Vanity Fair on Broadway's Reopening - "Not Until There's a F**king Vaccine" — Page 4

Pay cuts will have to come from upper management and many positions will have to be combined or furloughed. The salaries in those positions are astounding. Staffing will not be as expensive because less people will be needed.

I do not think pay scales should change but perhaps union rules about the number of employees needed to run a show could be re-examined. Stage hands could be stream lined as well as the front of the house staff. Upper management could take cuts and production designs could be stream lined. Security guards could be lessened as well.

Ushers are paid well for what they do but they are committed to working 6 days a week (if they are lucky to have a full time position) and though some shifts are shorter, their shifts regulate their days and personal lives. Some theatres pay better than others and the non profits are on the lower end of the scale. Many ushers are on Obama care which gives you an idea of their annual income. I think this is because houses have only so many full time ushers and the rest of the staffing is filled with subs.

Perhaps overtime and holiday pay could be lessened with everyone employed.

Performers make good money and porters make over 100 dollars a show. The stage crew makes much more and their jobs are hard to come by.

I think all productions will need to be done on a smaller scale affecting all employed.

Fosse76 said: "Islander_fan said: "First off, unlike other positions on Broadway, ushers aren't hired or have anything to do with production staff of a given show. We are employed by who owns the house. You work at the Majestic, you're an employee of The Shubert Organization. That's the name that's on the check. You work at The Minskoff, you're an employee of Nederlander. So, I don't see how this comes into play with what St. Martin is talking about in that article. And, Fosse, for whatever it's worth, we aren't paid that well. We do more than just seat people.

The usher salaries are line items in a show's payment to the theater. They are not included in the rent. So while Shubert employees receive checks "signed" by Bob Wenkel, the money comes from the show. As do the costs of any specific requests to changes in uniforms.

Also, the ushers' collective bargaining agreement is between their Union and the League (like all other theatrical unions), so it is exactly on point.

Ushers receive very decent pay consideringthe work they do: they are paid for a 4.5-hour shift, though the shift is generally shorter than that. House "regulars," at most, work 24 hours in a week, but are paid for 36 hours(this does not includeany supplemental shifts they pick up at other houses or OT for shows longer than 3 hours). Shorter showsmake the pay even better: for example, the ushers at Come from Away get paid for 36 hours per week (assuming they work all 8 performances), but are only at work for a maximum of 18 hours per week. I did the math, and at minimum ushers are paid $25/hour. The aforementioned Come from Away ushers are making $34/hour. That's not bad at all. And they are certainly better paid than most other similarly situated jobs.

Can they be paid better, sure, who couldn't? But let's not pretend they aren't paid well for the time they work.It is certainly at the high end of the scale for that kind of work. And thanks to the unemployment "bonus" due to COVID-19, the ushers eligible for unemployment are making more money now than if the theaters were open.

So yes, St. Martin is including all theater employees in her statement."

Jeez they make more then I do working for the USPS busting my butt 40hrs a week. But I don't have to deal with rude people either in my job.

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HogansHero said: "SmoothLover said: "Pay cuts will have to come from upper management and many positions will have to be combined or furloughed. The salaries in those positions are astounding. Staffing will not be as expensive because less people will be needed."

We are talking about Broadway here. What "upper management"? What "positions"? Why would less people be needed? Let's try to think clearly even in these tough times.

And your other post betrays a truly insignificant lack of understanding that could be characterized as back seat driving. (As does every word here about ushers.)"

Upper management was in reference to non profits. Like an artistic director position or an office manager. Or people who work within the organizations that run the Broadway theatres.

I don’t recall saying anything untrue about ushers and the subtext was that they are paid less than most other positions in the theatre.

Less front of house people would be needed because of fewer patrons. They might not be a need to sell all the house leaving some areas closed nor have to use all of the front doors thus not needing as many ticket takers. I am talking about when theaters reopen and ticket sales are slow.






Your reaction to my post was quite dramatic and one has to wonder why. I get that you think I am an idiot but you seemed to take my thoughts personally. Your posts tend to be condescending so I guess I am not surprised. I am glad I do not know you.

