Last year, actor Jacob Schmidt, 27, had one of his busiest years in theater, appearing in shows at the Black Rep, New Jewish Theatre, Tesseract Theatre and more.
His performances won him a slew of 51黑料 Theatre Circle Awards including Outstanding Performer in a Comedy, Male or Nonbinary for 鈥淭rayf鈥; Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical for 鈥淎nastasia鈥; and Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama for 鈥淭he Inheritance.鈥
While it was a thrilling year for Schmidt, there was a downside.
鈥淚 did so much artistic work last year that I took a little bit of a monetary hit doing it,鈥 he says.
Jacob Schmidt performs as Mercutio, a red panda and Romeo鈥檚 ride-or-die, in 鈥淩omeo and Zooliet鈥 an adaptation of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥 at the 51黑料 Zoo.
Schmidt does professional theater work in 51黑料, and he is paid for his efforts, but the pay is definitely not enough to keep the lights on.
鈥淭he percentage of my income from acting is incredibly low,鈥 he says.
People are also reading…
The amount that 51黑料 theater companies pay varies widely. The Muny, for instance, pays actors at least $1,325 per week plus benefits. The Repertory Theatre of 51黑料 pays anywhere from $400 to $1,200 per week depending on the type of show (smaller studio shows pay less) and whether the actor is union or not.
That union is the Actors鈥 Equity Association, which requires a company to pay its members a certain amount, as well as offer overtime pay, a per diem and other benefits. One must have a certain number of acting credits to be in the union, so not all actors are equity, and not all 51黑料 companies pay equity rates. (That means, if you are in the union, you couldn鈥檛 work at those companies.)
Smaller companies usually pay a one-time stipend for the run of the show. New Jewish Theatre pays $800 to $2,274 for a six-week contract, which includes rehearsals and 12 performances. Albion Theatre just increased its stipend to $500. First Run Theatre pays actors $200.
Schmidt supplements his acting income by bartending either with catering companies or at Greenfinch Theater and Dive, a bar that has a theater attached on Jefferson Avenue.
Schmidt is not alone. Most actors in 51黑料 have a day job. Drew Mizell is a local actor who has left the city to perform on cruise ships because he wants to act full time.
鈥淎cting full time professionally in 51黑料 as a local is not a reality,鈥 he said via email. 鈥淭here is no way, in my opinion, someone could make a living.鈥
But finding a job flexible enough to make it to auditions and rehearsal, but pays well enough to put food on the table is no easy feat.
鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 have one employer, you鈥檙e always having to gauge how much time and effort and attention go into which thing,鈥 says Isaiah di Lorenzo, an actor who is currently in 鈥淎 Streetcar Named Desire鈥 with the Tennessee Williams Festival. His main income comes from being a landlord. 鈥淲hen is it self indulgent, and when is it too practical? If I鈥檓 not going to a wedding of somebody I care about, because I鈥檓 in a play that nobody鈥檚 gonna see and doesn鈥檛 pay anything ... these are things that we have to think about.鈥
We talked to several actors to find out how they stay afloat.
Jacob Schmidt plays Zalmy and Bryce A. Miller plays Schmuel in 鈥淭rayf,鈥 a play about two best friends in Brooklyn in 1991, at New Jewish Theatre.
The triple sec magic
For Schmidt, bartending is just another way to perform.
鈥淚鈥檓 the bartender you want at your wedding. I鈥檓 telling every bridesmaid they look gorgeous. I鈥檓 cracking jokes; I鈥檓 telling stories. I鈥檓 making specialty drinks on the fly. I鈥檓 keeping the energy up.鈥
He juggles work for seven catering companies alongside his acting. It works well for Schmidt, a self-described workaholic. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 not performing constantly, I鈥檓 bartending constantly.鈥
And Schmidt says that being able to cycle through each helps him enjoy both more.
鈥淚 would like to make my entire living off of my art, but I also think about, what if you鈥檙e making your living on your art, but then it starts to feel too much like work?鈥
But recently he has seen the downside to his gigs. He鈥檚 usually busy on nights and weekends when his boyfriend and friends are free.
鈥淚 am starting to get a bit resentful of missing out on everything and everyone,鈥 he says. But he doesn鈥檛 want to leave bartending or acting.
