when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
NiceWork2
Stand-by Joined: 4/2/14
#1when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:43pm
before a closing notice is publicly announced, is the general expectation that the production people have to announce this in person to the cast and crew in a meeting, so that they don't learn these things second hand.....? I ask this because there are a number of poorly attended shows, such as Disaster, Doctor Zhivago, and others that have posted closing notices on a Monday informing everyone that they were closing in 6 days on that sunday. Tuck Everlasting did not do that, theirs came on a Tuesday.
Now it's also possible that if a notice is announced on Monday that the staffs of shows are told all of this on sunday before they leave.
It would be a pretty raw deal to learn that your show is closing through a public announcement as opposed to an in person meeting (though this appears to be what happened to the people in NERDS when they learned their production was being cancelled), but then again, when a show is closing with only a week's notice there's not really a lot of time to delay in announcing things.
#2when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:51pm
Isn't a week or two notice required?
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trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#3when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:53pm
In the case of Tuck, they were give a "heads up" a few weeks ago that unless business miraculously picked up, they only had a few weeks left. In terms of official notice, I don't know when that was given.
Typically a company meeting is held and they are told in person, but that doesn't always happen.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#4when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:55pm
Usually the company is told before the press release is sent out, or at least before the news is allowed to be posted. When and how the company is notified varies.
thedrybandit
Leading Actor Joined: 12/10/18
#5when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:57pm
It's an Equity rule that producers have to tell the company before the official announcement goes out.
I don't know if that rule is the same in London, but I'm fairly sure it is. When Love Never Dies announced closing, the company found out in the news, and there was a pretty big uproar about that.
The cast of Nerds was told just before the report went out (Literally minutes before) but a friend of mine was building props for them, and he found out when the official announcement came out in the press while he was in the middle of building one of theirs. He basically got a text that said "Stop work immediately" with a link to the announcement. So it depends on your position in the company, but actors at least must be told.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#6when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:00pm
I believe that the cast and crew must be given 2 weeks notice and if that is not given, they are still owed two weeks of salary. (from the announcement.)
Edited, it would seem from the posts below that I was 1/2 wrong: it is only one week. (If they get the notice in less time. I think I'm wording that badly.)
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neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#7when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:00pm
Didn't something happen where there was a leaked report about Mary Poppins closing and the cast hadn't been told yet?
sorano916
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/6/08
#8when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:02pm
Right after I got out of "Murder Ballad" at the Union Square Theatre, I checked social media and they announced its closing. Apparently, they told the cast right after their performance so it can be pretty quick. 
trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#9when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:07pm
From the AEA Production Contract:
45.C: Notices of termination or closing given at or before the end of the performance on Monday night, effective at the end of Saturday night following, shall be deemed one week's notice; and such notice effective at the end of the Saturday week following shall be deemed two weeks' notice. If the playing schedule is Tuesday through Sunday, notice given on Tuesday will be effective at the close of the Sunday performance. Except as provided above, a week's notice shall be seven calendar days and two weeks' notice shall be 14 calendar days. Notice of closing shall remain posted for the entire notice period as specified above unless initialed by each member of the cast. A closing notice posted after the half-hour call shall be promptly called to the attention of the cast.
69.B.1: The Producer shall give to all Actors signed to Term Contracts one week's individual notice in writing of the closing of the production and Company or pay one week's salary in lieu thereof.
It does not require that notice be given to the company before the Press.
#10when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:11pm
It would be kinda swell if folks who don't know what contracts provide wouldn't post what they provide.
Notice is contractual, but typically a week. Notice must be posted by the specified time, which is schedule based. There is no rule requiring a meeting. It's just not cool.
Wilmingtom
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/11
#11when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:15pm
And then there are the shows that close on opening night or after two or three performances. Talk about short notice.
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#12when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:19pm
Didn't one of the actors in Glory Days famously find out the show was closed when he got to the theatre that day? I think it also happened to him with High Fidelity as well.
#13when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:37pm
nasty_khakis said: "Didn't one of the actors in Glory Days famously find out the show was closed when he got to the theatre that day? I think it also happened to him with High Fidelity as well.
"
In Alex brightman's show people interview he mentioned the cast and crew were having a company meeting in the lobby of the circle in the square the day after their opening night, then two teenage girls came by to the door and put their first generation iPhone up against the glass with the announcement. The producers were still on their way to the theatre
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
#14when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 2:52pm
I would hope that actors/actresses would be told in advance, it is the right thing to do so people can get on with their career. That being said, I am sure casts in most cases are fully aware their show is in trouble so they are not totally surprised.
nycgogetter
Understudy Joined: 3/17/15
#15when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 3:12pm
Just to be clear, giving notification does not mean they need to notify the cast.
A cast can come in on Sunday and the show could close THAT day, it's just they have to be paid as if they were given the notice on the day they are told.
The one week notice posted on Tuesday for a Sunday closing would not require a pay out of any additional monies.
If you go in on Sunday and they say, "Hey, this is our last show", then they are paid for an additional week.
evic
Broadway Star Joined: 3/5/04
#16when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 3:29pm
Years ago, a closing notice could be put on the board on a Thursday for a Sunday closing.
trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#17when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/25/16 at 4:29pm
evic said: "Years ago, a closing notice could be put on the board on a Thursday for a Sunday closing. "
A closing notice can be posted today for a final performance today. But a weeks' salary is still owed.
BroadwayPeasent
Stand-by Joined: 5/6/16
#18when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/26/16 at 3:08am
Alex Brightman Glory Days what?
#19when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/26/16 at 7:28am
Alex Brightman
Was
In
Glory Days.
There, got it?
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#20when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/26/16 at 8:13am
"I would hope that actors/actresses would be told in advance, it is the right thing to do so people can get on with their career."
Because actors usually have their next job lined up in less than a week?
#21when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/26/16 at 11:34am
newintown said: ""I would hope that actors/actresses would be told in advance, it is the right thing to do so people can get on with their career."
Because actors usually have their next job lined up in less than a week?"
"Next" would be a misconception. Most actors do things other than act in Broadway shows-they teach classes, take classes, coach, get coached, do VO work, audition, temp, wait tables etc etc etc All of these things are impacted by being in a show and the sooner an actor knows when a show closes the more they can get on with.
trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#22when shows post closing notices....is meeting with employees first required....
Posted: 5/26/16 at 12:49pm
It is rare that a producing team would make the decision to close a show and keep it a secret for any amount of time. Typically the company is informed the same day the press is notified, because there are no secrest in show business.
If a show is tanking at the box office, everyone involved knows and actively tries to get a new gig anyway.
