What are the leads making?

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What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 12:53pm

We all know what the AEA min. is for weekly pay but lets seriously guess what the leads are making. I decided to pick just a few leads from current shows...

Billy Elliot:
Elle Woods:
Glinda the Good Witch:
Elphaba:
Sandy:
Danny:
Tracy:
Edna:
Roxie:
Velma:
Simba:
Mufasa:
Mama Rose:
Frankie Valli:
Moritz:
Melchoir:
Wendela:
Phantom:
Mary Poppins:

Any thoughts or guesses?

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 1:30pm

Mama Rose lol

Another poster on the "nut" thread implies that Hunter Parish is making $50,000 a week MORE than his predecessors as Melchior. My my.

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 1:37pm

How much IS Patti making? $25K-50K is my guess (maybe too low)... especially if the above is true.

Updated On: 10/27/08 at 01:37 PM

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 2:25pm

That kid is making nowhere near $50k. The poster had mixed up the numbers where they were explaining a total nut increase including an advertising push (which was temporary) to get the word out that he had joined the cast.

If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them. - Ethel Merman

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 2:29pm

I would love to know how much Roger Bart, Chris Fitzgerald, and Schuler Hensley were making in YF before and after the pay decreases.

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 2:39pm

An article on Billy Elliot said the boys make 1,700 a week

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 2:53pm

Parish is making $7500 a week and there was around a 35k ad push per week for the first couple of weeks

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 3:29pm

Its spelled Wendla.

Sorry, its the Spring Awakening junkee inside me.

"I told you, NO Rodgers and Hammerstein!"- Bart Simpson

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 3:30pm

Only if you post what YOU are making at your job.

It's none of your business how much other people make.

rude

"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

Updated On: 10/27/08 at 03:30 PM

#10

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 3:38pm

What do these people make?

make up
Stage management
set designers

I only ask b/c I am going to school for this. Thanks!

#11

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 3:51pm

I know at a LORT A (regional) theater, stage managers (not asst. stage managers) get about $1,200 a week.

<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.

-Dre- You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
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#12

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 4:17pm

I already know that stage actors do not get paid as much as other actors, but crew gets paid even worse. It's just the industry, and it is like that for any field like television and movies.

"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005 "You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy. Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates

#13

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 4:33pm

"I already know that stage actors do not get paid as much as other actors, but crew gets paid even worse. It's just the industry, and it is like that for any field like television and movies"

Actually not so, Marianne2. Film and TV pay much much more than stage work. No comparison, at least for actors. Take the 20 mil that some of them get per film. I know that's the exception, but in general, film is where it's at, paywise. One line of dialogue on tv or in a film pays at least $600. At least it did several years ago, when I had my last line on tv.

<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES

#14

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 4:51pm

I think she meant crews always make less, even in theater. No one would argue movies make less.

It's not impossible...

#15

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 4:56pm

Oh, okay then. It wasn't clear to me that she was comparing the salaries of crews and actors in all the disciplines.

<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES

#16

Posted: 10/27/08 at 4:58pm

Updated On: 5/1/09 at 04:58 PM

#17

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 5:05pm

That's true, but as in the case of teachers, I think there is a pay scale somewhere that's available for anyone to check salaries.

For instance, in the SAG and AFTRA contracts, salaries are stated.

<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES

#18

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 7:23pm

Yeah, I meant the crew members, sorry for not being very clear. I read in, I think it was the how much people earn issue of Parade Magazine, and they had pay figures for that line of work. They claimed that $8 an hour wasn't that unusual for production assistants, and makeup artists could only be making $3 an hour or something just bad. I guess it depends on where you work and how big a budget something has.

"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005 "You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy. Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates

#19

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 7:38pm

Oh TheatreDiva, don't play holier-than-thou. If actors don't want people to gossip about their personal information then they shouldn't accept high-profile roles on television and Broadway.

Updated On: 10/27/08 at 07:38 PM

#20

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 8:18pm

would crew members get paid hourly or are they salaried workers?

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

#21

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 11:10pm

A lot more a week than we all make. Surely, more a week than I make in a month. (and I don't do too badly)

"You're every gay man's wet dream!" ~ MA

If in Heaven you don't excel, you can always party down in hell...

#22

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 11:13pm

givesmevoice-I would imagine it could be either. Like I applied for a production assistant job, and they said the pay was hourly, but I have seen others where they gave a flat rate per project base or by yearly salary.

"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005 "You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy. Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates

#23

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/27/08 at 11:29pm

IATSE are paid hourly.

#24

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/28/08 at 10:52am

The IATSE house crew is paid hourly.

The IATSE show crews ("pink" contract) are salaried.

I worked in TV and film before settling in live theater - the pay disparities are huge, but it's comparing apples with bananas.

There's a lot more money in TV, and even more in film, at least as far as production budgets. The reason for this is when a movie rolls out, it can be shown on 2000 screens 8 - 10 times day, to various sized houses.
A TV show sells advertising time (OK, it's a lot more complex than this but bear with me.) that goes out to national and regional audiences, and can be rerun and syndicated, with no additional production costs.

A stage show can do 1 performance at a time, 8 times per week, to a limited audience.
(that's also why ticket prices are so different - a major motion picture can sell something like 16,000 tickets a day (2000 screens at 8 showings) whereas a B'way show can do maybe 3,000 tix (2 show day at an average house) - I'm just guesstimating these numbers - not sure how any screens are typical these days.

Of course movies can recoup in their opening weekend, and any popular TV show recoups with two or three decent ratings shares.

The fact is there's a lot more money rolling around on Broadway than in regional theater, and the salaries (and production costs) reflect that.

There's even more money in TV, and a whole lot more in film.

hope this helps

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood. " - Tom Robbins

Updated On: 10/28/08 at 10:52 AM

#25

re: What are the leads making?

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:42pm

It's fair to say that the salary range for lead performers on Broadway ranges from $3000 for young newcomers to $30,000 for legendary Broadway stars (or movie stars).

For instance, in CURTAINS, David Hyde Pierce was probably getting around $20,000 a week, while Debra Monk & Karen Ziemba got somewhere in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, and the unknown Jill Paice probably got around $5000.

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