Who is NYC Theater's Highest Paid Artistic Director?

Even before Under the Radar was canceled, there were grumblings about Oskar Eustis’ compensation. They only got louder after a July 14 New York Times article announced the Public was laying off 19% of its staff. As part of that story, Michael Paulson wrote: “Eustis, who is among the best-compensated artistic directors in the field, said he will cut his own pay by an unspecified amount[.]” I received texts doubting that Eustis would take a pay cut or asking what that pay cut was, inquiring what his salary was, and questions about the pay of other ADs.

On the pay cut, I have no inside intel. I imagine that Eustis will indeed take a substantial pay cut, but I do not blame anyone for questioning it. After all, unmentioned in this most recent piece, is that an April 17, 2020 Times story stated: “Most of the [Public’s] remaining staff, everyone who makes over $60,000 per year, will take up to a 25 percent pay cut. Eustis will take a 40 percent pay cut.” Then that did not happen. According to a spokesperson, government funds came in and altered this plan: only non-furloughed employees making over $100,000 took a pay cut and Eustis took a 25% pay cut, rather than a 40% one. However, that 25% pay cut is not reflected in tax returns, which show Eustis’ compensation increased in the years 2020 and 2021. Therefore, if he did take a 25% pay cut, which a spokesperson says began in 2020 and lasted into 2021, the compensation increases he had around the cut were high enough to totally counteract the reduction and then some. (2021 was when the Public did its first round of layoffs.) Given how late it is in the year, any pay cut might not be reflected in tax statements for this year either.

In terms of how much Eustis’ compensation is as compared to others, you can slice that tear-inducing onion in different ways. If you look at “total compensation”—including non-taxable benefits and deferred compensation—of NYC theater non-profit artistic directors as reported to the IRS, Eustis is the only one who made over $1 million in each of the last three reported years. (The fiscal years ending June or August 2023, which will contain 2022 compensation, have not been reported yet.) His overall compensation increased over these years. The leader closest to him is Lincoln Center Theater’s Producing Artistic Director André Bishop—who is considered to have a greater amount of business responsibilities—but Bishop’s total compensation dipped to considerably below $1 million ($783,191) in 2021. If you average the last three reported years—which includes one pre-pandemic year—Eustis’ total compensation package was $1,103,447 yearly on average, Bishop was at $974,215, and Roundabout Theatre President/Artistic Director Todd Haimes (who passed away after the reported period) got $911,926. To put these packages in perspective, Signature Theatre Company Artistic Director Paige Evans’ total compensation during this period was an average of $300,220 per year. (Evans’ pay is not at the bottom of the pack of NYC artistic directors; I chose to include her as an example because of the multiple programs and stages Signature operates. Several well-known ADs make less, including Classic Stage Company’s John Doyle and New Group’s Scott Elliott.)

Some believe the better measure of yearly compensation is pure reportable compensation of the type that would appear on a W-2. If you examine that figure, Eustis made $827,806 in 2019, $888,676 in 2020 and then $898,606 in 2021. Considering the years 2019 through 2021, Eustis received an average of $871,696 per year, Haimes was at $846,177, and Bishop was at $734,088.

Others would say this too is the wrong way to think about it—it should be two or three top executives. In other words, MTC’s Lynne Meadow might not receive as much as any of the guys, but do she and Barry Grove beat a combo of Eustis and Public Theater Executive Director Patrick Willingham? Using a 3-year average of the W-2 figures, the answer is “no." Eustis/Willingham combined average was $1,324,466 and Meadow/Grove were at $1,239,779 together (inclusive of a special bonus payment to Meadow). However, Haimes and Roundabout Executive Director Julia Levy topped Eustis/Willingham during this period with a combined average of $1,563,489. Bishop and LCT’s second-highest compensated employee, Executive Director of Development and Planning Hattie Jutagir, were below the Public at $1,230,590 on average. (If you’re wondering about Second Stage, because of its Broadway house, its leadership compensation was considerably lower.)

There are several other ways to look at this. You could look at all the top compensated executives. You could view executive compensation in relation to revenue and/or expenses. But the above gives you a good sense of the highest NYC artistic director salaries.

Industry Trends Weekly is a short column that runs in the weekly Industry Pro Newsletter. You can read past columns and subscribe here. If you have an idea for the column, you can reach the author at cara@broadwayworld.com.