Sweeney Todd Question(Original Production)

[Bret]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 5:26pm

I was watching the DVD of "Sweeney Todd" which I got for Christmas, and wondered if the actors got any sort of special compensation for having to move set pieces and the like. Due to the fact that American theatre is so unionized, was ther any conflict regarding this?
(I tried searching this, but couldnt find anything. If anyone just wants to point me in the right drection to the answer if its already been covered, that would be great!)

[almostxfamous]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 6:02pm

Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that I've seen shows where they moved their own set pieces. DRS is a perfect example, because there were no stagehands.

[kateerin]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:44pm

Undoubtedly it is in their contract and they are fairly compensated for it.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:52pm

I'm sure the stagehands of DRS will be suprised to hear they don't work there. You might have thought the same in the most recent Gypsy, but the stagehands there were in costume.

It usually is a bit of an issue, Bret, for I'm fairly certain that actors are NOT compensated for set moves (much less fairly), and having the actors do it can mean a smaller stage crew.


Updated On: 1/3/06 at 01:52 PM

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:54pm

I say actors can get over it. It's so easy to do, it always makes me so mad when they get upset about it. I don't think they should get paid more.

[children&art]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:03pm

on another note about the original sweeney - how weird is it that sweeney and his johanna got married????

[Prisoner 24601]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:04pm

I heard a story about how a guy was in a show and couldn't move the set pieces during the show(it was just a piece of cloth he had to tear down) because of Equity's rules. Aren't Equity actors not allowed to move sets or do strike?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:08pm

I think if they make it part of the stage action, or have the actor in character when they do it, they can get around the equity issue.

[Barihunk]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:24pm

Remember that actors are not the only unionized workers in a theatre. The stage crew, costume crew, wig crew, orchestra are all in unions as well. An actor not moving a set piece is not necessarily an act of "diva" behavior. What if he/she did move the set piece and injured themself in the process? What if they moved the set piece improperly which let to another cast member injuring themself? These regulations exist to protect the cast members from potential injury as well as to ensure job protection for the stage crew and for liability issues on the part of the production company.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:34pm

Absolutely correct, Barihunk, and thanks.

You're being a little naive, maybe, BWAYboi. The motivation for actors moving scenery is usually about saving money (not hiring another crew member), and sometimes the show suffers artistically because of it. I can tell you I was distracted by Sweeney's ActII as a good bit of it was about actors moving things around.

[SweeneyPhanatic]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 5:18pm

An actor should only move a set piece if they have ALWAYS moved that set piece. A director I've worked with said he was doing tech work for a production of "The King and I" and his job was to set a prop on the stage, and then go off and pull a drop. Well, one of the people backstage tried to be helpful, so they pulled the drop and the lights came up on the King's funeral and in the middle of it all was some guy in black pants and black shirt.

During a dress rehearsal for a production of "Big: the Musical" I was in, one of the techies was supposed to push off a carnival game table during the transition to the Zoltar machine. She was about to when two of the actresses in the scene took the table and rushed off with it. We found out during our break that they had run into the backdrop and ripped it, costing us almost $1000 in damages. After that, six actors were assigned three tables and from then on only those six were allowed to move the tables off.

So, unless someone has done something at every rehersal and the director has told them to, they should NOT do it.