00:00Once I enter that stage the first time, it is like a moving train.
00:05We're in the show and it doesn't stop.
00:08My name is Amber Arlino.
00:10I'm starring as Marsha Murphy in A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical.
00:14And I'm a Broadway performer for a living.
00:24This is what cramming a show in your brain looks like.
00:27You've got missing pages, you've got notes written everywhere.
00:32It's just all my little post-its of things that I want to remember.
00:38This is all the back work, the character work that I was writing down
00:42to give beats to every point in the song.
00:46And my brain was the timeline of their relationship,
00:49so I was just like, there's so many scribbles and cross-outs
00:53and a million things that, and things change and evolve also
00:57as you're like doing a show, which is beautiful as well.
01:01Sometimes the things you go in with are not the things that stick and stay.
01:04I started working around 16 years old, and I've been doing it ever since.
01:09Because I'm going to be singing all day and all night,
01:12I just want to give myself a chance to warm up slowly and carefully
01:18so that I don't injure myself within the show.
01:22To be able to sustain yourself in these shows,
01:24you have to take care of yourself right.
01:25So I do vocal warm-ups in the shower, my neighbors love me.
01:38I also physically warm up.
01:40I try to get in about 15 to 20 minutes of cardio,
01:44whether that's doing exercises in my house, yoga,
01:48anything that just kind of wakes the body up
01:50so that I'm setting myself up for success singing-wise and dancing-wise.
01:56I'm just nice and loose so that I can come to the theater
01:59and I don't have to spend as much time warming up at the theater.
02:02One of the crazy parts they don't tell you about this job
02:05is that, one, you're always going to have hairspray in your hair.
02:08Your hair is always going to be pin-curled.
02:09It's going to be curly and crazy.
02:11The hair routine, good luck.
02:14Another thing is the makeup.
02:17Because we are wearing so much makeup,
02:19they give you makeup for some of these shows.
02:21I've started using my own makeup because the breakouts,
02:25the damage that your skin goes through,
02:28putting this much makeup on your face all the time,
02:31it's a lot.
02:32The work doesn't just start when I enter the building for the day.
02:38There really never is downtime.
02:41I'm still regularly in voice lessons.
02:43I'm taking dance classes.
02:44I'm doing every bit of training on the outside
02:47so that I can still make sure that I'm able to keep growing
02:50and being the best version of the performer I can be.
02:55So it never really stops, and the hustle is beyond.
03:01The journey to this career, it's so, it's unpredictable.
03:05It's up and down.
03:06I mean, some people book Broadway at 17 years old,
03:10fresh out of high school, and they just go straight to Broadway.
03:13I needed to cook a little bit longer.
03:15I needed to bake a little bit.
03:17I needed to experience traveling,
03:21and I actually really appreciated that,
03:23and it kind of made it more exciting
03:26when I did just get to finally go do Broadway.
03:29It's because I had been working and hustling so long
03:31and traveling to do shows,
03:33but everybody's journey is different.
03:35I toured from, like, 18 to 23 years old,
03:38and I spent a lot of my life on the road,
03:41hit every city in the U.S.
03:43When I was 23, I joined Hamilton Chicago,
03:48the original company of Hamilton Chicago.
03:50I ended up getting that job,
03:51so I opened the Chicago company,
03:53and then after a year of doing that show,
03:56I decided to switch over to being a swing,
03:59and I wanted to be a universal swing in particular
04:02because I knew that that was my chance
04:04to go to travel to the Broadway company
04:07so that I could have my Broadway debut.
04:09Throughout my career,
04:10I switched to a lot of different shows,
04:13playing different roles and ensemble members.
04:15Being in the ensemble of any show is a feat.
04:19It is difficult.
04:20It's hands down one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
04:22You never leave the stage.
04:23You are quick-changing.
04:25You are part of the show,
04:27the experience, the environment.
04:30Being in the ensemble is super challenging,
04:32but I feel like I've really built stamina
04:34with that.
04:35Now, stepping into a leading role,
04:37it's a different type of stamina you're building,
04:39and it's a different type of way
04:41that you have to take care of yourself.
04:43As performers, our body is our job.
04:46Like, how we take care of ourselves is huge.
04:49I'm steaming vocally to make sure
04:51that I'm okay to be able to sing
04:52in these theaters that are a little dusty.
04:55They're a little old, these Broadway theaters.
