Broadway Performers - Side Jobs

[mitchern]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 10:58am

When not doing shows and concerts - are they just living off of residuals from albums / tv work? Workshops? 

[Kad]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 11:02am

These days, real estate and personal training/fitness are very common side jobs. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 11:08am

Kad is correct.  Casey Garvin has been doing personal fitness training for many, many years - in between Broadway shows.  

[CapnHook]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 11:20am

Residuals from albums is not something you live off of. A performer lucky enough to be in an original cast that gets to record an album will get maybe 1 or 2 residual royalty checks per year, and those checks are diluted down if it’s a big cast. An average annual income from this is likely $1,000.

Residuals from TV shows…well, first you have to have gotten a TV gig. Then you have to be lucky that your show is on a type of contract that gets residuals. Let’s just say…you don’t live off of this either.

You also don’t live off of workshops.

In all three examples, the income is not regular and it is not enough.

I know of many performers who do voiceover work. They invest in recording equipment for their home (a tax write off, mind you) and do lots of odd jobs that way.

Yes, fitness and personal training.

Teaching.

Modeling.

I know of some who work for things like TaskRabbit and Wag and Uber.

Many regularly booked Broadway performers wisely save their money and know that in-between shows, they will dip into that while collecting unemployment.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 11:29am

Teaching/coaching is a big moneymaker for a lot of performers — which can also eventually help them pivot to professor roles. Even 2x Tony winner Victoria Clark has a robust slate of voice students who keep the lights on.

Nannying is another common side hustle.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 11:36am

Cameo

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[SteveSanders]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 11:45am

As someone who gets paid now and then to do keynote speeches at conferences, I've always been a bit surprised to not see many Broadway performers go that route on the side. Politicians, authors, and other entertainers certainly do.

A Broadway performer with a fair amount of public presence combined with a compelling message in a well-crafted presentation could probably do quite well at major conferences, easily getting $5K-$10K for a few hours work.

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/8/26 at 12:00pm

SteveSanders said: "A Broadway performer with a fair amount of public presence combined with a compelling message in a well-crafted presentation could probably do quite well at major conferences, easily getting $5K-$10K for a few hours work."

The operative phrase here is “a fair amount of public presence”. Many Broadway performers who have a higher profile are also usually the ones getting offers for TV/film.

On the speaking engagement front, though, Alton Fitzgerald White is a great example of this. He wrote his memoir after leaving The Lion King and has taken it on basically an extended book tour, doing corporate gigs, motivational speaking, etc. He also does a ton of voiceover work - he’s actually the voice of the current commercial for JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE.