Why I'll Never Make It

Michael Kushner Embraces and Defends the Multi-Hyphenate Performing Artist

todayApril 10, 2023 12

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    Michael Kushner Embraces and Defends the Multi-Hyphenate Performing Artist #HeliumRadio


There was a study that came out the year before the pandemic called “Quantifying and Predicting Success in Show Business.” It starts off by saying that the unemployment rate for actors hovers around 90% —now, this was before Covid, when unemployment shot up to 100% for all actors. More recent statistics, however, show us bouncing back with about 85% of actors unemployed at any given time, while only 12.08% earn more than $1000 a year. Now, any actor who’s been around for a while has probably heard these doomsday numbers before. But if there’s one thing I hope that you’ve gathered from listening to this podcast, is that “making it” can mean many different things, and it can happen in any number of ways. This is why being a multi-hyphenate can be extremely beneficial, not only for us professionally but personally as well. Michael Kushner is an expert at multi-hyphenating—he’s producer, director, podcaster, actor, photographer, and educator. Earlier this year he added author to that list, when he released his first book titled How to Be a Multi-Hyphenate in the Theatre Business. It’s full of conversations, advice, and tips from his wonderful podcast called Dear Multi-Hyphenate. More importantly, though, he’s the partner, and soon to be husband of another former guest of this podcast, Remy Germinario, and so it’s great to bring Michael here to talk about his own career—the challenges he’s faced in figuring out its many paths and what it’s taught him about his own value and worth as an artist.  Timeline of this episode’s conversation, including the bonus segments: 03:17 – Michael and Patrick discuss his upcoming marriage  4:26 – Story #1: Almost making his New York City debut 14:07 – Story #2: The long-term effect of Covid on his life and work 20:16 – How Michael juggles all the various jobs he has  29:25 – Story #3: Why people think he’s given up acting (even though he hasn’t) 36:53 – Creating and producing his own one-man show 43:32 – What led him to write a book about being a multi-hyphenate 49:36 – Bonus Segment: Michael’s audition story for 13 the Musical on Broadway 53:49 – Bonus Segment: Michael answering the Final Five questions     Subscribe to WINMI If you wanna get the full conversations of previous and future episodes (which include Audition Stories and the Final Five questions) as well as get early access to these episodes without pesky promotions, then become a monthly or yearly subscriber to Why I’ll Never Make It. Though producing this podcast is rewarding in its own way, I’m essentially a one-man operation, and it is both costly and time-intensive to put together each episode. So for just $5-10/month you’ll not only support these podcasting efforts, but you’ll also get to access to these extended conversations and other bonus content. Your financial support of this podcast is greatly appreciated:

  • Subscribe as a WINMI Producer to get early access and bonus content  
  • Make a one-time Donation to support transcripts and podcast production
  • If you’d like to support, but have limited funds to do so, then contact me directly for easier access to the bonus content.

  Follow WINMI: Website | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube ———- Why I’ll Never Make It is an award-winning, Top 25 Theater Podcast hosted by Off-Broadway actor and singer Patrick Oliver Jones, and it is a production of WINMI Media, LLC. Background music in this episode by John Bartmann and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


Why I'll Never Make It

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