Does Privilege and Wage mean Success on the Stage? Let’s face it, you can’t turn on your TV at the moment without another reality show promising young hopefuls the chance of fame and celebrity. It’s everywhere – from ‘X Factor’ to ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, thousands of young aspiring Britney’s and Justin’s are led to believe that fame is just around the corner. But is it really that easy? How many of these ‘wannabes’ go on to achieve real success? Is it really that easy to become a big name in the West End or is it all down to hard work, going to the right schools and knowing the right people? There are hundreds of stage schools up and down the country offering training in singing, dancing and acting. Professional voice coaches, choreographers and actors all offer their expertise in bringing out the hidden talents of thousands of young budding performers. There is no doubt that these students work incredibly hard, and usually go on to achieve success in their field. But is it because of their natural talent or the opportunities that they have been given. Does this privileged schooling guarantee more success than to those who have the talent but not wealth? You may have noticed, whilst browsing through papers and magazines the rise in adverts offering opportunities for people from less privileged backgrounds to experience workshops or performing arts courses. These opportunities are designed to even out the imbalance of advantages in the industry, but are they really addressing the problem or are they just a show of political correctness? Many children from less privileged backgrounds will never have the opportunities of their wealthier peers but does it really matter in today’s media driven society? Maybe all you need is... ... middle of paper ... ... with a genuine talent, who has universal appeal and whose success will hopefully stand the test of time. Unfortunately many of the other finalists are long forgotton, one hit wonders who are reduced to touring the country in tribute shows. And this leads us back to the leading question ‘Does privilege and wage mean success on the stage?’ The statistics show that those of us lucky enough to go to a stage school are indeed more successful in making a career in the world of arts. The years of training, self discipline and hard work form an underpinning for the real, hard, cut throat world of showbusiness, making it easier to achieve a long and successful career. There is no doubt that for the lucky few success and fame can be achieved by the easier route, but for the majority the road is paved with sweat and tears and lots of hard work. See ya’ at the auditions!
It is clear that in the world of reality television, personality and popularity are everything. Popularity on reality TV shows can translate into commercial viability and an unreal life beyond reality television.
Even if I didn’t make it, I don’t think anyone realizes what you learn when training in this profession. Musical theatre has allowed me to step up, commit to my work, become more confident and to have fun! You learn to become focused and pay more attention to detail. Building sets, reading scenes and learning music betters your communication and listening skills. All of these skills I have acquired over the last few years and I they are still helping me to grow. I think my biggest take away from this past summer is to become more confident as a person and in my work. Confidence is a big part of doing musical theatre. Some people having no confidence or a little too much. Trying to gain confidence has made me appreciate my body, the little things and what I do. I have already had many people come up to me at school and tell me that they’re loving my new glow confidence and love for myself. Overall, I see why people doubt the career, but they only consider the outside results. Musical theatre has made me the person I am today and I will never forget
What started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for an art form that allows me to use movements and expressions to tell a story. Whether I’m on stage in front of an audience of just friends and family, hundreds of strangers and a panel of judges, or the whole school, performing over thirty times, has helped me build lifelong
Reality based television has a broad landscape ranging from competitive game-like shows to programs following the daily lives of a group of people. Every major network now has some form of reality programming because the genre’s shows are high in viewership and require low costs for production. The genre is appealing to viewers because it provides them with a first-hand look into the lives of everyday people, which allows them to observe social behavior that helps them determine what is appropriate or not (Tyree, 2011, p. 397). Since the majority of modern reality stars start out as unknowns, frequent viewers of reality programming believed that fame is obtainable if they appear on a popular show (Mendible, 2004). According to Mendible’s evaluation of the genre in the article Humiliation, Subjectivity, and Reality TV, people enjoy reality programs beca...
Reality based television has a broad landscape ranging from competitive game-like shows to programs following the daily lives of a group of people. Every major network now has some form of reality programming because these programs are high in viewership and require low costs for production. The genre’s shows provide audiences with a first-hand look into the lives of everyday people, which creates resonance among viewers because they feel like they can relate to the characters on screen (Hasinoff, 2008). Since the majority of modern reality stars start out as unknowns, frequent viewers of reality television have essentially bought into the belief that they too can achieve overnight fame by appearing on a popular show (Mendible, 2004). According to Mendible’s evaluation i...
