Going to Grad School to Start a Theatre Company?

[maeda]

I'm not sure if this has been asked before, and I'm sure my situation is a little unusual. I just graduated last month with a Bachelor's Degree in "Japanese Language, Literature and Culture," because I had initially planned to become a literary translator; but for a few years now, I've had this idea of starting a performance company specifically

Comments

[sarahkathleen]

What ladykathryn said. :) I'm getting my MPA with a concentration in nonprofit management, and I think what you want to do definitely fits in with a nonprofit, particularly because you want to work with people with disabilities. Part of the reason I went back to school was because I wanted to learn all of the fundraising & financial management skills that are really needed for nonprofits to be successful. There are a lot of people who have the passion for whatever they want their nonprofit to be about, but those people sometimes lack the business skills to keep their organization running.

My program has a full MPA or a certificate. If you don't want to go to school full time or aren't sure about the nonprofit thing, I'd suggest trying out a certificate program that would allow you to pursue the full degree if you like it. (I don't know where you are, but I go to school in Indianapolis, and it's a top rated program for nonprofit management. I'd be happy to tell you more about it specifically.)

The other thing I'd really suggest is that if you're serious about working with people with disabilities and you don't have a lot of experience (you didn't say, so I'm not sure) then you might actually want to intern somewhere that serves that type of client, rather than an arts organization. That would help you really understand the people you want to serve, and it would give you some good ideas about how to tailor the programs that you offer to make them accessible.

[maeda]

There are a lot of people who have the passion for whatever they want their nonprofit to be about, but those people sometimes lack the business skills to keep their organization running.

This!! This is what I'm most worried about. I know I've got the passion and the ideas for my nonprofit, but I don't have that shrewd business mind that people always talk about, and I don't have the skills to even start an organization, much less maintain it.

I only have experience working with people with developmental disabilities like me. But then, I've only helped run support groups for them. I'm a little worried that if I make it too broad and say "anyone with a disability!" I won't be able to help everyone fairly or equally, but I also don't want to exclude anyone. :(

I'd like to go back to school full-time for a MBM, and the college I just graduated from has a program for that (I'm in Maryland, by the way!) but I was wondering if I needed to do more than that while in grad school because it's going to be a performing arts organization. Or if an MBM isn't the best fit for what I want to do, you know?