The TroopHR Podcast

Ep 30. Behind the Curtain: Managing Burnout & Building HR on Broadway with Manny Bejarano

• Season 2 • Episode 30

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Broadway may be dazzling under the lights, but what happens behind the curtain? In this episode, Taylor Bradley sits down with Manny Bejarano, a seasoned HR leader in the theater industry, to explore burnout in live performance, the evolving role of HR in arts organizations, and the unique challenges of managing talent both on and off stage.

Manny shares his experience working in Broadway and regional theater, highlighting why wellness, rest, and operational strategy are crucial for sustaining performers, crew, and administrative teams. From tech week marathons to the importance of cross-training in unionized environments, this conversation sheds light on the often-overlooked workforce behind the magic of live theater.

Whether you're in HR, the arts, or just love a peek behind the scenes, this episode is packed with insights on leadership, employee well-being, and the future of HR in creative industries.

For more conversations on HR leadership and workplace strategy, subscribe to The TroopHR Podcast and visit troophr.com.

Credits

TroopHR Founder: Tracy Avin

Show Producer: Nicole Fealey

Show Host: Taylor Bradley

Note: Transcripts generated by AI.



  That's part of the fun of life. You never know what's going to happen.  Welcome 

to the troop HR podcast. I'm your host Taylor Bradley. Today we're looking behind the curtain of Broadway. Literally. I'm joined by Manny Bellacrano, an HR leader in the theater industry to talk about something that affects all of us, no matter what our field, burnout.  In an industry where the mantra is, the show must go on, how do you create a culture that values rest and well being?

Manny shares how he's working to redefine talent management in live performance, ensuring that both the artist and backstage crew get the support they need to thrive. But before we dive into the strategies for preventing burnout, I first asked Manny to define what burnout means to him.  Burnout for me particularly, I think it in the industry in which I work is a work in HR for theater.

For Broadway, Off Rider, that's been my bread and butter over the last couple of years. I see burnout as overworked employees, overworked and not taking time for rest. I think I see that a lot, I think particularly in the industry, which I am, it's that mentality of the show must go on. And so that's where we see the burnout.

My first job in my career was a firefighter, a paramedic, and we had a saying that it was me, us, them. You have to take care of yourself. Oh, I love that. You have to take care of your team, and you have to take care of your team before you can take care of others, right? And  applies to Broadway is if they're not taking care of themselves, they can't take care of their cast.

They can't take care of the audience. And with that, you touched on one point that I think is really interesting. Uh, the show must go on. How do you get performers that, especially on Broadway, they have reached the pinnacle of their career. This is exceptionally important to them to take a break for a moment.

How do you approach that?  And Broadway, it's a bit different since there's a huge commercial shows. I see this a lot in the nonprofit Broadway area and in the off Broadway spaces, uh, take care of the, particularly the actors is really knowing when to take care of themselves and the lead and leaders like artistic leaders in those spaces, I think it's really  normalizing rest.

That is like what I try to do when I walk into these art spaces and theater spaces is really trying to normalize what rest looks like, not just for the actors, but for our stage hands for our stage crew and our administrative staff. I think a lot of times in the theater world, we forget about. Our administrative staff, I think it's really art focused, artist focused, and we're really focused on their wellbeing, but we also have to take care of the people in the back, which is that behind the scenes folks.

And I think it really is normalizing, you know, what rest looks, what's checking in five minutes before rehearsal. How are you doing? Do you, what do you need? And I think that's part of leadership in the theater space is normalizing those conversations a bit where, you know, within the theater arts sector, there's really never been HR only the last couple of years.

I think we've seen a lot more HR folks in the space. So it's a new concept in a way of normalizing rest. What is wellness look like? I think that's how I approach it. That's what I do when I go into spaces is try to normalize what rest looks like. And In that sort of context of the show must go on and it's checking in with tasks, it's checking in with our stage group, what do they need in order to take care of themselves? 

