Do salaries influence ticket prices?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 12:17am

Is the rate of actors salaries(equity minimum) increasing at the same rate of ticket prices? Or are producers just hoping to pocket more of the money?

 

Updated On: 10/15/16 at 12:17 AM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 8:48am

My cynical guess would be no but there are plenty of people in the business who can give you a better answer than me - lol

[Dave13]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 11:22am

Call_me_jorge said: "Is the rate of actors salaries(equity minimum) increasing at the same rate of ticket prices? Or are producers just hoping to pocket more of the money?

 

 

"

My limited information suggests the opposite.  More and more actors are being paid the minimum, while ticket prices sky rocket.  

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 1:39pm

Dave13 said: "My limited information suggests the opposite.  More and more actors are being paid the minimum, while ticket prices sky rocket."

Well, your limited information appears to be wrong. Perhaps you'd care to share it so it can be meaningfully refuted. 

As to the original query, there is not and should not be a correlation. Would you want actors to work for less because a show is deeply discounting and/or not selling?

[gypsy101]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 4:03pm

yankeefan7 said: "My cynical guess would be no.."

Wouldn't the cynical guess actually be "yes"?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 4:57pm

Not if they were answering the subject question.

[IlanaKeller]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 5:05pm

Just a bit of devil's advocate on "skyrocketing" prices. Obviously many things play into an average, but...

"Average paid admission for the season was $103.11, which represents a decrease for the first time in recorded history.  Last season’s average paid admission was $104.18."

 

https://www.broadwayleague.com/press/press-releases/2015-2016-broadway-end-of-season-statistics/

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 5:26pm

Negligible, but interesting.

[oknazevad]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 7:33pm

HogansHero said: "As to the original query, there is not and should not be a correlation. Would you want actors to work for less because a show is deeply discounting and/or not selling?"

I don think that's what the OP meant. I took it to mean are the increases in list price (over the last few years) being caused, at least in part, by increases in salaries, not that the price paid for a particular performance reflects any alteration of the actors' pay for that performance.

Or, to put it another way, are the actors, musicians and crew sharing in the increases in grosses that come from the higher ticket prices, or is it all going to the producers? 

Truthfully, I don't know. Prices in any field don't necessarily reflect the costs to produce a product, but are as much a matter of what the market will bear. That is, they charge as much as they can and still have the tickets sell; discounts represent a corrective action when the producers tried to charge too much and couldn't sell the tickets at full price. If discounts get too steep and sales are not covering running costs, the show is probably closing soon.

As such, rising ticket prices don't necessarily reflect an increase in costs for the actors/musicians/crews' salaries, though it may contribute, as the producers do need to cover costs, and salaries are a major cost. But without exact knowledge of the finances of any show, we don't know the breakdown enough to do anything more than speculate. 

[SweetLips]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 8:58pm

A slight side step.

When I ran my business and staff wanted a pay rise I would say  -'sure, how much do you want?'.

'I can't afford to pay you extra so I will have to add the amount you want to the services we provide and the customers will have to pay more for their treatment. If they stop coming because we are now too expensive then some of you will be out of a job.'

They[staff] were already paid above the rate plus were earning commission and NO there is NO TIPPING-do not agree with that system at all.

So-salaries influence ticket price?--has to enter the equation somewhere,surely. HH knows all-will wait for their possible response.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/15/16 at 11:57pm

Let's see what we know.

We know that most shows lose money.

We know that no actor in the modern era has lost money performing in a show. 

We know that very few principal performers are paid at the minimum (and that many earn way way more). 

We know that in at least some successful shows, everyone is earning well above the minimum, and even sharing in profits. 

So the equation of profits and minimums is close to a non-sequitur. Minimums are, for the most part, protecting actors in flops. Have salaries kept up with aggregate profit? No. But losses are much more substantial today than in the past, and the millions made on the hits don help the losers a bit. What we expect is that the actors in the successes will see that reflected in their pay. But make no mistake, that has nothing to do with the minimum.

[Taryn]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 10:24am

One thing to keep in mind that there are many more salaries in play than just actor's.  Stage managers, stagehands, musicians, company managers -- those are all substantial as well, and all of the salaries at play in a show contribute to the overhead.  I would say yes, they are one reason among many for rising ticket prices, because any rising costs will contribute to rising prices.  But it's one among many factors at play.

There's always talk of "greedy producers" wanting a bigger cut of money, and I'm sure they do exist, but honestly Broadway is so hard to make a profitable career in you'd think they'd find something else to do if they were really so focused on money above all else.  Most producers just want to figure out how to make their show profitable so that it can continue to run (and, in doing so, continue to provide salaries for all the people involved).

