Dear Erda: I have been an avid reader of your column for the last few years. That said, I have a career dilemma and I thought I would seek your advice and guidance. I’m sure it’s a situation that you have heard before. Like many, I have hefty student loan debt (around $90K) from going to a private school. I was very naive in financing my education and picking a school.
After graduating, I performed in a show for almost a year. Now, I’m having trouble finding work and though it pains me to say it, I feel like I may need to find something else to do full time until I can pay off the loans. Is there a way I can perform and make a living at it while receiving a steady income? Does that exist? If not, what kind of jobs are out there in the music or theatre field/industry that I could do to make a decent living and pay off my debt so that I can eventually perform full time again? Jobs that are in music for which I have a passion? Jobs that I would be qualified for with just a bachelor’s in music performance?
I want to find a job that’s still in music since I have a degree in music that’s not even paid for yet. It just makes sense to me. Any wisdom from you on the matter would mean so much to me. Thank you.
—Desperate to Perform
Dear Desperate: The good news is that you’re young and you already have a year of performing under your belt straight out of undergrad, which is more than a lot of people can say! The bad news is . . . well, you already know the bad news. It’s highly unlikely that you’re going to pay off $90,000 in loans through performing, at least not in short enough order for it to do you any good. And in the meantime, that much debt can cripple your efforts to get your career off the ground.
You want a job that allows you to pay off your loans while working in a related field and still getting to do some performing. You want a job that’s not soul-sucking. A job like that is not going to be ready-made. You may have to do some poking around to find a situation that’s right for you. You mentioned a job for which you are qualified—well, what are your qualifications? What can you do besides sing?
It’s the eternal dilemma for performers: how to support themselves while they’re getting a career off the ground—and sometimes, even afterwards. Plenty of well known singers have sidelines that help support their performance careers, and even successful singers go through dry spells.
Many young singers go into music studies with stars in their eyes and not much of a plan. They’re graduating with a crippling amount of debt in student loans, which very, very few can expect to pay back from performing alone—and that doesn’t even cover supporting themselves and their families. To top it off, beginning a performance career is like starting a small business. You need capital to provide for continuing voice lessons, coachings, training programs, audition fees and travel, competitions, concert attire, scores, recordings, and more.
You also need time to start a career in performing. Getting that career going is a full-time job in and of itself. You need time to continue studying and training. You need time to job hunt, network, and rehearse when you do get a job. You need flexibility with your schedule to get out and audition, travel, rehearse, and perform, often weeks or months at a time. And of course, you need time to just live—do your laundry, go to the post office, sprawl in front of the TV, play with your pet, and enjoy your loved ones.
And thus we come to the Day Job Dilemma.
Jobs which provide steady, bigger paychecks, benefits, and some degree of stability tend to lack flexibility. Often, you’re required to be at a specific place during specific hours and days of the week—the typical 9-to-5 job. That doesn’t leave much time or energy for voice lessons, role study, or rehearsal. You might be able to swing it with an understanding boss, but even so, you’ll have to limit your performing to local venues or use all your personal days, vacation, and sick time for out-of-town gigs or auditions.
More flexible jobs, like temp or seasonal jobs, usually don’t provide a steady paycheck and will probably not pay as much. Freelance work, such as consulting or sales, can be much more profitable and flexible, but you’ll also spend time and money getting that work. You’ll essentially be running another small business.
There are no easy answers, especially in this economy. Permanent or long-term performing work that pays well and offers security exists, but it’s hard to get. These jobs are highly competitive, and often it takes an investment of time and money before you can land such a job. They’re also less flexible, so if you’re hoping to have an opera career on top of the steady paycheck, you’re going to need great negotiating skills and a boss who really likes you.
The more likely scenario, if you’re planning on a solo performing career, is that you could get started in a more permanent position and gradually work your way up to supporting yourself entirely on solo gigs. But this also takes creativity. The truth is, the vast majority of classical musicians wear a number of hats and cobble together performing careers that involve a variety of jobs.
With that in mind, this month and next month we’ll look at some ideas. Let’s start by discussing long-term, living-wage performance gigs.
Big Broadway shows, either bus-and-trucks (tours) or those in residence in big cities (New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, etc.) pay well, offer benefits, and help you get admitted to Equity (which can also help you get into AGMA). You won’t have much time off, but you do get personal days, vacation, and sick days, just like a 9-to-5 job. Some will even let you take leaves of absence. Once the show is up and running, you’ll have free time during the day for other pursuits. If you are careful with your living expenses, especially if you’re on a bus-and-truck and receiving a per diem, you can put aside quite a lot of money.
