Keep in mind this is my personal opinion and I will say for clarity sake I did go to college and have an undergrad in
theatre, a BA to be specific, I did not go the BFA route.
Having been out of school for 8 years now and working professionally the whole time I have grown very disenchanted with undergrad
theatre programs. In my opinion they do not prepare people for the real world when it comes to production. Its a lot of money and 4 or 5 years to dedicate and most people come out of that environment unprepared. I would recommend looking at the following as possible alternatives.
http://stagecraftinstitute.com
This is actually really well put together from what colleagues have told me. Less expensive than full sail and its a 4 month program and I have worked with people who teach there who work in the industry, the teachers know their stuff. It is all industry gear and standards they teach there.
http://www.fullsail.edu
The catch about full sail is that it doesn't have a good rep in the industry. I have worked with some good people out of their show pro and touring program but unfortunately it seems like the attitude of entitlement from a lot of their grads tarnishes everyones reputation. I'm sure there are many other people on this forum who could chime in about the pros and cons of full sail. You can get an associates in a year from there. The draw back is that its very expensive, the pros to it though are that you get your hands on industry standard gear and the teachers are good, I have met a few.
You may have picked up term I have thrown out a lot, industry standard. The thing that sucks about the situation that college
theatre programs is exactly that. Most are not able to make sure you are literate on gear and standards. I have friends who teach in Universities and this is by no means their fault, the technology moves so fast in our industry that academic programs either don't have the money to
purchase industry standard gear or the university itself may not realize what is needed to really prepare students.
If you do choose to go to a 4 years college I would recommend doing one of two things. you should not major in
theatre, get a degree in business, education, electrical engineering
etc. Eventually your body will give out and you won't be able to physically do this kind of work anymore, it will happen and you need a back up. Or if you really want to get that degree in
theatre you need to double major in something else, like the majors I mentioned before.
Now please don't take this personally, you are a junior in HS, in no way shape or form do you have the skill set to go out and work professionally. Again I am not trying to be rude I am being real, I started working in my HS
theatre when I was a freshman and by the time I was a junior I did not have an adequate skill set to go be a pro. Working as an entertainment electrician involves an
array of skill set, within all that knowledge is skills to ensure you don't kill anyone. Hanging and focusing
conventional lighting isn't even 1/4 of that skill set. You need to be literate in the use of 3
phase power and its safe use, electrical theory in general, basic rigging from the
point of view of a fly
system and
arena rigging, I.T is important as lighting systems are all run through networks using various protocols from Streaming
ACN ART Net and so on. You need to be literate in the maintenance and repair of moving fixtures and the proper use and application of
LED fixtures. You need to understand the different application of lighting one would use for
theatre, rock and
roll, broadcast, dance, sporting events, opera, corporate trade shows. Leadership and management skills are essential as well with you only gaining that with time and age experience. You need to have a literate knowledge of fall arrest systems and
OSHA guidelines and a willingness to follow them to the T. You also need to have the concepts down of industry standard consoles such as a Grand MA or a Hog.
There are many ways you can go about getting this knowledge and by no means will your start be glamourous. Look at various production shops in your area and see if you can start working as an overhear. You will start by shlepping cable but that is where everyone should start. Hound your I.A.T.S.E local and see if you can start getting on some calls, again you be pushing
road cases but its a start. Look at production companies that do installs around town.
My personal opinion is that if you really want to get your hands dirty and start learning a lot try to get into corporate work. Doing corporate shows with a production
house, nothing ever stays the same in a
ballroom and you have to bring everything for the show, it requires critical thinking like crazy, next to touring it will test your wits. I know because i have done both.
As far as Disney you mentioned an
array of different departments. Running a spotlight for Fantastic is falls under the job they
call a
stage tech. Being the LD for World of Color, those gigs are not a plenty, that falls under Imagineering. Once the show is installed its done, the shows don't get uninstaled every year for a new one. Those people do a lot of designing for events as well and really production management for various entertainment parts of the
park. Yes there is creative in it but your not designing a Disney main
stage show every week. There is no "Broadway" show within the parks per say, again more often then not creative overlooks the install of the show but there are a lot of outside entities that come in to do all of that stuff. The same way Broadway works, a group comes together, design the show then once it opens they move on to the next one.
My personal opinion, keep your mind open, Disney isn't the cornerstone of all entertainment yes they do a lot and there are things they do really really well but there is a whole world of industry out there. It was a good start once I finished college but let me put it this way, every gig I have taken since I left them, I make more money at.
So again just my opinion but there are many ways to get ahead in the business and a 4 year degree is not the only way to do it, it also may not be the best way. You can work your way up through the ranks to. You can get the production
house gig, then the cruise ship job, tour gigs then maybe an Imagineering gig with Disney, everyone has a different path, there is no one correct way to do it.