[playbill-love]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 10:36am

Agreed with the other posters that the evidence seems to clearly point to no. 

But I could see how this could APPEAR to be the case while not actually being true - shows with celebrities, especially really big names, are frequently noticibly more expensive than productions with less big names in them, and these people are presumably being paid much more than a lot of non-celebrity principal actors. So I can see how it might seem to be this way from the outside. 

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 11:29am

but I'm guessing that ticket prices can be higher when you have a star in the production..such as Bette Midler.(Not her specifically just using her as an example). But I have no idea if that's true. Obviously she is going to be paid more than a no-name lead... or at least might be unless she has agreed to take less to help the production. But would a star salary affect tic prices? Don't know. Just asking. 

 

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 11:29am

Sorry

 

Updated On: 10/16/16 at 11:29 AM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 8:45pm

ticket prices reflect demand. period. Enormously expensive shows paper and sell tickets via TDF and other deep discounts. Cheap shows sell gobs of premium tickets. A star (and no star works cheap though many trade profit participation for upfront bucks) is expected to affect demand so prices are expected to be higher. 

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 1:15am

HogansHero said: "ticket prices reflect demand. period. Enormously expensive shows paper and sell tickets via TDF and other deep discounts. Cheap shows sell gobs of premium tickets. A star (and no star works cheap though many trade profit participation for upfront bucks) is expected to affect demand so prices are expected to be higher. 

 

"

Eventually yes, but the thing is, lots of shows set their ticket prices so high initially that they not only do not reflect the demand out there but also have to resort to TKTS or papering services like TDF in order to fill the house. Recent examples include Bright Star, Disaster!, and The Encounter.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 1:22am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "Eventually yes, but the thing is, lots of shows set their ticket prices so high initially that they not only do not reflect the demand out there but also have to resort to TKTS or papering services like TDF in order to fill the house. Recent examples include Bright Star, Disaster!, and The Encounter."

I'm missing your point. The demand price is the hammer price. If tickets are discounted there is weak demand. If tickets are papered, there is no demand. What you are seeing is no different than what you see at Saks, or at the grocery store. or at airlines etc etc etc

[Dave13]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 4:21pm

HogansHero said: "Dave13 said: "My limited information suggests the opposite.  More and more actors are being paid the minimum, while ticket prices sky rocket."

Well, your limited information appears to be wrong. Perhaps you'd care to share it so it can be meaningfully refuted. 

"

I have been told several times by people in the industry that unless the actor/actress has a name or resume that will sell tickets, there is no reason to pay more than minimum as there are 100's of other actors just as talented willing to do the job for minimum. 

Sure there are always exceptions, but doesn't mean it is the norm. Hamilton and Frozen maybe the most recent exceptions that are paying the original cast a percentage of profits, but then again Hamilton is a cash cow, and I am sure Frozen will be as well. Most other musicals do not have the same luxury. 

Also, still using Hamilton as an example. We all know the obscene price of tickets to Hamilton. Anyone want to venture a guess as to how much the new cast is earning? Once again, I would say most are earning minimum. Leslie Odom was certainly unhappy when he left Hamilton. Why would the best actor leave so quickly after winning the award? Yes he had his own album and concerts, but it is not like he is selling millions of tickets and albums.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 4:53pm

"...unless the actor/actress has a name or resume that will sell tickets, there is no reason to pay more than minimum as there are 100's of other actors just as talented willing to do the job for minimum."

 

That may hold a bit of truth for ensemble members,  but not for feature or principal contracts, and most definitely not for the principals in Hamilton. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 5:00pm

Is it common for shows and producers to decrease wages for certain actors during slower months?

[trpguyy]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 5:02pm

No

[Sunny11]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 5:02pm

^ The principles of Hamilton are almost now different from when the show opened yet the box office has stayed consistent so .. no Hamilton isn't an exception. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 5:14pm

Dave13 said: "I have been told several times by people in the industry that unless the actor/actress has a name or resume that will sell tickets, there is no reason to pay more than minimum as there are 100's of other actors just as talented willing to do the job for minimum. "

Might I suggest that you be more careful who you listen to? trpguyy got it right. 

also, people leave shows for a multitude of reasons. Right up at the top is that they are tired of doing it. And close behind that, in the case of Hamilton especially, is that folks want to strike while the iron is hot, meaning that they want to exploit their window of fame (and opportunity). And cheerleading the latter is one's agent who invariably wants an actor who garners attention on Broadway to make him or her more money. Ten percent of a major Bway salary pales in comparison to a major role in even a pedestrian TV show.

@Jorge, no, unless it is a show that should have closed.