鈥淎 lot of cocktails call for triple sec, a very high-proof orange liqueur. The point of triple sec is not really to taste it. The point is it rounds out all the flavors in the cocktail, but it鈥檚 a very important component that you don鈥檛 always taste but you鈥檙e grateful that it鈥檚 there. That鈥檚 how I feel about the magic of performing. It鈥檚 a triple sec for me.鈥
Helping future doctors
One common side job for 51黑料 actors is pretending to be sick in standardized patient-care programs for medical students.
Director Suki Peters looks at the script during a rehearsal with Cherokee Street Theatre Company.
Suki Peters, an actor and the artistic director for Cherokee Street Theater Company, is the manager of Washington University鈥檚 Standardized Patient Program at the School of Medicine. She started working there as an actor-patient but loved the program so much, she worked her way up to managing it.
The actors in the program are given a script that they have to memorize and act out for each student doctor who comes to see them. (Instead of rehearsal, they get training on what to do.) During the visit, the student has to diagnose the patient, sometimes with bad news.
After the interaction is over, the patient gives the student formal feedback.
鈥淲e work on improving bedside manner and patient care, (ensuring) equitable patient care and breaking down the barriers to health care,鈥 Peters says. In the role, she manages 100 actors.
One such actor is Rae Davis, who is currently in 51黑料 Shakespeare Festival鈥檚 鈥淩omeo and Zooliet鈥 at the zoo with Schmidt. She often works with standardized patient programs (51黑料 University鈥檚 medical school also has one).
There are three ways to be a patient. The least invasive is when patients remain in their street clothes and work off a script prepared by physicians.
Suki Peters, center, director, prepares the space for a dress rehearsal of the comedy show 鈥楯ohn Hughes Your Own Adventure鈥 at Utopia Studios in 51黑料, on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025.
Though it may sound easy to pretend that you have a cough, Davis has portrayed much trickier roles, such as having a psychotic episode or suicidal ideation.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had cases where (students) have had to break the news that an individual doesn鈥檛 have a viable pregnancy,鈥 she says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e also had times where it鈥檚 just a general check up.鈥
There is also a 鈥済own鈥 appointment where you change into a gown and get an exam, usually it鈥檚 a pap smear or the prostate exam depending on the patient鈥檚 gender. Those procedures pay more.
Finally, there鈥檚 鈥淪P After Dark鈥 (a nickname from the actor-patients) where actors consent to longer or more invasive exams. It happens later in the evening, hence the nickname.
Rae Davis
Davis doesn鈥檛 do those exams. But she enjoys the work.
鈥淚 do love helping people understand how they should just be human with their patients. I try to help them find a way to bridge the gap between patient and physician.鈥
鈥淗aving that more realistic portrayal really helps put that medical student in that type of scenario without them having to worry about harming someone,鈥 Peters says.
Despite a connection to the same program, Peters and Davis鈥 lives and careers have taken different turns.
鈥淚 used to be a full-time freelance actor and director for many, many years,鈥 Peters says. While she stays busy with acting and directing theater and film 鈥 her next show will be 鈥淛ohn Hughes Your Own Adventure鈥 a parody show she鈥檚 directing for the STL Fringe Festival Aug. 11-17 鈥 when she came on full-time at WashU to run the patient program, that became her career, and the rest a side gig.
鈥淚t鈥檚 lovely,鈥 Peters says of the WashU program. 鈥淚鈥檝e met so many amazing people. We have the best theater community across the nation that I鈥檝e ever seen.鈥
Rae Davis, an actor with 51黑料 Shakespeare Festival, operates Juliet鈥檚 cousin, Tybalt, during a dress rehearsal of 鈥淩omeo and Zooliet.鈥 Tybalt is a tiger and fellow carnivore.
鈥楪irl, you鈥檝e got a lot going on鈥
For Davis the situation is a little different. While Peters won鈥檛 disclose what the WashU program pays, 51黑料 University pays about $20 to $26 per hour, according to its website. Peters does say that the WashU program is the highest paying in the region.
Still, that doesn鈥檛 add up to enough money to live off of for Davis, who cobbles together a pastiche of part-time work.
She鈥檚 been a receptionist, worked for a test prep company, modeled in art classes and even tried to be an influencer.
