Rachel Burttram's DIARY OF A PROFESSIONAL ACTOR Memoir to be Released in August

Rachel Burttram, a 25-year veteran of American regional theatre, is now taking pre-orders for Diary of a Professional Actor: A Career in Regional Theatre, launching August 18, 2026.

For more than 25 years, Burttram has lived as a blue-collar actor, director, arts administrator, educator, and mentor who chose regional theatre not as a stepping stone, but as the destination itself. Part memoir, part field guide, entirely honest, Diary of a Professional Actor is a backstage pass to the world most audiences never see - the traditions passed down between generations of theatre artists, the business and economics rarely spoken of aloud, and hard-won practical advice. Underneath it all, Burttram examines not just the cost of committing your life to theatre, but what it gives back.

"This is the book I wish existed when I was starting out," Burttram says. "It's for theatre students weighing the leap, working artists who need to know they're not alone, educators seeking an honest voice, and anyone trying to understand what this life actually looks like from the inside."

Burttram is a 2026 Individual Artist Fellow with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, board member and Vice Chair of the Professional Division of the Alabama Conference of Theatre. She teaches at Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and has built a reputation as one of regional theatre's most versatile and compelling performers, earning consistent recognition from critics and audiences alike. For more information: www.rachelburttram.com or www.diaryofaprofessionalactor.com.