AN OPEN LETTER TO THEATREGOERS EVERYWHERE — Page 3

Wow! Where do I start? First of all, your ignorance is almost as baffling as your arrogance.

The union was not founded to pay anybody's rent or to put food on someone's table, they are there to protect actors. How many unions out there, automotive or otherwise, are offering "many, many, many union authorized and sanctioned and funded classes?"

And as far as your recommendation to "GO OUT AND PRODUCE YOUR OWN UNION PLAY OR MUSICAL!"...the "if you don't like the way I'm doing it, do it yourself" argument, unfortunately does not get very far in negotiations...unless it's between two children in a sandbox. No, actors would not have jobs without producers...and the funny thing is, Producers would not have jobs without actors. It goes both ways -- don't be an idiot about it.

Many of your arguments are about as intelligent and dated as calling someone "Pinko." Good Lord, take it back to '84.

The union exists for a reason today. Despite no "queens" are being worked to death, unions protect the interests of a common group of people. The purpose of unions is not simply to defend the existing wages and prerogatives of the fraction of workers who belong to them, but also to enable workers to make positive and creative contributions to the firm, the community, and the larger society in an organized and cooperative way.


The following is from the AEA Preamble and may inform you as to what they are there for...perhaps a little education will provide a more intelligent response.

We hereby constitute ourselves a voluntary Association to advance, promote, foster, and
benefit all those connected with the art of the theatre and particularly the profession of acting and
the conditions of persons engaged therein; to protect and secure the rights of actors; to inform
them as to their legal rights and remedies; to advise and assist them in obtaining employment
and proper compensation therefor; to procure appropriate legislation upon matters affecting their
profession; to do or cause its members to do or take such lawful action as in the discretion of the
National Council shall advance, promote, foster, and benefit the profession; to do or cause to be
done or to refrain from doing such other acts or things, either as an Association or through the
individual members thereof, as may be lawfully done or as they or it may lawfully refrain from
doing, as in the opinion of the National Council shall appear advantageous to the profession of
acting or to the members of this Association engaged in that profession.
Equity's Constitution

Updated On: 7/7/04 at 06:53 PM

>> For someone not even IN New York, you certainly are opinionated about what goes on here

Get over it, Dawg. Last time I noticed, it was a free board. I didnt realize there was a residency requirement. :)

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Nope, she, it was directed at yours truly. But Dawg seems to forget that, although folks are spread across a continent, the working theatre community is surprisingly small -- I've already encountered four people here I've worked with in past productions, and it's pretty cool to be able to compare notes about what we've done since. Just because one isn't in NY doesn't mean one doesn't know what's going on there sometimes; "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" and all that. :)

Just my opinion. I could be wrong.

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Sean, I apologize for making it sound as if you are ignorant about things going on here, I'm sure you read your trade papers and do your best to keep up on things going on in NYC, what I meant by my comment was this; You just seem to be very strong-willed about a topic that you personally, have no stake in, because you are not involved in the New York scene (either as a producer or an actor who is working/has worked under a production contract)...sorry to have offended.

Dawg - I appreciate that you apologized to Sean Martin - I think that is really great of you. But aren't these talks going to effect equity members throughout the entire country? They have a stake in this too.0

I wasn't going to post a darn thing on this thread, but secret-soul had to go and make a very valid, BRILLIANT point. Equity is the union of American actors and stage managers. ALL OF THIS AFFECTS STAGE MANAGERS JUST AS MUCH (IF NOT MORE, CONSIDERING HOW HARD THEY WORK) AS ACTORS.

I, for one, am deeply sorry that I never once included "stage manager" in my previous posts. I guess the focus became so stuck on actors this and actors that. Believe me--the stage manager is the God or Godess of any production. So, folks, I don't care what you think or don't think about the actors--THINK ABOUT THE STAGE MANAGERS, TOO!

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I also apologize for not including stage managers in my posts. Especially considering that my friends in school productions have always been the stage manager/crew/pit orchestra.

True, but I think the points being made here are regarding Production Contracts which are all either on Broadway or on National Tours (which are all cast out of NYC)-with very few exceptions.

Wow. Once again, I'm amazed by the volume of response my letter has received, and all the debate it has sparked. I think debate is a good healthy thing, though I wish we could conduct our debates without cruelty or insult. And I wish we could debate with greater intelligence, focusing on the issue at hand rather than tangents and personal attacks.

Once again, some of the objections to what I've said are far off topic. And some of the objections are absolutely valid. A while back, I revised my letter and posted it here. The new version clarifies my view that non-Equity performers may be just as good as, if not better than, their Equity counterparts. I will re-post the revised letter below, and I hope this will answer the objections some of you have raised.

