[jfengel]

I am active in non-professional theater, and a lot of people come through my group with the hope of becoming professionals.

My advice to them is that if there is anything else they can do, do it. Being a professional actor is miserable. The odds are it will fail entirely; most of the remainder will barely make subsistence.

Much of what I do is to provide a place for people to be genuinely creative in ways that they couldn't afford to if their living depended on it. We get to take artistic chances that please us. You don't get that if your livelihood depends on it.

A few people have taken my advice and concluded that they needed to do this. Some have had minor successes. Good for them. Others tried and discovered that indeed, it was not fun and not good for them, and they left. None, fortunately, are starving, convinced that persistence is the key to success because they read it on a motivational poster.

[Geonode]

As a long time theatre professional, all theatre is non professional. Or rather, it's not a business, and therefore there's not an avenue to success.

All theatre, even (and especially) Broadway exists only because rich people funnel free money into it. Regionally as donors, and on Broadway as "investors" who almost never make a return.

It is a rich people's hobby and for those who do make a career out of it, it's lottery winning odds to be middling comfortable. One percent of one percent become well off.

You may also notice, as an audience member, that it is almost universally terrible entertainment. It just sort of shuffles on through the centuries with an occasional Hamilton and lots and lots of wealthy networking opportunities.

[pyuser583]

I read an interview with Francis Ford Coppola a while ago. He’s filthy rich.

He emphasized again and again he isn’t rich because of his movies. He made outside investments than turned out well.

He made it pretty clear any future movies he makes will he self-funded and at a loss.

So even Hollywood is at the mercy of donors.