Sometimes, filling their time and making their money proved difficult.
For example, in a story recounted on TWG's podcast with Patti, at one point in some downtime, Jim Steinman really wanted Patti to be in his impending Broadway production of
Dance of the Vampires; I can confirm she was on his wish list for an actual role as far back as the initial reading, but by the time the show was actually getting ready to start production, the offer on the table was the understudy slot for the role of Magda. She aced the singing audition (it's a Steinman musical, it's a female supporting lead, she could do "All Coming Back" in her sleep), but then it came time for the dance portion; if you're only understudying a large (or even large-ish) role, they're gonna put you in the chorus as well, and that entails learning choreography. They were seeking dancers with extensive experience in jazz, tap, and ballet, and teaching the kind of steps you might see in
Thriller. (I suspect they were seeing how they'd do with
the "vampires coming out of their graves" number based on that description.) Well, anything more complicated than the sort of frontwoman moves she could bust out onstage with Meat was unfortunately beyond her, so after a bit of time gamely trying to absorb the dance combination everyone was being taught, she apologized to the casting director for wasting their time and left.
(Despite that, Jim was still campaigning for her, but Meat, upon hearing she'd been trying out for the show, reportedly put her on retainer so she
couldn't be available, I guess because being on retainer meant she had to keep her schedule open -- or at least any other engagement was subject to employer approval -- in case Meat got bookings. More of that ambivalent relationship between him and Jim, I guess. As if that weren't enough, she apparently got an earful from Meat's accountant about how much this was costing him...)
Anyway... considering how
Vampires went in New York, it's safe to say she dodged a bullet. Still, I think she'd have sung the shit out of it and been very funny in it, had they entered it with her in mind from the beginning and tailored it to her strong suits. (And, ideally, had it been a better version, more similar to the German original.) In case anyone's curious how that would have sounded and has a creative enough imagination, she'd have been the blonde in
this scene.