On the operations side of the house.  Uh, let's take a peek behind the curtain to use another pun here is if I'm one of the lead actors in this. Is there other actors that can swap in for me so I get a time out? How does that schedule, that staffing come together? Yeah, I think with any Broadway show, any off Broadway show, there's understudies, there's swings.

So when somebody isn't feeling well, there is backup plans. For folks to go on that. I think we see, I think understudies, I think swings are, are, are very important to the life lead of Broadway to theater because they really, when an actor goes out, they really cover that and they're so talented and they could step in and, and, and take on these roles that last, like at the last minute when somebody is out.

And I think that is what the system that is in place of how we're able to take care of them or there's. And I think on the back end, but it's the same with stage crew, it's having backup for a stage crew because they think we focus on the actors and the artists, but it takes a whole bunch of people to make a production go up.

And from an HR standpoint, it's really taking care of all the folks. And that includes not just our understudies and swings and our actors, but also our stage crew is how are we making sure that they have moments to take rest, to step away when they need to.  And for our listeners and for me. What is the differentiation between a swing and an understudy?

So understudies is usually for an understudy is specific role swings usually cover different tracks within. So there's different tracks. So I have friends who are in different shows and they may be an understudy for particular characters or they're a swing where they're covering different tracks, it's means different characters within the show. 

And throughout  the performance, I have been fortunate enough to at least see one is it looked like a marathon. What breaks do actors have throughout the show to ensure they're getting rest through the performance? Big thing we talk about within the theater space is like wellness. How are you taking care of yourself?

Cause the show will run like. They come in, they do the show, it's like a two, maybe three hour long show, it's how they take care of themselves before that and after. Are they getting the rest and actors particularly have their routine of how they take care of the voice, how they take care of their body is part of the job of being an actor.

And I think it's the same for our crews as well as how are they taking care of themselves outside of those. Three hours that the show is, I think it's the rest of the time is how they, is them focusing on their wellness and leaders in particularly in like regional theater and off Broadway, the leaders in those spaces and the HR leaders in those spaces is there to support.

And, and not just the actors, I really go back because I think there's always a lot of focus on the actors because they're the artists, but there needs to be more support for the back end folks, the people who are in the administrative, who are in our front of house staff, our ushers, like how are we taking care of them as well?

So that's a lot of what I did. When I look at burnout, I'm looking, trying to see how do we create wellness for all of those populations within our world.  I love that. And let's focus on the crew for a moment. You brought up that it sounds like some of them are cross trained. Now, my understanding is that many of these roles, including the actors, are unionized.

Yep. So are there certain things that you have to keep in mind when doing the cross training on who can cover who to provide them a relief? Yeah, I think we, they are unionized, particularly when you're looking at like our stage crew, there is a specific union. There's a union for wardrobe. There's a union for hair and makeup.

There's a stage crew lighting. There's multiple facets to the unions that support life theater. I think what we try to do is I think that the toughest time is tech. I think that is where we see the most burnout. It is long hours. That's a tradition of theater is tech week. So, and some of the spaces I've been in is how do we redefine what tech.

Looks like, how do we shorten the length of a length of the time of tech week, not doing 12 hour days for two weeks in a row. It's how do we build in systems to provide rest? So we're not burning people out during those tech weeks. And I think that's always going to be a challenge because I think in the theater, there's a lot of tradition.

There's a lot of ritual. This is how it's been done. So coming in and trying to approach it in a different way where we're more people centered rather than putting. The art above everything else. We have to remember, we have to take care of the people in order for the art to happen. And I think when we work with the union employees, it's really understanding from them.

What do they in the production, relooking out what a rehearsal schedule looks like? What does tech look like? What do load ins look like for the show and building in rest periods in their building and breaks. Making sure that they have what they need to take care of themselves to prevent that burnout.

And I think that's really something I encourage all arts leaders. And this is what they, I, they hear me talk about this all the time is like, we just have to just change the way we think. I think theater has been around a long time. There's ways of doing it, but we should always be trying to improve. And that has to start with us as leaders in those spaces of how do we create that environment for our union workers or the cast or everybody who's involved. 

