The Big Break

Making it in the theater world — or finding a good way out.

For decades, theater insiders have referred to Broadway as the “Fabulous Invalid,” an eternally moribund entity teetering on the edge of the grave.

Even as far back as 1938, characters in a Hart/Kaufman play by that name lamented the talk of Broadway’s impending demise. Never mind that the production opened a few months after the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Our Town” and a few months before “Mother Courage and Her Children,” one of the great 20th-century plays.

Fortunately, despite those who see theater’s heyday only in their rearview mirror, generation after generation of theater lovers still try to make it on Broadway and other professional stages.

Among them are these four Brandeis alumni. Though in different professions — and at different stages of their career — they are all continually adapting to a shifting theater landscape. One is a longtime operative in the nonprofit theater world, now striking out on a commercial venture. Two are actors, struggling to carve out unique niches. And one is a promising writer who has traded in playwriting for the life of the novelist.

Together, they offer an intriguing snapshot of theater’s unquenchable vitality — which doesn’t always mask its unavoidable pitfalls.