Wednesday, April 06, 2016
‘Wicked’ Path to Broadway
Your Performance Partners: Eating ramen noodles for frugal meals – on borrowed utensils. Daily six-mile walks to midtown Manhattan to save subway fare – uphill both ways! In his “starving artist” period in NYC, Matt Doebler cobbled together odd jobs like coaching singers for auditions or playing rehearsal piano for one-off shows. He considered himself fortunate for always finding musical work; he never waited tables.
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Oy. Living on ramen noodles and a 6-mile walk in order to avoid paying for subway fares-- the starving artist dream! In all seriousness, it's scary knowing that many of us who come out of theater walk this potential path of maybe needed two separate jobs; the job we want to be doing and then waiting tables on the side in order to supplement our other one. I think that Matt Doebler certainly got lucky in his Broadway career path, and I do think a lot of it has to come down to who you know. I've been told time and time again by those older and wiser than I that at a certain point, getting your dream job is the combination of being at the right place at the right time and connecting with those who are in the know. Like Doebler mentioned in his article, networking is almost key in the entertainment industry. A lot of your credibility comes from word of mouth and by recommendations-- those verbal contracts are as good as gold. I've gotten certain jobs just due to recommendations and I'm sure that they would not have come around if someone else hadn't put in a good word for me first. On the flip side, it does suck to know that because a field like theater is so network driven, if you don't know anyone and you're in a new city, it'll be a thousand times tougher to exhibit your abilities.
This story is basically the goal for most people who want to make it on Broadway. He had the right connections that got him to exactly where he wanted to be and his career just keeps growing from this one job. Connections are huge in theatre because it is such a small industry and most people know each other. It is extremely important to create good relationships with people because you never know where they will be in the future and how they can affect your life. People in theatre love to talk to each other especially about other artists. If someone really likes you, then there is a good chance that they will recommend you to their friends and coworkers. Once you get that first job it is very important to put your best foot forward and live up to that recommendation. The worst thing you can do is make the person regret hiring you and make whoever recommended you look bad. I hope I have a story like this one day.
The fact that someone's chances on getting a job so heavily relies on networks and connections is pretty daunting to me, especially because there is a good chance that I won't stay here in the US once I graduate. I'm not exactly sure if the theatre/entertainment circle works the same way in other places in the world (where everyone knows everyone and it's all about the networking), but I assume it would be pretty similar and since I am studying here in Pittsburgh, it's very difficult for me to make connections with people in entertainment industries overseas. I think this definitely puts me at a disadvantage. However, I do think the way Doebler interacts with other people also plays a big role in his career, whether he already had connections with people or not. Doebler always treats everyone nicely, which is so important because you never know what the person you meet can offer you in the future. Hopefully, during my time here I will learn not only the skills but also the ability to create strong networks.
It is always so interesting to hear stories from people working on Broadway about how they got their current jobs or how they started on Broadway, since the majority of the time, it has something to do with connections. I attended a stage management workshop when I initially became interested in pursuing theatre, and it was led by two stage managers working at Wicked. I remember one of them, who was an ASM, discussed her landing the job at Wicked. She said that it was entirely because she had a friend at Wicked who knew of an ASM opening and called her in for the position. Everyone goes on and on about how important connections and networking are in this industry, but they are so so ridiculously crucial to one's potential success. Matt Doebler's story is really nice and inspiring, but there are a thousand others just like it for virtually everyone working on Broadway.
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