Possible Clues:

• One is getting a cut from the theatre
• (Of machine) running
• Running exercise class on oxygen
• Surgeon's work an ego trip? Possibly
• Active art form getting money good
• Choosing absorbing time at work
• Madam Butterfly, for example, can at the end drag on
• Directing or controlling, machinery say
• Performing in Carmen, perhaps, can get a thousand dollars
• What surgeon might be doing -- lecturing about physical exercise