Expert: Phil Nemy - 11/28/2010

Question
Hello! I first want to thank you with all my heart in advance for answering my question, and I hope that I didn't make it too difficult for you!

All my life I've wanted to act, and now I can feel from the bottom of my heart I know it's what I want to do. I really like comedy, and even though improv and stand up interest me, working on theater is something that interests me even more. I want to do those things! I keep looking and looking for colleges, but how do I know? And exactly WHAT classes am I looking for? I live in a fairly small town in Kentucky. I plan on moving once I graduate, but I can't find a college, and I'm a little blank on the classes I should be trying to attend.

Answer
Becca,

Thanks for your note. If you TRULY want a career as an actress, and preferably one on the stage, then you need to set your sights higher than Kentucky. There are some terrific acting programs at the university level, but they aren't in Kentucky. The closest one to you would be the Music Theater Program at the Univ of Cincinnati. Other schools that have exceptional professional actor training programs include Carnegie Mellon University, NYU, Webster University, Boston U, Brandeis U, Univ of Washington at Seattle, NC School of the Arts, Julliard, SMU, and UCLA.

If you want the best training to prepare you for a career in the theater, then I strongly encourage you to enroll at one of these schools as they all have very, very strong theater programs.

Good luck!

Phil