I have friends who have been touring with shows like The Phantom of the Opera and Porgy and Bess for 20 years—literally, their entire careers. Some of them manage to do other performing on the side, like my friend D.C. Anderson (www.DCAnderson.net), a former Met District Winner who performs his cabaret act late nights once the curtain comes down on “Phantom” and sometimes takes leaves of absence to do other shows. He also records his own CDs, is a composer/lyricist/producer, and a freelance photographer.
As a nice added benefit, once you’re “in the family,” so to speak, it’s a lot easier to continue getting hired for another such show or another tour of the same show. Big Broadway shows typically perform eight times a week, often with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday. You’ll have one “dark day” per week, usually Monday. If you’re doing a tour, you’ll have days off in between locations during which you may be able to fly home or take another short gig. The downside is that you’re tied to the same show, which you may do hundreds of times per year, and you will most likely be working on all holidays and weekends. Although you do get vacation, personal days, and sick days, a “day” equals one show, so if you’re out over a weekend with two matinees, you’ve used up four days.
One downside to the bus-and-truck circuit is that you may find yourself, essentially, homeless. It doesn’t make sense to pay rent or have a lot of stuff when you’re traveling all the time, and many people who choose this nomadic lifestyle rent a storage unit or a room in someone else’s apartment to leave a few belongings, rather than keep up a residence of their own. It can also be extremely difficult to maintain a relationship outside of your show.
An “A” house opera chorus—such as the Met Chorus, Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus, or San Francisco Opera Chorus—pays well, requires AGMA membership, and offers benefits, steady work, and a surprising amount of job security (thanks to the union). You are working with the biggest stars in the opera world, in beautiful productions with the highest-quality values. You’re in one spot, with variety from season to season and enough free time to maintain a voice studio or church job. You may even be able to do some outside performing off-season.
Positions are limited, highly competitive, and quite difficult to get, however. San Francisco has about 50 full-time choristers and about 40 supplemental choristers. The Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus has 48 full-time members, 12 “core supplemental” choristers, and about 50 additional supplemental choristers. The Met fields a full-time chorus of 80 with a supplemental chorus of 70 voices.
Supplemental choristers are hired for particular shows which have larger chorus requirements and usually have rights of first refusal on future stagings of the same production. It’s possible, at least with the Met, to be a regularly called supplemental chorister and to work your way into the regular chorus on the rare occasions when positions open up (usually someone has to die or retire for new positions to come available). Anywhere from 400 to 600 singers audition for these spots annually.
The Met Chorus website describes some of the qualities that make you a sought-after chorister: “Good qualities in a chorus singer are reliability, punctuality, vocal talent, linguistic ability, and a good memory.” Check company websites for information about their choruses and auditions. Here are a few to get you started:
metoperachorus.com
www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/auditions/chorus.aspx
www.lyricopera.org/about/auditions.aspx
sfopera.com/about/people/chorus.aspx
The Armed Services have several highly regarded professional choruses such as the Air Force Singing Sergeants, the U.S. Army Chorus, and the Navy Sea Chanters Chorus. As full members of the military, you’re eligible for full-time benefits (including the GI Bill, which you can use to pay for continuing education and job training) and pay. You’ll perform for foreign dignitaries, televised events, national baseball games, and troops all over the world—maybe even at the White House!
And you’ll be in good company. Metropolitan Opera tenor George Shirley was the first African American member of the Army Chorus. Steve Cramer, one of the current tenor vocalists, toured in the ensemble of a national tour of Les Misérables and covered Jean Valjean. And other current members include graduates of the nation’s top conservatories.
These are very competitive positions, however, and singers who win them must attend boot camp and become full members of the military. There is an age limit of 34, and some choruses (such as the Army Chorus) are all male. You must be physically fit. You could technically be posted in war zones and given nonsinging assignments.
