Weekly salaries of lead actors on Broadway

[nycesq]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 9:09pm

Any input on what lead actors are earning these days weekly on Broadway shows?

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 9:11pm

It greatly depends on the star. The more famous/"in-demand" the performer, the higher the salary. For example, Idina Menzel probably gets paid a good deal more for If/Then than Rob McClure does for Honeymoon.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 10:39pm

It varies wildly. Minimum is now what, like $1,800 a week? Lane and Broderick made headlines for getting $100K a week when they resigned their Producers contracts, huge stars like Hugh Jackman probably make close to that, although it's rare. Theater stars like Idina Menzel and leads in long-running shows probably make on average between $10K and $20K a week, although that's merely an educated guess.



Updated On: 1/13/15 at 10:39 PM

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 10:42pm

Menzel probably makes a nice coin. I forgot how much she was getting for Wicked in London, but it was way more than $20,000 if I'm remembering correctly.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 10:44pm

Menzel made 30k a week when she did Wicked in London.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 11:08pm

Don't some actors negotiate a lower salary before recoup and then a percent profit after? I thought I read that somewhere, possibly on this forum...something about keeping initial costs lower.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 11:20pm

I think Jackman did that with one of his recent shows. Very, very rare thing though I believe.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 11:24pm

It's an interesting thought, to essentially spread your money out in an effort to lower the initial costs, and hopefully help the longevity of the show.

Updated On: 1/13/15 at 11:24 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 11:34pm

The Lane/ Broderick salary for their Producers return is partially true. They had a lower base salary, but negotiated to receive a certain percentage of the weekly grosses. Their return was a huge bonanza, so their pay, when salary was combined with the percent of the grosses, was likely close to the $100K figure.

[bdn223]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 1:09am

Hugh Jackman's salary is percentage based, and a percentage of that goes directly to charity. I remember during Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway he took time out of performing to explain to the audience he is not doing the show for the money, but for the love of the craft and donating a designated portion of his salary to some free trade charity he held close to his heart.

When he extended for a week he also donated that entire weeks salary to some other charity.

I don't know if the same still holds true of for The River, but he really is a class act.


In general though, I think the standard salary for a lead is a minimum of $10k week for 8 performances. Most also get additional payment for doing publicity events, and many have it salary bumps worked into their contract if they receive award nominations, and additional ones for wins.

[Dave13]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 2:21am

I have been told that unless a lead has a recognizable name that is growing to draw an audience, more than likely they are being paid the minimum. I hope I am wrong, but why pay more than minimum when there are 100 other actors just a qualified and talented for the same role.

Certainly with a recognizable name or an award that can be put on a billboard, $10,000+ per week can be expected.

[ZannaDo]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 2:23am

So how much would someone like Jessie Mueller make for Beautiful? She did get the Tony and is becoming a "name" to Broadway folk, but not on the level of someone like Idina or Nathan or Matthew.

[Dave13]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 2:35am

My guess for Jessie would be $5000-$10,000 per week. She was a Tony award nominee, along with other award nominations, prior to her role in Beautiful. I am thinking closer to $5000 at the beginning of the contract. After she won Best Actress, I would hope she was able to renegotiate her contract closer to $10k per week. In her new role in Waitress, I would like to think she will start around $10k per week.

Of course, that is all a wild guess. I could be way off.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 4:55am

Often the deal of s already IN the contract:: what the increase will be after a win for example.

[matineeidol2591]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 8:32am

The union minimum for ensemble contracts is just over $1800 a week currently. Principals contracts, regardless of fame or popularity, usually start around $4000-$5000 weekly.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 9:13am

Here we go again. Do we have this thread once a month?

[Pootie2]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 10:43am

Really? The only thing I could find by forum search was something from 2011.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 10:47am

We just had a discussion about it in a thread about Billy Porter.

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 4:18pm

Long story, but through my work I once had access to a document that listed the salaries for all performers in several Broadway shows. I was shocked at how low their weekly rates were. The leads were making approx $2300/week and they were recognizable theater names. No one huge by any means but I definitely knew who they were. I had assumed they would be able to negotiate for more, but I guess not...

For the record, this was in 2011.

[binau]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 4:34pm

Interesting information, theatregoer3. While It is difficult to speculate too much given we don't know exactly who they are, in some ways it's not completely surprising because as mentioned, unless they are a genuine box-office hit they are usually replaceable, and thus have less power/are less valuable than someone like Idina Menzel.

This is why we should be thankful that the minimum Broadway salary is thankfully quite a decent salary, and someone could make their career and finance their life just being in the chorus for years. If these minimums didn't exist I'm sure producers would hire people for a small amount of money (or 'free') because there are so many people who want to live their 'dream' performing in Broadway shows.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 4:37pm

@neonlightsxo: I and likely others are not about to look at a thread titled Billy Porter for general discussion/information about actor salaries. You're expecting something unreasonable.

@theatregoer3: Between mounting and running costs... Well, there was that Matilda article that mentioned how Broadway shows are just plain expensive to make these days, stating how American unions are a major culprit, so I wonder where the acting unions fall in terms of percent of mounting and/or running costs. Only tangentially related, but I read an article about royalties/residuals a while back about how actors in TV commercial spots account for a very small percent (like 2% or something) of the total cost to produce a TV ad.

But clearly the "percent of gross" approach (I guess the pre/post recoup I asked about above isn't a thing) is something certain star actors can afford and may do to both alleviate running costs and gamble on success. Hugh Jackman is amazing, though.

[CathyFromLex]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 4:44pm

When the "Rebecca" contracts were made public, it was reported that "Principal actors were to be paid $2,200 to $7,000 a week. The actors playing Mrs. de Winter, Maxim de Winter and Mrs. Danvers were to be the best-compensated cast members, earning the top amount." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-13/producer-faces-12-million-deadline-for-rebecca-musical.html