#1
Posted: 6/2/04 at 2:01pm
the following is an email i received from a friend in the broadway community. she received it from a friend of hers in the current les mis tour. i not posting this to start fights, i live in michigan and understand both sides. people who dont live in new york want to go see tours if they are equity or not because that might be their only chance to see that show. im just passing information along. its information a lot of us already know but, hey, it couldnt hurt to say it again.
AN OPEN LETTER TO THEATREGOERS EVERYWHERE
Dear fellow theatre lovers,
Professional theatre has a problem. And unfortunately, it affects you, the theater-going public.
For decades, every actor on a Broadway stage (or in a touring company of a Broadway show) had to be a member of the stage actors union, the Actors Equity Association. And that made sense. Because Broadway shows are state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line productions. That's what you pay for when you see one of these shows - the very best of what theatre has to offer.
Actors would struggle for years, paying their dues, to get their
Equity cards and join the ranks of the top-notch professionals. The idea was that not just anyone could be in a big Broadway show. You had to have achieved union status. That was the mark of the professional actor.
But in recent years, Broadway producers have figured out a way to save money by doing something rather alarming: They've started sending out tours of Broadway shows with entirely non-union casts!
Many of the performers you're currently seeing in so-called
"Broadway" tours are young, inexperienced amateurs. For some of them, it's their first professional job - the start of their career. They're not seasoned Broadway actors. In fact, they couldn't be on Broadway, because they're not in the union yet.
Of course, the producers don't tell you, the ticket buyer, about any of this. They don't indicate it in any of the advertising. In fact, they often bill the show as "Direct from Broadway," "Broadway's Best," or "The Broadway Series." We in the stage actors union think that's false advertising. We think you're being cheated. You'll notice they haven't lowered their ticket prices.
But worse than that, we're concerned for the future of theatre.
Theatre needs audiences. And the more audiences are disappointed with these so-called "Broadway" productions (by the way, they also scale down the scenery and eliminate crew positions), the more they'll go elsewhere for entertainment. If that happens, then everyone, including the non-union actors, will lose.
The last thing we union actors want is for an audience member to say "I saw a Broadway tour, and it really wasn't that good." At 80-100 bucks a seat, you deserve to see the very best possible stage entertainment. You deserve to see actors who have paid their dues, honed their craft, and become members of the union.
OK, that's the background on the situation. Here, in simple practical terms, is what you can do. And it's really not hard:
Before you buy a ticket to a touring show, call the theatre and ask whether or not the cast is Equity. If the actors are not Equity members, don't buy tickets. If the person at the box office isn't sure, don't buy tickets. And be sure to tell the theatre that you only see Equity tours.
It's as simple as that. You'll be doing us, yourselves, and the
theatre an enormous favor. Our interest is in preserving Broadway's reputation and in preserving the dignity and elegance of our profession.
Oh, one more thing. We're trying to educate our public, so please pass this letter along.
As always, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for choosing live theatre. There's really nothing like it.
Michael Kostroff
Proud union member
(Currently touring in the all-Equity cast of Les Misérables)
AN OPEN LETTER TO THEATREGOERS EVERYWHERE
Dear fellow theatre lovers,
Professional theatre has a problem. And unfortunately, it affects you, the theater-going public.
For decades, every actor on a Broadway stage (or in a touring company of a Broadway show) had to be a member of the stage actors union, the Actors Equity Association. And that made sense. Because Broadway shows are state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line productions. That's what you pay for when you see one of these shows - the very best of what theatre has to offer.
Actors would struggle for years, paying their dues, to get their
Equity cards and join the ranks of the top-notch professionals. The idea was that not just anyone could be in a big Broadway show. You had to have achieved union status. That was the mark of the professional actor.
But in recent years, Broadway producers have figured out a way to save money by doing something rather alarming: They've started sending out tours of Broadway shows with entirely non-union casts!
Many of the performers you're currently seeing in so-called
"Broadway" tours are young, inexperienced amateurs. For some of them, it's their first professional job - the start of their career. They're not seasoned Broadway actors. In fact, they couldn't be on Broadway, because they're not in the union yet.
Of course, the producers don't tell you, the ticket buyer, about any of this. They don't indicate it in any of the advertising. In fact, they often bill the show as "Direct from Broadway," "Broadway's Best," or "The Broadway Series." We in the stage actors union think that's false advertising. We think you're being cheated. You'll notice they haven't lowered their ticket prices.
But worse than that, we're concerned for the future of theatre.
Theatre needs audiences. And the more audiences are disappointed with these so-called "Broadway" productions (by the way, they also scale down the scenery and eliminate crew positions), the more they'll go elsewhere for entertainment. If that happens, then everyone, including the non-union actors, will lose.
The last thing we union actors want is for an audience member to say "I saw a Broadway tour, and it really wasn't that good." At 80-100 bucks a seat, you deserve to see the very best possible stage entertainment. You deserve to see actors who have paid their dues, honed their craft, and become members of the union.
OK, that's the background on the situation. Here, in simple practical terms, is what you can do. And it's really not hard:
Before you buy a ticket to a touring show, call the theatre and ask whether or not the cast is Equity. If the actors are not Equity members, don't buy tickets. If the person at the box office isn't sure, don't buy tickets. And be sure to tell the theatre that you only see Equity tours.
It's as simple as that. You'll be doing us, yourselves, and the
theatre an enormous favor. Our interest is in preserving Broadway's reputation and in preserving the dignity and elegance of our profession.
Oh, one more thing. We're trying to educate our public, so please pass this letter along.
As always, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for choosing live theatre. There's really nothing like it.
Michael Kostroff
Proud union member
(Currently touring in the all-Equity cast of Les Misérables)
