Young, close-knit and all about the drama: Detroit’s emerging theater talent

Tucked in a little nook on the third floor of Wayne State University’s Old Main is a student gathering space coined The Crevice.

It’s small. There are only three tables set up in front of a big window overlooking Cass Avenue. Framed playbills hang on the wall outside, like a breadcrumb trail for the few who decide to study theater.

Dozens of these students showed up at The Crevice on a Thursday morning this past semester. Class just finished. They hugged, high-fived and bumped fists as some rushed off to their next class or continued hanging out with their classmates, chatting away.

“We’re very close-knit, (especially) the ones who like to talk,” third-year theater student Jaela Beeks said. “We can sit here and talk for hours and do nothing.”

Beeks is one of 148 theater students — mostly undergraduates — at Wayne State. Theater students are less than 1% of the student body, but the university appears invested. Its state-of-the-art Hilberry Gateway theater opened last year , complete with a 3,200 square-foot stage.

Theater students get professional training in the middle of a city home to vibrant arts and culture , including a small-but-lively theater scene . These students hope to snag those few jobs. But most know they need to be prepared to spend less time on the stage after graduation.

Acting is just part of the gig

Learning how to act is only part of what studying theater is about. Undergraduates start by learning about more technical stagecraft like set design, stage management and costuming.

Theater students at Wayne State also take classes in stage design, playwriting, dance and stage movement.

“The typical things we learn are movement, how to actually use our voice — not singing-wise — but projection, articulation and how to move our bodies and take care of (them),” Beeks said.

For aspiring Broadway stars, there is also a bachelor of fine arts (BFA) program .

Detroiter Taylor Johnson-King just finished her second year as a BFA student. She said her classes taught her how to develop a warmup ritual and how to align the body and the mind, a method made popular by Russian theater practitioner Konstantin Stanislavsky .

Johnson-King said she chose Wayne State’s theater program because she wants to run her own production company.

“It is no secret that acting is not a guaranteed career,” Johnson-King said. “There will be times where I can be a stage manager or on a light board. These are things I didn’t know I could do or had interest in until I got to Wayne. These are things that will help you keep a job and keep your resume refined and guaranteed to stand out.”

Wayne State’s theater faculty is full of working theater professionals. The department’s interim Chair Michael Barnes said they share first-hand accounts about professional theater with their students.

The faculty also makes sure the department’s productions mirror the working conditions in local, professional theaters working with unionized actors.

“You never know who’s going to be working with who down the line,” Johnson-King said. “I have worked with professors who professionally trained in Russia, who’ve been on Broadway and in films. They know what it’s like.”

“I know the industry changes,” she said. “But knowing I’m being taught by someone who knows the field and what that passion feels like makes my learning experience so much more powerful.”

What comes next?

Getting a job in theater is tough. The job market is expected to get a little stronger, but employment is far from a sure bet.

The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there were just more than 78,000 acting jobs nationally in 2022, with about 9,300 job openings expected each year. Average pay for those jobs is around $20 an hour. The bureau expects there will be job growth of 3% in acting through 2032 nationwide.

Jobs for fashion designers , which includes costume designers, are expected to grow at a similar rate, and demand for producers and directors across multiple entertainment industries including theater are expected to grow 7%. That’s a small number of opportunities compared to the number of students looking for theater jobs each year.

Wayne State theater faculty try to guide students toward these professional opportunities. They help students attend United States Institute for Theatre Technology conferences , set up auditions, and meet cast directors and agents at the university’s annual showcase in New York .

But associate professor Billicia Hines said a theater degree gives students more applicable skills. Collaboration and organization is good for prospective event planners, articulation and voice projection helps public speakers, and confidence and persuasion is essential for sales jobs.

“When you leave here, it’s more than just, ‘I have a degree,’” Hines said. “Some people can leave out and not know anything, but that’s because they didn’t do anything. If you’re doing stuff, you can come out and be able to have so many skills that you can work just about anywhere.”

Fostering belonging

It takes some courage to act or design costumes for a play strangers and recruiters could be watching, especially as a student. Feeling connected to other students is important when battling those nerves.

Hines, who is also the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts’ associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion, said she works with students to find their community within the theater program.

Students can join producing companies such as the Black Theatre and Dance Collective, the Freedom Players or student-led The Underground to collaborate and connect.

“I think it’s about making people feel welcome and for people to feel invited,” Hines said.

Beeks said it’s important for incoming theater students to practice with classmates outside of classes. The university has large practice studios where students meet to run lines together.

“Our peers can get a completely different interpretation of our performance,” Beeks said. “Sometimes they can see things we don’t see.”

The most important thing Beeks wants incoming students to remember is that almost every student struggles with transitioning into college theater, and later, the job market. But she says that with some hard work and practice, new students can become comfortable in their talents.

“Theater is a very doubtful process,” Beeks said. “You’ve been around other talented people, and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, am I good enough to be here?’

“Just start with believing in yourself. It takes a lot of guts to get up in front of a class of 30 people and do a monologue, or sing a song or do anything. It’s not easy. It’s a lot of work.”

Correction: This story was updated to state that Hines is the associate dean of the college, not the department.

Young, close-knit and all about the drama: Detroit’s emerging theater talent · Outlier Media