Part two of the conversation with Broadway lighting designer Jane Cox.

Topics:

⭐️ Keeping overhead low

⭐️ Paying theatre designers hourly 

⭐️ Penny Remsen - Jane’s lighting mentor

⭐️ Paying for assistants / drafting out of the design fee

⭐️ Two recent design fees - one for an opera, one for an off Broadway musical

Video Version

https://youtu.be/1qBXKh3-QfM

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

False Steps - Off-Broadway Play

https://www.falsestepscomedy.com/

Jane Cox

https://janecoxlight.squarespace.com/

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/jane-cox-115195

Sam Pinkleton

https://sampinkleton.com/

Stacey Derosier 

https://www.staceyderosier.com/

Accountants for Theatre Artists

https://www.artisticfinance.com/resources.html

Planned Parenthood

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/donor-services

The Watershed

https://thewatershed.org/donate/

Roundabout Workforce Development Program

https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/education/career-training/theatrical-workforce-development-program

1/52 Project

https://www.oneeveryfiftytwo.org/

Tech 25 in Pittsburgh (Jordan Gilliam)

https://www.tech25.org/

Website temporarily down as of July 2025

Brighter Boston (Aja Jackson)

https://www.brighterboston.org/

Design Action

https://www.design-action.com/

LA Opera

https://laopera.org/

Teeth The Musical

https://teeththemusical.com/

Playwrights Horizons

https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/

Elsa Hiltner's Designer Pay Resource

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1myTM4B4VGfv21iJovNLYiIopUtsDClzSGLsFOsAZHi4/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Penny Remsen

https://www.umass.edu/theater/about/directory/penny-remsen

https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-remsen-1b53b8a/

Ben Stanton

https://benstanton.com/

Justin Townsend

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/justin-townsend-117237

Brian MacDevitt

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/brian-macdevitt-25766

NYU Graduate Design School

https://tisch.nyu.edu/design

University of Massachussets Amherts

https://www.umass.edu/theater/

Jane Cox is a theater maker, an educator and a lighting designer working in theater, opera, dance and music. Jane won a Tony, a Drama Desk and the Henry Hewes award in 2024 for her lighting for Appropriate, and has three Tony nominations for Macbeth (‘22), Jitney (‘17) and Machinal (‘14). Her creative career has been built on relationships; some of the extraordinary theatrical artists who have shaped her creative life include Ruben Santiago-Hudson, John Doyle, Elise Thoron, Shariffa Ali, Caitríona MacLaughlin, Sam Pinkleton, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Stacey Derosier and Sam Gold. Jane is also inspired by her brilliant students and young alumni

Recent designs include a co-design for Michael R Jackson and Anna K Jacob’s Teeth with Stacey Derosier; Donnacha Dennehy’s Land of Winter at the Irish Arts Center; The Weir at the Abbey Theater in Dublin (her home town); Felon: An American Washi Tale; and The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi and Don Giovanni at San Francisco Opera. Upcoming projects include Marina Carr’s new trilogy at the Abbey in Dublin and the Rocky Horror Show on Broadway.

Other highlights have been co-organizing and hosting the 2023 symposium and creative convening The Future of Race in Design at the Park Avenue Armory with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Mimi Lien and Mikaal Sulaiman; organizing a series of events with returning citizens in conjunction with performances of Felon: An American Washi Tale by Reginald Dwayne Betts; working with the engineer Naomi Leonard, composer Dan Trueman and co-designer Tess James on Rhythm Bots, a project investigating collective motion and rhythmic connection with robots; and receiving a Distinguished Achievement Award from USITT in 2025.

Jane has been a member of the Monica Bill Barnes dance company for more than twenty years and has been working with fellow lighting designer Tess James in many capacities for fifteen. She is a Professor of the Practice and Director of the Program in Theater and Music Theater at Princeton University, where she is also the co-director for the Fund for Irish Studies and a member of CreativeX. She is married to brilliant conceptual artist Evan Alexander and they have a fantastic teenage daughter who so far shows no interest in going into theatre.

Instagram Handles

@janecoxlight

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

Lighting designer Jane Cox discusses life as a freelance theatre designer who has also taken on some full time academic work.

