Equity Tours becoming Non Equity Tours

Posted: 3/4/10 at 1:28pm

Does anyone know why a few tours are finishing the equity run then becoming non equity? For example, The Color Purple equity tour just ended. It will start a non equity tour later this month. Fiddler on the Roof, Legally Blonde, Grease, and Spring Awakening will all become non equity in the Fall or Spring. Any thoughts?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 1:32pm

$

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:01pm

I'm thrilled about this.

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:06pm

I understand the Avenue Q tour that Broadway in Chicago is bringing in May is Non-Eq.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:08pm

The non-equity tours often play theatres and cites that are too small to be able to afford the more expensive equity tours.

Think of them as the mass market paperback editions. :)

[ravnquest1]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:16pm

Chicago Star- it's pretty simple:

Shows cost a lot of money- for the audience, the producer and in this case, the promoter/presenter who brings a show into your town. A large full-scale 'first national' tour is expensive for a promoter to bring in. Many markets want to bring in a show, but can't afford whatever the cost is, either because they can't raise the money at the outset and/or or can't charge enough per ticket to make a profit. The price of a big show varies depending on the tour- it's popularity, running costs for the producer(s) etc.

So, a company like troika or networks or phoenix entertainment will buy the exclusive rights to do a smaller version of the original tour (which is itself a smaller version of the broadway staging) in order to be able to send a popular show to smaller markets. Large tours can't be bothered with a lot of these places and the challenges of doing a show there, so there is a lot of money to be made for companies that can.

It's a buy low/sell high situation. NETWorks/Troika produce the show as cheaply as possible, then sell the show to a local presenter, who then sell the show to the audience. They all charge as much as they can, and if the show sells well everyone makes out like bandits- except the people who work for the show that are locked into fixed-weekly salaries.

Rarely do the original producers of a show put that same show out again non-equity, and if that happens, it's not the same tour. Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Color Purple closed and Phoenix Entertainment Presents: The Color Purple opened. Two different tours.

The authors collect their royalties, but it's usually a completely different producing unit doing the same show. Sometimes the original design team is involved. Those people are freelance and are paid again to come in and design a smaller version of their original work. Sometimes it's a new design team, or associates of the original design team. Sometimes it's a new production all together- like the new Les Miz tour.

Something new that is happening lately is that Troika and NETWorks are investing in shows in the development stage. Then, they make money on the big productions and have first dibs producing all kinds of tours afterward. An example would be Troika's early involvement in Come Fly Away.

It's all about $ as LizzieCurry said. Someone told me that NETWorks cleared 84 million last year, so anyone who thinks this business model is a failure might want to think again.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:56pm

I understand the Avenue Q tour that Broadway in Chicago is bringing in May is Non-Eq.

And it is a fabulous tour!

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 3:05pm

Spamalot is also going back out with Phoenix Ent.

http://www.phoenix-ent.com/shows-spamalot.htm

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 4:12pm

It's a good thing that there's a non-Equity tour of Avenue Q so that even tiny little backwater villages like Chicago can get to see the show.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 5:11pm

If you look at the Q route MOST of the cities are indeed small markets. They had a gap, Chicago opted to book it in that gap. What's the big deal? They are making no secret of it being non equity, and being quite up front about it. Also, the tickets will be priced LOWER than tickets to an Equity show. While BIC hasn't released prices yet, expect them to be similar to the Non Eq BEAUTY tour playing there.

Non Eq ticket top price: 70something.

Equity Ticket Top Price (Billy Elliot, Lion King, etc): 95-100.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 5:36pm

It's only fair. These shows will never come to small cities, otherwise.

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 6:24pm

I had never known the terms "non equity" or "equity" before this, but I was always aware there were smaller productions of touring shows. Thank you ravnquest1 for your super enlightening post about the differences and the process. Most interesting read of the day.

My question is, is there any way to know whether a show you are seeing (or have seen) is Equity or Non-Equity? I'm guessing since I am in Seattle (which I believe is a major market) and I've only seen shows at the Paramount and the 5th Avenue Theater, I've probably only seen Equity shows.

But I'm curious if the version of Legally Blonde I saw at the 5th last weekend is Equity, because it's not listed on Broadwayacrossamerica.com. However, it did star Becky Gulsvig, so I'm guessing it's Equity.

