Q&A for How to Be a Theatre Kid

Theater acting is all about big, bold expressions to reach a live audience, while film and TV acting focuses on subtle, natural performances for the camera. On stage, you have to project your voice and movement. While on-screen, even the smallest expression matters. Shifting between these two takes different skills, which is why training for each is specialized.

Of course! The stage crew is just as important as the actors in the theater program.

Just practice. Go over lines and songs and focus. Work with fellow actors or actresses and try to make it perfect.

The bullying of theater kids never stops. As one myself, I know many of the nicknames. Just ignore them, because you don't need to worry about what others think of you, and that's what being a theater kid is all about.

Friends should be lifting you up, not putting you down. If they don't like theater kids, find out why and prove them wrong. However, in theater class, you'll likely find others who are just as much into theater as you are. Stay strong and don't throw away your shot!

Just practice, the more you practice the better you will get. First practice songs that have the range of voice you are comfortable with, if you go too high too often, then your voice will get raspy.

Listen to musical soundtracks. Even Disney would be good such as Frozen, Jungle Book, Cinderella. Those movies are amazing and always teach good values. Best part is, they spark your imagination so you can be anyone you want to be. Check out Disney Junior Asia for contests!

Listen to the solo on YouTube with the voices and without the voices. I know my directors always have a Google Drive or Google Classroom with both rehearsal and accompaniment tracks that we can use. The best advice is to talk to your music director about any concerns you might have.

Practice makes perfect! Keep trying until you are able to work out all of the kinks in your performance. You can also ask someone else (a director or a friend who is into dance) to help you and give you some pointers. The arts are all about trial and error, so keep trying!

Of course, you don’t have to be in a show. You just need to love theatre! Just talk about theatre and show you appreciation of musicals.

Just do you! If you want to be a theatre kid, be a theatre kid. If someone accuses you of copying your friend, ignore them. Just make sure you are into different musicals, but you can still like some of the same stuff as your friend!

That's okay! Not every play is a musical. If you're in the play, you'll practice lines instead of songs.

If you participate in theater, you are a theater kid. Your friend probably did not realize she hurt your feelings, so you should reach out and talk to her about it.

Practice helps, of course. Make sure you are breathing into your belly rather than your chest or shoulders. Try singing lightly and dancing gently, then slowly increase the intensity of both until you can sing super loud while jumping around.

It depends on the group. Some will let you go into stage crew right away, while others want you to be a certain age or do a few shows first.

Nothing wrong with that. There are all kinds of theater kids, and many of them are gay or otherwise LGBTQ+.

There are really no theater-kid guidelines. As long as you like acting and singing and contribute to a musical or play now and then, you're a theater kid.

Don't give up your passion just because your friends don't like it. Friends should support you no matter what, and if they don't, then they aren't real friends. Are they jealous or worried they'll not have time to spend with you? Ask them why they don't like it and see if you can sort out their concerns but also let then know you're not changing your mind.