The Vs. Studio Blog

“We read to know we’re not alone.” -William Nicholson, play Shadowlands

“In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson, essay Self-Reliance

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” -Albert Einstein

We all have that little voice in our heads. Those fleeting thoughts, feelings, observations, and questions.

We have them and move on. We’re busy. We’ve got other things to do.

But great artists don’t move on.

They get curious. They stay with the little voice. Turn it over. Interrogate it. Follow it wherever it leads. Eventually, they create something that makes the rest of us say, “Yes! I’ve thought that, too! I’m not alone.”

And we’re not.

Alone.

We all have that little voice.

Perhaps we just need to pay more attention to it.

“The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” -Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

“He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.” -James A. Michener

“Writing is what I do, for me that is where it is—where the vacation is, the fun is, the danger, the excitement.” -Toni Morrison

Just remember that at the end of the day, the process should be fun. For you and your collaborators.

And fun doesn’t mean easy.

Fun means something you really want to do. You’re focused. You flow. You have agency. You work hard to overcome obstacles. You enjoy solving problems. You’re striving for excellence.

All in service of manifesting this thing that’s in your head.

If you’ve lost that fun, that joy, that spark, ask yourself how you can get back to that.

If you can’t, then maybe it’s time to move on.

And find the next fun and worthwhile project.

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” -Bruce Lee

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” -Walt Disney

“Find a task you have been putting off or dragging through and not completing and just get it done… The relief and sense of completion is great for the mind.” -Jessica Hische

You don’t need more time.

You don’t need more research.

You don’t need more training.

You don’t need more motivation.

You have everything you need.

Just go complete something. The good energy derived from doing so will inspire you to go complete something else.

And so on and so on and so on…

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” -Jim Collins, book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t

“Spend less time trying to find motivation and more time making good habits the path of least resistance.” -James Clear

“For a man walking a thousand miles it is absolutely necessary to set aside his final goal and to say to himself each morning: ‘Today I will walk twenty-five miles to a resting place and sleep,’ and during each day’s journey reaching that resting place eclipses his ultimate goal and becomes his sole focus.” -Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

To be great, you just need to be pretty good. Every single day. Over and over again. For an inordinately long period of time.

True greatness lies in your ability to just show up no matter what, without fail, especially on the days you don’t feel like it.

Not as easy as it sounds. Yet also easy if you love the thing you’re trying to be great at.

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, then life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” -Langston Hughes

“Without dreams and goals there is no living, only merely existing, and that is not why we are here.” -Mark Twain

Instead of giving up on your dreams, why not just create new ones? Start fresh. Get excited again! And while you’re at it, make sure you also spend time dreaming about the process.

No dreams. No life.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes, don’t tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes, where’s your shame?
You’ve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me, but you can’t trace time -song “Changes” by David Bowie

“Change is the only constant in life…No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” -Heraclitus

I really wanna know
Oh, I really wanna know
Come on, tell me, who are you, you, you?
Oh, who are you? -song “Who Are You? by The Who

“Change requires letting a former version of yourself die. Therefore, maturity is a series of small funerals for the people you used to be.” -Mark Manson

You aren’t the same person you were yesterday, let alone ten years ago. Stop trying to chase down that version or live that person’s dream.

Who are you NOW? That’s all that matters.

Who you were yesterday is a sunk cost. Thank that person for the experience and move on.

Embrace the change.

“Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.” -G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

“Humor is an attitude, a survivor’s way of looking at life.” -Michael Shurtleff, Audition

What often separates sublime writing or acting from the ordinary is a sense of humor.

It’s also the key to a healthy marriage or really, any relationship.

Hard to maintain, especially when things aren’t going well.

But it’s everything.

Strive to find it in all you do, say and think. You and everyone around you will be better for it.

Speaking of theatre and fundraising and economics, another major reason why, just like Blanche Dubois, theatre will always rely on “the kindness of strangers” has to do with something called The Baumol Effect (also termed “Baumol’s Cost Disease”).

In fact, it might be the single most important economic concept for understanding nonprofit theatre.

Economists William Baumol and William Bowen developed the theory in the 1960s. Their central observation was that certain labor-intensive activities cannot achieve the productivity gains found in manufacturing and technology.

Consider a production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

In 1966, you needed actors, designers, technicians, stage managers and a theatre.

In 2026, you still need actors, designers, technicians, stage managers and a theatre.

You can’t make a production twice as productive simply by asking six people to do the work of twelve. Meanwhile, wages, benefits, insurance, facilities and other expenses have increased.

Theatre production costs rise with the broader economy, but theatre productivity cannot increase at the same rate.

This creates a structural funding gap.

What increasingly fills the gap?

You guessed it: The kindness of donors.

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” -Blanch Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

If you’re starting a theatre or just doing a one-off production, make no mistake, you will have to rely on the generosity of people to help make it happen.

Consider this statistic (according to Theatre Communications Group): In 1964, the average nonprofit theatre derived 85% of their revenues from earned income (i.e. subscriptions and single ticket sales) and 15% from contributed income (i.e. donations and grants). In 2024, it was 40% from earned income and 60% from contributed. (Some smaller nonprofit theaters report 20% earned and 80% contributed!)

That is a seismic shift.

Why did it occur?

There are several reasons including the decline in subscriptions, ticket prices not keeping up with production costs and audience levels still down 25% from pre pandemic levels, among others.

In your fundraising efforts, you should educate donors on this trend. Just like you know why you’re making your art, they need to know why they should fund your art.

P.S. – The below 3 part Freakonomics podcast is an excellent educational resource:

Part One (Episode 629): “How Is Live Theater Still Alive?”: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-is-live-theater-still-alive/

Part Two: (Episode 630): “On Broadway, Nobody Knows Nothing”: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/on-broadway-nobody-knows-nothing/

Part Three: (Episode 631): “Will 3 Summers of Lincoln Make it to Broadway?”: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/will-3-summers-of-lincoln-make-it-to-broadway/

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.” -Franz Kafka

Art is supposed to make you feel something.

That doesn’t mean it’s supposed to make you feel good.

A personal theatre story…

Years ago, I played “Bobby” in John Kolvenbach’s incredible play, On An Average Day, at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. Certainly a highlight of my acting life.

After one performance, I was catching up with some good friends who had come to see the show. Standing behind them was a rather large, intimidating-looking man. Big bushy hair, long thick beard…Intense.

He appeared to be going through something. Pacing back and forth, shaking his head, trying to compose himself.

After a few minutes, I asked him if he was okay.

He looked at me, choking back tears, and all he could say, over and over, was:

“Man, why’d you have to DO that? I don’t understand….Why’d you have to DO that to me? I don’t want to feel this shit…”

He kept trying to find the words, but couldn’t. Tears streamed down his face. Finally, he apologized and walked away.

My friends and I just stood there, stunned.

Later that night, I described the incident to a few people in the company, including our light board operator.

She said, “Yeah…that was my Dad. I invited him to the show….I’ve never seen him do that. Never seen him cry in my entire life.”

That night will forever stick with me.

Go make your art.

Go make them feel.