salaries: tours...broadway....

[shomeika]

Posted: 7/6/11 at 10:39pm

I saw a thread here a while back, and have searched and cannot find it. I am curious about how the dollars and cents of a production goes......sit down production vs. tour.......if a cast member is absent, do they still make salary, or are they commissioned on a "by appearance" basis?

Do tour cast make same or more than a long time Broadway show, for instance?

Would appreciate any input...

Updated On: 7/6/11 at 10:39 PM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/6/11 at 10:52pm

If a performer is a part of the union (AEA - Actors' Equity Association) then they have to make the minimum weekly salary as per the production contract. There are different type of production contracts (ie Broadway, Tour, etc.) and there even differences within each category of production contract.

If you search the AEA website, you can read what the minimums are. For Broadway, you'll look at the Equity/League Contract.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 6:38am

Just like any full time job: they get a certain number of sick days and vacation days. (of course the number of these is negotiable like every other contract issue)

[Barcelona]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 10:17am

Performers on tour get per diem and technically don't have to pay for housing while they're on tour (assuming they're not paying for a place in their hometown)...does that affect their salary at all?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 10:36am

Performers on tour get per diem and technically don't have to pay for housing while they're on tour (assuming they're not paying for a place in their hometown)...does that affect their salary at all?

If it works the same way on tour as it does on Broadway, it's all considered compensation. That's how Loretta Ables Sayre wound up being one of the highest compensated employees at Lincoln Center while she was in South Pacific.

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 11:15am

^^^ please expand on why she was the higest paid? was she getting per diem's and $$ towards accommodation because she is not local?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 11:23am

That was my understanding of what I read on their 990s.

[Dave13]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 11:24am

If this is true, the performers on tour are really getting screwed. This might be true for the lower budget tours, but I would think any legitimate show on tour would pay for hotel accommodations. If I am not mistaken, all of the performers usually stay at the same hotel. Oftentimes these hotels are $100+ per night. Not sure how the lower paid performers could pay $100+ 30 nights a month.

Also, I would think the tour company would want to keep morale high on tour and keep the performers together in nice accommodations.

As long as the performers are not being paid directly for their accommodations in which the tour pays the hotel directly, not sure how this could be included as income.

Regardless, the actors should be entitled to a deduction as either a business expenses or un-reimbursed business expense. To include it as income is wrong.

Updated On: 7/7/11 at 11:24 AM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 11:29am

Regardless, the actors should be entitled to a deduction as either a business expenses or un-reimbursed business expense. To include it as income is wrong.

It's not considered income, but on the company's tax forms, it's all part of compensation. There are parts later on the tax forms where each expense is explained, and there's even a section for housing and accommodations.

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 11:31am

Different actors have different standards regarding where they would like to stay when they are on tour.

from my experience, each cast member is allotted $100/night for a hotel room.

There are usually rooms in more than one hotel available.

Lets say 4 star hotels are $200/night. Most often actors choose to bunk up with friends, so they can stay in the 4 star hotel room that has two queen beds, and all their costs are covered.

If they are the STAR of the show, they may have it in their contract that they need their own rooms, and more $$ per night. If they are not the star, but want their own room, often, they fork over their money to pay the difference.

Or if the 3 star option has rooms for $100/night, you can afford your own room. Or bunk up with a cast mate, and pocket $50/nightly.

If the tour is stopped in your home town, and you choose to stay with your family, you are STILL given $100/night, as part of your contract. That money all goes into your pocket. If your family has enough guest rooms for 3-4 cast mates to stay with you too, then THEY all pocket their money too.

Same goes for food. $X/day. If you spend it all, its gone. if you eat carrots and string cheese all day, you save money.

EDIT: all the NUMBERS in this post are guesstimations. Each contract is different for each actor, and each touring company has different standards, and different prices.
Updated On: 7/7/11 at 11:31 AM

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 11:43am

I would like to know what all the Shrek actors from every production got paid