Glory

Musical theater is all about the glory. This is the place where the Greek theatrical concept of spectacle gets a fabulous All-American makeover. What's more glorious than working in a field where emotions push you into a state where the only logical way to express them is to burst into song? If it's done right, your tender whispering of a love song can move the audience to tears.

It could also move the audience to tears for the wrong reasons, so please keep working on those vocal arrangements.

Unlike most of the other forms of artistic expression—which we happily coopted from Europe and Asia—the musical theater production is a purely American innovation. Who else could combine deep emotional feeling, a catchy tune, and the energy of a coordinated dance routine (not to mention billions of dollars) besides the USA?

There's a reason most of this is based in New York City, arguably the entertainment center of the entire world—if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere (thanks Frankie). But it's up to you whether a shot at the big time in the Big Apple is worth all of those years you'll spend as small potatoes.