Dan Gibson: BFA Music Theatre, Elon University. Graduated 2009
Q: What’s your official job title?
A: I work for a promotional company that promotes shows at TKTS in Times Square.
Q: When did you begin working?
A: May 2010
Q: Have you had other jobs in the district?
A: Nope
Q: Have you noticed any cultural, economic, etc. changes in the district?
A: Not really over the course of one year, because I have nothing to compare it to, but things change daily, weekly, monthly and seasonally. Times Square is the epicenter of the world, I’m convinced, because depending on what country has a holiday or time for vacation, people from that country are here and want to see Broadway. One week we have an influx of French citizens and the next week there’s a bunch of Canadians visiting. It’s really eye opening to see all the different cultures come together and walk around in the same space.
Q: What’s your favorite part of the district?
A: Ninth Avenue – Hell’s Kitchen has great local and cheap restaurants. That, or Shubert Alley at night after the shows get out.
Q: What would you change if you could about the district or like to see happen in the future?
A: I would like it to keep getting cleaner, have less homeless people/beggars and have more room for pedestrians.
Q: What’s it like to commute to the area?
A: For me it’s pretty easy, I take the N/Q from Astoria. Door to door it’s about 25-35 minutes, depending on the trains.
Q: What’s an interesting thing that you have witnessed or experienced in the district?
A: A homeless lady peeing on the sidewalk, celebrities passing through and a forest set up in Duffy Square. Yes, a forest with free shampoo sponsored by Aveda.
Q: How do you feel about working in such a tourist driven area?
A: It’s really frustrating sometimes because I answer a lot of the same questions, but I really enjoy helping people and it makes me proud to work in an industry where people really like the product and want to see shows.
Matthew Masten: BFA Music Theatre, Elon University. Graduated 2009.
Q: What’s your official job title?
A: I’m an assistant to a Broadway producer during the day, usher at an off-Broadway theatre at night.
Q: When did you begin working?
A: I began working at Roundabout Theatre at the Laura Pels Theatre about 4 months ago.
Q: Have you had other jobs in the district?
A: I’ve passed out flyers in the middle of Times Square for a Broadway show and worked at Playwrights Horizons subscription office (cold calling).
Q: Have you noticed any cultural, economic, etc. changes in the district?
A: Since I’ve been here, I haven’t noticed any distinct changes, other than my own economic growth.
Q: What’s your favorite part of the district?
A: I love that at work I’m only an avenue or two away from Hell’s Kitchen. It’s my favorite area in town. Great restaurants and the people are wonderful.
Q: What would you change if you could about the district or like to see happen in the future?
A: For Times Square (the district I spend over 10 hours a day in), I hope to see more mom & pop stores as opposed to huge corporations continuing to take over Manhattan.
Q: What’s it like to commute to the area?
A: My commute is painless. 20 minutes on the express train from my apartment.
Q: What’s an interesting thing that you have witnessed or experienced in the district?
A: People are surprisingly nicer that you would expect.
Q: How do you feel about working in such a tourist driven area?
A: There is always a lot of energy. My only qualm is that tourists walk too slowly.
Jonathan Root: Princeton/Rod in the Las Vegas, Broadway and Off-Broadway companies of Avenue Q. Was in The Toxic Avenger, did TONS of concerts, readings, workshops, and recordings of new musicals and plays in development. He has also worked in voiceover for 6 years and has done hundreds of commercials for radio and television.
Q: Is there something special about going to work amongst all of the theatres on Broadway, or did performing ever become just another job?
A: As an actor, walking through the theatre district and seeing all the marquees lit up should always get you excited. If it doesn’t, it might be time to think about another profession, because if you don’t LOVE it, the industry is just too hard to justify being in it. And on that, the answer to “does it ever become just a job?” is an unequivocal YES. Just like any other job, there are days where you don’t feel up to it, whether you’re sick, injured, didn’t sleep the night before or are just in a bad state of mind. The show must go on. You can’t just close up shop one night, you know?
Q: What have been some of your favorite jobs in the theatre district of NY (can be performance or other)?
A: I’ve been incredibly blessed in my New York career, I’ve never had to get a “survival job”. But the first time I walked out on a Broadway stage for a sold-out performance of Avenue Q at the Golden Theater was DEFINITELY one of my favorite moments of all time.
Q: When did you begin working as a performer?
A: The first professional acting job I had was as Lavatch in the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well. I was cast the week I graduated college.
Q: What was your first job in NYC? First job in the theatre district? (If different).
A: First job in NYC was a staged reading of a play at the (now mostly torn down) Provincetown Playhouse in the West Village, two weeks after I’d moved to the City.
Q: While working in the theatre district, did you noticed any cultural, economic, etc. changes?
A: I didn’t notice any changes, really, while doing shows. Midtown is the commercial center of New York, so it’s always going to look sparkly and bright. It’s what people from all over the world want to see when they come into Manhattan.
Q: What was your favorite part of the district?
A: The view of Times Square from the lounge at the Marriott Marquis.
Q: What is one thing you would change about the district if you could? Or, what would you like to see happen in the future?
A: Resurrect the theatres that have been either taken over by restaurants or just lost to disrepair.
Q: Did you live in the theatre district? If so, how was it living so close to your job? If not, what was it like to commute to the area almost every day?
A: Nope. I live close enough that I can walk to my theatre, but I think you need to have some space between “work” and “home”. Just because you love it doesn’t mean you need to be immersed in it 24/7.
Q: Can you share an interesting thing that you have witnessed or funny experience you had in the theatre district?
A: Standing outside with the Local 1 stagehands and all the other actors from all the other shows during the stagehands’ strike was pretty crazy. It was FREEZING! And we were just standing outside in the cold in front of our theatre instead of doing the show we’d been doing every night for the last year. Very surreal.
Q: How did you feel about working in such a tourist driven area?
A: You love tourists when you’re performing. When you’re just walking to and from work? Not so much. But hey, they’re the ones buying tickets, so you let it slide that they don’t know how to walk without staring up at the buildings and weaving from side to side. Also I never got sick of walking out of the theatre, signing Playbills for excited fans, then rounding the corner and nobody knowing or caring that I’d just done a performance. Only in New York.
Jonathan is on the right, playing the character of Rod in one of the songs from Avenue Q.
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