How Difficult Is It To Balance A Broadway Show and Personal Life?- Page 2

[imafantu]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 3:07am

Felicia Fields- she didn't leave a young child. if you look at the post tony awards pictures (of TCP afterparty) you'll see the "young child" she left behind. I think she was or is going to be a senior in high school...so not so dependant on mom's hands on guidance anymore.

[EganFan2]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 7:24am

It seems like that has the potential to be so stifling. But I guess you can let it out on stage.

[Katecab99]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 8:15am

but hey - if you want a career on stage, BIG sacrifices have to be made. the work is so demanding that i doubt there is a way to evenly balance of the two.

[Mamie]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 9:22am

I think Greg Jbara's reasons for leaving NY at this time fall right under this topic. He admittedly LOVES the theatre and loves NY. But he and his wife decided before he ever took the job with DRS that they would go back to California this summer. The reason couldn't have been any better - their oldest son would be starting first grade this year and they didn't want to move him once school started. As much as he loved it here, Greg said he probably wouldn't be back for another 15 years. (There's a younger son who'll be entering school in a couple of years.)

[kelleymd]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 9:43am

Every career that has a big payoff, whether is it money, prestige or exclusivity, comes with a lot of pain. The pain might be in the schedule, the stress, the training or any number of things. Being a Broadway actor is a coveted position and like any coveted position, it comes with lots of pain and sacrifice. If it didn't, we all wouldn't be obsessed with it- it would just be another job. I can say that I can understand the "pain" of having to be "on" 100% of the time. Just like there is no opportunity for a bad day/off day for me (ER doctor), there is no opportunity to just screw off for a performance without big consequences. I admire the hell out of Broadway performers and I think the stress of performing (I did theater for a long time) prepared me for the stress of my current job! Rock on, all you dancers, actors, singers and performers out there!

[kerrylongphoto]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 1:24pm

who is it that ripped cerveris' heart out??

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 2:11pm

I guess Americans will complain no matter how good they get it. This topic should have about how difficult it is to actually get work and how to have an actual life when you can't ever get work.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 4:11pm

"And, as much as I lust after Michael Cerveris, I agree that his lonely single guy routine is a complete ruse. That guy isn't crying into his beer and lamenting his lack of girlfriends or a social life. The guy gets along juuuuust fine."

You know has it ever occured to people that Michael Cerveris says things like that because he WANTS his privacy and DOESN'T want to talk about who he is/isn't dating.

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 4:40pm

Well, writing an album about a woman who dumped him, then discussing the break up on his website and in interviews isn't exactly keeping his private life private. We're not discussing his sexual predilictions or sexual history. And, please, read a couple of the blogs of the girls on his Myspace page. Privacy, shmivacy. He can't be all that concerned about people knowing his business when some of those girls blatntly admit to having affairs with him and that stuff is left up there for people to read.

He used to go out with Beth Osterosky, Howard Stern's girlfriend. Whether or not she's the woman he wrote Dog Eared about, I have no idea. But she seems really sweet and they both have a thing for dogs. She's the spokesperson for the North Shore animal league. Howard made a brief mention of it on his show around Tony time.

Finally......lighten up. You're not his keeper or his publicist. You're a fan like the rest of us. I find your constant lecturing and defense of him annoying.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 8/7/06 at 4:51pm

guess Americans will complain no matter how good they get it. This topic should have about how difficult it is to actually get work and how to have an actual life when you can't ever get work.

*rolls eyes* of course. Never mind that statistically, American workers have longer hours and far less vacation time than any other country in the world, except for Japan. We're all just a bunch of whiners. Right.

Any job where you have a nontraditional schedule--be it Broadway, or driving a cab or being a reporter on the graveyard shift--can be a challenge. It isn't the hours necessarily; it's the fact that you're moving in a completely opposite direction as everyone else and you can find it really difficult to do things outside of work. Your friends work 9-5? Forget about ever seeing them. Want to date? Let's hope your SO can pick you up at 11 at night or take off work to see you. Kids? Well, maybe you can be there when they get home from school, but you'll likely be running out the door before dinnertime. Parties? Kiss them goodbye unless they're after hours.

Also, that 'you work for only 28 hours' isn't really true. Don't forget put-in rehearsals; photo shoots; all the promotional activities; all the voice classes, dance classes, working out and other maitenance they have to do to stay in shape to keep their jobs. A lot of B'way folks do voice-overs, industrials, etc. during the day. Not to mention that since most people aren't blessed to be in long-running shows, they also spend a lot of those daytime hours auditioning for the next gig.

Updated On: 8/7/06 at 04:51 PM

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 8/8/06 at 2:53am

He doesn't exactly have any say what other people write about him on their blogs and this website. I've never claimed to be anything BUT a fan of his. Something I am quite proud of. But it just so happens I stand behind every single thing I say about him (which is always consistant). You can't really judge a person until you know first hand what they've gone through and where they've come from. And speculating just starts a gigantic pile of unecissary rumors that may/may not be true but can hurt whether you meant it to or not. If your definition of "lightening up" means I should participate in your gossip, no thanks. I'd rather not be a part of that. I'm happy just being a plain ol'e greatful and respectful fan.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/8/06 at 3:07am

My mom took yoga classes for some time with a woman who did several tours of big-name shows back in the late '80s. She was fairly young then, met her husband in one of those shows, and as soon as his contract was up, he wanted OUT of the biz and now works in software. He makes enough now where she can do the soccer mom thing without having to work. She'll do the occasional benefit or two (I believe she's still in Equity and maybe once a year will perform in a musical), but that's it.

She's said it was WAY too hard to perform and raise a family. She told my mom there were a lot of great shows she wanted to audition for, but family came first. She might go back later, after her kids are older.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/8/06 at 3:15am

I don't know, that's a personal choice, but I would never want my young child out of my sight in a city like Boston, NYC or Chicago.

What's the difference between having your child out of sight in a city as opposed to in a little suburb? Because the suburb *looks* pretty and serene from the outside and the city looks dirty and dangerous? Turn off the TV, hun, and enter the real world. Cities are just as safe and/or as dangerous as your little suburbs. Move out of Stepford, grow up, and look around.

Updated On: 8/8/06 at 03:15 AM

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 8/8/06 at 3:22am

Just wanted to add Sherie and Kurt to that list of people who have made it work. And a pregnant Sherie was in DRS rehearsals! Now THAT'S talent!

[Mamie]

Posted: 8/8/06 at 5:48am

I just wanted to point out the fact that Sherie has one little baby. When that child is school aged and Sherie's job takes her cross country, then you need to look again and see how she's handling it. It won't be so easy then.

Posted: 8/10/06 at 9:46am

When I interviewed Gwen Verdon many years ago, we discussed how you cannot balance a personal life if you are in the theater. She missed her mother's funeral because she was on Broadway.