Student Blog: Training Post Graduation

I just finished my conservatory education in musical theatre. That meant that every school calendar, Monday-Friday for the last three years I’ve been training for 5-8 hours a day in every facet of performance, and often I was using my days and evenings off to continue my training, attend auditions, and rehearse for shows. 

But suddenly, I don’t have it anymore. And that can be really exciting- but scary. Being diligent when you have a program to rely on is challenging, but you have motivation outside of yourself to keep working hard. Once that’s gone, it’s more vital than ever to continue to train without a constant regiment to fall back on. This is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about as I’m going into my second week out of school. There are many things you can do to keep up your training, and these methods are things I’ve relied on to stay in shape as an actor. 

In order to keep up my daily training, I knew I needed to find a personal routine that I could uphold whether or not I had room in my budget for classes, coaching sessions, and lessons. All of those are great options to keep up your training, but they can also get really expensive. So what does this mean for me?

I vocalize at least five days out of the week. This can simply mean doing vocal warmups and singing through some songs in my audition book. It doesn’t need to be anything intense, but this paired with a voice lesson every couple weeks will keep you feeling strong as a singer. My personal training also includes regularly working out a couple of times a week, continually looking through auditions, and regularly sending in self-tapes.

Continuing to take classes is also a valuable option when you have the means to pay for them. This includes masterclasses, dance classes, privates, or coaching sessions. If there are any teachers or mentors that you love from your program that teach on their own time, reach out to them. A lot of the time they will have a class open to the public outside of your program, and if not, see if they do private lessons. You can also look up classes that you’ve heard good things about. This can be a great way to meet new people. Do some research and find a place to work on your material or to train and improve your craft.

Last but certainly not least, make bargains with your friends. For example, I have a friend who is an incredible vocalist who gives great advice on working through songs, and I also have a friend who is a wildly talented dancer. They are both gifted with teaching, so they trade their services with each other so each of them gets free training. This is genius. Even if you don’t want to do a trade per se, dance with your friends, go to the gym together, perform your songs for each other, help each other with self-tapes, the list goes on and on. This is so smart and a great way to keep in touch with performer friends while keeping each other accountable and continuing to learn. 

All of these are incredible strategies to keep up your training as you’re transitioning out of a strict program. And as you continue learning, have some grace with yourself as well. Yes, work hard on training on your own time while auditioning, but keep in mind that nothing will be as intense as when you were in school every single day. It is going to feel different than how it was when you had a schedule to fall back on, but once you get used to it, it can be really fun to take new classes, spend time with the mentors you are closest to, and work on improving with friends. Training and working post-graduation is all about what you personally want to work on, and it allows you more time to go to auditions. As I am entering this new era of my life as an actor, I’m embracing the changes, and enjoying the process of figuring out what training means after leaving school.