As much as I hate it when people answer questions with questions, I think the answer to this one can best be found in the common answer to a few others. So I ask…

·        Why does it cost me $40 to buy 2” characters shoes, but $80 to buy 3” character shoes?

Is it reasonable to believe the materials, manufacturing, and distribution costs associated with an extra inch of heel to be twice as much? No. So why then am I charged twice as much? Because manufacturers and retailers know that, to look marketable at a professional dance audition, 2” heels are not enough; I need the 3” heels more than I do the 2”. I may purchase 2” heels for some other use, but I will buy 3” heels.

Manufacturers and retailers want to make as much money as possible from their products, so they price the products that I have to buy twice as high as the ones that I may or may not buy.

·        Why do the big dance studios pay their teachers a very small per-head fee, rather than a salary that the teacher can count on?

Because they don’t want to risk ever paying a teacher more than the studio is making on a given class, even though most classes would offer a high pay-out for the studio on a regular basis.

The studio owners want to make as much money as possible from their product, so they pay their teachers at a rate that ensures the studio the same percentage of profit regardless of how full the class is.

·        Why do private-studio acting and singing teachers charge so much money for both private and group lessons?

They have to. Between the cost of the studio space and the cost of marketing their classes, not to mention the cost of whatever supplies are needed, their over-head is sky high. Add to that the amount of risk they are undertaking that their potential demographic will never learn of their class offering because they as teachers can’t afford to spend enough on advertising, and that the people who do know about it won’t have either the time or the money to commit to such a class. It is quite probable that, having spent hundreds of dollars on fliers, postcards, and maybe even Backstage ads, these teachers won’t get the enrollment necessary to cover the costs, much less make them money-- which is the reason they set out to start a class to begin with.

Teachers want to make as much money as possible because this is supposed to be their “survival job”--the income source they use to survive on in between full-time performance jobs.

Hmmmmm. I see a pattern and I am sure you do too. The common denominator is that everybody is trying to make as much money as possible off of professional performers by providing them goods and services that are necessary to their careers. This is what happens in a production-for-profit system. The best way, then, to lower performer over-head and stabilize teacher wages is to form a business that exists to serve rather than exploit this community; the best way is to create a not-for-profit organization.

A not-for-profit business is just that--a business that gets money from donors as opposed to investors, whose purpose is to provide a service to a needy community instead of pursuing returns to investors. HOME seeks to do this by providing much needed, professional level, on-going skills maintenance and development training at a cost that a professional performer can afford, while providing and eliminating risk for a reasonable, stable, predictable wage to performers who teach. It is not possible to do this and simultaneously attempt to satisfy investors looking for returns on their investment. This is why HOME is not-for-profit.

In order to effectively achieve our mission, it is of the utmost importance that we have the space and equipment necessary to provide first-rate training. This space must have very large dance studios with style-specific flooring, high ceilings, break-resistant mirrors, and either pianos or sounds systems to accommodate the needs of the dancers who are training. The Stage Combat studio must have enough room for all pairs to practice choreography simultaneously, and must include specialized equipment such as mats for rolling and different kinds of stage weapons. Movement, Pilates, and yoga classes can use any of the spaces listed above, but require mats for individual use to protect hips, knees, and elbows from bruising or stress on the harder flooring and to reduce the risk of slipping. The studios used for voice and text work can be smaller and need not have any kind of special flooring. Voice and singing classes need pianos. Dialect, acting/audition technique classes, and some voice and singing classes need comfortable, durable folding chairs for easy set up and storage. All spaces need sound-proofing, proper lighting, ventilation, and climate control. In addition to the spaces where training takes place, performers need access to lockers, shower rooms, and healthy food service. All of this will be available to the general public.

