We recently connected with Brennan Urbi and have shared our conversation below.
Brennan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
Yes! The short answer is when I am working as an artist I am at my happiest. However I would be lying if I said I never thought about getting a “regular job”, in fact I think about it all the time. Living as an artist can be hard. For me it is the financial and job insecurity that can weigh heavy on me. Most recently I can back from a ,dare I say, life changing contract where me and 10 other actors toured around rural Montana and the surrounding states performing Shakespeare to underserved communities. We would build our own set, take care of our own costumes, perform two shakespeare plays in rep every other day, as well as build relationships with the people of these small towns that we performed in. It was the most fulfilling experience as an actor and human, I got to do some of the best work in the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and meet people who I should never have crossed paths with. Then the most beautiful and heartbreaking thing happens, your contract ends and you go home. Filled with stories, gratitude, and an open mind I come home to Chicago. After about 5 months away I was thrown back into the life of an unemployed actor in the city. I had no job to come back to and I had less money than when I left and pretty quickly the familiar panic starts to set in, how am I gonna afford to keep doing this. Fighting to not let this panic cloud my entire experience, I scramble to find a day job that’ll get me to the next gig. Auditions go by and every rejection starts to not only feel like a missed artistic opportunity but a missed pay check. The rejections hang heavier when they could keep you financially afloat. This is the harsher side of being an artist. The in-between gigs. The finding insurance, paying rent, paying the city when your car gets towed. This is the part I feel most people don’t talk about. Either people find it taboo to talk about financials, or they just can’t take the struggle and they find a steady job, or they find financial success in the business and the focus goes to that and not how they got there. I fear becoming jaded about the financial stability of the business. I fear the money stress will cloud my love for what I do. I think we can destigmatize talking openly about the lack of financial support that most artists deal with. Listen, we’ve all got bills, we’ve all got financial situations, and we all have different definitions of what comfortable living is. For me, when bouts of anger and stress and fear about financials come, I start to day dream about having a “regular job” with benefits and a salary and a 401k. But luckily those moments are fleeting. The pass as quickly as they come and I am soothed by how steady my passion and hunger for creating is. Money will come and go. The experiences and life I get to live stays with me. I’ve found it is absolutely essential for me to have a strong support network of friends and to lean into the artist lifestyle. It can be hard and messy, but there is no other way I’d rather spend my life than with the people I’ve met and creating the things I get to.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Recently I’ve been labeling myself as a Theatre Artists, which is mostly true. I get most of my work as a theatrical Actor and Director. However that is not where it stops. I’ve worked in film as an Actor, Director, Writer, Cinematographer and Producer. I have been behind the table as a Casting Associate and Light Designer. I also shoot dance films and edit trailers for theatre in film. Performing and Directing are my focus, but In order to stay busy in the industry I’ll branch out from time to time and collaborate where I can.
I started performing as a kid in Iowa, mainly community theatre shows with a few professional gigs peppered in. Then I moved to Chicago to get my BFA in Acting from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. Since then I have worked professionally in Chicago and regionally as an actor.
As an actor I love performing Shakespeare some of my favorite roles have been Caliban in The Tempest and Sir Toby Belch in 12th night. I recently performed in RENT at Porchlight Music Theatre and Hundred Days with Kokandy Productions. Next I’ll be heading out to Arkansas to do a play called Sanctuary City with Theatre squared.
As a Director I strive to tell stories that reflect my view from the center of the Venn Diagram, the overlapping of experience. Cultivating a team of curious artists creating fast paced, honest, and unrepeatable experiences that illuminate the similarities of humanity. Investigating the live element to reimagine the ways we tell and consume stories.
I am drawn to work that aims to not only change the way people think but changes the way we create. I am excited by curious individuals and artists who way “what if we did it like this instead”. I am inspired by people who are unafraid to do it differently.
For move info and to stay up to date check out my website www.brennanurbi.com
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Seek out and validate young voices. Promote NEW stories. Uplift minority voices. LISTEN. listen. listen. The creatives are there and the talent is strong all we have to do is listen to what they have to say.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Building a community of creatives. Fostering rooms of curiosity. I think being an artiest is all about connecting people to ideas. It’s about bringing people together and sharing ideas then creating something that can communicate those ideas to a larger audience. Then bringing in an audience to receive and form their own ideas. We create a whole network of people who are thinking and feeling together. That is a lasting bond. These are experiences that get imprinted into people, a best, forever or alternately for a few hours which is equally as amazing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brennanurbi.com
- Instagram: brennan_urbi
Image Credits
Collin Quinn Rice Chris Rejano Chris Freemont