Voiceovers on Broadway
Voiceovers on Broadway
#1Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:07pm
This question is really about Dear Evan Hansen, but I know it's not the first show to utilize voiceovers.
Do the actors who do the VO's get paid just for their recording session or do they get Equity minimum? Are their union rules on VO's or is it more of a case by case basis?
#2Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:13pm
I asked the same question a few years ago. Only one response but it's a good one:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1051296#4335650
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#3Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:25pm
RULE 57 (B) An Actor engaged solely for a recording who is not engaged to otherwise perform in the production will be signed to a contract and compensated at no less than two weeks' minimum salary for each 26 weeks' use of the recording.
#4Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:29pm
Thanks!
#5Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:32pm
Nice. Just imagining that's done well for Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Rory O'Malley just for the Hill Cumorah scenes in BoM.
#6Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:34pm
Is it a Rory O'Malley VO? I knew about Parker and Stone, but I thought each Moroni actor uses their own voice.
#7Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:35pm
No. It's Rory as Moroni, worldwide.
#8Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:36pm
David Ogden Stiers (the original Cogsworth in the film) recorded the narration in the prologue for the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. Given how long that show ran and the information posted above, I imagine that worked out quite well for him.
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#9Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 12:52pm
^By my calculation, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $100,000 over the 15 year run. (although he could have made over minimum) And that's just for the Broadway production. His voice was used worldwide.
#10Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 1:16pm
What about Alex Bowen? The boy soprano who was the voice on the record in the cabaret revival?
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#11Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 1:20pm
^^^RULE 57 (B) An Actor engaged solely for a recording who is not engaged to otherwise perform in the production will be signed to a contract and compensated at no less than two weeks' minimum salary for each 26 weeks' use of the recording.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#12Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 1:59pm
The following did the recorded narrations for the Broadway revivals of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING:
1995: Walter Cronkite
2011: Anderson Cooper
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#13Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 2:29pm
To the best of my knowledge, they did not change the voiceover track from 2nd Stage. I know Gerard Canonico (he was the male understudy) has jokingly mentioned he's still "on stage" every night. (He's now a part of the Groundhog Day ensemble.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#14Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 2:50pm
Correction.
In BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, David Ogden Stiers was most certainly not used worldwide.
He did not do any foreign language production - there are readily locatable archive films to prove that.
He was not even used in the original London production or subsequent UK tour... that voice-over was performed by actor who portrayed Cogsworth in each production, just as Stiers narrated the prologue and voiced Cogsworth in the original film. I am not sure if those productions had a live voice over or recorded, but it was certainly not Stiers. You may easily locate the London cast recording to verify that.
I can not attest to the Toronto or Australian productions of the top of my head.
#17Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 6:49pm
Gregory Peck was the voice of Ziegfeld in THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES.
And I assume Mel Brooks got paid for the snippet in THE PRODUCERS.
seaweedjstubbs
Broadway Star Joined: 3/21/07
#18Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 7:34pm
And John Waters as the voice of the newscaster in Hairspray! Can't remember if his voice was used in the tours or the West End production.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#19Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 9:40pm
In HAIRSPRAY, Waters' voice over was used for the Broadway, 1st National, Toronto, Las Vegas, London, and I believe original UL tour.
HSky
Leading Actor Joined: 8/9/14
#20Voiceovers on Broadway
Posted: 3/8/17 at 11:35pm
dramamama611 said: "To the best of my knowledge, they did not change the voiceover track from 2nd Stage. I know Gerard Canonico (he was the male understudy) has jokingly mentioned he's still "on stage" every night. (He's now a part of the Groundhog Day ensemble."
The cast listing is identical. 6 of the names have been listed going back to Arena Stage.
Videos