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

"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

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.

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.

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...

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/