<p>DaTripp - I completely agree the performing arts is a ridiculous way to make a living – it is now, always has been, and will continue to be so in the future. I, and others, have often encouraged students, if they can see themselves doing anything other than seeking a career in performing arts, to please, PLEASE go do that other thing. I agree that this is a tough, fragile business to be in the best of times, and can be more difficult in the times of transitions.
Alwaysamom, as to my level of naiveté – I know that in the last two years, Seaside Theatre in Daytona and Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, both long standing, respected LORT Theatres have closed their doors, Tennessee Repertory in Nashville went from a LORT to a LOA Theatre, Goodspeed nearly closed except for an eleventh hour rescue, this list could go on…..and this is in “supposed” good times. I know the stock market lost 500 point, then 700 points, I know credit is tough to get in the last month, I know upper level managers, exploiting deregulated markets, made millions of dollars granting loans to people who could not afford them, I know our government is pumping 15 billion dollars a month pursuing a sham/scam in the middle east. I am not naïve, I am old. Old enough to know that world seemed like it was in the direst of straights many times. People panic, people let their anxieties best them. When, in short order, there were race riots, anti-war riots, when John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated – it seemed like end was near – we survived. When we were on the brink of nuclear disaster with Russia over Cuban missiles, and countless brushes with submarines, and strategic bombers (most of which never make into books or movies) we stared Armageddon in the face and survived. When AIDS wiped out a generation of Broadway performers, we survived. When the dark ashes and rivers of tears filled the skies and streets of Manhattan on 9/11 – we still survived. History teaches us that that’s what people do – they find a way, they get by, they survive.
So to, and thankfully so, Broadway and performing arts in general survive. During the Great Depression, attendance at the theatres and movie houses hit record levels, during WWII our performers were considered psychological weapons to boost the morale of our country – performers could even get draft deferments or non-combat assignments to continue to perform. There is line in “A Chorus Line” something like, “I don’t want to hear that Broadway is dying – I just got here.” – That was in 1975 – seems we have survived that scare. Remember when planes were going to fall out of the sky and all manner of computer guided technology was going to fail as 1999 turned to 2000?
I appreciate your concern and the concern of all parents for their children’s future. I hope for the best for all students and young people. I am not a “Cockeyed Optimist”, I simply do believe in averages, and, on average, and given some time, this current crisis will pass. If things do go terribly wrong, what would you have us do? I say, if you were dumb enough to begin, you must stay true this glorious quest.
I like adages, they are often time-tested truths. This one was over the door leading from the locker room at my high school to the gym, “Do not revile those who try and fail; only those who fail to try.”</p>