Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2021 - 10

community. I made some great friends in
Zoom Alcoholics Anonymous meetings,
and I even started a run club. " Beyond introducing
her to new people, running has
helped Saxon cope with the lung damage
caused by the virus.
shutdown such as the " No More 10 out of
12s " working group.
Another
example is
the Costume
Collective Advocacy
The physical damage of a six-day, eightshows-a-week
schedule reveals itself
more slowly than a virus on the minds,
bodies, and temperaments of Broadway
workers; but even for those who escaped
COVID-19, the shutdown revealed the
persistent stress and burnout it causes.
Broadway's competitive labor market
conditions technicians to expect mandatory
overtime; accepting the job means
accepting Broadway's frenzied pace and
long, intense hours that leave little room
for leisure, wellness, or family relationships.
Succeeding means doing so with
enthusiasm and the veneer of making it
look easy. This is what gets your name
placed at the top of the list for the next
job. Even so, success on Broadway often
feels like luck. Before the shutdown, these
same technicians told me how lucky they
were to have landed their jobs, being in
the right place at the right time or connecting
with the right department heads.
They were grateful for the long hours,
only realizing their absolute exhaustion
with the complete disappearance of every
job for which they had trained.
Beyond its competitive nature, the intense,
irregular scheduling of theatrical
production work is also what preemptively
excludes so many from considering
it. The " No More 10 out of 12s " working
group (www.nomore10out0f12s.com)
has made significant progress during the
pandemic, hosting a series of online seminars
to discuss the " outdated, unsustainable,
and unethical " labor practices of
six-day work weeks and extended hours
during technical rehearsals. They have
collected data to show how the current
labor model puts workers' safety at risk
and disadvantages people of color, the
disabled, and caregivers. " By continuing
to uphold this structure, " they argue, " we
are literally forcing people out of this field
as well as barring entry to the next generation
of workers who can bring new life
to it. " In short, creating greater inclusivity
in the industry's backstage communities
means advocating for healthier, more humane
work conditions for everyone.
10 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | FALL 2021
Industry Coalition, which created
new connections between independent
costume businesses; both
groups model the type of grassroots
endeavor that encourages worker
strength through collective thinking
and advocacy (https://www.costume
industrycoalition.com). In this momentary,
mandatory pause, workers have the
ability to identify the circumstances that
benefitted some to the exclusion of others
and advocate for new resources to support
the new, more inclusive and diverse
workforce recruited into the positions left
by those who won't or can't return.
Broadway's
technicians have also
Kelly Saxon, a dresser for Diana the Musical. | Image
courtesy of Kelly Saxon.
" FINANCIALLY
IT SUCKS. I'VE
TAPPED INTO MY
ANNUITY TO PAY
BOTH MORTGAGE
AND RENT,
BECAUSE I'LL NEED
MY APARTMENT
WHEN I RETURN.
BUT IT'S BEEN
WORTH IT. I'VE
NEVER BEEN MORE
RESTED IN MY
LIFE. "
-Kelly Saxon, dresser
While evening and weekend performance
scheduling are a necessity to attract
audiences, workers might advocate
for more community child-care options,
off-hour health-care or other resources
identified through the types of collective
networks built during the pandemic
shown this type of creative thinking and
cohesion in helping one another find temporary
work during the shutdown. Givens
found work from one of her Frozen contacts
installing LED projection technology
on scenery being shipped to upcoming
international productions of Frozen in
London, Sydney, and Tokyo. Outside his
television studio work, Martin traveled
to Wilmington, Delaware, to work the
Democratic National Convention event
and again to Washington D.C., for the
U.S. Presidential Inauguration and the
COVID-19 Memorial Ceremony. Being
newer to Broadway employment, Mann
drew from contacts he developed as a
sound mixer at the Apollo Theatre and
skills as a music recording technician
and independent filmmaker.
" If there was any silver lining in the
pandemic, " he said, " it was giving me
time to work on other projects. " Mann
said he struggled less with feelings of
isolation and depression than many of
his colleagues because he remained
creatively engaged and occupied. " I just
hope I can get myself back up to speed,
you know, the Broadway grind of eight
shows a week, and 12- to 14-hour days
for tech. But I'll be alright. It's going to
take some time to get everybody back in
the flow, you know. 'Cause it's a rhythm
thing, the timing, you know? "
Work is a rhythm thing, a collective
endeavor that seems less like " work "
when performed with others who share
a collective interest. And Broadway's
technicans were far from the only workers
forced to adjust to a new daily " normal, "
with work practices that threw into
https://www.costume industrycoalition.com https://www.costume industrycoalition.com http://www.nomore10out0f12s.com
Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2021

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