Topics:

⭐️ Parenting while working in the arts

⭐️ Paying student loans with a credit card

⭐️ Prioritizing the needs of the community above the market rate 

⭐️ The financial system working against theatre design as a career

⭐️ Jane’s tax rate as a freelancer nearing 50%, and having it lower once she started working a full time W2 job.

Video Version

https://youtu.be/jA1IOCWmHFs

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Jane Cox

https://janecoxlight.squarespace.com/

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/jane-cox-115195

Appropriate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_(play)

Linda Essig

https://www.artisticfinance.com/147.html

Penny Remsen

https://www.umass.edu/theater/about/directory/penny-remsen

https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-remsen-1b53b8a/

Irish Session

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_traditional_music_session

Cory Pattak's Podcast

https://in1podcast.com/

Light Talk Podcast

https://lighttalk.libsyn.com/

NYU Graduate Design School

https://tisch.nyu.edu/design

University of Massachussets Amherts

https://www.umass.edu/theater/

Clifton Taylor

https://cliftontaylor.com/

Jennifer Tipton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Tipton

False Steps - Off-Broadway Play

https://www.falsestepscomedy.com/

Jane Cox is a theater maker, an educator and a lighting designer working in theater, opera, dance and music. Jane won a Tony, a Drama Desk and the Henry Hewes award in 2024 for her lighting for Appropriate, and has three Tony nominations for Macbeth (‘22), Jitney (‘17) and Machinal (‘14). Her creative career has been built on relationships; some of the extraordinary theatrical artists who have shaped her creative life include Ruben Santiago-Hudson, John Doyle, Elise Thoron, Shariffa Ali, Caitríona MacLaughlin, Sam Pinkleton, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Stacey Derosier and Sam Gold. Jane is also inspired by her brilliant students and young alumni

Recent designs include a co-design for Michael R Jackson and Anna K Jacob’s Teeth with Stacey Derosier; Donnacha Dennehy’s Land of Winter at the Irish Arts Center; The Weir at the Abbey Theater in Dublin (her home town); Felon: An American Washi Tale; and The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi and Don Giovanni at San Francisco Opera. Upcoming projects include Marina Carr’s new trilogy at the Abbey in Dublin and the Rocky Horror Show on Broadway.

Other highlights have been co-organizing and hosting the 2023 symposium and creative convening The Future of Race in Design at the Park Avenue Armory with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Mimi Lien and Mikaal Sulaiman; organizing a series of events with returning citizens in conjunction with performances of Felon: An American Washi Tale by Reginald Dwayne Betts; working with the engineer Naomi Leonard, composer Dan Trueman and co-designer Tess James on Rhythm Bots, a project investigating collective motion and rhythmic connection with robots; and receiving a Distinguished Achievement Award from USITT in 2025.

Jane has been a member of the Monica Bill Barnes dance company for more than twenty years and has been working with fellow lighting designer Tess James in many capacities for fifteen. She is a Professor of the Practice and Director of the Program in Theater and Music Theater at Princeton University, where she is also the co-director for the Fund for Irish Studies and a member of CreativeX. She is married to brilliant conceptual artist Evan Alexander and they have a fantastic teenage daughter who so far shows no interest in going into theatre.

Instagram Handles

@janecoxlight

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

An update on the $6,000 of investments we made in May of 2021.

Four lighting designers and a bond investment CEO review how our investments compare to the S&P 500.

Video Version

https://youtu.be/_hiXSC5HY6A

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

False Steps: A Ballroom Comedy

https://www.falsestepscomedy.com/

ETFs:

IVV - iShares Core S&P 500

Stocks:

VST - Vistra Corp

LAC - Lithium Americas

TAP - Molson Coors Beverage (owners of Blue Moon)

SKLZ- Skillz

Cryptocurrency:

Bitcoin

Wine:

Vinovest

Real Estate - REITS:

REG - Regency Centers Corp -Previously UBA

SRG - Seritage Growth Properties

VICI - Experiential Real Estate - Previously MGM Properties

STAG - STAG Industrial

Art:

