Is it necessary to become a triple threat in the acting industry.
Is it necessary to become a Triple Threat in the acting industry ?
A Tripple Threat is someone with the ability to act, dance and sing. In this essay I will be discussing weather it is necessary to train in singing and dancing when pursuing a career in the acting industry. The research I will be conducting, will include an insight into the success of established ‘Triple Threats’ in the industry as well as blogs and articles discussing the pros and cons.I aim to show a detailed answer and analysis on weather its necessary for an aspiring actor to invest time and money into learning how to dance and sing when acting will be their main focus .
Being a Triple Threat (T3) allows you to market yourself as a singer , dancer and actor . It is very vital to learn all three areas to a professional standard if an actor is interested in becoming a Musical Theatre performer. However if they are not interested in Musical Theatre its not entirely necessary to learn all three areas. Having said this , even if an actor doesn't want to go into Musical Theatre , that doesn't take away from the fact that knowing all 3 skill sets opens doors, as Musical Theatre isn't the only segment of the Performing Arts industry that may require other skill sets.
Why I believe its more necessary to learn all three is because you will look more valuable in the eyes of the industry to the people looking to hire you , specifically casting directors and agencies . This means you'll be called for more work which might pottentially be helpful financially due to the fact that a traditional actor may not always get a lot of work unless there a big Hollywood actor, the options are very limited to just Theatre, Commercials , short films and movies . The life changing opportunities that may arise might appear faster only for Triple Threats . Furthermore if acting doesn't workout or your just not receiving enough work from your agent and your a T3, you have two other potential career paths to fall back on, as you could start a career in the music industry or be a back up dancer / choreographer.
A few examples of actors turned musicians or vice versa are; Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande , Drake, and the late Tupac Shakur:
Justin Timberlake is a T3 who began acting with a pretty boy role in a Disney Chanel Original movie but at the same time is music career was taking off . Justin has made a few appearances in popular films such as 'Alpha Dog' and 'Southland Tales' as well as the critically acclaimed 'Social Network '. As soon as he settled down with his music career he started to gain even more roles .
Ariana Grande is a T3 who made her breakthrough on the Nickelodeon show Victorious in 2009 . The finale aired in February 2013.Grande recorded her first studio album Yours Truly, originally titled Daydreamin', over a three-year period. It was released on August 30, 2013 and it debuted at Number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.
Aubrey 'Drake' Graham initially gained recognition as an actor on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation in the early 2000s which he left in 2007 to pursue a very successful career in music with his first studio album ‘Thank Me Later’ debuting number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart in 2010.
Tupac Amaru Shakur's is considered by many as of the greatest rappers of all time. However in addition to his endeavours in the music industry, Tupac had a passionate love of theatre and stated in an interview how Shakespeare also influenced his work.Tupac started of as a student of the Baltimore School for the Arts where he studied theatre, he then started acting in films. He made his first film appearance in Nothing but Trouble (1991), as part of a cameo by the Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the 1992 film Juice. He played Roland Bishop, a violent member of the Wrecking Crew, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure".
Now lets be realistic, not everyone can be a top selling, record breaking artist like Ariana Grande, Drake and the late, great Tupac but it does show more than one talent opened doors from them or had a major influence on them which helped further their careers to be more successful. Furthermore the examples I gave were actors who had successful careers as musicians/ performers however there are also plenty examples of Tripple Threats who have had successful acting Careers.
Another few great examples would be to mention actors like Hugh Jackman and John Travolta.
Hugh Jackman is mostly known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X - Men film series but has won international recognition in a variety of film genres and between the early stages of his acting career between 1995 - 1999 was in musical theatre. Fast forward to 2015, After a lot of success from having major roles in high grossing Hollywood films and musical performances, Jackman made a national tour of Australia with his show Broadway to Oz. He performed a range of songs from Broadway musicals, from Les Misérables to a Peter Allen tribute (including classics such as "I Still Call Australia Home"), with his 150-piece orchestra, choir, and backup dancers.This year Jackman will go on a world arena tour called, The Man. The Music. The Show, to perform songs from the album, The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and Broadway/Hollywood musical numbers.Jackman will also return to Broadway in a revival of The Music Man, playing Harold Hill, which is set to begin previews in September 2020 and opens in October 2020.