鈥淚 made a little bit of money from a lesser-known social media platform, but I think keeping up with that burnt me out,鈥 she says.
Rae Davis works odd jobs around 51黑料 to make time for acting.
After a recent layoff, Davis is back on the hunt for a job that is flexible enough to accommodate her acting schedule but pays enough to fund her life. She also prefers work-from-home jobs because she has an illness called undifferentiated connective tissue disease.
鈥淏asically, it鈥檚 just a fancy way of saying, 鈥楪irl, you鈥檝e got a lot going on,鈥欌 Davis says with a laugh. The symptoms share traits with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Sj枚gren鈥檚 syndrome but the autoimmune disease doesn鈥檛 quite meet the criteria for any one of those. She was diagnosed while still in college, getting kidney biopsies before finals.
The disease leaves Davis exhausted some days.
Despite this, she is committed to making her odd jobs work and she recently started working with an agency to find more acting and voiceover jobs.
鈥淚 tried being able to work traditional 9 to 5s,鈥 she says. 鈥淎nd for the girls it works for, big ups to you, baby, but it鈥檚 not me.鈥
In office positions she says, 鈥淚 had the funds. I had basically the life I thought I was supposed to be having, and I was like, 鈥業 feel so dead.鈥 And the only time that I felt happy was when I would be doing rehearsals at night.鈥
Dawn Schmid leads a noon class at the Row House on July 14, 2025.
Juggling three jobs
Many days you can catch Dawn Schmid leading a rowing class at Row House, a workout studio in Sunset Hills. She cheerfully calls out power strokes on her headset, while upbeat music blares, seemingly never running out of breath even as she works out alongside her students.
During the school year, you can find Schmid in the classroom. She won the Teacher of the Year Award for elementary reading in 2024 for her efforts teaching third grade in the 51黑料 Public Schools. She is moving to second grade and Webster Groves this fall.
With so much going on, it might surprise some that Schmid also acts. Recently she starred in 鈥淩ock of Ages,鈥 a jukebox musical featuring 鈥80s songs, at Stray Dog Theatre.
Dawn Schmid is also a teacher and actor in addition to being a fitness instructor.
Balancing all of these work lives can be tricky. 鈥淢y boyfriend always says, 鈥楳y girlfriend鈥檚 a teacher.鈥 And I鈥檓 like, 鈥極h, I鈥檓 just a teacher? You know, I鈥檓 an actress as well.鈥 I really like to make sure that those things are both true and apparent to others,鈥 she says.
Schmid always suspected that her theater work wouldn鈥檛 pay all the bills, and she liked the freedom that being a teacher allowed. She studied elementary education in college with the plan to focus more on acting in the summertime and on nights and weekends.
鈥淯nfortunately, with the way education is, I started to row because I realized that education itself wasn鈥檛 always necessarily paying my bills,鈥 she says.
Like the other actors featured, Schmid doesn鈥檛 rely on acting for money, so she doesn鈥檛 let pay dictate whether she takes a role.
From left: Laurell Stevenson, Dawn Schmid, Tristan Davis, Rachel Bailey and Michael Wells in the Stray Dog Theatre production of 鈥淭riassic Parq.鈥
鈥淚 have a little rule that I follow. I call it the three P鈥檚,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 people, pay and passion. Are there people that I really respect and would like to work with? Does it pay? Or is it a passion project that I鈥檝e been wanting to do?鈥
If the role meets at least two of those criteria, Schmid is in.
But do actors wish their craft paid better?
For Davis the answer is yes.
鈥淭he pay is not high enough,鈥 Davis says, as she mentions the exorbitant cost of living.
But she understands that theater has lost a lot of its audience since 2020 due to the pandemic and has recently lost a lot of funding due to government cuts. 鈥淵ou have to recognize one of the biggest things causing this (low pay) problem is out of your control. Money and those who control it are choosing to say that theater鈥檚 not important enough to them.鈥
For bartender Schmidt, the theaters are doing their best. He points out that larger companies like the Black Rep and Stages pay more, while smaller companies pay what they can afford.
鈥淵ou have to look at the level of the theater you鈥檙e performing at,鈥 Schmidt says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about balance.鈥
"First Date: The Musical" is about two New Yorkers on an unusual blind date. So we asked the cast of the show to share some first date success and horror stories.