Updated On: 5/26/20 at 10:44 AM

The interesting quote is " why would less people be needed".
That's the entire idea of what Im concerned about. He isn't, and that's fine. Maybe he'll be correct. But estimates out there have economists saying 42% of all those laid off, or furloughed will not be rehired. Why would Broadway be any different?
And it's clearly not an impossible task for shows to do this, up, and down the line. In what you call ,"upper management" as well. Shows have General managers, company managers, assistant company managers assistants to the producers...
You're telling me NONE of these jobs can be streamlined? Of course you are correct. They can.

Do they intend to still sell concessions if people wear masks? I imagine sales would be way down if people wear masks, which would severely hurt the theater's bottom line.

I guess people would need to temporarily lift the mask to eat/drink. I've read COVID can spread just by breathing. Will fellow theatergoers be comfortable being next to someone who's temporarily removing the mask to eat/drink?

How would a "socially distanced" restroom line look at intermission? It typically already goes from the orchestra, all the way up to the mezzanine. Would the line be out the door & outside? Will intermissions be removed?

Bottom line, until there is a vaccine, treatment, and/or herd immunity, I don't think Broadway can re-open.

If ANYTHING good can come from this, let’s hope it’s the end of ice filled cups and plastic bags of candy in the theatre.

So they’re “hoping” for a January reopening, will that mean they’ll start advertising that soon and selling tickets? It’s already almost June and they’re going to need a lot of time to have to have some kind of advance.

Did everyone see this image going around from a theatre in Berlin. The new future for a while.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2624867451058068&set=a.1924395441105276

Updated On: 5/26/20 at 04:08 PM

A few things. And, before I get started, just so you know where I’m coming from. I’ve worked front of house on Broadway for the past five years.


@smoothlover. Your comment about how theatres would need less ushers due to selling less tickets is far from accurate and illogical. Simply put, it’s the same concept as if a theatre closed off its balcony due to lack of ticket sales there. They aren’t going to send the ushers who are stationed in the balcony home simply because they closed it off. It doesn’t work like that, they would instead move them elsewhere in the theatre. And, every theatre has its own number of ushers that must be there for all performances. That is why they have substitute ushers if that was not the case, then sub ushers wouldn’t be needed in the first place.

And Fosse, we don’t get paid by the hour, we get paid a standard rate per shift/show. It doesn’t matter if the show they are working is a one act or a full length two and a half hour show. An usher working at Come from Away would make the same amount for their shift as say, if they were working across the street at Dear Evan Hansen.

Islander_fan said: "And Fosse, we don’t get paid by the hour, we get paid a standard rate per shift/show. It doesn’t matter if the show they are working is a one act or a full length two and a half hour show. An usher working at Come from Away would make the same amount for their shift as say, if they were working across the street at Dear Evan Hansen. "

I never said they did get paid per hour (though the shift rate is absolutely based on a per hour salary in order to calculate OT). I specifically said they get paid per shift. The usher at Come from Away only has to work 3 hours total whereas the usher at Dear Evan Hansen has to work almost four hours to earn the same amount. That works out to $25/hour for the CFA usher, and $19/hour for the DEH usher. If the usher does all 8 performances, the CFA usher ends up with the equivalent of $34/hour and the DEG usher ends up with the equivalent of $25/hour. That's pretty good pay.

I am a sub, and, I am fortunate to get, on a given week either all 8 possible shifts, or pretty damn close. That said, I still qualify for medical. The union doesn't treat subs any differently than a regular usher.

KKeller6 said: "The interesting quote is " why would less people be needed".
That's the entire idea of what Im concerned about. He isn't, and that's fine. Maybe he'll be correct. But estimates out there have economists saying 42% of all those laid off, or furloughed will not be rehired. Why would Broadway be any different?
And it's clearly not an impossible task for shows to do this, up, and down the line. In what you call ,"upper management" as well. Shows have General managers, company managers, assistant company managers assistants to the producers...
You're telling me NONE of these jobs can be streamlined? Of course you are correct. They can."

Company managers belong to ATPAM/IATSE and aren't going anywhere. And it would be tough to run a show without a GM, although an experienced producer could do that him/herself I guess. If an assistant to the producer is on the show payroll, that isn't an ethical producer.