All of the living, male performers I've mentioned as examples of triple threats all have net worths of a 100 million + and lengthy successful careers. There is a clear correlation with lengthy, successful careers and triple threats and that shouldn't be overlooked. The lengthy carrers are from a result of doors that are opened for T3s and the amount of work these T3 actors receive from their agents. This mainly due to the obvious fact that they are able to perform in various different ways due to their skill set of being able to sing , dance and act. On the other hand an actor who is limited to just acting will only get a limited amount of work and unless they break a role in a television series or become a big Hollywood actor then chances are they will struggle financially to find work and fame helps to find work because it means your recognised for playing roles giving you a footprint in the industry. This means if your just limited to acting and your footprint isn't big enough, unless you get a lot of work in theatre you'll just be scraping a living and have less work and potential life changing opportunities unavailable to you.The acting industry is extremely competitive and if you're up against a Triple Threat, a person who can beat you in all 3 disciplines then the choice clear, either become a Tripple Threat or get beaten by one.
Why I believe its unnecessary to become a Tripple Threat is because firstly , acting is the most important part of musical theatre or any performing art. Singing and dancing are means by which you can act/tell the story. That's why it would be wrong to separate them. If you see a really good piece of theatre, the story, music, and movement are seamlessly interwoven. But that's not because acting, singing and dance get equal amounts of attention, it's because everything is done in service of the story.
Working in the West End today seems to require a huge skill set. That's because most of the shows are either musicals or have a cast of big stars, or both. No matter what your teacher says, you don't need to be able to sing and dance to be a great actor. Despite the need to keep our bodies and our voices in shape, being a Triple Threat is not required for a successful ‘acting’ career.
People who pursue a career in musical theatre do so because they love dancing, singing and acting. The industry shouldn’t look down upon non-musical actors who decided not to pursue or develop their dancing and singing abilities.
Musical theatre majors or T3s may technically have more ‘talents’ but for most traditional actors, those talents are irrelevant to their field.This is because traditional actors don’t need to be good singers or dancers to be able to succeed in their field. Musical theatre majors don’t need to be good actors to succeed in their field.
If your acting is so strong that you could be successful doing straight theatre then you would be considered to have more talent than those T3s who do musical theatre. What’s most important is whether the actor (both musical and otherwise) can tell a story.
.
Bibliography:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/dont-strive-triple-threat
https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-triple-threats-in-entertainment/celebrity-lists
https://theatrenerds.com/triple-threat-really-required/
https://actinginlondon.co.uk/how-to-start-an-acting-career/
https://isthiswhyimstillsingle.com/2014/06/12/the-main-differences-between-theater-and-musical-theater/
Is it necessary to become a Triple Threat in the acting industry ?
A Tripple Threat is someone with the ability to act, dance and sing. In this essay I will be discussing weather it is necessary to train in singing and dancing when pursuing a career in the acting industry. The research I will be conducting, will include an insight into the success of established ‘Triple Threats’ in the industry as well as blogs and articles discussing the pros and cons.I aim to show a detailed answer and analysis on weather its necessary for an aspiring actor to invest time and money into learning how to dance and sing when acting will be their main focus .
Being a Triple Threat (T3) allows you to market yourself as a singer , dancer and actor . It is very vital to learn all three areas to a professional standard if an actor is interested in becoming a Musical Theatre performer. However if they are not interested in Musical Theatre its not entirely necessary to learn all three areas. Having said this , even if an actor doesn't want to go into Musical Theatre , that doesn't take away from the fact that knowing all 3 skill sets opens doors, as Musical Theatre isn't the only segment of the Performing Arts industry that may require other skill sets.
Why I believe its more necessary to learn all three is because you will look more valuable in the eyes of the industry to the people looking to hire you , specifically casting directors and agencies . This means you'll be called for more work which might pottentially be helpful financially due to the fact that a traditional actor may not always get a lot of work unless there a big Hollywood actor, the options are very limited to just Theatre, Commercials , short films and movies . The life changing opportunities that may arise might appear faster only for Triple Threats . Furthermore if acting doesn't workout or your just not receiving enough work from your agent and your a T3, you have two other potential career paths to fall back on, as you could start a career in the music industry or be a back up dancer / choreographer.
A few examples of actors turned musicians or vice versa are; Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande , Drake, and the late Tupac Shakur:
Justin Timberlake is a T3 who began acting with a pretty boy role in a Disney Chanel Original movie but at the same time is music career was taking off . Justin has made a few appearances in popular films such as 'Alpha Dog' and 'Southland Tales' as well as the critically acclaimed 'Social Network '. As soon as he settled down with his music career he started to gain even more roles .
Ariana Grande is a T3 who made her breakthrough on the Nickelodeon show Victorious in 2009 . The finale aired in February 2013.Grande recorded her first studio album Yours Truly, originally titled Daydreamin', over a three-year period. It was released on August 30, 2013 and it debuted at Number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.
