How much does it cost for an employer to pay a principal role on a broadway musical

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 8:59am

Hi,

I have a question for you all,

it concerns the labor cost for a broadway musical.

In fact, I wonder how much it costs for an employer to hire a principal role for a broadway musical ?

I don't know if it is easy to understand what I mean by labor cost, so let's give an example.

I'm a producer, let's say I work for Newsies. How much does it cost to hire a principal role performer ?

I'm not asking how much can the performer earn ? But How much will the employer have to pay ?

For instance, let's say actor 1 earns 10 $ per show. My question is how much will the employer have to pay ?

Thank you.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 9:08am

$1,754 per week is Equity minimum for a Broadway production contract.

EDIT: This does not include the employer's insurance paid for each performer. That's the minimum amount a performer makes.

Updated On: 8/29/12 at 09:08 AM

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 9:19am

Thanks for the reply.

But just to make sure I understood your answer, $1,754 per week is what the performer will make at the end of his week performing in a musical ?

But I supposed the employer will have to pay much more per week.

What is the law, what the government say about wage/labor cost for theater workers ?

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 9:38am

Let me tell you why I'm asking this so it will be easier for you to understand and to answer!

I'm writing a paper on the french musical business compare to the one in the USA. I'm trying to see if one day Paris could be as big as Broadway !

In France the employer has to pay contributions. Because we have what we called "l'intermittence "which means that a performer with enough working hours will make money every month even though he is not working. And that, thanks to the contributions that employers have to pay. So, it makes the labor cost very high for an employer.

To me it could partially explain why it is hard to produce a musical in France.

What do you think, do you have such things in the US ...???

Thanks

[loliveve]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 9:40am

I feel like this is Economics 101: There are far to many variables to give a proper answer to your question. First of all, the pay the person receives is likely going to depend on their experience, and if they have an agent then the terms are going to be negotiated. Next, insurance costs may very based upon the performer as well as any risks that must be taken for the show. Also, if you are trying to figure out the total cost of labor for a production, then you are also going to have to factor in the number of cast members and crew.

updated: (because the explanation was posted as I wrote this I guess), I don't think there is anything like that in the US. Generally speaking, if you're not working in a show, you're not getting paid unless you have acquired vacation time.
Updated On: 8/29/12 at 09:40 AM

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 9:48am

1,754 is the minimum wage for any Broadway actor, but I guess principal actors wouldn't get out of bed for that.

Just out of interest what would a principal actor earn a week, just a rough guess.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:04am

I used "insurance" in the general sense.

lorenzana---we have EDD in the U.S. (also known as "unemployment insurance") which an employer must pay into per employee, plus health insurance, accident insurance, and a pension fund.

Performers are members of the union and get a full benefits package while they are employed.

And yes, star's salaries can be astronomical and don't compare. I've just given you the minimum for any Broadway performer.

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:16am

yES, I understood that 1,754 is the minimum salary for a broadway performer.

So, you say that performers have benefits while they are employed, but what about when they are not ? Do they still make money ? or do they just have to find a second job to make a living ( waiters in NYC...)

You talked about insurances, so let's say a performer earns $2000 per week, how much will the employer pay ( what the contributions ( insurances) ?) $2,500 in total ? more, less ...

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:22am

I don't know the figures. You'd have to talk to someone in a producer's office or an accountant or production business manager.

As with any employee in the U.S., you have to work a certain number of weeks per year to qualify for "unemployment insurance." Assuming you've met the minimum, then you can collect once a show closes. The amount you collect is based on a percentage of how much you were earning, but there is also a cap. With Broadway salaries, it's easy to say they would draw the maximum weekly allowance, assuming they have enough weeks to do it. And it's not much. And it does run out.

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:24am

Ok, thanks for your answer. That's what I thought.

If you know interesting facts about the broadway business ... Feel free to let me know.

Basically, My work will be divided into two main parts:
-Cultural differences between France and the USA
- Economy differences, cost to produce... between France and the USA

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:26am

A principal will typically get at least double the minimum. Stars expected to bring in audience based on their name can bring much more. I heard Nathan Lane and Mathew Broadrick got $80K/wk. In addition to insurance, which can vary based on the production (just ask Spiderman producers). There is also the employer's portion of the social security tax (currently at 6.2% of the first $110K of earnings/yr) it is set to go up to 7.65% in January.

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:30am

Okay, thanks.

I tried to ask people working in production.. but did not get many answers so far !

Feel free to let me know any additional facts about broadway ( cultural differences, economy..)

Does the government give grants ( subsidies, don't really know which term to use in english!!) to people trying to put on a show ?

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:35am

If the theatre and organization producing the show have nonprofit status, then they are eligible for grants and donations. Otherwise, no.

