Facts about Different Kinds of Professional Theater
By Wyatt Elling
New York is one of the stage acting capitols of the world. You can hardly walk down a street without seeing a poster or advertisement for a play, from church basement Shakespeare productions to big budget Broadway revivals. There's a lot of opportunity out there. As an actor, the sheer variety of stage venues can seem daunting and confusing, so it's helpful to know the basics about each level of stage production as well as the pros and cons.
1. Broadway: Broadway: This is the highest of stage acting in New York, the place that daydreaming high school theater students imagine themselves. Actors and chorus members in Broadway productions make upwards of 1200 dollars a week, or more depending on the size of the role and level of experience. These roles are obviously the hardest to come by and it would take an incredible amount of luck to get cast in a high-profile musical or dramatic play without prior credentials, no matter how good your audition is.
2. Off-Broadway: Off-Broadway is a loose term for the group of smaller, independent, and experimental theatrical productions that exist outside of the main Broadway theater district. It started almost fifty years ago as a place where edgy and unconventional plays could find an audience outside of the main theater strip. It was also a place for unknown directors and actors to gain exposure and to produce controversial plays without ruining their reputations. Today many established actors and celebrities vie for parts Off-Broadway. Critically respected playwrights often debut in the Off-Broadway network. Recently it has gained a reputation for solid award-winning shows as opposed to the glitzier 500+ seat Broadway productions which make money but don't always win awards. Minimum salaries for Off-Broadway shows vary depending on the number of seats in the theater and potential weekly gross. Theaters with under 200 seats can pay less than 400 dollars a week and theaters with 500 seats can pay around 800 dollars.
3. Off-Off Broadway: As Off-Broadway venues became more commercial , more expensive to produce, and trendy for mainstream audiences, a growing number of low-budget experimental artists sought a freer form of expression. Off-Off Broadway shows can take place in basements, 50 seat theaters, lofts, public parks, hotel function rooms, and other unconventional, creative spaces. On your road to Broadway, you'll probably appear in productions like these. The Actor's Equity Showcase Code requires producers of Off-Off-Broadway productions to reimburse actors for their expenses involved with the productions, which is generally limited to transportation costs. Depending on the productions, actors can receive a stipend ranging from 150 to 800 dollars.
4. Cabaret Theater: There are many cabaret theater productions across the country, usually originating in dinner theater formats. The most famous cabaret production is Forbidden Broadway, a broad musical parody of current hit Broadway Musicals that originated at a supper club on the Upper West Side. These kinds of revues are generally bawdy and involve large amounts of audience participation, with some cabarets letting the audience dictate the plot. These roles require b improvisational skills and extremely "high-energy" to keep the dining audience interested. If a particular revue becomes popular, it is not uncommon for it to move to an off-Broadway venue. The pay scale starts at around 325 dollars and ranges based on the size of the cabaret and the number of performers.
5. Business Theater: These productions are not as common as they used to be. Private corporate theater productions can pay over $1000 a week. These are performed for corporate employees, dealers, and buyers for entertainment purposes, and often feature professional actors associated with the brand. Productions usually last from four to six weeks, and all travel and lodging is paid for.
6. Children's Theater: Children's theater is a broad category that includes theatrical productions specifically aimed toward young audiences. They can take place outside, at recreational centers, at established children's theaters, or at fairs. The children's theater code is called Theater for Young Audiences and officially covers around fifty theater troupes. Weekly theaters pay a little under $400 a week, and a little more if the actor also serves as an assistant stage manager.
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