Article
| An Open Letter to Theatregoers Everywhere...
By: Michael
Kostroff
MODA MAG.COM -- Dear fellow theatre lovers,
Professional theatre has a problem. And
unfortunately, it affects you, the theatergoing public.
For decades, every actor on a Broadway stage (or
in a touring company of a Broadway show) had to be a member of the
stage actors union, the Actors Equity Association. And that made
sense. Because Broadway shows are state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line
productions. That's what you pay for when you see one of these shows -
the very best of what theatre has to offer.
Often, actors would struggle for years, paying
their dues, to get their Equity cards and join the ranks of the
top-notch professionals. The idea was that not just anyone could be in
a big Broadway show. You had to have achieved union status. That was
the mark of the professional actor.
But in recent years, Broadway producers have
figured out a way to save money by doing something rather alarming:
They've started sending out tours of Broadway shows with entirely
non-union casts!
Many of the performers you're currently
seeing in so-called "Broadway" tours are young,
inexperienced amateurs. For some of them, it's their first
professional job – the start of their careers. They're not Broadway
actors. In fact, they’re not eligible to be on Broadway, because
they're not in the union yet.
Of course, the producers don't tell you,
the ticket buyer, about any of this. They don't indicate it in any of
the advertising. In fact, they often bill the show as "Direct
from Broadway," "Broadway's Best," or "The
Broadway Series." We in the stage actors union think that's false
advertising. We think you're being cheated. You'll notice they haven't
lowered their ticket prices.
But worse than that, we're concerned for
the future of theatre. Theatre needs audiences. And the more audiences
are disappointed with these so-called "Broadway" productions
(by the way, they also scale down the scenery and eliminate crew
positions), the more they'll go elsewhere for entertainment. If that
happens, then everyone, including the non-union actors, will lose.
The last thing we union actors want is for
an audience member to say "I saw a Broadway tour, and it really
wasn't that good." At 80-100 bucks a seat, you deserve to see the
very best possible stage entertainment. When you pay for a Broadway
tour, you should get a Broadway tour. And if it’s not Equity, it’s
not Broadway.
This is not to suggest that non-union
actors are somehow less talented. Not at all. There are quite a number
of extremely gifted performers who aren't members of Equity. In fact,
there are lots of excellent musicians who don't belong to the
musicians union, and plenty of brilliant writers who aren't in the
Writer's Guild. But on Broadway, everyone on the crew, in the pit and
on the stage is in a union. So, if someone is trying to sell you a
ticket to a "Broadway" tour with a non-union cast, there's
something fishy going on.
OK, that's the background on the situation.
Here, in simple practical terms, is what you can do. And it's really
not hard:
Before
you buy a ticket to a touring show, call the theatre and ask whether
or not the cast is Equity. If the actors are not Equity members, don’t
buy tickets. If the person at the box office isn't sure, don’t
buy tickets. And be sure to tell the theatre that you only see
Equity Broadway tours.
It's as simple as that. You'll be doing us,
yourselves, and the theatre an enormous favor. Our interest is in
preserving Broadway's reputation and in preserving the dignity and
elegance of our profession.
Oh, one more thing. We're trying to educate
our public, so please pass this letter along.
As always, I want to take the opportunity to
thank you for choosing live theatre. There's really nothing like it.
Michael
Kostroff
Proud union member
(Currently touring in the all-Equity cast of Les Misérables)
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