(I penned this a couple days ago, but haven't been able to get in to my admin since then... Amazing how it will go down, just when I actually have a post... sheesh...)
Thankfully, I got a question the other day from Mookie about how to work in the tech theatre environment, and yet, not be dirt poor… (hey, I said my next post would be theatre related) I suppose I should warn everyone right now, that I don’t think there is a correct answer to this question as the exact method would vary somewhat based on where exactly you are in the world. The next issue is to define dirt poor… What is dirt poor?... To me dirt poor is not being able to live in a decent apartment, and pay your bills or buy food… Most stagehands I know never hit that level since they all have marketable skills that apply outside the theatre industry if things get real tight. (I for instance, have been known to do house renovations over summers when things are slow for my company.) Now, if the question is how to avoid being poor, without the dirt qualifier, the answer is more vague… For me, the answer was to get out of the regional theatre market and move into professional theatre, and then on to corporate production. While many areas will have a regional theatre, you mostly need to be near or in a “city” to find professional theatres, and to find work on corporate shows, you need to be in an area with one or more corporate headquarters, or at least major divisions of that corporation. ( my preference is for the pharmaceutical industry since the economy doesn’t seem to shake them up too much)
The main problem is that almost nobody can go straight in to the higher levels of production right out of school… Most people go through the summer-stock and regional scene while they learn what the real world is. Learning all the crap you have to deal with at those lower levels is invaluable later on…
There are other options certainly… There is touring, which has its own food chain you have to climb until you make a nice living… There is the film and video scene that is no different… There is also the academic road, where you move from undergrad, to grad school, to teaching without ever leaving the academic environment. Personally, I don’t support that as you just end up teaching from books without any real-world experience… Its far more common than you might think, and its part of the reason that people come out of college not knowing how to handle reality…
So the answer remains vague… The best answer is to learn everything you can from school, and work every chance you get to outside the theatre department in college… Naturally your grades end up suffering if you’re always working, but that experience will prepare you far better for reality unless you are going the academic route… The best way to avoid the poor house is to be damn good, and live in an area with lots of opportunities… (central