SAME ART, DIFFERENT BUSINESS PART 2

In 2006 I was getting married.

So - logically - I chose this busy, life-altering moment to also change career paths.

I've never liked sitting still. :)

In April of 2006 I began working as a company management assistant for Elizabeth McCann and Joey Parnes. They were producing a play called WELL on Broadway, in addition to producing to the Tony Awards. (Side bar: the Tonys were the Sunday before my Friday wedding...holy insanity).

Broadway had always been foreign to me. Prior to seeing Liz & Joey's production of Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? in 2005 the only thing I'd seen on Broadway was THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. And I hated it.

That's being kind.

I ABHORRED it. I wanted to puke. It was everything that I didn't like about musicals and more. I'm sure there were redeeming qualities, but in my idealistic youth I sure as hell couldn't see them.

But here I am, about to get married, and working on Broadway.

WOOLF (and AVENUE Q if I'm being fair) changed my opinion of what Broadway theatre could be. And WELL continued that change. I realized that if producers existed who were willing to take risks, then good art could actually be seen on Broadway. Wow. AND the artists could actually get paid a respectable amount of money for their creations.

This is the point of this entry. I really didn't mean for it to be about my journey, though it's hard not to get caught up in yourself. Here's the point:

Non-profit theatre exists to give life to art. If you look at the mission statement of pretty much any non-profit theatre you will see that they exist to bring plays & musicals to life, or to "support" artists, or to develop new work. These are incredibly important goals - they are essential to the survival of art. The amount of brilliant plays that would never be produced without non-profit theatres...it hurts my heart to think about it.

These theatres are financed in large part by governmental grants, corporate sponsorship, and individual donations of $1,000 or less.

For-profit theatre exists, by definition, to make money. And this is where it is important to think hard and shake off your preconceived notions about what "making money" means.

People invest their own money into these productions. N0t $1,000 of their money. More like $250,000.

Approximately 4 out of 5 times that a play or musical is produced on Broadway, these people lose most (if not all) of their investment. That's crazy. That means that if there are 10 investors equally spread over 10 shows, only 2 of them will see a return on their investment. 8 of them will lose money by producing theatre that they (hopefully) believe in.

My favorite difference in the two forms of producing theatre is this:

Approx. average weekly salary for an actor working at an NYC non-profit*: $650/week
MINIMUM weekly salary for an actor working on Broadway**: $1,605/week

A director working on a Broadway show receives at least a 5 digit guaranteed payment for the work they will do. They also receive a small weekly guarantee every week the show runs. They also receive a portion of the profit if any exists. That adds up to an enormous sum of money.

An author can easily make, in a 6 month run that doesn't even recoup it's entire investment, upwards of $200,000.

What is my point? Same art, different business.

Commercial theatre does not exist solely to make money for the producers & investors - IT ALSO MAKES MONEY FOR THE ARTISTS.

There are so few outlets for these people to make a decent salary - Broadway gives them one.

I'm proud to work in a business that can help give artists a good life.