carolinaguy said: "Doesn't the union contract provide at least nominal sick leave coverage? Wasn't that one of the things that was new to the 2022 deal?"
Yes, actors earning scale (and up to $6,000) get a certain number of paid sick and personal days on a sliding scale based on their salary. Actors earning over $6,000 are not entitled to paid sick days or paid personal days. That figure may have gone up slightly in the last contract negotiation. So if your Star is making $50,000 a week -- the producers save $6,250 for each performance that the Star misses. Also, very often for A+ list Stars (like Jackman, Midler, Groban, etc.), the producer will likely have a Star Insurance policy, which helps them recover a portion of ticket sales should the Star be out, an understudy goes on, and half of the audience takes a refund.