Versatility or Specialisation?

As a musical theatre performer it is often assumed that one needs to be a 'triple threat'. It is the performance buzz word of the last ten years and the idea that a performer working in a integrated medium should have integrated skills seems an obvious one. However, the more I look around at working professionals and what is required of people in the industry the less I am convinced that being a 'triple threat' is always relevant.

I know many successful musical theatre performers who can't dance, can't act, or can't sing. In fact I know some who can't do any of the above but that's another story. My point is that if it is possible to work without being a triple threat then why is it so desirable?

The answer that I seem to keep coming back to is that the more skills you have the more chance you have of getting a job doing something. This seems to be the logic that the majority of training institutions are using when creating their courses. If they give their students a wide enough variety of skills those students will have the ability to fit more brackets and therefore get more work.

I'm starting to believe that this approach could be fundamentally wrong. If this is the way we train our students what we end up with is a lot of generalists. In other words, performers who are quite good at everything but who excel at nothing. In such a competitive industry it is the things we excel at that get us the jobs. Who cares if you are a good singer and actor if you have been cut after the first round of auditions because you didn't stand out next to a group of phenomenal dancers?

There will always be some people who are 'triple threats' and who have talent and skill in all three disciplines in equal measure. It is therefore appropriate that there are some training institutions that cater to this type of performer. I do think, however, that we shouldn't be blinded into thinking that the triple threat mould is attainable or even desirable for every performer.

There are some people who cannot dance. They will never be able to dance and nor should they have to. There is enough musical theatre work out there for them without them having that skill. So why then should we waste their valuable time trying to turn them into a dancer during their all too short training? The answer I am starting to believe is that we shouldn't. Their time would be much better spent perfecting their natural talents of singing and acting.

My conclusion is that although being a triple threat performer seems most desirable it is by no means essential and training institutions should not feel bound to create versatile performers when specialised ones are just as likely to work.