www.navyband.navy.mil/sea_chanters.shtml
www.eur.army.mil/band/recruit/default.htm
www.usarmyband.com/jobs/vacancies.html
Cirque du Soleil auditions frequently and probably offers salaries similar to Broadway. Benefits include a medical plan with dental, a variety of health and wellness services, insurance, travel at the beginning and end of a contract, a free trip home once a year, lodging for tours, and more. Currently there are nine international tours and eight residential shows in the U.S., as well as one each in Japan and Macau. As a cast member, you’d get to travel and be part of a truly unique, high-tech show, filled with international artists from a variety of disciplines. But it is a show, with a strictly regulated and busy schedule—which may make it difficult to have relationships outside the infrastructure or to maintain a home base, just like with Broadway tours. Cirque du Soleil does hire classical singers, but they need to be proficient in a variety of musical styles and comfortable improvising. You can apply online here:
en.ext.casting.cirquedusoleil.com/ts2mmx__JobDetails?jobId=a0xA00000012d2VIAQ&tSource=
Cruise ships offer free room and board and a steady salary for attractive singers versatile enough to sing classical, Broadway, and pop creditably (staffing site salary quotes vary—one stated $1,600 to $2,900 monthly for singers). If you’re careful, you can get away with few if any on-board expenses. You’re responsible for “extras” such as Internet, phone cards, alcohol, and store snacks (most of which are discounted for crew members) and any sightseeing, souvenirs, and other expenses you might incur at ports of call. Laundry, hotel accommodations, and airfare are usually, but not always, paid for. There may be a crew gym, pool, and lounge. You get free travel to a variety of exciting international destinations and you’ll be working with colleagues of all different nationalities and have the opportunity to form lifelong friendships with people you might otherwise never have met. And there are discounts and visitors’ privileges for your family and friends.
Of course, there are also potential cons. If you get seasick easily, this isn’t the work for you—you’ll be sailing in all types of weather! You’ll need to be available to ship out for as long as four to eight months, sometimes on short notice, and you’re basically “on call” whenever you are on the ship. Your time on shore is of course subject to your work schedule. There may be four to eight weeks of unpaid “vacations” between cruise assignments.
You may or may not share a room, depending on your contract, and it will not be a large, luxurious guest suite. More likely, it will be a small, perhaps windowless cabin with up to three other roommates. Your roommates may or may not speak your language or share the same work schedule. Crew food quality may vary and will probably not be the same as what the guests are getting.
You’ll be away from your family for long periods of time, and on-board phone calls are quite expensive. Furthermore, there are strict rules and regulations—some workers have described them as “almost military.” You must be prepared to follow these if you want to have a good experience and be hired for future contracts—or even stay on the ship. Some broken rules result in immediate dismissal, meaning you find yourself put ashore wherever you happen to be.
For more resources on cruise ship entertaining, visit these websites:
www.proship.com
www.peggystill.com/Articles/Getting-a-Job-as-a-Cruise-Ship-Singer-or-Performer
www.cast-a-way.com
www.cruiseplacement.com
Theme parks such as Disney World, Six Flags, and Universal Studios also hire performers for a number of different positions. Disney hires not only for its theme parks but also cruises and specialty touring shows. It also offers weekly pay and benefits such as health insurance, sick leave, vacation pay, and retirement plans for full-time and some part-time positions. And there are a variety of additional benefits such as discounts, a credit union, wellness programs, and on-site childcare at selected locations. Disney has parks in Anaheim, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Paris; Shanghai; Tokyo; and Hong Kong.
Six Flags offers competitive pay, rewards and recognition programs, flexible scheduling, bonuses, part-time schedules, and free unlimited admission for employees and one friend. They have locations in or near San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore/Washington D.C., Springfield (Mass.), Jackson Township (N.J.), Lake George (N.Y.), San Antonio, and Dallas/Fort Worth—as well as Mexico City and La Ronde, Montréal.
Universal Studios, with locations in Orlando and Hollywood, Calif., offers a variety of benefits including medical coverage, paid time off, 401(k), childcare assistance, tuition, and free admission.
Most of these jobs can be applied for online, though you’ll still need to audition. There’s little salary information available via company websites, but sites like Salary.com cite an average theme park entertainer annual income as $31,266.
Online surveys and reviews show a high level of employee satisfaction for companies like Disney; however, the respondents were not all performers. Most people seem to enjoy the working atmosphere and the perks, such as free admission. You probably won’t be finding much of an outlet for your classical chops, however, and if you want to be in a revue or show, you’ll probably need to dance as well as sing and act. And, like all other steady performing jobs, the positions are competitive. You may have to start out as a substitute and work your way into a full-time position. Also, there are often many rules and regulations for working at a theme park. For more information about applying for theme park jobs, visit these sites:
sixflagsjobs.com/benefits-perks.html#actors
www.universalorlandojobs.com/universe-opportunities/entertainment
disneyauditions.com
Be sure to tune in next month for a look at other job opportunities for performers that don’t require a long-term contract.
