Booked and Stressed

It’s easy to make excuses as to why I haven’t posted on Paul in Paris in 4 months. I have so many.

I think some of the best ones include:

1. “My computer died” (…A month after I stopped posting…)

2. “I started a new relationship” (And? 60% of people are in a relationship.)

3. “My phone got stolen on New Year’s Eve” (Again Paul, this happened 2 months after you stopped posting.)

It’s easy to make excuses when the truth is: I just needed a break.

So much has happened in the past 4 months that I’m not even going to try and resume what I’ve been up to. So let’s just skip to the good part; the break!

This week, we are off from the show. I realized going into this week, that this is the first time I’ve had more than 4 consecutive days off since May 2025.

What???

Since that vacation where I had 2 weeks off, I have jumped from performing, to teaching gigs, training intensives, moving continents, rehearsals, and performing, with little to no time off. Any of my time off (≤4 days, woohoo!) since May I have spent continuing to do most of the above things.

I don’t say this to brag, although hustle culture does deem it as a prize to be constantly busy—to be “booked and blessed”.1 Rest is a quiet luxury that artists must work hard at to earn. If you’re resting, maybe you should be looking for the next gig instead. Maybe you’re unemployed and no one wants to hire you. Maybe everyone is pointing and laughing at you because you’re never cast in anything. Maybe: you’re lazy.

The point is, we artists feel a constant need to show we’re doing something. We have to show what dance class we’re taking, what auditions we’re going to, what jobs we’re booking. To be seen resting is the biggest threat to hustle culture.

I, for one, have never particularly cared for rest or time off. My anxiety flares when I’m on vacation. If I’m not doing something important, I feel like there’s things other things I should be doing and I don’t let myself fully relax.

I couldn’t even tell you the last time I truly felt bored. I wish I could go back when I was a child and I’d get bored staring out of the car window, or not known what to do at home.

Do you do when you get bored? You make up something to do. You go for a walk. You write a song. You bake cookies. Boredom is a petri dish for imagination, and thus creativity.

So no, I don’t say “I’ve been working nonstop for the past 9 months” in order to brag. This isn’t something to celebrate. Rather, it is something to mourn. I am terrified by the fact that I haven’t gotten proper time off until now.

When you work nonstop without proper rest and without the chance to be bored, you’re stifling your ability to truly create as an artist.

And I know I am not alone in not getting enough rest. This is so normalized, even for the people working at the highest level in this industry.

On the Production contract (the “best”, highest paid contract available for theatre), actors accrue a one week paid vacation for every 6 months they work.2

Let me rephrase that for you!

On Broadway, you get 2 paid weeks off a year.

In a field where you are expected to work 7-8 shows a week with only one day off per work week, does this not sound insane? Actually sit and think about it. This is crazy!!!

No wonder people are experiencing burnout at massive rates, and leaving the industry to move to open a shop in upstate New York (sounds lovely, by the way).

But here’s the kicker; if you express anything that’s not even close to gratitude, you instantly get villainized.

“There’s people who would KILL to be working on Broadway.”

I am people. I would kill to be working on Broadway. I would be grateful to have a Broadway Production contract right now, as is.

But, I must say that I would also kill for Broadway performers to be able to get the proper rest they deserve. That doesn’t mean I’m ungrateful. It means I want to fight to make the industry even better for the other people I’m working with, and for generations to come!

In France (where I’m currently performing), you are entitled to 2.5 days of paid time off per month, which amounts to approximately 30 days a year3. You are even required to take minimum 12 days off between May 1 and October 31.

When I finish my contract, I will receive a lump sum from the congés spectacles which is the performer’s equivalent of this paid time off. It probably will amount to around 8-10% of my net earnings on this contract, and it is up to me to decide when I wish to receive that sum (until April of 2027).

I will also have access to intermittence, which is a performer’s unemployment4 that you earn from accruing a certain number of hours worked in the industry. It lasts a whole calendar year after the rights are initially claimed. Usually this can amount from 1,000-3,000€ per month, depending what your working salary looked like.

So to be clear: In June when my contract is up, I will receive a lump sum of 8-10% of my net earnings, and then also receive around 2,000€ in “unemployment” for at least the next 12 months.

I don’t necessarily want to sit here and claim that France is better than the US. I intentionally moved here for work and I plan to stay here after the show closes. Everyone’s on their own journey, after all.

What I will say, however, is that I am thrilled to be living in a country where rest and creativity are prioritized. When I finish my contract on June 14, I have no idea what will happen. I don’t have even an inkling of other jobs lined up.

But for once, I do know that I will have financial security in place so I can at least cover my living expenses. I don’t have to have the next job lined up 10 months before my contract ends. I can allow myself to be truly bored, and I might fuck around and create some really cool art. Who knows—maybe I’ll finally finish and record all of the songs I’ve drafted over the years.5

For those of you who are new here, hi! I’m Paul Amrani, and last fall I moved to Paris to star as Andy Miller in the Lido Theatre’s production of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. I was born in France and moved to the US when I was 2 and a half, but it’s always been a dream of mine to come back and live here.

I post weekly6 diary style (or however I feel that week) entries detailing my life in the city of light. Subscribe to Paul in Paris to follow along on my journey!