when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....

before a closing notice is publicly announced, is the general expectation that the production people have to announce this in person to the cast and crew in a meeting, so that they don't learn these things second hand.....?   I ask this because there are a number of poorly attended shows, such as Disaster, Doctor Zhivago, and others that have posted closing notices on a Monday informing everyone that they were closing in 6 days on that sunday.   Tuck Everlasting did not do that, theirs came on a Tuesday.  

Now it's also possible that if a notice is announced on Monday that the staffs of shows are told all of this on sunday before they leave.

It would be a pretty raw deal to learn that your show is closing through a public announcement as opposed to an in person meeting (though this appears to be what happened to the people in NERDS when they learned their production was being cancelled), but then again, when a show is closing with only a week's notice there's not really a lot of time to delay in announcing things.  

In the case of Tuck, they were give a "heads up" a few weeks ago that unless business miraculously picked up, they only had a few weeks left. In terms of official notice, I don't know when that was given. 

Typically a company meeting is held and they are told in person, but that doesn't always happen.

It's an Equity rule that producers have to tell the company before the official announcement goes out.

I don't know if that rule is the same in London, but I'm fairly sure it is. When Love Never Dies announced closing, the company found out in the news, and there was a pretty big uproar about that.

The cast of Nerds was told just before the report went out (Literally minutes before) but a friend of mine was building props for them, and he found out when the official announcement came out in the press while he was in the middle of building one of theirs. He basically got a text that said "Stop work immediately" with a link to the announcement. So it depends on your position in the company, but actors at least must be told.

Didn't something happen where there was a leaked report about Mary Poppins closing and the cast hadn't been told yet?

From the AEA Production Contract:

 

45.C: Notices of termination or closing given at or before the end of the performance on Monday night, effective at the end of Saturday night following, shall be deemed one week's notice; and such notice effective at the end of the Saturday week following shall be deemed two weeks' notice. If the playing schedule is Tuesday through Sunday, notice given on Tuesday will be effective at the close of the Sunday performance. Except as provided above, a week's notice shall be seven calendar days and two weeks' notice shall be 14 calendar days. Notice of closing shall remain posted for the entire notice period as specified above unless initialed by each member of the cast. A closing notice posted after the half-hour call shall be promptly called to the attention of the cast.

 

69.B.1: The Producer shall give to all Actors signed to Term Contracts one week's individual notice in writing of the closing of the production and Company or pay one week's salary in lieu thereof.

 

It does not require that notice be given to the company before the Press.

And then there are the shows that close on opening night or after two or three performances.  Talk about short notice.

nasty_khakis said: "Didn't one of the actors in Glory Days famously find out the show was closed when he got to the theatre that day? I think it also happened to him with High Fidelity as well.

 

"

In Alex brightman's show people interview he mentioned the cast and crew were having a company meeting in the lobby of the circle in the square the day after their opening night, then two teenage girls came by to the door and put their first generation iPhone up against the glass with the announcement. The producers were still on their way to the theatre

Just to be clear, giving notification does not mean they need to notify the cast.

 

A cast can come in on Sunday and the show could close THAT day, it's just they have to be paid as if they were given the notice on the day they are told.

 

The one week notice posted on Tuesday for a Sunday closing would not require a pay out of any additional monies.

 

If you go in on Sunday and they say, "Hey, this is our last show", then they are paid for an additional week.

 

 

evic said: "Years ago, a closing notice could be put on the board on a Thursday for a Sunday closing. "

A closing notice can be posted today for a final performance today. But a weeks' salary is still owed. 

Alex Brightman

Was

In

Glory Days.

There, got it?

newintown said: ""I would hope that actors/actresses would be told in advance, it is the right thing to do so people can get on with their career."

Because actors usually have their next job lined up in less than a week?"

"Next" would be a misconception. Most actors do things other than act in Broadway shows-they teach classes, take classes, coach, get coached, do VO work, audition, temp, wait tables etc etc etc All of these things are impacted by being in a show and the sooner an actor knows when a show closes the more they can get on with.