{"id":71,"date":"2010-03-03T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2010-03-03T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lordandrei.com\/blog\/?p=71"},"modified":"2010-03-02T23:59:13","modified_gmt":"2010-03-03T05:59:13","slug":"fq-would-you-go-into-theatre-if-you-make-the-same-money-as-you-do-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lordandrei.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/03\/fq-would-you-go-into-theatre-if-you-make-the-same-money-as-you-do-now\/","title":{"rendered":"FQ: Would you go into Theatre if you make the same money as you do now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first of several postings that are coming from the site Formspring<\/a>. Typically, these will be marked with a FQ at the beginning of the post title and maybe tagged.<\/p>\n

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Would you go into Theatre if you make the same money as you do now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to have to go at this from two angles. Currently, I am unemployed. So my income is not what it \u2018typically\u2019 is as a full-time, corporate, Apple Product, 3rd<\/sup>-party, software engineer. So right now, it actually wouldn\u2019t be too difficult to find a Theatre gig that pays comparable to what I\u2019m currently not making.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s assume that the Theatre gig is offering what I normally take in a year as an engineer. I suppose the best way to respond is ZOMFG HELL, YES. (With a dose of caveat.)<\/p>\n

I LOOOOOOUUUUURRRRVVVVVEEEE the theatre. And my highest love of theatre comes from working on a show as the artistic director. Oh, sure\u2026 I love to act too, but that\u2019s just a lark, not a passion.<\/p>\n

To me, directing is a combination of: (deep breath) artistic planner, sports coach, symphony conductor, cat herder, mentor, despot, chief technical officer, professor, tyrant, puppeteer, guru, art critic, amateur writer, and kid in a candy store. And you get to do all these things with everyone else\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n

The last taste of this that I had was about 2 \u00bd years ago, just after the birth of my son. I was to be artistic director on a semi-professional, touring musical production. I did a good deal of the casting and had to pull out when I cast my wife (not out of nepotism) in a role and then left nobody to watch the baby. Even after out of the production I was still able to add casting assistance when there were late emergencies by the company.<\/p>\n

Of course there is that caveat. The reality that I cannot return to theatre for at least another 2-3 years for just the reason listed above. Right now, my biggest concern is providing for my family and especially my child. Not just financially but as a present father. I want to be someone who\u2019s there to be close during his first formularize years. I figure once he\u2019s 6-7 he will have been raised with the maturity to spend evenings at the theatre with his dad and possibly even auditions for shows if he\u2019s interested.<\/p>\n

Personally, I wish money weren\u2019t the motivating force of this question. I do the things I do out of passion and love for the activity. I make money out of the desire to be able to stably provide for my family.<\/p>\n

Short and sweet, I hope it answers the question.<\/p>\n

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