Becoming a Triple Threat
This blog originally appeared on Straight from School’s website:
There are lots of young people in the UK that desperately want to work in Musical Theatre and for good reason. When you go to a show like Wicked, Les Mis, Spring Awakening or one of the other BIG musicals – it’s glamourous, sexy and looks like great fun. The truth is, it’s bloody hard work and it takes years of intensive training to get to the position of being good enough to cast for a professional musical. Don’t be fooled by watching those TV talent shows, the amount and level of training those people have or get is unbelievable.
Becoming a Musical Theatre performer is a tough journey that requires real graft, commitment and an indomitable spirit. Those that stand the best chance of working in the Musical Theatre are those who are trained as Triple Threats.
The Triple Threat (T3) is so-called because they can sing, dance and act. Now, all the T3′s that I’ve ever worked with have a primary skill and then work their tails off to become better at the others. We’re not talking about being a fantastic actor with basic dance and some singing skills. We’re talking about those performers that have trained themselves to a professional standard in all three areas.
Not all Musical Theatre performers are T3s, but it’s the T3s that have more success of gaining employment. They can go for dance roles, singing roles, acting roles, or those that require any combination of all three. The T3 is a special kind of person and it takes a real dedication to achieve a level of professionalism in the three disciplines where one can be called Triple Threat.
Being Triple Threat means being able to market yourself as a singer, dancer and actor, and the training should start early…particularly for those that are not natural dancers. Acting and singing can be learned later in life, but you really DO need to get your dance training in early. The earlier the better.
Why are they called Triple Threats? Because when you’re up against one, they can beat you to a job in all three disciplines. The choice is clear, becoming a Triple Threat or get beaten by one.