Finally, to reiterate: My ONLY point is that audience members should know what they're getting, and that Broadway shows are union shows. It has nothing to do with who's good and who isn't. It has to do with truth and ethics.

My best to all,

Michael Kostroff
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AN OPEN LETTER TO THEATREGOERS EVERYWHERE

Dear fellow theatre lovers,

Professional theatre has a problem. And unfortunately, it affects you, the theatergoing public.

For decades, every actor on a Broadway stage (or in a touring company of a Broadway show) had to be a member of the stage actors union, the Actors Equity Association. And that made sense. Because Broadway shows are state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line productions. That's what you pay for when you see one of these shows - the very best of what theatre has to offer.

Often, actors would struggle for years, paying their dues, to get their Equity cards and join the ranks of the top-notch professionals. The idea was that not just anyone could be in a big Broadway show. You had to have achieved union status. That was the mark of the professional actor.

But in recent years, Broadway producers have figured out a way to save money by doing something rather alarming: They've started sending out tours of Broadway shows with entirely non-union casts!

Many of the performers you're currently seeing in so-called "Broadway" tours are young, inexperienced amateurs. For some of them, it's their first professional job – the start of their careers. They're not Broadway actors. In fact, they’re not eligible to be on Broadway, because they're not in the union yet.

Of course, the producers don't tell you, the ticket buyer, about any of this. They don't indicate it in any of the advertising. In fact, they often bill the show as "Direct from Broadway," "Broadway's Best," or "The Broadway Series." We in the stage actors union think that's false advertising. We think you're being cheated. You'll notice they haven't lowered their ticket prices.

But worse than that, we're concerned for the future of theatre. Theatre needs audiences. And the more audiences are disappointed with these so-called "Broadway" productions (by the way, they also scale down the scenery and eliminate crew positions), the more they'll go elsewhere for entertainment. If that happens, then everyone, including the non-union actors, will lose.

The last thing we union actors want is for an audience member to say "I saw a Broadway tour, and it really wasn't that good." At 80-100 bucks a seat, you deserve to see the very best possible stage entertainment. When you pay for a Broadway tour, you should get a Broadway tour. And if it’s not Equity, it’s not Broadway.

This is not to suggest that non-union actors are somehow less talented. Not at all. There are quite a number of extremely gifted performers who aren't members of Equity. In fact, there are lots of excellent musicians who don't belong to the musicians union, and plenty of brilliant writers who aren't in the Writer's Guild. But on Broadway, everyone on the crew, in the pit and on the stage is in a union. So, if someone is trying to sell you a ticket to a "Broadway" tour with a non-union cast, there's something fishy going on.

OK, that's the background on the situation. Here, in simple practical terms, is what you can do. And it's really not hard:

Before you buy a ticket to a touring show, call the theatre and ask whether or not the cast is Equity. If the actors are not Equity members, don’t buy tickets. If the person at the box office isn't sure, don’t buy tickets. And be sure to tell the theatre that you only see Equity Broadway tours.

It's as simple as that. You'll be doing us, yourselves, and the theatre an enormous favor. Our interest is in preserving Broadway's reputation and in preserving the dignity and elegance of our profession.

Oh, one more thing. We're trying to educate our public, so please pass this letter along.

As always, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for choosing live theatre. There's really nothing like it.

Michael Kostroff
Proud union member
(Currently touring in the all-Equity cast of Les Misérables)

"Many of the performers you're currently seeing in so-called "Broadway" tours are young, inexperienced amateurs..."

I see your point, Dawg, but just because an actor in a non-Equity production is young and inexperienced does not mean they aren't talented. Like Unmasked05, I saw the touring production of Oklahoma and had a good time. Yes, they may have been amateurs, but they put on a great performance that afternoon. Being an Equity member doesn't automatically make you more talented than someone in non-Equity. Look at all the stunt casting going around within Equity: Christy Romano/Beauty and the Beast; Melanie Griffith/Chicago; Micky Dolenz/Aida; Drew Lachey/Rent; Joey Fatone/Rent and LSOH.

After all, they all have to start somewhere. Being in a national tour of a show, whether non-Equity or Equity, is a good life lesson for actors. And for those "amateurs," it is another stepping stone in their career.

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WHY WON'T THIS THREAD JUST DIE?

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"Michael Kostroff
Proud union member
(Currently touring in the all-Equity cast of Les Misérables)"

Except, you're not touring in Les Miz anymore.

Of course, actually, no one is right now...