re: broadway salaries

[brdwaybaby17]

Since it's a smaller show and an ensemble, how do the people in Spelling Bee do?

[Benzy92]

Hmm.. I have no idea.. thats a good question.. usually the saleries of big names only come out/get leaked..

My educated guess would be that each got around 2,000 a week, above Equity minimun, with Fogler getting a slight bump for his Tony win? Those are just guesses though..

Do you guys think Chita Rivera also got a percentage of the weekly take in for Kiss of The Spiderwoman?

[Bdwy24]

Scar in The Lion King only gets like $3,000/week.

[jo]

There's usually a long hiatus between shows - so yearly income can vary a lot.

If you work in different mediums ( film, TV and stage), you have better chances of a more stable income. In some cases, working onstage is a financial sacrifice ( think Denzel, Julia and Hugh); they must want to do it for art's sake.

[Greekmusicalfan]

I am wondering what could be Hugh Jackman's salary in Boy from Oz. The show was a success only because of him, he was a big box office draw AND won the Tony ! Anyone has a clue ?

[Jon]

Jackman also made around $50,000 a week.

This seems like a lot, until you compare it with TV salaries. The four leads on SEINFELD each made A MILLION DOLLARD PER EPISODE during the final couple of seasons. That's $22 million a year. The suopporting/recurring actors, such as Wayne Knight, Jerry Stiller, etc., probably earhed $100,000 per episode.

Actors you've NEVER HEARD OF, on TV shows that no one watches, earn $50,000 an episode.

[lildogs]

If I remember correctly, Judi Dench was making either $6500 or $5600/week last time around...most non-equity folks make around $300-$700/week if they're REALLY lucky...

[best12bars]

Comparing Broadway saleries to TV salaries, doesn't work on any kind of scale.

Broadway stars are overpaid by comparison, if you base it on "viewing audience." Even the lowest rated show on TV has more people watching it in a week than would see a star on Broadway in a year! Pretty sad when you think about it. But you certainly can't compare the two and make any kind of sense out of it.

[lildogs]

I don't think anyone bases salaries on how many people will see it. And as for being overpaid, a Broadway performer is not afforded the luxury of retakes, starting and stopping, script changes on the spot...I doubt you could find any actor who thinks theatre is easier than television, especially a musical!

[Rathnait62]

I would beg to differ there, lildogs, if only for the category of soap operas. An hour show every day, different lines, different scenes, every day. A principal character can work 50 - 70 hours a week.


As far as hour-long dramas and sitcoms, those can be long working hours - not the Broadway average of 7:00p.m. - 11:00 p.m. One of the reasons they get paid like they do is because they're giving up a lot - privacy, for one. Unlike Broadway stars, who are recognized within about an 8 block radius, TV stars are recognized and approached and paparazzi'd constantly.

[Fosse76]

I think those high slaries vary depending on the performer. I heard that the Spamalot cast doesn't actually make that much (Hank Azaria reportedly said they all made around $7500). Also, to an earlier comment, Wicked would have done just as well with Menzel, who was known to only RENTheads and the weird people who think Aida is a good show. :o)

Also, keep in mind, that actors don't work non-stop. some go months or even years before appearing in another show. Some do TV work, but most are only guest stars or minor characters and therefore don't pull in a substantial amount of money. As far as I'm concerned, you really have to be dedicated to be in this field. Afterall, not everyone will be the next Bernadette Peters or Hugh Jackman.

[makenzimarciano]

Actually, it's quite well known that both Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel were making $25,000 a week while performing in Wicked.

[best12bars]

As I said earlier, if producers are willing to pay a marquee name on Broadway upwards of $25K a week, and the audience doesn't care about footing the bill for that, it's going to keep on just as it is.

Personally, I feel bad for the young hungry theatre-goers who have to either sell a kidney or win a lottery to see a hit show.

"Fings ain't wot they used to be."

[lildogs]

Well, I've never been on a soap opera or a series. Those actors do work hard--not the spirit of my post at all--I was responding to the idea that Bway actors' salaries are inflated. I do not think they are. They are paid far less than their TV counterparts and do not benefit from a three-camera format or editing or any of the technical advantages that electric media performers get.

And it IS more difficult to dance and sing with precision every performance and keep it fresh, that I have done.

And yes, Rath, the TV and film people are harassed far more than theatre performers, but that's the price of poker--and they have plenty of chips.

Also, how many TV and film actors have to perform when they do publicity? Not very many--almost all theatre performers do. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss may have to get up at 4am to be on tv at 6am, but she doesn't have to do The Rich Man's Frug at 6am!

[best12bars]

I still don't see how anyone can compare Broadway to TV as far as salaries. They're totally off-kilter, side by side. If you don't think "viewing audience" matters, then why exactly are they doing a show? An average viewing audience for Broadway is 1,000-2,000 per night, not 2 million (if it's very low rated) to 15 million per night on TV. Corporate sponsors foot the bill for television shows, paying for ads (based on viewing audience size), while audience members foot the bill for a Broadway show through ticket sales. It's all about supply and demand, and as long as audiences will fill a theatre at top prices, "the show will go on," as they say.

[Rathnait62]

"And yes, Rath, the TV and film people are harassed far more than theatre performers, but that's the price of poker--and they have plenty of chips."

That's the point, dear.

[lildogs]

I know Rath--I was agreeing...

By that logic, Best, then the shows with bigger audiences would pay their cast members more. Chorus members in Wicked do not necessarily make more money than The Producers chorus members, right? Audiences matter, but the salary of a theatre performer is not based on how many people see the show that night, unless you're getting a cut at the box office ONLY. Do the people in Lennon make less on Tues than they do on Sunday? Of course not.

Certainly the price of tickets will be whatever the market can bear, but we're talking salaries, not box-office receipts.

[PJ]

Well on Shoshana Bean's fan site, back when she used to regularly do fan Q&A's, this question was asked. The question was specific to Wicked and what the salary range for the actor's was there. Her response was the Equity minimum to $50,000 a week. Now who else in Wicked at that time would have been making that much a week? It had to have been Idina--post Tony, post Cheno, of course.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Does anybody know what the songwriters or book writers make? Do they get some sort of pay for writing the show or only a cut from whatever profit the show makes?

[Jon]

The standard Writers Guild contract says a playwright gets 6% of the weekly GROSS - not the profit. In the case of a musical, you divide that up - 2% for the composer, 2% for the lyricist, and 2% for the book writer.

So, if WICKED makes $800,000 a week, Stephen Schwartz gets 4% of that - or $32,000 - for writing the music and lyrics, while Winnie Holtzman gets 2% - $16,000 - for writing the libretto. Actually, she kmight get less than that - the author of the original novel might be getting a percentage, if he's smart and didn't sell the rights for a one-time fee.

[Yankeefan007]

Harvey Fierstein is a royalty recipient of Haisrprsay

[the.hard.part]

how much would stagehands, lighting etc make? and like house managers are they in a union if so whats their salary?

[ljay889]

How much does a star replacement like Brooke Shields make? Granted she works for the Weissler's, and they're cheap.

I also wonder how much they pay Christina Applegate? And if she got a raise after her Tony Nom?

[MargoChanning]

Local One (covering stagehands and technicians) minimums are roughly in the same ballpark as Equity minimums -- $1400+ per week.

And the Weisslers are known for paying their stars handsomely, and keeping as much of the rest of the company as close to the minimum as possible. It wouldn't surprise me if Applegate and Shields were making $20,000 to $30,000 (I believe they paid Neuwirth somewhere around that number).

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

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.