Switching theatres on Broadway vs. West End

It seems like shows switch theatres on the West End far more commonly than on Broadway. I have read on here that it is a very costly to move from one theatre to the next on Broadway and was wondering if the costs were comparable on the West End? If so, why do you think a show would switch theatres in London as opposed to switching on Broadway?

Updated On: 11/14/12 at 08:35 AM

Union costs are factored completely differently in London, and are across the board more expensive in New York. The West End union rules take into account different things like the size of the theatre when determining pay scale, which isn't considered for Broadway. To give you just a rough idea, the West End pay scale for actors in a theatre over 1100 seats is £607.61 a week (and goes down from there with minimum in theaters under 800 seats being £497.13 per week).

Minimum for a Broadway ensemble contract regardless of seats is $1,754 a week.

Tech positions are paid out at even higher minimums so you can quickly see how the cost in man hours to resize and reinstall a broadway production in a new theatre can be exorbitantly expensive- in most instances over $1,000,000.

It probably costs half that to relocate a show Iin the West End, hence why more shows there transfer theaters.