Expert: J. Spyder Isaacson - 6/23/2008

Question
Hi,

I've been involved in community theatre for about 9 years (I'm 16), and I'm at the point where I want to start training myself more so I can audition for larger roles with larger theatre companies.

I've never had voice lessons, and I don't have much formal dance experience (though I've been told by teachers/directors I "move well" and could become a good dancer.) My question is what kind of vocal and dance training is best for involvement in (and potentially a career in) musical theatre? I've heard some people say classical voice training is a good "foundation" and some people say that doesn't help at all. As for dance, should I look for ballet classes, modern, tap, jazz? (My training so far has been mostly ballet, with some modern and a few classes tailored specifically for musical theatre.)

Sorry for the very, very long message! I'm very happy to have found this website though, and I'm hoping you can help me.

Thank you!

Answer
LONG question?  Actually, this is pretty average in length, believe it or not!  Still, it's a good question and one that deserves an answer, so here goes.

If you have *any* ballet training, you're already qualified to do most musicals at whatever level (professional to community) of theatre you want.  Just about every choreographer uses ballet moves in their choreography, and many actually expect their charges to know the basic moves.

If you want to continue to develop your dance technique, I would strongly suggest either jazz or tap, as those are the second most used techniques in musical theatre.  (In college, I had the good fortune to study with a dancer/choreographer who had performed on Broadway, and this is actually her advice that I'm passing on.)

As far as voice training, find yourself a coach (I was lucky to find myself a really good one) that not only has professional experience but can also train your voice the way YOU want to be trained.  If you emphasize that your interest is in musical theatre, most voice coaches will focus on that and will help you train your voice specifically in that area instead of orienting on opera or some other area.

Break a leg, and let me know how you do!

-- Spyder