Professional performers (those who have 8x10 headshots with attached resumes) may purchase a membership and get a substantial professional discount on the classes they need to take. This monthly membership also entitles them to use the Member’s Lounge, which contains a Café and Computer Station, a Business Center, and a Quiet Room. The Café and Computer Station allows Members to use the internet, to store and print resumes (on their user-unique Member page), and a place to sit and eat both food purchased on-site or food they have heated in the microwaves while they socialize or work. The Business Center allows Members access to inexpensive photo-copying, free “survival job” hunting and counseling on various business related topics (such as what kind of “survival job” to look for given their unique skill-set, how to make and stick to a budget, “survival job” skills training, how to get things free or cheaply, a housing board, a showcase info board, headshot and resume critiques, etc.). The Quiet Room is just that--a sound proofed room with comfy chairs and nap mats to allow Members a guaranteed quiet place to read or rest in between appointments.

This kind of facility will provide, under one roof, answers to many of the problems professional performers face in trying to balance working at their craft, working using their craft and paying the bills consistently. As life in New York City gets more expensive for everyone, performers who walk a financial tight-rope find that they have to make choices between career essentials. When unemployment is high, theater organizations receive less from their donors, forcing them to produce smaller-cast plays and in turn heightening the competition for paying performance jobs. This in turn puts more regularly paid performers out into “survival job” country, creating more competition for these jobs. Simultaneously, private companies and corporations that have been scaling back, cutting salaries, and slashing positions, begin to expect more and more for less and less. Temp jobs tend to go to laid-off industry people as opposed to performers in between jobs. As performers, everything tightens in on us all at the same time. Having a place we can go to find the free support we need to keep our heads above water, realistically priced classes we need to stay competitive as performers, and guaranteed wages is imperative and urgent.

An additional, but perhaps less obvious, financial benefit of Membership at HOME is the Quiet Room and Café. Money spent on something we don’t need just to have a place to get out of bad weather or to sit for an hour or two between appointments, accumulates exponentially. Not to mention that theater people often do not have cash on them--try to find a place in New York City where you can sit for an hour or two, spend less than five dollars, and use your credit card to pay for it. If you find one, please let me know where it is! Having a free place to sit or even nap without worrying about being mistaken for a homeless person is a huge relief. Add to that the Café where you can sit and eat your own food, warmed up in a free microwave, and you have now saved each performer literally hundreds of dollars per month.

Now for the obvious reasons for HOME. Have you ever said “if only there were more time in the day…”? I find myself saying it all the time. There are so many more classes I’d be able to take and so many more skills I could keep up on if only I didn’t have to run all over town in between each one. HOME provides both traditional performance classes for all levels and unique programming targeting skills needed to audition for various types of theater. Traditional performance classes include voice training for actors, movement for actors, stage combat, ballet, jazz dance, modern dance, theater dance, theater and rhythm tap, yoga, Pilates, strength training for dancers, scene study, dialects, singing and monologue preparation, Shakespeare technique, and improvisation. Unique programming includes ear-training for singers, vocal harmony, song and dance, cattle call dance technique, monologue and audition song walk-in work, basic acting, how to rehearse on your own, international theater, styles of comedy, clowning, original choreography, integrating sound movement and text, and vocal  warm-ups (for actors and singers separately). All of these classes are offered on an on-going basis and are also available to drop-ins. All classes are taught by working professionals (performers, directors, and choreographers), many of whom have appeared in Broadway/Off-Broadway shows, on National Tours, and in well-respected Regional Theaters. And all of this happens under one roof!

Besides flat out making life easier for performing artists, providing first rate professional training in (soon-to-be) state-of-the-art facilities, providing predictable wages, and eliminating financial risk for teachers, HOME equips its students to make the most educated decisions regarding their training ever to be available. HOME is building a web-site that will provide students with a detailed break-down of what will be taught in each and every class scheduled every day, enabling our students to decide daily for themselves which class best fits their personal goals. Additionally, each class will be repeated a minimum of three times in a six month “semester”, allowing students to choose to repeat a class or to catch a class they missed. This also saves students from spending money taking classes that they do not feel are useful to them. And Members will be able to track the classes they have taken on their own personal page.

While it’s clear that HOME benefits the theater community in a myriad of ways, you may be asking what HOME will do for community development. HOME will create almost 200 new jobs, and bring an average of 5,000 new consumers daily to the neighborhood in which it will find its home. For this reason, HOME would like to be located near the World Trade Center site to be a part of the re-development of the Downtown area, and to actively participate in bolstering the local economy.