Many of our listeners are in a variety of different industries, but what you're saying is also relevant when I think of doctors in residency, it was historically you needed to work 12, 16 hours a day to prove yourself, but then they recognized the quality of care you were providing started to suffer because what?

Squirrel is human. To recap for the listeners on the burnout piece. One piece that really resonated with me, Manny, was  what you're saying to us is a lot of burnout can actually be proactively controlled by taking steps to set up operations that scale, to make sure that there's awareness about certain aspects.

And so it's not necessarily being reactive to it because then it's a bit too late. And it does hamper the quality of the show if you're losing your top people or not being able to retain them. Now the other part about theater that I loved is that the show, to your point, wasn't just the actors, obviously, or the artists.

That's a critical piece. But it's the, I mean, Harry Potter heard, so of course I went to Curse Isle, right? Oh yeah, that shows great. That's a great show. What I loved about that show is it was the costume. It was the lighting. It was the sound effects. It was the usher that was, uh, taking care of making sure no one had their cell phone, but also making sure everyone had a great time. 

Can you just open up our eyes of what are some of the behind the scenes things that are making the show what it is? That we may not be paying attention to or aware of. A lot of people are like, they go see a show, like Harry Potter is a perfect example. It, there's so much to that show visually the stage craft in that show is amazing, but it takes so many people backstage to, to make that work.

It is everyone down to our wardrobe, to dressers who do the quick changes to all of the lighting folks, to. To the sound engineers, to the special effects artists, particularly on that show, because there's so many stage craft tricks in that show. And so I think we forget that there is a lot more people than just who's on stage that make these shows work.

And so when we're thinking about burnout, I go back to this again. It's thinking of those folks as well. How are we building systems, making sure we're taking care of those folks? Um, but it takes a lot of people to put on shows. I think particularly at the Broadway level, there's a lot of people behind the scenes.

Like I mentioned, all those positions, and that's what makes the show, you know, come to life. And even before it gets into production, the development of the show, it's, you know, when it's in a non commercial house like a, uh, uh, um, Uh, sorry, a nonprofit house, our nonprofit theater, there's a whole administration staff that supports that show to marketing, to development, to the facility staff, to the ushers that help support all of the people making power.

So there's a lot of people in the background at how these shows come to life. And I like that you bring that up. Cause I think sometimes we forget about that and we focus on just the actors when there's so many other people that make this.  Yes, it was an eye opening experience for me, anyone that's been to the Cursed Child, the moment that the lights go out and they use the time turner, just give me a wink. 

And for those that have no idea what I'm talking about, just go to a play. Now, I grew up in every Christmas we would go to in Cincinnati. There's, I might be a nonprofit or not. I'm not sure, but, uh, the Playhouse in the Park, it seems to be a regional theater. You, when it goes to regional theaters or some of these smaller productions you were talking about, how does the talent strategy change?

How do people maybe take on more roles? What does that look like? When you get to the smaller theaters like that is where we see the impact and I take the casting of the show out of it because a lot of those houses are equity houses. So they, they cast through New York actors, LA actors, but it's the other positions I feel that are, are the stage crews because it's, you're working with a small population where that regional theater is that come in and do the shows.

And I think when you're looking at building talent and you're looking to fill positions, there's so many specialized positions in the theater that you have to be really creative of how you bring in talent. And that's not just what's on stage, but that's even in the administrative staff. It's when you're looking at development, fundraising folks who know how to fundraise for regional theaters, who know how to go out and do that.

It's also our local one, or it is the union that we usually use. It's those stage hands who have those particular skills. And so when you work in HR in the regional theater and you're recruiting, it becomes challenging at times because you're, you have to look for such specific talent and skill. That is very niche market sometimes in a lot of these roles.

And so you get very creative when you're attracting talent and how you bring talent in to fill these positions, to fill these very specific positions.  And let's dive in a bit deeper on that when if I'm someone you're trying to recruit, what are some of the competitive edges or unique things that these regional theaters would try to do that Broadway may be easier to recruit for, but they got to work with what they got. 