If you want better information, try to contact a production office and ask for a business accountant. They won't give you specific information about any employee, but they might be wiling to discuss general figures, especially concerning minimums. You might even try contacting Actors Equity and explain that you're writing a paper. It's probably worth a shot.

EDIT: Also, you seem to be focusing on performers, but there are quite a few additional union employees working on Broadway shows behind the scenes. Everything from stagehands to crew to musicians. They all have minimums and requirements, too.

Actors' Equity could help you with performers and stage managers, but that's it.

Updated On: 8/29/12 at 10:35 AM

[dtzumbrunnen]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:38am

This isn't broadway specific, but for the typical tax, insurance, and benefits payments HR folks typically estimate an additional 35-50% of the employees base salary to cover those items and the cost of their administration. That variance really depends on how robust the benefits package is.

So if I paid an employee $1000 a week, my actual out of pocket costs to cover their benefits and my tax liabilities for them would be $1350-1500.

Although that's not b-way specific, it's a general ballpark for you.

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:43am

I'm currently trying to find all kind of answers from the internet. I also tried to contacts people from the actor's equity but did not get any answer yet. I'll keep trying !

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:47am

In general, US employers contribute to their employees' health insurance, unemployment, pension, etc. Equity has health insurance and pension funds for their members, so employers contribute a specific amount to those - one is a percentage, one is a dollar amount. I don't remember which is which, but you can get those numbers from the Equity Broadway Production Contract, which is available on the Equity website.

Most unions don't put their agreements online for everyone to view, but Equity does, so take advantage of that. It would at least give you a guide of what the employer has to pay for each Equity member, although that does not cover the federal/state/city tax contribution or the unemployment insurance contribution, which are percentages of income and set by the government(s), not the union. It also does not cover the insurance policies that the employer has to have in place, although that does not directly benefit the individual employees (hopefully), and it generally covers everyone working in the theater, including orchestra, stagehands, etc. We can't really give you numbers for those insurance policies, because they are determined by hundreds of factors and set by the various insurance companies.

Slightly unrelated, but I highly doubt that Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were pulling down $80,000 a week each, even when they returned. Maybe $40k each. Usually, a big star in a show negotiates for a chunk of the box office income on top of their salary. That way they do well if the show does well, but if the show doesn't do well, the producer isn't run into the ground. The most I've heard of an actor getting was $35,000 per week plus a percentage of the box office, and that was an A-list Oscar winning actor in the starring role of a high profile revival.

Back on topic, I appreciate your question. Most people don't understand how much an employee really costs to an employer, in any industry. It's more than just the salary, and people don't realize that.

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 10:47am

Thanks that helps a lot !

Again, if you guys know or have any guess on why Paris could or could not be a new Broadway in Europe ( cultural, economics aspects ...) let me know !

[lorenzana]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 11:03am

Thank you for your answer.

Knowing people trying to produce musicals in France, I understand How difficult it is to actually be able to put on a musical, mostly due to the labor cost, the taxes the rent and money asked by the theater etc ( also musical theater is not really our "culture"!!).

And that's why I wonder how can producers have the money to produce such shows ? Where does the money come from ? Does it mostly come from private investors? What about the theaters where the shows are running ? Does the producer need to rent it or do they share the sales?...

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 11:12am

Commercial producers get money from private investors. Occasionally, you'll have a corporate investor, like when Hallmark sponsored the revival of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, but almost always it's individuals.

Producers rent the theaters. The rent is part of their weekly operating budget. On top of the rent, the theater gets a percentage of box office. The number varies depending on the theater and a whole bunch of other factors.

There is usually a clause in the rental contract that states that the theater can evict the show if they earn less than a certain number for some number of weeks in a row. Theater owners are usually reluctant to kick out a show that is not doing well, because a tenant paying rent is better than no tenant. But if they have another show that wants the theater, and they believe it will make more money than the current tenant, they can kick out the show that isn't doing well.

Producing on Broadway is complicated because there are so many things going on and so many people who make more money if the show does well. Everyone wants to keep costs down so that it can make more profit, but the more people who get some of that profit, the less actual profit the show sees. Does that make sense? I know it's confusing.

[Jon]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 11:37am

Until recently, I ran a tiny Equity theatre near Chicago. The Equity Actors earned $400 a week. We paid approximately $150 a week per actor to the Equity League health insurance and penasion fund, plus the standard payments to unemployment, etc.

I'm pretty sure that it is NOT the same proportion for Broadway. Just because Broadway actors get 4 or 5 times as much as we paid, doesn not mean that the health insurance would be 4 or 5 times as much.

[flahooley2]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 1:07pm

For their 3 month return to The Producers, Lane and Broderick each received 100,000 per week. Plus a percentage.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/29/12 at 1:13pm

Wow. That's insane, but all right. I believe you.