Yankeefan007, you mentioned that Feirstein is a royalty recipient for Hairspray, why? Was he a big part of the creative process? Also, for a show like Phantom, are the people who wrote the show still getting money for the weekly gross of the show? Wow, if it's like that they wouldn't have to work for the rest of their lives.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Big names like Idina and Norbert....? Haha. Outside of us, they're no bigger a draw than some ensemble member no one's ever heard of.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
Major stars like Fierstein are sometime given a royalty point or some form of profit-participation as part of their compensation packages (over and above their salaries). Sometimes it's only paid during their tenure in the show, but Fierstein is apparently a full royalty participant and gets payments from the Broadway and touring companies whether he's in the show or not.
And yes, the composer, lyricist, book writer and original director continue to recive royalties from the show for ..... well forever (or until the work goes into the public domain which will be after their deaths many decades from now) -- for Broadway, national and international companies, amateur, high school, college etc. productions, films, DVD sales, CD sales etc ...... Webber, for example is apparently worth nearly a billion pounds or so (and counting) and Tim Rice, Trevor Nunn etc are multimillionaires. And don't cry for Stephen Sondheim for never having a mega hit on Broadway -- his shows receive literally thousands of productions a year around the country and in England. He's an extremely wealthy man.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
I think that was because of an article that came out the listed her as making $30,000/week, while Bernadette Peters (according to the article) was making $50,000/week plus a percentage of the gross for Annie Get Your Gun (also produced by the Weisslers). Neuwirth was furious, asked for a raise, was turned down and hasn't worked for them since.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Perhaps Neuwirth should have fired her agent instead of alienating her producers. Or, given some thought to the differences between the roles of Velma Kelly and Annie Oakley.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
Though Bebe is a 2 time Tony winner, and considered one of the best Triple Threats of OUR time. Meaning from the 80's until now. She is still a name, and is known for her work on TV, and in film.
She definitely sells more tickets, opposed to Bernadette.
I honestly doubt more people would know Berndadette over Bebe. Bebe was on some pretty damn popular shows watched by most of the Country, Cheers and Fraiser. She is also a two time Emmy winner. Updated On: 9/11/05 at 08:08 PM
I'm quite aware of her career in televsion, best12bars. But thanks anyway. I'm still not completely sold on the fact that she would sell more tickets than Bernadette. But whatever.
I absolutely love Bebe Neuwirth and I do believe she has a great appeal to the masses because of her TV appearance. She even said so herself, she said that if what she needed to be on Broadway and not get brushed aside due to stunt casting was to be a TV/Movie star then she'd be on TV, and she did. But still, I think Bernadette Peters role was more demanding than Velma Kelly just because "Annie Get Your Gun" is a star show while "Chicago" is a two-hander three if Billy Flynn is played by the right person. I think Bebe's salary of $30,000 was great, maybe she did deserve a little more but I don't know, I still think Bernadette Peters should get more because she is truly a Broadway legend while Neuwirth is a legend-to-be.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Okay, so how do we actually measure a performer's salary?
So far we've heard the following: Audience size (aka ticket sales), seniority (how long they've been "at it"), degree of difficulty of the role, size of role, public opinion or "critical stature" of the given performer...
I now vote for height... or maybe even weight. Just like buying a ham. (No pun intended.)
Okay, all kidding aside, it's not "scientific" and I'm sure it never will be.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
The notion that Bernadette Peters is only known to theatre cognoscenti is simply wrong. Of course she sells tickets to the "masses." Why do you think she gets cast and paid the way she does?
I'm a big fan, and I've never mentioned her to anyone, no matter how unknowing or unsophisticated about Broadway, that they haven't a) known who she was b) said they loved or liked her c) said they'd love to see her perform live someday.
What big Broadway musical has Bebe opened on her name alone? When it comes to selling theater tickets, Bernadette is legions above Bebe. Look who got the only solo spot in the 9/11 commercial about Broadway - Bernadette, while Bebe was several spaces away from the center. Bernadette is much more the face of Broadway. Bebe is known mostly for television and I'm sure a lot of people don't even know about her musical theater talents. I would imagine if you told someone who didn't know a lot about theater that Bebe Neuwirth was starring in a musical they would say "She can sing and dance?". People on a whole didn't buy tickets to Chicago because Bebe Neuwirth was in it - maybe her return engagements but not her original run. But The Goodbye Girl, Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy had big advances based on Bernadette's name alone and Martin Short's name on Goodbye Girl. Let's face it: This last revival of Gypsy would not have been made without Bernadette, would not have had the huge advance it had without Bernadette and would not have stayed open for 14 months without Bernadette. There is simply no example in Bebe's career that would compare. Yes, Bebe is younger but while I really love Bebe and think she is very talented, I think her abilities (as well as mass appeal) is more limited than Bernadette. Updated On: 9/11/05 at 09:36 PM
This thread became a Bernadette VS Bebe thread. Which is ridiculous.
Bernadette is a great Broadway personality and actress.
and Bebe is one of the best dancers Broadway has had in decades, having a lot of qualities like Gwen Verdon & Chita. She has worked with Fosse, Bennett, etc.
(Thread bump sorry) - Harvey is an un-credited bookwriter on Hairspray, if I recall, so he gets $$$ from every production of Hairspray done around the country (in addition to getting $ from the Broadway production after he left it).
I don't remember hearing that Zero Mostel or Julie Harris ever got rich off of starring on Broadway.
Actually...they did.
Star actors like that have always commanded a set salary against a percentage of the gross. Tallulah Bankhead was famous for demanding 10 percent of the gross.
Ethel Merman probably got the richest. She was a shrewd businesswoman and throughout the 1940s, she commanded 8 percent of the weekly gross--less than Bankhead, but she made more money because her shows were more successful.
Beginning with Annie Get Your Gun, she got 10 percent.
On Call Me Madam, she negotiated DOWN to 8 percent, but in exchange for that, she owned an even more astonishing 10 percent of the entire property, earning royalties whenever the show was performed, no matter who was appearing as the Hostess with the Mostess.
On Gypsy, she negotiated a deal whereby she received 5 percent of the weekly gross until the investors were paid off, after which it went up to 7 percent. In addition, David Merrick agreed to have the production pay for her room (a furnished apartment at the Park Lane Hotel) and board (and Ethel could eat a lot of board).
Interesting statistics, Pal Joey. I seem to remember at the time that Merman was in GYPSY, Variety reported that she was getting a salary of $5,000 per week. Is there any truth to that as far as you know? Might that have been as a guarantee against 5% of the gross? $5,000 was a lot of money back in 1959.