We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nathaniel Shaw. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nathaniel below.

Nathaniel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I have been largely blessed with making a living as a theatre artist for most of my adult life. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t had to supplement that living with other things, but my primary income has been through the making of theatre and the leading of institutions devoted to the art form.

A big piece of that has just been hard work and persistence. I’m certainly not the most talented administrator, director, or performer, but in each phase of my career, I suspect I was trying as hard as anyone to make it happen. For the most part, I had the courage to knock on the next door, or to be knocking on many doors at the same time, and had the courage to walk through when they opened and do the work needed to succeed inside the next room.

Nathaniel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am currently the Producing Artistic Director for Firehouse Theatre, but I have been labeled myself many different things in my journey in the theatre. I majored in musical theatre and set off for New York City after undergrad to perform. I had a decent run as a actor/singer/dancer, playing many major and beloved roles from the musical theatre canon in regional theatres, but things did not really break for me as a New York actor. As I traveled around the country as a regional theatre performer, I began to think that leading a theatre would be well suited to my personality and temperament. I enjoyed taking “gigs”, but the idea of having an institution to steward and a community to serve seemed appealing. So, I started making decisions based on the idea of one day being the Artistic Director for a regional theatre. Alongside accumulating regional directing and choreography credits, I started a company in New York to “get my feet wet” as an AD. I worked as the New Play Director for a Broadway Producer, and had a stint as the Associate Choreographer for a Broadway show. These leadership opportunities, coupled with a growing creative resume positioned me to be candidate to leadership positions.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think about “ecosystem” a lot, actually, and use the word a lot when talking about whether or not the arts can thrive in a community. In most communities, I’m sure, and certainly in the one I work in, there is a long road to travel before I would call the ecosystem healthy. It largely comes back to the arts being underfunded, but I think it is a deeper, more pervasive problem in which many do not view the arts as an essential part of their community, or of they do believe it to be essential, they do not think it is their responsibility to participate or support it.

Art institutions are largely non-profit organizations that depend on participation and financial contributions to survive. It’s a two-way street…. The institutions and the mechanisms surrounding them have to do a better job convincing the community they are deserving of support and those who care about the arts have to support them at the level they can afford to.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A life in the arts is a difficult one. One of the challenges is being comfortable living such a vulnerable and exposed life. Your creativity, your heart, and your soul, reflected in the work you create of the decisions you make for your organization, is on full display in front of your community. I used to be PASSIONATELY invested at all times, but that makes the journey a rollercoaster with too many downs and hard turns. Working less from passion and more from the intellect and experience has allowed me to smooth out the ups and downs and sharp turns of an artistic life, at least a little bit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.firehousetheatre.org

Image Credits

Peter and the Starcatcher at Firehouse Theatre, Photograph by Bill Sigafoos.