Education X 2
Dustin Dubreuil and Katie O'Toole are cast members of "We Will Rock You," the Queen musical at Paris Las Vegas. Dustin has his bachelor's degree; Katie has one college semester left but continues, even as a professional, to work toward graduation.
Dustin said, "I have a Bachelors in Musical Theatre from Fullerton College and it was a great college because they taught us to be generalists...They knew that everyone wasn't going to make it as a dancer or a singer or an actor so they were like, 'Okay. Let's make sure you have this education behind you. Let's set you up.'"
"For me, I realized that the career life span of a dancer, it can be very short. If you can have a finger in more than one pie at a time, then you can go to a vocal audition or an acting audition or a dance audition and you have that many more options to get jobs."
Katie, who will earn a degree in Musical Theatre with a minor in Dance, attended Wagner College in Staten Island. "My college is so supportive of me and what I'm doing. You know, we're trying to work out something that maybe with the professional credits I'm getting, can go toward a couple of credits that I need for my degree. You know, maybe writing a thesis on it or something."
Turning professional hasn't dimmed her education goal. In fact, an injury during her run with "Starlight Express" only confirmed the importance of her education. "Right now, I'm twenty-four and I'm still dancing well and my body's still in good condition. I did actually have knee surgery in 'Starlight' and it was kind of a big wake up call. I mean, this career isn't that long necessarily and you do want to have something to fall back on."
"College is an experience that you can't replace. I grew so much as a performer and I learned so much about the background of shows and dance and song. It really gave me a new look on theatre, gave me a new look on the profession."
"I think if I tried to like jump into the New York auditions and Broadway at eighteen, I think it might have been a little bit overwhelming. And a lot of the times in auditions and rehearsals, they throw out a lot of terms that I learned in college like, 'I want it to be more like Stephen Sondheim.' I didn't know who Stephen Sondheim was before college. 'Oh, you want it more like modern, more Twyla?' We had history of dance and I think knowing where it comes from, I think helps you dance it better."
Dustin maintains that perception alone can make a difference. "People think, 'Who are you? What have you done? What is your education?' Well, you know people do care so I'm glad I did it."
"It gave me a stronger background than people who got a job out of high school. Yeah, it's definitely helped me and it's going to help me later on if I want to direct or if I want to go back and teach. I'd love to go back and teach at my college, even if it's just in a small way."
Having something to fall back on may sound cliché, but it's a comfort nevertheless. As Katie said, "I would just love to be able to make a living and be successful at this for a long time, because what I've realized is that you can be employed and unemployed. You can be at the top of your career and a week later be out of work."
"My degree is my own personal goal. I just want it and I feel like if I have the degree, then after I've been performing for so long, then maybe I can go and teach and, yeah, teach and describe my ex-perience to other young people."
As Dustin said, "Just to reiterate: to try to think about what the career of just a dancer is, and what the career of just an actor is, and what the career of just a singer is, and if you can mix two or all three of those at any time, you're going to be much more employable at any given time." Even though both are thrilled to be working professionals, they are pleased to have alternatives for the future and credit the extra
security to education.