Actors walk out on theater lab productions in new strike

Actors aren’t “lab rats” to be used and disposed of, say theater union officials who have launched a strike against plays in development.

Actors’ Equity Association members are walking out on the labs in which producers and playwrights work out the kinks with actors.

The lab is one way Broadway finds new shows. Now actors in these labs want better pay and benefits.

“It’s unconscionable that Equity members who go to work developing some of the biggest hits on Broadway have gone more than a decade without a raise, especially when we regularly read about many of those same shows smashing box office records and generating billions of dollars in revenue,” says Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA).

Members will not be “lab rats,” she added.

However, Broadway League officials, representing theater-industry producers, say they are working on a new lab agreement.

“The Broadway League has been negotiating in good faith over multiple sessions, and as it is our desire to advance these talks, we have a new proposal to present,” the League said in a statement.

The League noted it will meet with the union in a few weeks and will continue “our respectful dialogue.”

The League, which wouldn’t go beyond the statement, told The Post it is “confident that we will reach a fair agreement that will be beneficial to both sides.”

Development play actors make $1,000 a week. Stage managers make a little more, the union said.

Generally, actors don’t share in the profits if a play gets to Broadway. But Broadway is booming, AEA said, and actors should be able to share in the prosperity.

One in four Broadway shows has been in a lab before Broadway, AEA said. The lab contract, it added, has been used 75 times since 2016.

But few labs — which are shows presented to invited professionals — go on to the Great White Way and make money. That’s because the play process can be protracted, “without any assurance of success,” said Todd Brabec, a theater-industry expert.

“I’ve known successful writers who have been working on a musical for decades,” Brabec said, “and it is still not ready for a first-class production, [or even] a tryout at a small regional theater.”

And those plays that do make it to Broadway usually bomb.

The musical is the most popular form, but four out of five fail, Brabec said. He is the co-author, along with his brother Jeff, of the book “Music, Money and Success.”

Part of the problem of profitless plays is upfront bills.

The Brabecs said the operating costs of running a Broadway musical “are between $600,000 and $1 million a week.” The costs of bringing a musical to Broadway are $10 million to $25 million.

“And that’s before a single dollar comes in the box office,” they said.

Nevertheless, the theater industry is a big New York business. Last season, Broadway had a total attendance of 13.7 million, with gross revenue of $1.6 billion, the Broadway League said.

That made it “the best-attended and highest-grossing season in recorded Broadway history,” it said. Most theatergoers, the Broadway League added, are tourists who want to see the hot productions.

Lab plays, AEA said, sometimes become hot plays. A union spokesman cited “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Hello, Dolly!” as two examples.

Union officials have told their members they must not work with Broadway League producers doing labs during the strike.

At the AEA Web site, members are told they “face union discipline” if they work in a lab.

The union also claimed it is stopping development plays such as “Dave,” “August Rush,” and “Tootsie.”

Source: Read Full Article