Pop music has long been defined by “idols” and superstars that are subjects of high levels of adoration from severely devoted fans, whose love of these superstars often blurs the line between fandom and obsession. This love is mainly based off of physical looks and charm more often than actual musical talent, as majority of the songs written by these massive superstars are not written by the artists themselves, instead by people hired to write for these artists in a way that will best connect with a crowd willing to spend their money on these manufactured stars. Therefore, it has become evident that in the world of popular music, image has overtaken talent as the determining factor of success in the industry. Instead of skill and songwriting ability, good looks and the ability to draw large crowds of impressionable people have become the main factors of fame in music.
Therefore, many children living in poverty are not able “to make use of their talent- to get the right education, to pursue the right career path” (Krugman,1). Because of this, social injustice has started to rapidly affect our education system, and for this reason, children living in poverty are getting fewer chances at a successful future. These kids are not entitled to a promising future because of their social background. To provide these kids the education they deserve, the government should spend more of our taxes on the low-income families. Then by providing the families more access to basic needs, their children become healthier and are designated to a better school and education. Social inequality is rapidly downsizing the rate of graduating students yearly, and as a society we must strive to end the inequality in America’s education
Therefore, many children living in poverty are not able “to make use of their talent- to get the right education, to pursue the right career path” (Krugman,1). Because of this, social injustice has now started to rapidly affect our education system, and for this reason children living in poverty are getting fewer chances to a successful future. These kids seem not to be entitled to a strong future, because of their social structure. To provide these kids the education they deserve, the government should spend more of our income on providing for the low-income families. Then by providing the families more access, the children become healthier and are entitled to better schools and better education. Social inequality is quickly downsizing the rate of graduating students yearly, and as a society we must strive to end this inequality in our education
Is this the reality we are seeing or will be seeing in the near future? Has the lead up to this degree of reality television begun? We are so addicted to the media and its spot light, even young children’s ambitions have been changed from things like being an athlete or an accountant to being ‘famous’ not for a particular cause but because in this day and age individuals are becoming famous for being on television. So Truman as he leaves ‘The Truman Show’ would be famous since he has been on the show from the time when he was conceived.
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising
Privilege can come in many forms. Financial privilege comes immediately to mind although this is a privilege that we should as a society strive to ensure in not a barrier to a worthy individual. This would be relatively straight forward to address given the privilege of a supportive environment is as important or more so than a financial privilege yet more difficult aspect in which to level the playing field. I consider myself privileged to have two parents that taught me the value of education as means to do good for the world. My parents, children and grandchildren of immigrants, grew up in poor circumstances but they had the privilege of parents who valued education. They strove to become engineers and used their education to make
Different people hold different views about whether celebrities deserve the money they obtained. Most people just see the performers’ perfect shows on the stage, or the musicians’ excellent performances in the concert hall; however they did not see the hard works that celebrities need to do behind the stage and spotlights. The people who do not know how hard that they prepare for a show, a TV show, a movie or a concert, think all celebrities do not deserve the incomes that they get and earn money easily and highly, but they use their efforts to get money as normal people. As the old saying states, “no gain without pain.” The famous and professional celebrities who have high reputations may need to stay up late to practice his performance again and again before going on the stage. People always believe a person’s efforts determines the applause that he deserves. All the efforts
Over the last few decades celebrity and fame has changed dramatically, from Alexander the Great to Kim Kardashian. Talent and achievements no longer play a huge role when it comes to our celebrities. “Much modern celebrity seems the result of careful promotion or great good looks or something besides talent and achievement” (Epstein2) with that being said celebrity-creation has blossomed into an industry of its own. Keeping up with all the gossips from breaking up to hooking up, law suits and drama many might come to an agreement that celebrity culture is starting to be the great new art form in our new generation and that it ...
In the seventies, we could do anything. It was the rainbow coalition, anti-Vietnam, all of those elements. And then we morphed over to where it became extremely straight-laced and non-risk taking. I think we are beginning to take risks again but within those societal norms.” Theatre only goes so far as society will allow it, as showcased by the Conservatory and it being influenced by the culture surrounding it. The mirror that is theatre reflects a culture and what it may want or not want to know, depending on how far it is allowed to
As we prosper through time, inequality is slowly less evident. A lot of people don't realize that although things are improving with time, inequality is still prominent in our society. The people that are failing to realize that there still is inequality, are the fortunate ones. They rise well above the poverty line, and usually live relatively economically sound lives. They are the people who are supplied with our society's benefits.