Minor yet memorable roles and salaries for actors

I was just curious if anybody in the theater world understands salaries for actors for the roles that they play. For example having recently seen Hamilton I thoroughly enjoyed the role of King George played by Jonathan Groff. When you consider that he is on stage for probably 10 minutes maximum throughout the whole show I was wondering how an actor makes a decision to accept such roles and if they are compensated adequately for their minimum time on stage. His role in the show was so memorable I hope he is paid very well and wonder how it compares to the salaries of thethe other actors who are on stage for most of the show......

By the way does anybody know how well paid actors are in general for a megahit show like Hamilton.....

Are they paid a weekly salary or per show. Just curious to know if they are millionaires already. Knowing that the show brings in almost $2 million per week I can just imagine how well pay they are.

Having met the main characters after the show such as Christopher, Daveed ,Leslie and the three Schuyler sisters who were so wonderful and unforgettable in their roles, I'm just wondering if they're all paid equal and what type of salary they may be earning..........

I'm sure Lin feels as though he won the Powerball lottery!

Anybody have a clue how that is determined.....

Updated On: 1/17/16 at 04:27 PM

How could Lin not be a millionaire!

I figure he must earn 1 million a week being so involved and every aspect of the creative process and acting in the show as well as all the memorabilia and CDs sold to date!!!

if not he certainly needs a better agent! LOL

Are you telling me an actor such as Leslie odom Junior or Daveed diggs who are so outstanding in their roles earn approximately 3000 a week or 3000 a show .

Who then is earning the bulk of the profits for this type of a show. The producers? If so what a killing they are making!

Every actor on the stage is paid a minimum of $1917 per week. That's the equity minimum. Unless a producer or cast member chooses to disclose their salary, all we know is what they are minimally required to be paid.

"Jonathan Groff is definitely a millionaire and he would be compensated for his name, not the time he is on stage."

I think Jonathan Groff is great, have seen him in "Spring Awakening" and "Hamilton". That being said, I can't imagine his name really means that much to a show like "Hamilton" and would command a higher salary for a short part in the show. Even with his brief time on "Glee", I don't think he is that well known outside the Broadway community.

Updated On: 1/17/16 at 05:11 PM

He has experience...he's getting paid well enough. It's still considered a full time job.

This was reported by Rieldel in September:

A revolution’s brewing at “Hamilton.” I hear the cast is demanding at least 1 percent of the show’s profits because of its success and the effort they put into the workshops. Writer-star Lin-Manuel Miranda supports them, and helped them draft a letter setting forth their demands. Fortunately, it wasn’t in rhyming couplets.

Sources say the producers offered each actor a $35,000 bonus, but that the cast is holding out for more. (The producers refused to comment.) Stay tuned.

Updated On: 1/17/16 at 05:54 PM

I would imagine Lin and his wife combined would be millionaires. With her being a lawyer and him being apart of the cast/creative team of the most popular show on Broadway it could add up easily to a million. And groffsauce is not a millionaire. He's more of an 800,000aire

She's a 4th or 5th year associate at Jones Day, probably makes between $200k and $250k.

There should be no limit on the pay grade for Hamilton's principles! Ambition, freedom, integrity. Worth at least 40k a week!

I doubt the principals are getting that much, though.

I'm not saying he isn't a millionaire (how should I have the foggiest idea how much money the man has), but there is no way he got paid a great deal for the two lines he had in American Sniper.

mariel9 said: "She's a 4th or 5th year associate at Jones Day, probably makes between $200k and $250k.

"

That doesn't

1. Make them millionaires

2. Go terribly, terribly far in NYC.

Are they middle class? No. Are they millionaires? Doubtful. Are they well in their way? Probably.

As for Groff? He's further away, but certainly not struggling. I'm sure he pulled relatively small paychecks for any film work. And who knows if his agents were able to get him any percentage of the box office for Frozen. I believe you have to be a pretty big star to get that.

The running costs for a big musical like Hamilton are typically said to be in the ballpark of 500-600k a week, right? And that includes ALL weekly salaries for everyone involved in the show (including backstage and front of house staff), costs for the theater ect ect.

So non of the actor can make that much, especially considering most of them were fairly unknown when they negotiated their contract and many in the ensemble probably don't get a lot more than the minimum. That is of course excluding actors with name recognition like Groff and Lin himself.

Like we all learned from the lab/workshop debate they do not get a share of the profits because they had a lab contract, but get a bit of a higher salary. But even a profit share wouldn't be that much.

At the end of day this is Broadway, not film or TV. There's a reason so many stage actors try to do some TV work here and there, and it's not just because of craft services