DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTORS AND PERFORMENRS 2 of 3

IN MY OPINION:

WILLIAM REYNOLDS:

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTORS AND PERFORMENRS 2 of 3>>

2. Training. Performers receive their training and experience from specialized venues, interning, and a lot of practice on their own. Most dedicated actors get their training in professional classes in major market cities, and many go to colleges and universities to get their training and theater arts degree. Academic degrees are not given in most of the performer categories.

A side note here: Even though I know professors and theater arts majors will probably disagree with me, it is my belief that the majority of university and college acting programs teach their students to perform, not act. And that is because most professional acting programs taught in major markets require students to experience a full range of authentic emotions, which most professors and academic classrooms are not equipped to emotionally handle. And because many institutions only do three-to-six months of each of the various popular acting techniques, the students learn about these techniques, but don’t spend the necessary time to master any one of them. Obviously there are universities that do offer full two- or three-year Meisner, Strasberg, etc., programs, but that is not the majority. On the other hand, many wonderful musical theater performers come from university programs.