Bobby Steggert, Actor Turned Therapist Q & A: Advice for Suffering Theater Artists

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 8/16/20 at 1:38pm

"The most devastating thing about this crisis for theater makers is that there is really nowhere to turn for alternative employment in live performance....The irony is that so many artists buy the line that they have “no real world skills” and yet they are the most creative, adaptive, and flexible people around. They are made for shifting and unexpected circumstances. They understand the vicissitudes of a highly inconsistent industry, which uniquely prepares them for a highly inconsistent time."

 

Bobby Steggert, Actor Turned Therapist Q & A: Advice for Suffering Theater Artists

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/16/20 at 2:28pm

I loved this article, thanks for sharing. What an incredible talent he is, I enjoyed him on stage every time I saw him. Congratulations to him for earning that degree and truly helping people during this terrible time in America. 

[EthelMae]

Posted: 8/17/20 at 12:59pm

Let me echo thanks for posting this interview. Mr. Steggert is so clear and positive about ways we can help ourselves get through this time and the thereafter.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/17/20 at 4:37pm

Thank you for posting this. I had the pleasure of interviewing Bobby three times for BWW. I found him to be intelligent and sensitive and a certain level of friendship developed between us.

I wish him well in his new career.

[nycward]

Posted: 8/19/20 at 6:35pm

I've been a therapist in private practice here in Manhattan for nearly twenty years. Prior to that I was a SDC stage director with about 60 Equity contracts on my resume. I went through a similar journey to Bobby Steggert and indeed found the Actors Fund to be of great help with making that transition. The performers that I work with are indeed struggling and I find his words to be quite thoughtful and relevant. These are indeed crazy times. All of you stay safe and hang in there. I send my best to you all. 

[ViniFromBrazil]

Posted: 8/19/20 at 8:22pm

I'm not an actor, but someone whose work has been affected terribly by the covid crisis, and I found this article to be very helpful and uplifting! Thank You!

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/20/20 at 12:18am

Great interview. I say this as an actor though with love for my fellow actors...98% of Actors' Equity members were unemployed at any given time BEFORE the pandemic. Actors typically will sometimes go a year or more without an acting gig, and will have to work another job during that time. Even highly successful actors often have a side hustle to actually pay their bills. I miss acting in plays too but this is just business as usual for most of us...

[JasonC3]

Posted: 9/21/24 at 8:27am

WSJ just published a first-person essay ("Flubbing My Lines on Broadway Changed My Life") on Steggert's experience during Mother and Sons that confirmed for him that he should leave the stage. Thought I'd post it here rather than start a new thread:

https://archive.li/GKQ88

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 11/4/24 at 5:57pm

Steggert will play John Singer Sargent on season 3 of The Gilded Age

https://deadline.com/2024/11/the-gilded-age-season-3-adds-six-to-cast-1236166795/

[round2]

Posted: 11/4/24 at 7:16pm

Fordham2015 said: "Steggert will play John Singer Sargent on season 3 of The Gilded Age

https://deadline.com/2024/11/the-gilded-age-season-3-adds-six-to-cast-1236166795/"

Happy to hear this. Hope he's doing well - and it would be great to see him acting again. His performance in YANK was one I'll never forget.