04:57I'm going to bed and making sure
04:58I'm getting my eight hours every night
05:00so that I can come in for a two-show day.
05:01I can wake up early, warm up my body,
05:04make sure that my joints, my muscles,
05:06everything is good to go
05:07so that I feel strong when I walk out on the stage.
05:10Good afternoon, everyone.
05:11The time is 1.13,
05:13which means we are almost at lift call,
05:15almost at our Cherry Cherry lift call for today.
05:18The stage is available.
05:19Please come on down.
05:20Lift call will begin promptly at 1.15.
05:23Because Marsha does a cute little lift in Cherry Cherry,
05:26the stage managers want to make sure
05:28that everything goes according to plan.
05:29So we go through a lift call before the show even starts
05:32just to make sure that we are ready
05:34when the show actually happens.
05:41Good job.
05:43As Marsha Murphy, this role really requires a lot of you.
05:48You are dancing, singing, and acting.
05:52I mean, you're not only just the scene work,
05:55there's so much to play off of and really dive into.
06:00Also, playing a person that really existed in the real world.
06:04You know, this is not just a character that is fictional
06:08that you can make up and play around with.
06:10This is a person that existed in real time
06:12that you are embodying this role.
06:15So making sure the scenes, the beats, the acting
06:19really comes through authentically.
06:22The actors' equity weekly minimum for actors is $2,600.43.
06:28Now, that is your starting rate.
06:30Although, if you are a principal,
06:32you can always negotiate higher, and most do,
06:36given the amount of work that they are doing in the show.
06:38Also, within the ensemble,
06:40if you are moving set pieces, extraordinary risk causes,
06:45there's things that throughout the show,
06:47if you're touching things, moving things,
06:49it also bumps your pay.
06:51So it really varies by show.
06:54I do find women in the industry struggle
06:57with maybe not getting paid as much as men.
07:01I also find that it is sometimes harder,
07:05it is harder for a woman to say no to things
07:09than it is for a man.
07:10Men sometimes, and based off of experiences that I've had,
07:14usually don't settle for things,
07:16whereas I notice some women,
07:19and even myself capable of doing these things,
07:22go, okay, that's enough.
07:24Or, okay, you know what?
07:25I can accept that.
07:27I won't go higher than that.
07:28I don't want to push.
07:29And coming into this next year of my life,
07:32I have made a very strong vow
07:34that I will constantly be knowing my worth,
07:38pushing for what I want,
07:39and being able to say no to certain things.
07:42So, yeah, I do think there is a dynamic in that way,
07:45and it's time to shred that boundary
07:50of doing that and accepting that.
07:53Let's do a show.
07:55It's a sensible Thursday.
07:58Hey, let's do a show.
07:59My favorite part of my job is,
08:00it's just like theater camp.
08:01It's a grown-up theater camp.
08:02You show up every day,
08:04you're with your best friends,
08:05you're messing around backstage.
08:07I mean, it is like a grown-up sleepover.
08:10And then we go, we leave the theater,
08:11and we can't wait to see each other
08:12like seven hours from now.
08:14So the fact that I get to come to work,
08:16play dress-up,
08:17I mean, my costumes in the show,
08:19I'm literally putting on some of the best dresses
08:22I'll ever wear.
08:23I get to sing songs,
08:25and at the end of the day,
08:26like, just being in this loving environment
08:28of theater kids.
08:30Have you ever grown up with theater kids?
08:32They're the coolest.
08:32I don't really enter until 20 minutes into the show
08:34for a beautiful noise,
08:36so I get to sit back here
08:37and just listen to my cast members
08:40and the energy and feel the audience
08:42before I even step on the stage.
08:43And then we're in the show.
08:45I'd say my advice for anyone
08:48that wants to be a Broadway performer for a living
08:51is it is really hard,
08:54but it is really rewarding.
08:55It requires a lot of you.
08:57It requires a lot of training.
08:59It requires you having a backbone.
09:00If it's something that you're passionate about
09:02and you want to do it,
09:04put everything that you have into doing it
09:07because if you do get the chance to do it,
09:11it is truly quite an amazing career.
09:17This is my favorite part of the theater.
09:19Here we go.
09:22It's me!
09:25This is how I knew I made it in New York City
09:28when you get your face plastered
09:29on the side of a Broadway theater.
09:31It doesn't matter.
09:32Okay.
09:33You
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