Seeing a beautiful creation aid in telling a story, Ive caught myself realizing "when did I learn how to do this". It simply ignites a passion for me I never realized I had, being creative and practical at the same time.
Anyways, to get to my main question here, (Sorry for the long-winded Intro) Ive seen both in the College Education FAQ and various other posts how if you want to become a broadway designer, you better have an MFA. Understandably this makes sense, However I was wondering, can teaching yourself and getting as much real-world experience as possible replace this as a qualification? I realize networking is a big part of it too, and theoretically,
[real world experience >> networking+Portfolio >>Job].
Now im not entirely opposed to getting an MFA in the future, but i'm going to be completing my EE degree in 2023, particularly with a Elective concentration in Optics and Photonics. I gotta have that backup plan or alternative career path if needed/wanted for future me. But Going to college for a total of 7 years doesnt sound all that appealling to me, when I could be building a portfolio and gaining more and more experience in the next 5 years instead. Granted I know a MFA program would also give me some real world experience, but I might have to do another BFA just to get into an MFA program.
On the other hand, if I solely went with real world experience, there is a handful of community theatres around me, as well as multiple school districts I could look into submitting resumes/portfolios to in the future, again, thats not to say I cant do both, but I dont want to be wasting time and money on school, which was never needed in the first place.
Id love to hear your thoughts on this, better yet, if anyone on here is a broadway designer and would like to speak up, Id love to hear from you.