Aubrey 'Drake' Graham initially gained recognition as an actor on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation in the early 2000s which he left in 2007 to pursue a very successful career in music with his first studio album ‘Thank Me Later’ debuting number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart in 2010.
Tupac Amaru Shakur's is considered by many as of the greatest rappers of all time. However in addition to his endeavours in the music industry, Tupac had a passionate love of theatre and stated in an interview how Shakespeare also influenced his work.Tupac started of as a student of the Baltimore School for the Arts where he studied theatre, he then started acting in films. He made his first film appearance in Nothing but Trouble (1991), as part of a cameo by the Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the 1992 film Juice. He played Roland Bishop, a violent member of the Wrecking Crew, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure".
Now lets be realistic, not everyone can be a top selling, record breaking artist like Ariana Grande, Drake and the late, great Tupac but it does show more than one talent opened doors from them or had a major influence on them which helped further their careers to be more successful. Furthermore the examples I gave were actors who had successful careers as musicians/ performers however there are also plenty examples of Tripple Threats who have had successful acting Careers.
Another few great examples would be to mention actors like Hugh Jackman and John Travolta.
Hugh Jackman is mostly known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X - Men film series but has won international recognition in a variety of film genres and between the early stages of his acting career between 1995 - 1999 was in musical theatre. Fast forward to 2015, After a lot of success from having major roles in high grossing Hollywood films and musical performances, Jackman made a national tour of Australia with his show Broadway to Oz. He performed a range of songs from Broadway musicals, from Les Misérables to a Peter Allen tribute (including classics such as "I Still Call Australia Home"), with his 150-piece orchestra, choir, and backup dancers.This year Jackman will go on a world arena tour called, The Man. The Music. The Show, to perform songs from the album, The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and Broadway/Hollywood musical numbers.Jackman will also return to Broadway in a revival of The Music Man, playing Harold Hill, which is set to begin previews in September 2020 and opens in October 2020.
All of the living, male performers I've mentioned as examples of triple threats all have net worths of a 100 million + and lengthy successful careers. There is a clear correlation with lengthy, successful careers and triple threats and that shouldn't be overlooked. The lengthy carrers are from a result of doors that are opened for T3s and the amount of work these T3 actors receive from their agents. This mainly due to the obvious fact that they are able to perform in various different ways due to their skill set of being able to sing , dance and act. On the other hand an actor who is limited to just acting will only get a limited amount of work and unless they break a role in a television series or become a big Hollywood actor then chances are they will struggle financially to find work and fame helps to find work because it means your recognised for playing roles giving you a footprint in the industry. This means if your just limited to acting and your footprint isn't big enough, unless you get a lot of work in theatre you'll just be scraping a living and have less work and potential life changing opportunities unavailable to you.The acting industry is extremely competitive and if you're up against a Triple Threat, a person who can beat you in all 3 disciplines then the choice clear, either become a Tripple Threat or get beaten by one.
Why I believe its unnecessary to become a Tripple Threat is because firstly , acting is the most important part of musical theatre or any performing art. Singing and dancing are means by which you can act/tell the story. That's why it would be wrong to separate them. If you see a really good piece of theatre, the story, music, and movement are seamlessly interwoven. But that's not because acting, singing and dance get equal amounts of attention, it's because everything is done in service of the story.
Working in the West End today seems to require a huge skill set. That's because most of the shows are either musicals or have a cast of big stars, or both. No matter what your teacher says, you don't need to be able to sing and dance to be a great actor. Despite the need to keep our bodies and our voices in shape, being a Triple Threat is not required for a successful ‘acting’ career.
People who pursue a career in musical theatre do so because they love dancing, singing and acting. The industry shouldn’t look down upon non-musical actors who decided not to pursue or develop their dancing and singing abilities.
Musical theatre majors or T3s may technically have more ‘talents’ but for most traditional actors, those talents are irrelevant to their field.This is because traditional actors don’t need to be good singers or dancers to be able to succeed in their field. Musical theatre majors don’t need to be good actors to succeed in their field.
If your acting is so strong that you could be successful doing straight theatre then you would be considered to have more talent than those T3s who do musical theatre. What’s most important is whether the actor (both musical and otherwise) can tell a story.
.
Bibliography:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/dont-strive-triple-threat
https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-triple-threats-in-entertainment/celebrity-lists
https://theatrenerds.com/triple-threat-really-required/
https://actinginlondon.co.uk/how-to-start-an-acting-career/
https://isthiswhyimstillsingle.com/2014/06/12/the-main-differences-between-theater-and-musical-theater/
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