Bret Slater - Artist

https://www.bretslater.com/ 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/64295618

VTSAX - Total USA Stock Market Index Fund

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VTSAX/

Coinbase - COIN

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/COIN/

Masterworks

https://www.masterworks.com/

Bridget Riley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Riley

Kroger - KR

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/KR/

Nvidia - NVDA

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVDA/

Daktronics - DAKT

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DAKT/

Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maithreyi-gopalakrishnan/

https://www.liquidificorp.com/

Ebony Madry:

https://www.instagram.com/ebmadry/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebony-madry-6a9651139/

Amy D Lux:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-d-lux-953a7318a/

https://utopiadreamscape.com/author/luvlogica/

Gary Archer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-archer-31482933/

https://www.instagram.com/lightdesign2020/

Ethan Steimel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansteimel/

https://www.instagram.com/artisticfinance/?hl=en

Set designer Vincent Gunn talks about the benefits of tracking the hours that you work.

Topics:

⭐️ Valuing your time 

⭐️ Investing the money in your retirement account

⭐️ Writing things down and getting them out of your head

⭐️ Designers thinking about work even when they’re not at work

Video Version

https://youtu.be/g1BZrnh3l7A

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Vincent Gunn

https://www.vincentgunn.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-gunn-3a45aab2/

https://www.instagram.com/vincentgunndesign/?hl=en

Hours Tracker

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P-ujmcgDcdZYxW78hqBa3HgiBdlI0gGK0LGG2RoNZqw/edit?usp=sharing

NEA Budget Cut Tracker

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cHCTXssMWuMweRLUjGQKtsck_rg7v4tMg7cpfzDQil8/htmlview?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaeulUJ--0GngJ37kmfk-9enz2w9TczbBkJ8hs4U-ZuBgeaGYyF4TCzLnnQi4Q_aem_6SEys-aWiD8H-wxOGseuWw%23gid%3D0

Liability Insurance for Lighting Folx

https://www.artisticfinance.com/136.html

Liability Insurance for Performers

https://www.artisticfinance.com/141.html

Vincent (he/him) is a New Jersey based Scenic Designer. He has designed shows for various theatre companies in the New York area and beyond including York Theatre Company, Centenary Stage Company, Vanguard Theater Company, St. Bart's Players, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Post Theatre Company, the Metropolitan Playhouse, the New London Barn Playhouse, and various educational venues. He has assisted designers on productions at venues such as The New York Philharmonic, LABrynth Theater Company, Irish Repertory Theatre, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Roundabout Black Box, BAM Fisher, La Mama ETC and INTAR. Vincent has a B.A. in Theatre Design and Production from Fordham University. vincentgunn.com @vincentgunndesign

Instagram Handles

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

@vincentgunndesign

TheatrIcal lighting designer Jason Lynch talks about freelancing in Chicago. 

Topics:

⭐️ LLCs

⭐️ Estate Sales

⭐️ Keeping our humanity

⭐️ Investing in the S&P 500

⭐️ Some of Jason’s recent design fees

⭐️ Moving to a big theatre city, that’s not New York

Video Version

https://youtu.be/y5PApxbBG_I

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Jason Lynch

https://www.jasondlynch.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasondlynch/

https://www.instagram.com/jasonlynch.design/

Vehicle Expenses Tracker

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kDb48wLKWWnkGigyu52tYYGWRHDV2h-Ai7AizNCrtb8/edit?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZh7dkkg9Htl1oE4M46Emo-Cw8yEahk7n90sRBCDy5R32W5D1xbTHSjvYI_aem_adKVVnGYaIN_xPS6bS21wQ&gid=1052323773#gid=1052323773

IRS.gov

https://www.irs.gov/

Lynn Nottage - "Why I'll Never Make It" Interview

https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcasts/why-i-ll-never-make-it/lynn-nottage-writes-through-some-of-life-s-hardest-moments/366

SPY

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPY/

Arrived - Real Estate Investing

https://arrived.com/

Lofty - Real Estate Investing

https://www.lofty.ai/

OSF - Oregon Shakespeare Festival

https://www.osfashland.org/

Indiana Rep

https://www.irtlive.com/

Estate Sales

https://www.estatesales.net/

JASON LYNCH is a Chicago-based lighting designer for theatre, dance, opera, and other live performance art.

