difference between equity and non equity tours — Page 3

-Whoa Whoa there. The reason "producers" don't book shows into smaller-town venues for "less than a week" is because your small town isn't the only stop on the tour-

Neither is your big city buddy-o.

First of all, BWayJunkie nor I never said "Equity tours should go to small towns for less than a week". I said they should do shorter runs in small towns. For an equity tour, a week is a short run. For a small town, a week is a long run!!!

-Actors/musicians/crew, by contract, need to get paid for the WEEK, so playing three days instead of six sucks money right out of the operating budget, with no return.-

Then according to that post, there is no financial resason why an equity tour can't play for six days in a smaller market.




Bottom line is, it really isn't supposed to be about money. It's supposed to be about getting a show to people all over the country. I understand that there are financial and technical blocks in the way. Technical blocks are difficult, if not impossible to overcome. If a show is too big for a venue, that's that. The show can not fit, therefore the show can't play in the venue. Now I'm not sure if I'm missing something you posted, but based on what I read... an equity tour could do a 6 day run in a small town and make some money but they choose not to. And in case I misread something and there is some other financial block, an equity tour that has toured at least 3 years and made some money already can go to at least 1 small town a year for a 6 day run and stomach loosing a little moey (because the amount they lost in one town doesn't hold a candle to the amount they porfited over-all) but they choose not to, even though it's supposed to be about getting a show to people all over the nation. Not JUST money.


The reason why I'm not saying that EVERY show should stop in a ton of small towns for 3 day runs is because... jeez, you can't throw your money in a hole!!! But you mean to tell me that a great amount of tours can't stop in one small town a year and stomach the loss of a little money?

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Updated On: 4/12/09 at 08:45 AM

^ Wonderful post :)

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Honestly, I don't even think it is right for an Equity tour to use the term 'Direct from Broadway'. It makes it sound as if they took all the sets, actors, and orchestra members from the broadway production... stuck them in a bus and sent them on tour across the country.

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The costs of loading in and loading out a show can also dictate the length the show is in a particular city. Most theaters book the show for a certain length of time based on demand and profitability. When you're dealing with larger markets such as LA, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston, you have a two-way booking (the producer initiates the booking and/or length of run) and negotiates with theaterowners.

As for non-union v. union, the odds are that the union tour will be better produced with better talent. I've only seen two non-union tours where the cast was on par with its equity counterparts (Miss Saigon and The Music Man). Unfortunately, its sets were chepaly made and looked little more than something a big-budgeted high school could produce. Other non-equity tours usually had one or two talented castmembers while the rest were unmemorable. While an equity tour doesn't guarantee quality, you have a better chance at a good quality show than you do with a non-equity cast.

"PitPro, I am going to assume that you are a musician based on your profile name, and if I am wrong I apologize. Musicians and technicians often are making much more than the actors on the non-union tours. Yes, there were some who had good agents and were therefore making better money, but many of these direct from college kids who they rely on to fill their casts are not making anything near what a union member is guaranteed as a minimum."

Yes, Byron I am and you are absolutely right about the casts. I guess I was very fortunate with all of my touring because the paychecks were relevant for the most part, even though they were non-union. The dancers were ecstatic to be making what they did because they had great bread coming in, as did the tech's for once. The actors got addition perks because Troika made sure every now and then that our leads got interviewed, got nights off, and got some exposure that you would never think would have happened in a non union situation. Our casts were on tv quite regularly and we were constantly reviewed. Even the pit got mentioned in a few reviews; you could have knocked me over with a feather!!

Obviously, I can only speak for my experience, but the non union tours were just amazing. I must have come along at a very fortunate time in life when the producers actually gave a darn. (smile).

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Byron what tours have you done with NETworks?

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