Are there certain shows you can't do if it's not by an equity production?
Like, could a non equity company pull off WICKED while keeping all the awesome effects in tact like Defying Gravity? There are a couple answers here.
First of all, I don't believe amateur rights are available for WICKED, so strictly legally speaking, no, a non-Equity company cannot do WICKED (a non-Eq Broadway tour would probably be legal, but that has not come up and probably will not for reasons I will get to in a moment).
If ANY production wants to replicate the Broadway production, they have to get permission and pay royalties to the Broadway director, choreographer, orchestrator, and designers.
Finally, when you are talking about effects or specific details about the show, there are no rules about what you can do in a non-union show. It is up to the production team to decide what they feel comfortable asking their non-union actors and stagehands to do, and hopefully the performers would speak up if they feel unsafe. Many of the effects would also need to be scaled down or cut to fit a smaller stage.
The point of a union is to create and govern work rules, what producers can and can't demand of their workers and how the workers must be compensated. Non-union, by definition, means that there is no one creating or enforcing those rules, which is why many actors on non-union tours are treated so poorly (not all - it depends on the producer).
To answer another question earlier, there are a couple different Equity contracts a non-union regional theater can use to bring in Equity members, although there is usually a limit to how many Equity actors you can use. Within New York, there is the Showcase code, which is how you see Equity actors in Fringe Festival shows and other off-off-Broadway. Outside New York, there is the Special Appearance Contract and the Guest Artist Contract. There are others and some theaters have negotiated their own unique agreements with Equity, but those are probably the ones used most often in non-union productions.
Those contracts mean that the Equity actors are getting paid, and from my experience, they are probably the only actors getting paid (or at least, getting paid more than a minuscule stipend).
I have never heard of applying to Equity for a special waiver to hire the actor for free, but apparently that is an option. Otherwise, Equity actors use a different name and choose not to involve the union at all. If the show you saw identified the actors as Equity in the program, chances are they used one of the contracts I named above.
One thing I should note that hasn't been mentioned: once you are identified with Equity as a union producer or theater, you cannot choose to go non-union on some shows just because you want to save money. Broadway producers are union producers, so any production they do has to have a union contract. That means when a Broadway tour goes non-Eq, it is licensed to different non-union producers (and the Broadway producers continue to receive a small royalty). If a regional theater company is a union house, they use union contracts and pay all their performers union wages, even if the performer is not a member of the union.
This does not apply to the Guest Artist or Special Appearance contract, whose sole purpose is to allow non-union theaters to bring in Equity actors.
ETA: Wow, apparently I have a lot to say on this subject. I will try to keep my responses shorter from now on!
Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters. ~ Wicked
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent
"He's a tramp, but I love him."
Updated On: 5/3/13 at 10:13 AM
