So...they get paid to just...SIT there?

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:02am

Lion King, how they alternate young nala and young simba. The two that arent performing that night just get paid to sit their?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:04am

Well, they DO perform every other night, so.....

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:06am

Yeah. Same with Tarzan. One performs 4 performances a week and the other performs the other 4. And when one isn't on, they go to the theatre and sit there until intermission and then are allowed to go home. What's wrong with that? They're kids!

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:06am

Kind of like every other kid role that alternates casts? Cosettes, Gavroches, Mary Poppins kids, etc.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:06am

Swings get paid to "sit there," too. In both instances, if something goes wrong on stage, they'd better get ready...

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:07am

I understand that, but they only perform 4 out of 8 shows a week.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:07am

Child labor laws.

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:08am

BTW, whats the age limit that you dont have to double cast, cause i know "Noah" in Caroline or Change wasnt double casted, and were "lil boy" and "lil girl" double casted in Ragtime?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:12am

Casted is not a word.

Lee Bouvier (played by Kelsey Fowler) in Grey Gardens is not double cast. She's... ten I think.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:15am

It's different everywhere, depending on laws. When Les Miz was performed in Duisburg, Germany, they had 15 kids rotating in each role, so at any given time, there were more kids in the cast than adults.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:16am

More shocking when looking at your original post in this thread is the notion that your teachers get paid to teach you? What do you do? Just sit there?

[winston89]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 1:07am

The whole child double casting thing came from when Les Miserables came over from London. England has REALLY strict child labor lawas and they had to have two kids rotate the roles of Gavroche, Young Cosette and young eponine. when the show came over to America they kept that concept. Pretty much, broadway shows don't have to double cast when it comes to working with children. But, they tend to do so. One reason that they do is because they keep the kid in the theatre and if something goes wrong with the other child actor they put them in the show. And also, they are kids no one expects them to be able to preform 8 shows a week.

[VivaBohemia]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 1:19am

I'm pretty sure child actors dont make nearly as much as adult actors do...

Who set a wild hair up your rear?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 1:24am

Lol Namo.

[sondhead]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:11am

"I'm pretty sure child actors dont make nearly as much as adult actors do... "

The equity rules are no different for children than adults as far as pay goes.

Labor laws are not what create the crazy kids schedules. It is very much a British thing as another poster said. That's why not every show works that way. Baby June in Gypsy didn't have a double (as far as I know) and I know Daisy Eagan only got Thursday nights off during her run in The Secret Garden.

[VivaBohemia]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:24am

Really? Thats interesting. I thought it would be different.

Thanks for the info :)

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:24am

They dont' always double cast, as sondhead pointed out, Eagan was there for most of "Secret Garden," and they don't usually alternate Annie's or Oliver's.

[Shakespearean]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:43am

I believe they're looking to cast three Billy Elliots for the US production, as in the British production, but that show has an amazing following of people who go out of their way to see all three Billys over there. More importantly, they don't publish which Billy will perform when. Now, do the math, if you see a show at $111.25 a ticket five times to see all three Billys, they'll make a fortune here.

And don't think the fangirls won't do that. That said, I really enjoyed the OLC album of the show, much to my surprise, and I'm looking forward to its arrival here. I didn't think it would be my cup of tea but the score is addictive, definitely a different style with some clever lyrics.

[HumATune]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 5:28am

I had done a search for my topic and didn't see anything in the archives, but then I saw this thread, so I'll post this here since it's similar. (I'm screwed either way since some will yell at me for thread-jacking, and others would yell at me for if I kept the other topic going and direct me to this one.)

I’m not an actress so I guess I can’t really understand, but the thought of being a standby sounds boring to me.

Would anyone here who’s ever been a standby or knows someone who has been one share some experiences?

I don’t know. It seems like it would suck to only do rehearsals and go weeks at a time without dong the thing you love; meanwhile, you’d still have to be at the theatre every night. And if the person you standby for has an almost flawless attendance record, you may only be going on during his or her vacation.

I think I’d rather been in the ensemble with no role to understudy than be the standby who’s on the sidelines almost every night, even though the standby is supposed to be the “better” job to have. But maybe there’s something I’m missing here, so please enlighten me.

[Jon]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 6:58am

I'm pretty sure that Equity came up with a new pay structure for child performers about ten years ago, so a kid doing four shows a week doesn't make as much as an adult doing eight shows.

I know that during the original Les Miz, the girls playing Little Coeste and Little Eponine were always given the option of going home after they were done onstage,and not sticking around for curtain call. That way, they'd be done by 9 PM instead of 11.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 8:46am

Why'd I assume this was about DEUCE?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 8:59am

Has anyone seen a performance of Les Mis where the kids didn't stick around for the curtain call?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 10:21am

Yes.

[BroadwaySinger2]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 10:32am

When I saw Les Mis the kids weren't there for the curtain call.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 10:44am

During the matinee of Les Miserables the kids are there for the bow because clearly they have the evening preformance to do.

But, I know someone mentioned Billy Elliot and how it has three actors rotating the lead role. The thing is that on broadway there is an equity rule saying that they have to announce who is on and if there are any cast changes for the preformance your seeing. This includes child actors who are rotating a role. I can bet anything that when the show opens up on broadway there are people who will get a hold of their preformance schedule and that people who became hardcore fans of the show will only go on the particular day that their favorite Billy is preforming.

I am not sure about if kids get paid differently then adults because they are not doing the same number of preformences. If you want a good example of two adult preformers who get paid the same but don't do the 8 shows a week, take a look at the actresses playing Christine in Phantom. Neither one of them does all 8 shows. Yet, there is no difference in pay.