TheatreArtLife: Life on the road. The subject matter alone evokes strong reactions. If you have ever spent a great length on the tour, you have surely heard other non-thespian types gasp in horror at the lifestyle. “I don’t know how you do it” is always a good one. “I could never live out of a suitcase” is another trusty response. “You have cooked on an electric burner in your hotel room?” Well, one can not live on late night bar food alone. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
4 comments:
Although this article, at a basic level, is interesting, it really does lack substance. Suggesting that finding healthy foods will be hard, and to look up grocers in the areas, is not really a helpful tip. I would have loved to have heard about favorite meals they cooked. The author mentioned using a portable stove in the hotel room, okay, what did they eat? Those are the kind of things I would prefer to hear about than just setting a goal and stick to it. I think this kind of article would also be more interesting if the author told stories about the time they tried to sneak shampoo through airport security or something to that effect. I want to hear about what was the one item they brought that saved their lives on the road, and that may have been the portable stove, but I wouldn’t know because this article lacked that kind of story.
What an interesting advice article. I never thought about life on the road before coming to Carnegie Mellon. I grew up in New York so my idea of success within the theatre world had always been Broadway. Touring seems to have a lot of pros and cons as this article digests and dissects. In my personal opinion I think being a roadie could be a recommended experience because it’s an awesome opportunity to explore the world and be in a fast-paced professional environment, however, I do think that I would not say no to the experience, however, I don’t think being a roadie is a job that provides stability or consistency. I know that the theatre world barely provides those two attributes when people are not on tour, but touring especially. On tour, life is never boring and the constant stream of new environments and places is pretty endless, but it’s not something I can imagine myself doing for an extended period of time.
This article is highly helpful in my opinion. For most college grads, jumping on a tour and living on the road for months on end weirdly sounds ideal, you're not paying for any hotels, minimal meals, and you're also being paid while you're at it. The article does a good job of pointing out the flaws that often times stray people away after doing a tour or two, as it doesn't sugarcoat but also doesn't exactly sound like the worst thing in the world, such as the food situation. Personally, I think I'd be able to handle eating rather badly for half a year or so while on a tour of some sort, it's all up to people's personal interpretation. The experience of living a tour lifestyle is something that i think that most people in the theater business really cherish and value, it's definitely a time where people make some of the most discoveries about themselves and their craft. Most importantly, the article points out that like any experience, tours and contracts don't last forever.
This could not be a more accurate and consist article on the subject of entertainment touring. I like that this article covers to from all points of view. There articles on the subject of living on the road is usually told from only one perspective. Whether that be as the tech or the performer, but this list of pros and cons apply to anyone who travels for a living let alone touring for a living. I really wish I had these tips before I started to tour. I missed out on so many hotel and frequent flyer miles and points. I couldn’t add much but I would add look for airbnb homes as an alternative to hotels. This may require that you make sure in your contract you can get ‘buy out’ of you hotels. Just meaning you have the option of not using the provided hotel and you get the money they would have used for the hotel to us for yourself. Totally worth it. Kitchens bedroom and living rooms, and a lot go the time you can get better deals.
Post a Comment