Instagram handles:

@jasonlynch.design

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

Projection designer Sven Ortel talks about career finances.

Topics:

⭐️ Being persistent 

⭐️ Insisting you get credit for your work

⭐️ Organizing your taxes and writing it down

⭐️ Separating the production budget from the design budget

Video Version

https://youtu.be/YDxUvU-in4U

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Sven Ortel

https://www.svenortel.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/svenortel/

https://www.instagram.com/svenortel/

Is the credit "Projection Design" or "Video Design?"

https://www.projctn.com/about-projection-design

Projection Design Costs

https://www.projctn.com/projection-design-costs

Trudy C Durant

https://tcdurant.com/home.aspx

Notion

https://www.notion.com/

Caite Hevner Episode

https://www.artisticfinance.com/93.html

Since 2000, Sven Ortel has been exploring and advancing the use of imagery and projection in the live arts. His primary interest is how digital and emerging technologies can create engaging narrative experiences. He is particularly drawn to complex scenic and production design challenges that place live audiences at the center of the experience, and he enjoys collaborating with other experts and creatives.

Originally from Cologne, Germany, Sven earned his BA in Lighting Design in London, where he designed media for Simon McBurney’s seminal production of *Measure for Measure* at the National Theatre in 2004. He then created many projection designs for opera, dance, musicals, and plays across Europe and eventually in the US. In 2012, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his work on Disney’s *Newsies*. In 2014, he received a Drama League nomination for his designs in Julie Taymor’s *A Midsummer Night's Dream* at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn.

Notable recent projects include NHKS4220 at New York’s Artechouse, *Thoughts of a Colored Man* (Broadway, Drama Desk nomination), *Parade* (Broadway, Outer Critics Circle nomination and winner of Best Revival of a Musical), and *Once Upon a One More Time* (Broadway), as well as the multimedia installation *Lamentations at Liesbeck*, which premiered at Mesa’s Mix Center.

Sven always seeks innovative ways to tell stories through media and create cohesive visual environments that fully engage live audiences.

He has worked at public research universities for the past ten years, focusing on educating the next generation of designers, artists, and thought leaders. His work in academia focuses on adapting effective creative processes prevalent in the performing arts, particularly projection design, to address the design challenges found in other live experiences, especially in emerging forms of rich media like immersive and XR productions. This research is central to his role as a professor of practice in immersive and entertainment design at Arizona State University and as a faculty member at Mesa's innovative multidisciplinary Mix Center.

Outside of his professional work, Sven is a passionate landscaper dedicated to restoring and stewarding the land. He also loves camping, running, hiking, and mountain biking—more info at svenortel.com or linked-in.

Instagram Handles

@svenortel

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

Discussing designer pay and transparency with Broadway, Off-Broadway, and West End lighting designer Isabella Byrd. 

Topics:

⭐️ Dealing with the IRS

⭐️ Union pension, healthcare, and the union ledger

⭐️ Commercial theatre fees (aka Broadway) versus off-Broadway fees (aka non-profit theatre)

⭐️ CDs, as in Certificates of Deposit

Video Version

https://youtu.be/HJ1wBWuLwKQ

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Isabella Byrd

https://www.isabellabyrd.design/

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/isabella-byrd-527907

Drift

https://studiodrift.com/work/drifter/

The Shed

https://www.theshed.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwvr--BhB5EiwAd5YbXqw-o1AZJ4K0bhxLrH613ZH2yPapTv6-Lw54hGG-7dZ_7bVzULR3pBoC8hkQAvD_BwE

Death Sex And Money - Podcast

https://slate.com/podcasts/death-sex-money

Zenith American - USA 829 Benefits Hub

https://www.zenith-american.com/

USA 829

https://www.usa829.org/Membership-Info/Benefit-Funds

CD Rates - Bask Bank

https://www.baskbank.com/products/certificates-of-deposit

Entertainment Community Fund

https://entertainmentcommunity.org/services-and-programs/financial-wellness-0

In 1: The Podcast - hosted by Cory Pattak

https://in1podcast.com/

Instagram Handles

@isabelllaa

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

Today is the 5th anniversary of Artistic Finance. A quick thank you to mark the occasion and announcing a non-AEA casting notice for NYC!

