How to Break into Musical Theatre

This course is designed to empower you as a musical theatre performer—helping you become your own manager and paving the way for a fulfilling career doing what you love.

You'll learn how to market yourself with important assets like your resume, digital business card, and website, in addition to how to have a professional online presence. You'll foster positive habits in personal production schedules and budgeting, allowing you to balance your artistic pursuits with everyday life effectively and ensure that you have the financial foundation to support your career.

From there, discover the diverse opportunities available in the world of performing arts, including the differences between non-union and union tours, regional work, cruise line performances, Equity Chorus Calls (ECC), Equity Principal Auditions (EPA), and open calls. You’ll learn how to curate specific audition opportunities, build your presence on crucial audition platforms, and set up online alerts to stay informed.

Finally, you’ll gain insight into what happens after you get the gig—from negotiating contracts and pay to housing and scheduling. You’ll understand how to arrive prepared for any role, from memorizing lines and rhythms to blocking scenes, and most importantly, how to build your support team and ensure your self-care. The ultimate goal of the course is to boost your confidence and knowledge about the musical theatre industry and auditions, and equip you with the skills and tools to succeed.

What you will learn:

✔ Create your brand and marketing strategy for the performing arts industry       
✔ Develop personal production schedules and budgets       
✔ Find opportunities in the performing arts, including non-union and union tours, regional work, and cruise line performances       
✔ Build and manage your profiles on Actor's Access and Playbill.com       
✔ Prepare for auditions, ensuring you are off-book, have learned notes and rhythms, and are ready to tackle blocking and scene work       
✔ Identify critical components of contracts in the performing arts industry, including pay, housing, and scheduling, and what is negotiable

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What you need to participate:

• Computer or mobile device with Internet. Internet speed must be at least 1.5Mbps download and 800Kbps upload. For students using a mobile device, download the Canvas mobile app and select “Interlochen Online” as your school.
• Canva (free version)

How the course works:

Interlochen Online courses are designed to be inspiring and flexible with weekly learning units that combine video segments and guided instruction that you can complete on your own schedule during the week. You will interact regularly with your teacher and peers inside the learning environment. 

You can also participate in an optional weekly hour-long video class meeting, where you can learn from the teacher and interact with your classmates in real-time. At the beginning of the course, you will complete a survey indicating your preferred times for the class meeting. The teacher will make every best effort to identify a meeting time that works for everyone. The teacher will also post recordings of the meetings and you can view them when it is convenient. 

The goal is that you walk away not only with practical skills and friendships but that you are inspired and motivated to pursue your art and realize your potential.