I know this is probably a huge range, but I am interested in that range. We just got back from a trip to NY and saw 2 Broadway Musicals and my daughter asked me how much did the actors make, and I didn’t really have an answer. I understand from another post that the minimum is around $1,500 a week, but what would someone who is not very well known, but has been in a few or several plays could expect to make and on the other end, what could a big star like Julia Roberts expect to make?
Yes: current Equity minimum on Broadway is $1,422 per week (remember, that’s for a 6 day work week, in which you’ll probably do 8 shows). Because theatre is always a buyers’ market–there are way more talented people available than there are parts–there’s not much room to negotiate at the low end. Broadway in particular is about marketing and product, so if–as you describe–someone is not very well known, though they’ve been in shows, they’re not likely to get more than minimum. (But that also includes health insurance and payments to their retirement fund amounting to another 12% or so.)
Featured performers can of course command more, because they have names, so their salary is negotiable. And stars are always negotiable because that’s when it’s a SELLER’s market–there’s only one Julia Roberts, and if you want her for your show you have to make it worth her while. Even so, the theatre can’t possibly match a film salary, so any really famous star who wants to do Broadway is going to take a pay cut in exchange for the experience. The numbers for Julia Roberts are: she makes $20 million total for a movie, and is currently (reportedly) making $35,000 a week for doing "Three Days of Rain". That sounds about right; when Glenn Close was doing "Sunset Boulevard"–a musical–she was making a reported $40,000 a week, and that was a few years ago.
Sounds like a lot, but a) it costs millions of dollars to produce even a simple play, and b) that’s why tickets cost $250!
Professional shows employ Equity actors, so they are bound by Equity rules to pay a certain mimumum salary to their actors depending on the contract, which in turn depends on the location and size of the theatre and type of show.
http://www.actorsequity.org/library/library.asp?cat=3
This document library has a great deal of contracts, the info you’re looking for will be listed under "Salary" in almost every one. I would paste some of the charts, but my computer is being retarded and not opening pdf files. The most common one to look at is the Production Rulebook, which is most Broadway commercial shows. Keep in mind though, that these are MINIMUMS, which means they are negotiable by the talent and producers.
References :
http://www.actorsequity.org
Yes: current Equity minimum on Broadway is $1,422 per week (remember, that’s for a 6 day work week, in which you’ll probably do 8 shows). Because theatre is always a buyers’ market–there are way more talented people available than there are parts–there’s not much room to negotiate at the low end. Broadway in particular is about marketing and product, so if–as you describe–someone is not very well known, though they’ve been in shows, they’re not likely to get more than minimum. (But that also includes health insurance and payments to their retirement fund amounting to another 12% or so.)
Featured performers can of course command more, because they have names, so their salary is negotiable. And stars are always negotiable because that’s when it’s a SELLER’s market–there’s only one Julia Roberts, and if you want her for your show you have to make it worth her while. Even so, the theatre can’t possibly match a film salary, so any really famous star who wants to do Broadway is going to take a pay cut in exchange for the experience. The numbers for Julia Roberts are: she makes $20 million total for a movie, and is currently (reportedly) making $35,000 a week for doing "Three Days of Rain". That sounds about right; when Glenn Close was doing "Sunset Boulevard"–a musical–she was making a reported $40,000 a week, and that was a few years ago.
Sounds like a lot, but a) it costs millions of dollars to produce even a simple play, and b) that’s why tickets cost $250!
References :