Broadway lighting designer Beverly Emmons discusses commercial theatre practices for designers.

Topics:

⭐️ Adding riders onto your contract

⭐️ Theatre Law which aims to protect investors’ money

⭐️ W2 and 1099 and how that impacts copyright for designers

⭐️ The history of the theatre design union - United Scenic Artists

⭐️ Those union contracts, what they protect, and how they’re helpful for expediting theatre negotiations because so many things are spelled out already, so there isn’t need for a lot of negotiation.

Video Version

https://youtu.be/t8rVQO00IjE

Extended Interview

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Beverly Emmons

https://performingartslegacy.org/emmonsbeverly/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverly-emmons-57339135/

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/beverly-emmons-25645

The Lighting Archive

https://thelightingarchive.org/

Don Holder Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXHdU1JVmRE&t=34s

Ken Billington Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuojA4i6y5c

Jules Fisher

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/jules-fisher-7001

Kermit Blumgarden - producer

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/kermit-bloomgarden-14214

Ted Mann - producer

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/theodore-mann-15532

Broadway Grosses

https://www.broadwayleague.com/research/grosses-broadway-nyc/

Atlantic Theatre joins IATSE

https://deadline.com/2025/03/atlantic-theater-iatse-1236348882/

Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas

https://archive.org/details/theatrelightingi0000rees/page/n9/mode/2up

Broadway Theatre Manager - Peter Bogyo

https://bookshop.org/a/86693/9781621536246

https://bookshop.org/a/86693/9781621536253

(affiliate link)

USA 829

https://www.usa829.org/

Instagram Handles

@bemmonsld12gmail

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel

Alvin Hough Jr, who’s currently the associate music director of The Lion King on Broadway, talks about career finances and a few things about musical theatre musicians.

Topics:

⭐️ Dollar pizza

⭐️ Being a saver, not a spender

⭐️ Living off per diem while touring

⭐️ Rehearsal call versus a performance call

⭐️ Rates of pay for different numbers of instruments

⭐️ The differences between the piano and the keyboard

⭐️ Working a double, in musician speak, and what that means for your pay scale.

⭐️ The importance of family and Alvin investing early on, on the advice from an aunt

Video Version

https://youtu.be/J9Gjb5o_h7E

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Alvin Hough Jr

www.alvinhoughjr.com

https://www.instagram.com/alvinhoughpiano/

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/alvin-hough-493607#broadway

Believe NYC

https://believe-nyc.com/

Arts for Autism

https://www.artsforautism.net/

Randy Cohen - Keyboard Programmer

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/randy-cohen-454486

NYMF

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Musical_Theatre_Festival

The Lion King on Broadway

https://lionking.com/

Avioms - In Ear Mixing

https://www.aviom.com/AviomProducts/

ALVIN HOUGH, JR. Alvin is a pianist, conductor and arranger in New York City. He is currently the Associate Music Director of Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway and was the Associate Music Supervisor of Merrily We Roll Along, featuring Daniel Radcliffe, which closed this past July aEer winning the Tony for Best Revival. Alvin is the Music Supervisor of the current 2nd NaHonal Tour of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, and he has also worked on numerous films and TV series, from “Schmigadoon 2” and “Spirited” to “Annie Live!” and the South Park 25th anniversary commercials. Classically trained by a private teacher from the age of 5, Alvin has had the privilege of performing at the Kennedy Center, the Capitol and the White House while growing up in Washington, DC. One of the more important things Alvin likes to share is that there is no special formula to end up on Broadway. As proof, even though he's currently not using them, Alvin has a Bachelor’s from Harvard College in Earth and Planetary Sciences and a Master’s in Meteorology from the Georgia InsHtute of Technology. He sends love to his wife, Rebecca, and their two young children, Samuel (7) and Camille (6). www.alvinhoughjr.com

Instagram Handles

@alvinhoughpiano

@ethansteimel

@nicolevsteimel