All Episodes

April 24, 2023 18 mins

Once upon a time in New York City, my friends and I started a theatre company. We’d have readings and rehearsals at our apartments. We made molds for masks in my kitchen. We had snacks and drinks and a generally lovely time. We wrote our first fundraising letter at Yaffa Café in the East Village and rubbed one of their buddha statues’ bellies for luck. The bumps in the road were quickly smoothed and we threw some fun post show parties. We also made some pretty kick-ass magical shows, if I do say so myself.

It went like this for a few years but then issues of sustainability started to become more serious. There were the questions of how we could sustain the work as the city got more expensive – and the questions of sustainability in our personal lives, in the things we did for money, or our relationships got very loud. I could see that my career as a teaching artist was not going to be sustainable either so I decided I needed to go to grad school so I could bring myself and my company to the next level.

To keep reading Theatre Doesn't Have to Be Toxic visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.

This is Episode 351

Song - The Great God Money song by Dmitri Kalmar and Emily Rainbow Davis from The Great God Money created by Messenger Theatre Company

Image of a post show dinner with Messenger Theatre Company folks around 2003

To support this podcast:

Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review!

Rate it wherever you listen or via: https://ratethispodcast.com/strugglingartist

Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/

Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/

Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis

Or help me get to Crete on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis

or PayPal me: https://www.paypal.me/strugglingartist

Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd

Me on Mastodon - @erainbowd@podvibes.co

Me on Hive - @erainbowd

Instagram and Pinterest

Tell a friend!

Listen to The Dragoning here (it's my audio drama) and support via Ko-fi here: https://ko-fi.com/messengertheatrecompany

As ever, I am yours,

Emily Rainbow Davis

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Therapy Gecko

Therapy Gecko

An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.