<p>I agree with you, Simplelife. There are many times one enters into a commitment that ends up to be an unpleasant, unappreciated experience. Next time, you don’t volunteer to do so. But sometimes it is a requirement of a program or job, or something one has to undergo for better chances at other opportunities. Not saying the OP’s DD is in any of those situations. But the gumption one needs to have to is often built by these experiences. Anything unsafe, unhealthy, and truly abusive, and that would end the participation, but nothing i’ve read here indicates that this is the situation. </p>
<p>I, too, am a parent of musicians. One is pursing performance as his career choice, and a rough road it has been. He would jump for a situation like the one the DD is having, if it were a paying one and how he would be recognized or treated would not even come into the picture. He does a lot of backstage and set work now, and talk about being unappreciated. Whewiieeee. But it pays the bills and gets you into the picture so that you hear of opportunities and get to know others, very important in this world particularly when you are working from audition to audition. You do a lot of grunt work, thankless work in hopes that something pans out, and it usually does not but to find the few opportunities where it does, means going through all of this. </p>
<p>The music industry is even tougher than that, I assure you, as are the performing arts as a whole, on a professional basis.</p>