There are some great people at the Argyle. The AD and PSM are incredible, and many of the staff members are lovely people. Unfortunately, the culture there is extremely unprofessional, especially amongst the crew. Many of the crew members have complicated interpersonal relationships that they bring into the workplace, and this has created a general inability to separate work and personal issues. While every job requires you to navigate relationships, this job forced me to tiptoe around certain individuals to avoid tantrums and listen to coworkers say truly terrible things about each other on a daily basis. The quality of the productions are excellent, and the cast, creative team, and stage management are amazing. Unfortunately, the pay is not great here. Additionally, I witnessed some egregious safety issues, caused by negligent employees, that were never addressed by management. We were lucky to avoid any serious injuries on the productions I was on. I would avoid this place, as the toxic workplace is just not worth it.

The only reason I didn’t give one star is because I liked the show I was a part of. The director and show quality was phenomenal. So why, as DANCE CAPTAIN and SWING, did I make $100 a week? Great question. I was an “on call” swing, so I could ideally stay home in NYC unless I had to swing on. I thought I could keep my survival job and still perform when needed. This wound up being a total mess because Id frequently get told I “MAY have to go on today,” so I’d call off work, and then get told I didn’t have to. So on top of making nothing at the Argyle, I was actively losing money with my real job too. Also, even when I did perform, they would frequently forget to add my pay bumps for my shows I swung on for. I had to send three separate emails asking to be PAID . They literally kept forgetting to pay me. Please also note that the commute time is no laughing matter; the late night LIRR into the late night subway times makes for an incredibly long travel time each day. They pay for your LIRR tickets, but the hours spent on the trains per week is pretty brutal. My costume that I was given was a literal G-string thong, and when I (very respectfully) told the costumer that I wasn’t comfortable wearing it, she gave me the silent treatment. That’s right! Stopped answering me! Until I had no choice but to leave the room. Our PSM was amazing and made sure I had more coverage for my literal vag :) But it was so embarrassing for me. The laughably low pay, mixed with the fact that this place clearly had no regard for swings, made me simply never want to work there ever again in any role. Our creative team was great, the cast was super talented, but no amount of “experience” or “making professional connections” was worth this contract that tanked my finances.