#101 - Scott Barnhardt: The Worth of a College Degree

Dear Multi-hyphenate

“If I were king of the mountain and I got to say how all arts education was – I would actually say the idea of being curiously creative is key; testing out all the ideas and options.” – Scott Barnhardt

This is a wildly fun and informative podcast for artists of all ages – especially those looking into studying theatre in college. Here’s what you’ll find in this episode:

The college audition mindset

The falsehoods of being a “starving artist”

What is true about being a “starving artist”?

Lucrative ways of working in the theatre

Leaning into the type of artist you want to be known as

The worth of a college degree

SCOTT BARNHARDT is a musical theatre actor, theatre maker, writer, educator and Independent Education Consultant (IEC). He is also the owner and creator of The Creative College Journey, a bespoke approach to college guidance working exclusively with creative applicants (writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers)—helping families handle both the academic and artistic aspects of a college application with the goal to lower stress and increase clarity and enjoyment throughout the process. As a teacher and administrator, he most recently served as Lead Faculty for the Contemporary Musical Theatre + Film BFA program at Hussian College Los Angeles, and before that as the Director of Musical Theatre at the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). He is a graduate of Wagner College (BA, Theatre/Speech) and UCLA (MFA, Playwriting). His acting credits include the original Broadway cast of The Book of Mormon (Elder Harris/Elder Thomas, u/s Elder McKinley, Asst. Dance Captain) and the Deaf West Broadway Revival of Big River at Roundabout. Other NYC: Yank! (The Old Globe Workshop), Bye Bye Birdie (City Center Encores!). National tours: The Boy Friend directed by Julie Andrews, Deaf West's Big River, the Detroit company of White Christmas and the Japanese tour of Disney on Classic with the Tokyo Philharmonic. At OCSA, along with teaching audition prep and a class called Mind|Body|Voice, he directed the virtual production of Now. Here. This. (the first full-length musical to be shot and presented entirely during quarantine), Evita (in association with Musical Theatre West), the High School premiere of Jasper in Deadland, The Drowsy Chaperone, Xanadu, 9-to-5 (alongside Jessica Lea Patty). He was also seen in concert with students at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Coming Home with Krysta Rodriguez and Scott Barnhardt. Scott has taught workshops, master classes and built programming for UCLA, The Grammy Foundation, Professional School for the Arts, American Ballet Theatre, University of Michigan, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, MTCA of OC, Cal State Fullerton, Broadway Dreams, Broadway Classroom, International Thespian Festival, EdTA Professional Development, Florida Thespian Festival and The Performing Arts Project among others. Awards and grants include the 2004 Tony Honor (Big River), Grammy Citation for Best Cast Album (The Book of Mormon), Tim Robbins Playwriting Award, Sono Osato Scholarship, Caroline H. Newhouse Scholarship and the George Burns & Gracie Allen Fellowship in Comedy.

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