"Artists will always make it work"
“You have to really love doing this, but if that love is there, if you’re leaning away from the arts and it’s just itching at you… I think that’s a sign.”
Patrick Park has had an inarguably successful career in musical theatre. The 28-year-old Montreal-based actor booked his first professional production only a year into his theatre degree at Concordia University and has been working steadily since he graduated. Most recently, Park made his Broadway debut in KPOP, a trailblazing original musical that brought the triple-threat artist to New York City.
While it’s an inspiring story for any young artist, Park remains admirably humble about his accomplishments and career trajectory.
“Music has always been the thing I feel most connected to,” he said in an interview. “I can really lose myself when I sing. And when I sing with other people — that, to me, is one of the best feelings in the world.
“I feel incredibly lucky to get to go to work and learn music with a group of incredibly talented artists. We put together stories that we’re excited to make and share with audiences. It’s an immense privilege to be able to do that.”
Park’s love of acting began when he was a child: he became enamoured with television series made for and starring kids, and his passion only grew as he got older.
“I always had a bit of envy for [those kids],” he admitted, “but I didn’t take it seriously until high school. I remember doing my first musical — a show called Curtains — and after opening night, thinking ‘Oh, that’s it. That’s the thing I want to do.’”
Although Park was certain of his passion for performing, he wasn’t ready to dive into the industry immediately out of high school.
“I didn’t fully trust that instinct of wanting to be an actor, putting all my eggs in that basket,” he recounted. “So I wasn’t particularly intentional about how I pursued that goal after high school and through [my College of General and Professional Teaching/Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel] (CEGEP). I only committed to pursuing acting in post-secondary, but I hadn’t done any musical theatre — which is the thing I’m most passionate about — in a while. So when I booked that first professional musical, a show I didn’t really think I had a chance in booking, that was when it became real.”
That uncertainty is a common theme among artists in every medium. It’s an industry full of risk and unpredictability, and like many artists, Park had one main concern: how to achieve and maintain financial stability as an artist. A concern that became all too real when he moved to New York.
“New York is a tough place [to live],” he said. “I pocketed what I could, but most of my paychecks went into the cost of living.”
Throughout his professional career, Park has found different ways to supplement his income between contracts, from teaching at local theatre programs to performing in a cover band. But in New York, without a green card that allowed him to pursue those opportunities, he knew he had to make a bigger change.
The first step? Creating a financial plan.
“Having a financial plan is essential,” he explained. “A lot of my spending comes from my social habits. Going out for dinner, doing activities with friends — those things start to add up quickly, especially in a city like New York.
“In the last few years, I’ve tried to adjust my social tendencies to make things cost-free or generally cost less. I try to think one step ahead and understand that what’s in my pocket right now might not be there in a month. We’ve learned by now that in any industry, anything could happen and you need to be prepared.”
Park considers himself lucky to have a strong community back home in Montreal, which has guided and inspired him both in his development as an artist and as a person. He credits the artists and institutions he’s worked with, including Montreal’s Black Theatre Workshop, for his current financial sensibilities.
“I’ve learned both from experience and from my peers just how quickly money can come and go into your life in this industry,” he said. “Understanding that having a variety of sources of income is a normal and essential part of most artists’ lives isn’t something you’re told when you start. You think it’ll be TV, movies, theatre nonstop; but realistically, the pace at which things happen tends to be slow, gradual. Creating other opportunities and saving in the spaces between those contracts is invaluable.”
To assist in his financial planning, Park began to explore different types of savings plans. Exploring Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs), and other services offered through financial institutions like Desjardins has helped him build both his financial literacy and has given him a clearer idea of how to build healthy and realistic saving habits.
“When I think about anything financial, there’s this element of living in the past, present, and future simultaneously,” he said. “You’re looking at your present funds and your last job wondering, ‘Did I set myself up for where I am in the best way I could?’ ‘Are there things I could have done differently?’ Then you look to the future and ask, ‘Do I have some sort of steady income on the horizon?’ You need to have a plan, goals, and realistic expectations. It’s not something I’ve mastered by any means. But it’s something I’m working on improving.”
Armed with a financial plan and the support of his communities in Montreal and abroad, Park has high hopes for his eventual return to New York, and even higher hopes for other young artists navigating the industry.
“If you’re able to surrender to the idea that being an artist means you don’t know what will happen on a day-to-day basis, if you can accept that your path may not be a straight shot from one gig to the next and still love what you do… you can and will make it work. Artists always find a way to make it work.”