It’s a myth with real-life consequences, in terms of the low pay artists and theatre workers are often forced, or are willing, to take. There’s also a certain shame about it: Most of the artists who spoke for this story asked to remain anonymous. But there’s also a hard reality to it: None of our sources romanticized their poverty. “Money doesn’t buy happiness, but money does buy the absence of pressure, the absence of pain,” an anonymous director told me.
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This is a refreshingly vulnerable article. It is something that we all wonder, particularly those of us who've chosen to dedicate the next 4 years in it. I often wondered it as a young starry-eyed technician. It is truly sad that there is such a stigma around the "starving artist" and the fact that we continue to live by that standard. By no means are working artists poor, but the work and constant searching required of them is extremely taxing, definitely not for the faint of heart. I think it is incredibly brave and passionate to pursue art as a full time career. Unlike most people, the hour at work are actually not "work". The career path that I thought was the most interesting is the playwright. The idea of taking on such a plethora of jobs, inside and out of theatrical venues, is scary to me. It is so amazing though to see the inventive ways that theatre artists make their way with each year.
Every time I saw that they were still on their parents’ health insurance or phone plan it I cringed a bit. I appreciate their honesty, but it was definitely a reality check. One of the interviewed artists commented that working in your twenties is the worst, because the industry basically expects you to work for free. I’m definitely concerned about that. I wanted a school like Carnegie Mellon in part for the connections and better chance of finding a job in theater after graduation, but that does come with student loans that add extra pressure. I think my main takeaway from the article is that you can say no, and that for the sake of your health and sanity you have to figure out whether or not an opportunity will actually benefit you rather than just doing everything to try get ahead in your career. It is useful to actually see how their budgets actually work out rather than just having a vague idea of not having much money in the future.
This article was a nice reminder of why, unlike many people, I am never going to go do the "new innovative experimental theatre" or even Broadway because of the lack of money. Frankly, I do believe in the idea of money buying happiness and I wouldn't be happy making hardly any of the salaries on this list. That's part of why I am very interested in Higher-Level Commercial Theatre and even jobs outside of theatre but still in the entertainment industry (like higher-level management jobs in Film) or Event Management jobs. I will say though, I would be very interested to see this study replicated for Carnegie Mellon Drama graduates instead. Because I don't necessarily think, coming from the University that we are, we would face some of the struggles that other artists are facing with their B.A. in Theatre from a State University. This isn't meant to be a shortsighted thought but an honest assumption that we are graduating and ending up higher on the rung of positions at an earlier point in our career. I do know that I frequently have money on my mind and this article didn't really help my worries about living and having a terrible salary with a Career in Theatre.
This article and the landscape it paints plays perfectly into my anxieties about my future and that of my career in theatre. I am generally a level-headed person, although I have struggled with sever anxiety in my past, the only thing that really stresses me out anymore is the uncertainty of the future. Even applying to any university, let alone CMU, was a choice which I agonized over, on top of which I added the consideration of theatre as a viable career option. I am glad that I made the conscious choice to pursue a career in theater, a field and art form which I love, and I appreciate the privilege of going to one of the best schools in that field, which should allay some of the anxiety I feel. Nevertheless, in the full knowledge that this isn't healthy, I occasionally will fall into a cycle of re-evaluatin my choices in life, scrutinizing my decisions, and lamenting any mistakes I have made. Thankfully, these moments are few, or at least fewer than they were in high school.
A few weeks ago my mom texted me, telling me that she was taking care of a man at the hospital she works at who she learned through conversation was a scenic designer. When she told him that her daughter was studying to be a theater designer he replied with “scenic designers make all the money, don’t you worry, she’ll be rich!”. It made me laugh because this is not the reality that I have ever anticipated or expected. I am very lucky in that my family is financially stable enough to be able to send me to a school in which my career future is uncertain, and in which unpaid internships and low-paying assistant jobs are to be expected if not guaranteed. I understand that many people don’t have this privilege to be able to dive head first into a major that isn’t promising in its economic benefits. I was sad to read what the set designer said about theatrical designing in comparison to television (that theater pays so much less for so much more work), making it seem not very viable for long-term and raising a family. It’s clear to see that all of these people have worked very hard, but some have had more hardships and difficulties than others. I think the best thing we can do as artists and practitioners is take full advantage of the opportunities we’ve been given and appreciate what we have not as a given, but as a reality few have access to.
This article gives some really interesting incite into what you really need to live off of and what you can get doing this kind of work. i would be interested in seeing what alumni from Carnegie are making in relation to these anonymous workers. It would also be interesting to see the pay of people who jumped straight into the industry and those who went to school for it first. I wish there was a costume designer or costume worker but i can assume based off of the other workers that they make a reasonable living. Im also interested in how hard it is to get solid repeating work rather than freelancing. The pay differences in those fields would also be important to know. I went into this feild with realistic expectations. i dont expect to become rich and thats okay. If i can live comfortably and have the freedom to explore my art that is all i need.
Oh shit, I guess I am in theater school now. My past high school life has been hard in terms of really sitting down and thinking about what the hell I want to do with my life since I didn't want to be undecided forever or choose the wrong university for me. For me, I've held art extremely close to my heart for my entire life and theater became one of the most recent additions to this love. However, I come from an immigrant family as a 1st generation American and well shit, I guess this means I have to be THAT immigrant success story and can't be dirt poor anymore. So for a major chunk of my HS life, I was considering "better-paying" jobs such as medicine or law. Yeah well gee whiz, I wasn't interested at all in that shit so I chose to follow my heart. Although I'm not the first one in my family to go to college, I am the first to go to university, especially with admittance to a world renowned drama program. This article points out the fears that someone such as myself would have making this decisions and it's extremely reassuring to know that I'm not alone in my community and that there are plenty just like me. I share a similar ideology with Galen & the article believing that, I don't need to be rich to be happy but I do want to make enough where I can live without worrying that I might run out of cash or have flies coming out of my wallet every time I go to pay a bill. As a theater artist considering scenic design and looking at the scene designer part of the article makes me a little nervous but I just wish the best for my fellow classmates and I cause things ain't going so bad while at school. After all, if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life, am I right?
One of my worst fears when deciding what career path I wanted to choose for the rest of my life was that I was not going to be happy with the work I was doing. I had many conversations with many people about what I should do, and the answers all came back to theatre. This article did point out many fears that I have had, and still do have, about moving forward in this career. One of the main reasons I felt comfortable with pursuing this degree was the fact that I had the opportunity to go to a school as good as Carnegie Mellon. I am not sure I would still be on the same career path if I had not the college interview results that I did, because I simply would have been to scared to pursue the unknown. Keeping in mind that I am pursuing the thing that makes me most happy is a very reassuring fact. One of my professors said that if you are not absolutely happy with theatre, this is not for you and that you should find a better paying job. I just remembered that I was not following this path to make money, but to guarantee that I would be doing what makes me happy for the rest of my life.
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