I think some of the things I've noticed in working in regional theater as well is really trying to attract the right talent is creating an environment, a lot of. Theaters don't have HR departments. I'm just talking from my experience and when people are applying for jobs and they feel taken care of, and they go through the interview process and they see a job posting that is being inclusive, that is using very different language that they're not used to seeing in the theater space.

I think that alone draws people in. I think the way you interviewed the pathway a candidate has from the get go.  That the community is so small, everybody talks. So they're like, Oh, this is my experience here. It, that helps attract more talent. That helps keep talent. You'd have to look at those things in a particularly the culture and how you build that culture and you bring people into it that are used to the Norman theater, like this is how it's always been.

You're showing this is now there's a new way.  That we're actually centering people first, rather than just you.  And I think those are some of the tools that we've used to try to bring in talent on the regional, when I've worked in the regional.  So many of our listeners work in startups, right? Maybe in tech or healthcare, variety of different settings where  they.

Often here, we need to pay what Google's pay or something along those lines. And it's just like, we care. We don't have that type of budget,  but what you said is so important. Work with what you got. There's so many ways, just having an inclusive culture centric type job posting that reflects your company's values can really resonate with great candidates, having a good culture to begin with is also like deliver on what you tell people in the job description is a good step.

But there's a variety of ways aside from just the money, because that may be constrained from some people.  Now you get people in the door and let's continue to talk about the crew. I'm not sure what an entry level role is. I see the folks on the stage that are usually dressed in all black, moving all the pieces, and that to me looks like an incredibly challenging role.

I don't know if that's like your first role that you get in the company. What is an entry role? And then what does career growth look like for those individuals? That's a challenge actually, because I think in order to like the, what you're bringing up are those individuals and in all Blacks, the tech folks, a lot of them are union employees, and in order to, to join the union, you sort of have to build the skill and pay your dues and that kind of thing, and so a lot of the regional theaters I worked with, we Build apprenticeship programs to help build these skills and bring people in who maybe never worked in the theater before, but have such a strong interest in it.

How are we creating entry points for these folks who particularly when we're looking at like the union in stage hands, if they don't have any foot in the door with the union, let's say, how do we build pathways to build that skill, to get them to that place, to be able to join the union and be in those positions.

So that is. In some of the theaters I've worked out, it's really building the apprenticeship programs, opening those doors, going to trade schools, somebody who's at a trade school for a carpenter position, those skills transfer to set design, to stage hand. And so you get, you have to get creative with to what you were speaking to earlier.

It's using what you got. And so you get creative. And I know I've  had to recruit for those type of non union jobs that are stage hands that are our crew and it's being. Creative and going to trade schools because electrician got that, those skills transferred to lighting. And so you, that's a way to open pathways for folks to get into the theater.

And once they're there, it's really focusing and creating a career path to get them to those union positions so that they can build their career. And I think a lot of regional theaters are a great place for people to start building those skills. And in New York, it's like off Broadway. There's a lot of off Broadway theaters that aren't unionized where you don't have to be and you can go and you can build your skill.

And so in those spaces, it's like. How are we creating pathways to grow people in those? And I think in the theater, it's a little tricky because it's such a niche type of skill that you have to do a show, but I think where I'm working now in other places, it's, that's how we're thinking is let's creative of how we create pathways for people into this industry who may not have any experience in it, but have a passion. 

I really like what you said too about someone like Carpenter, that maybe they just want something new and never thought about this. It's such an interesting,  I don't know if I'd say career transition because it's based on their core set of skills, but it's opening new doors that they may not have thought of.

So I also think that poses a unique recruiting opportunity as well as going out and finding folks.  it comes to getting this type of talent.  Are there shortages that you're seeing in the industry right now in particular areas? Within theater, regardless of broader or regional, I think the pandemic really impacted live performance.

