[title of show] Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

[title of show]
YOUNG
YOUNG IN NEW YORK
Ahhh…to be young. Or, more specifically, to be young in New
York. Those four words, “young in New York” bring about one word
in the minds of those artists who have lived it – “bro-oke.” (Okay,
maybe that’s one and half words, but you get the point).
To be a young and struggling artist in New York City is a rite of
passage for many performers. Fresh-faced and eager from either
high school or various college theatre programs across the country,
young artists pour into the New York City area every year with
aspirations of stardom and riches. Surprisingly, most of these young
What do you do when you have none
of this? Read this section to find out!
people do not find themselves immediately on Broadway. Instead they find themselves making
tiny amounts of money to pay enormous bills. So, young New Yorkers need to be some of
the most creative people on the planet when it comes not just to their art, but to the fine art
of money management. So just how do you survive being young in New York? Read on and
you’ll garner a wealth of hard-earned wisdom.
How to stretch a buck when you’re a broke young artist in New York:
• Living Situation: Why be boring and have one roommate
when you can have seven! Sharing teeny, tiny apartment
spaces meant for a two-year-old child with seven other people
is what’s called economical in the Big Apple. Personal space
is so last week – instead view life with seven roomies as a
world of fun with exciting challenges to master, such as, can
you keep your toothbrush straight from everyone else’s? Can
you fall asleep with seven people doing shots five feet away?
Can you sense that one roommate is about to disappear with
everyone’s monthly rent? Can you convince the fire marshal
that one person’s bedroom is not “technically” a closet? Think
of the excitement!
Living Situation (Part 2):
• If you’re not adventurous enough to find seven roommates, or there are
not seven people on the planet that you like, instead, think Borough. That’s right – Borough. While
many outsiders (and some insiders) feel that Manhattan itself is the ONLY place to live, Queens,
Brooklyn, Staten Island and The Bronx aren’t horrible (well at least Queens and Brooklyn aren’t
horrible). Brooklyn and Queens are actually secretly ideal places to find huge, cheap (relative
term) apartments in beautiful, fun neighborhoods. Unfortunately, know that the rich hipsters will
eventually hear about whatever awesome borough neighborhood you’ve found, move in, jack up
the rents, and force you to find the next hot 'hood. Bottom line: while rents on Manhattan itself are
enough to make you pass out in the hallway outside the $3000 a month studio that’s 200 square
feet, the other boroughs aren’t quite as bad. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still astronomically
expensive compared to the rest of the country. But at least you won’t have to share your space
with seven other roommates. Hopefully, it’ll just be one or two.
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 16