Eight Shows a Week: Investigating the Psychological Cost of a Musical Theatre Performance Career

Pursuing a career as a musical theatre performer is a dream for the thousands of students who undertake performing arts courses in the UK each year. However, the realities of vocally and physically demanding schedules are at odds with the glamorous stage scenes seen by audiences. This thesis investigates performers' experiences of sustaining a musical theatre performance career and the factors contributing to the psychological cost of performing. Recommendations were developed through knowledge exchange with industry partner organisations and professionals to improve performers' lives and inspire change within the musical theatre industry.
This study employed a two-phase approach. Phase One involved semi-structured interviews with 14 industry experts, highlighting areas for further consideration with performers. Phase Two comprised a survey with 105 respondents and semi-structured interviews with 15 UK-based professional musical theatre performers. Three pre-existing validated scales were used: the WHO-5 Well-being Index, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory.
Reflexive thematic analysis identified essential considerations for musical theatre performers: career calling; the show must not always go on; support, communication and inequities. All participants exhibited career calling, often experiencing it as a double-edged sword that positively and negatively impacted their well-being. Findings suggest that having a calling leaves performers vulnerable to excessive demands from the industry, illustrated by the high level of burnout across participants. Some view "the show must go on" as a unifying mantra for casts, while others see it as a toxic narrative imposed by management. Performers spoke of inequities in casting and the lack of change that diversity initiatives have afforded. Findings reveal the importance of all industry professionals dismantling stereotypes and working in solidarity with marginalised performers. Some are already leading positive change, but an industry-wide shift is needed, with communication at its core and where well-being support is accessible and equitable.