And we saw a lot of really great talent just leave the industry to pursue other avenues because theater was shut down. It had a huge impact on live theater, and I still even think now a lot of theaters are still trying to come back,  and we had a lot of talent leave the industry, and so now it's building that talent back up, trying to find those individuals to come back into this type of work.

And it's still a challenge. I, I think we're still trying to come back from it. A lot of the light theater got hit really hard. And so we had a lot of people leave the talent pool, I would say. And so what I'm noticing now is we're starting to see that come back. Um, but like, for instance, when you're hiring for like a director of production, there's only so many individuals like that out in the market.

And so the pull starts to shape. So you really are depending on. Going out and reaching out to folks who may have transferable skills, who maybe don't work in the theater, but they done productions for like movies, for TV, for events, like those skills are transferred. So this goes back to what you were talking about recruiting.

And so you got to get creative with the recruitment and really change your process to not just be like, Oh, they have to have work 10 years on Broadway. And this show is a production director. Well. If they've done this in film and TV, or they've done it for venues that have big events, that's the same.

It's the same. Those skills are still transferable, so it's really re looking at what those qualifications are, what those skills are. In order to continue to grow the pool that we saw shriek a bit after.  The non traditional candidates in particular in HR when I built teams have always been some of the best candidates and the best HR professionals that I've ever had is they bring in a unique new perspective.

You can make certainly diverse team by being open. To non traditional candidates and necessity is the father of invention. So when not enough candidates in the pool, you got to open up the aperture a little bit. Now,  speaking of talent, I'd love to hear, how did you get into this role? What brought you to Broadway?

My background was in theater before I even got into HR. I went to school for theater. That's what I wanted to do. And young, in my early twenties, I was like, I need a career change because I need to pay rent basically. And I fell into HR and I loved doing HR, but I was doing it more for the, for the corporate service sector, not the nonprofit arts for a long time.

And then I. It was like, how do I still be in theater, but still do what I like, which is HR work. And I just happened to get a great opportunity at the Old Globe in San Diego and started HR there and learned from my boss there and really learned how to build HR for theater. And then out of there coming to New York, working at other theaters, like the public theater, like second stage and in really getting into doing HR  for nonprofit theater.

And what I found along this journey was that a lot of theaters just didn't have robust. HR department. So at a lot of the time, pretty much I am the one coming in, building those systems, building those processes. And that's what I find within theater in HR is that a lot of these regional theaters, it's somebody who maybe is working in finance or marketing and they're like, Hey, we need somebody to do HR and don't really think about the importance of the role of an HR leader within an organization.

I think I've gotten really lucky working at The Shed is that they recognize the importance of this role, that they need a CPO there to help build their culture. And The Shed has only been around for six years now. It is, it's still learning and still growing, but why I was very fortunate to work at places that theaters that really recognize the need for this.

And so that's my. Quick version of like my journey of how I went into nonprofit theater working in HR. And a lot of colleagues who are in the theater space is doing what I do. We have these, a lot of conversations around how unique it is to do theater, HR in the theater, because it hasn't really been robust.

There hasn't been a lot of HR folks working in the theater and now we're seeing that. And it's great and it's great, but we're usually coming in and building the system.  That's been a silver lining since 2020 is so many companies realize the value of having strong people teams and the importance that can have on culture.

So glad to see that you are setting the standard now in that industry for HR and to that point.  What is something that you learned along the way that you wish you would have known at the beginning when starting this journey to art and theater? When you work in theater, a lot of the time the pay isn't great.

You do it for the passion of the art. What I've learned is going into the theater is they know your worth, know the value you bring to the place. And you want to. Uh, early on, one of my old bosses used to always say, cause we deal with artists and artists are always very emotional and creative and they have all these ideas.

And they're like, you're the HR. We don't want to do that. We want to do this. And you always got to center. It was like, people are people always remember it. They are people. And, and even though they're, they're the artistic director and they have these great, there's still a person. So connect to them that way.

And that I think has served me so well working in the theater space is just reminding myself that because. I think you work with a lot of people, folks, and that's just not in theater. I think it's in other industries. It's all over in the, in it, but in theater, people are so passionate about the art, so passionate that sometimes they forget that they're, that they need to value the person that they need to be people first.

And so I work with a lot of leaders and artistic leaders in trying to shift that mindset of, yes, the art is important, but also the people are just as important because without them, it doesn't happen.  We don't have a show. So it's reminding them. And so that's some of the advice I got early on was really like remembering people are, and that has always centered me through all of this work, working in it. 

That's something that I took from being a paramedic into my career in HR is people are people and that is, that's a, just a consistent thing throughout all of the industries that we worked in. I love the passion around the talent. One thing that I've have to remind leaders sometimes, even in the tech industry is sometimes really highly talented people, there's going to have to be some level of eccentricity.

That you're going to have to tolerate because that's just highly talented people. And there's nothing wrong with that. I actually think it makes, makes things spicy sometimes, which is good.  Now, as we come in for a landing, I'm going to switch out some questions here for you. I'd love to talk shop for just a moment.

So first off, we'll probably, we'll start with an easy  pet peeves of audiences in a theater. Don't be on your phones. Put your bones down. You have a snow in front of you. Stop taxiing. That's not, that's not nice. That is my biggest pet peeve is going to the theater and people are texting. They pull out their phone in the middle of the theater and they're doing a very sneakily, like nobody.

I'm like, come on, we all can see the light. And I think that is my biggest pet peeve. I'm sorry, but that is my biggest pet peeve is put your phones away. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the moment.  I love it. What would be  a recommendation you would have? Someone's in New York. They've already seen the main ones that everyone talks about.

That's another one. What's happening right now. I think there's some good shows out there. I would recommend going and seeing maybe Happy Ending, a brand new musical with Darren Criss in it. It's a great show. I think there's a lot of good stuff right now I could recommend, but that's definitely one that I really was connected to.

I think also Operation Mincemeat just opened. It's a transfer from the West End. I highly recommend everybody, if you're in New York, see that show. It is brilliant. It is very well done. If you want a revival, go see Sunset Boulevard, the revival of Sunset Boulevard. It is pretty phenomenal. Those are my quick, hot takes of the shows right now that are on Broadway.

Go see those. I love it. I'm taking notes. We want to see them in the dark in like April. So  you're here in New York, come down to the shed. I'll show you the shed. We have a great exhibition in place. So, but those would be the shows I recommend. I would, I would recommend.  That is awesome. If  something goes awry, lights fail or something like that. 

Are the artists trained or do they know the variables of here's how we're going to switch and continue the show? What does that look like? Yeah, I think that there, there definitely, I think there's protocols in place, but that's part of life theater. Sometimes a set piece might not move, but if it ever is in the, in a spot where it may injure an actor, the show always is held until they can,  but sometimes their actors will ad lib or they will just.

Go with it. And that's part of the fun of life theater. You never know what's going to happen in stuff like that. I've been in shows where there's been mistakes and the act is go with it. And it actually makes for a really funny moment and a memorable moment in the show. But there are definitely safety protocols in place to make sure that folks, if they're going to get injured, the show is how we always want to make sure that people are taken care of.

But I've been in, I've seen shows where stuff is happening and it always leads to a great moment.  So final question for you, if people want to get connected with you, what would be the best way to do it? I would say LinkedIn. LinkedIn is how I connect with a lot of folks in our industry and HR.

Particularly, I folks want to, I love meeting people who are in the nonprofit sector, whether it's in the arts, whether it's in other parts, because I think it's very similar work in the HR that we do. But yeah, anybody can find me on LinkedIn. That's for, I mean, we,  Manny, thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Yes, of course. Thank you for having me. This has been fun.  Thank you for listening to this episode of the Troop HR podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, we encourage you to subscribe and leave a five star rating. If you would like to learn more about our community, please visit TroopHR. com. In the meantime, keep living the dream.