What determines if a show is listed on Broadway Across America or not?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 6:38pm

Equity has a list. It's not updated too often though.

http://www.actorsequity.org/NewsMedia/touring_main.asp

The Legally Blonde tour you saw was equity.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 9:17pm

Also check your playbill. If it is an Equity tour it will be pretty prominently displayed that the actors and stage managers are represented by AEA. If you can't find that then you are seeing a non-Equity tour.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 10:13pm

Broadway Across America is a presenter, and they present Eq and Non Eq shows. If a show is listed on their website it simply means that one of the markets they represent (or many they represent) will be showcasing that tour.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 10:13pm

Broadway Across America is a presenter, and they present Eq and Non Eq shows. If a show is listed on their website it simply means that one of the markets they represent (or many they represent) will be showcasing that tour.

[Scottsacto]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 12:25am

As someone not in NYC,I Too thank you Ravnquest1---I just learned something interesting.

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 12:56am

AEA AGMA SM - I've seen a show in NYC, so I know what a Playbill is, but I've never received a Playbill for any show outside of New York. In Seattle we normally get a program printed by Encore.

[ravnquest1]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 1:08am

Trainwreck-

Not necessarily. I played the Paramount with a non-equity tour. You just had Annie come through the Paramount, which is also non-equity. Large cities see mostly equity productions, but also a fair amount of non-equity shows as well. It varies season to season.

I would also like to point out that non-equity does not equal poor theater. I've seen and worked on many shows that were non-equity that were great, and some equity productions that were poor. Union status doesn't translate to a quality show despite what a lot of people think, the people working on it do- union or not. Some shows thrive on the youth and energy of a young non-eq cast just starting in the business- RENT comes to mind. I will say that having a union cast, crew and orchestra suggests that the producer is willing to spend the money and put on a bigger production, and therefore you are likely to see a bigger physical show than on a non-union tour, where the goal is to reduce running costs (the nut). Another major expense most people don't consider is trucking. Contracting the trucks and the truck drivers is a several hundred thousand dollar expense per truck per year, something you do not incur while doing a broadway show in new york. It's an unavoidable expense for smaller one-nighter type shows. Reducing the set size is also about reducing the number of trucks a show travels with. Talk to anyone on the road- truck packing and space is the name of the game.

If equity or non matters to you, that information is fairly freely available. Time was you could easily distinguish between a real tour and a junky one-nighter tour. NETworks used to be all non-equity and fairly low scale (in fact, their name is a partial acronym meaning Non Equity Touring Works), but now they produce some large union tours (South Pacific, Young Frankenstein, My Fair Lady, etc) and are getting bigger.

The line has gotten really blurry. Years ago, tours were mostly a way to recoup lost money on Broadway with a smaller version of a show on the road, and I think we are starting to see a return to those roots, especially since a lot of the new shows that open on Broadway close in short order and/or aren't very good. Legally Blonde certainly went out small-time for a first national tour.

Cameron Mackintosh and others like him came along in the 80s and wanted to do the full original production on the road. That's a massive undertaking. We've all been spoiled with shows like Phantom and Les Miz being full-scale juggernauts, but that's not what touring is really about. That only works for mega-hits, and how many of those are there recently? Just Wicked.

Bottom line- don't get caught up in what kind of show you are seeing. Don't go for a preconceived notion, or you'll be let down one way or another more often than not. If a show is coming that you are interested in, go see it and support the arts. That is what keeps people like me employed.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 1:26am

does anyone know why non-equity tours only play a couple nights in a city? i mean some only play like one or two shows and then leave... is it because a town is so small there is no need to play an entire week as most equity shows do??? and just wondering... how exhausting is this for the cast and crew to just pick up and leave after only a couple nights?

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 1:28am

ravnquest1 - seriously, very very interesting stuff, I totally dig reading your posts! Thank you for these explanations, keep them coming!

Of recent shows I've seen that I can compare to images/video of Broadway versions, I can certainly say that Wicked matches the Broadway sets in almost every way. Actually I was completely blow out of my mind by their set designs in the Seattle production. From what I've seen this tour uses almost every set piece the Broadway version does.

With Legally Blonde (which I've seen the entire Broadway version of on MTV), I noticed that every set on the touring version is about 90% the same as NYC, other than the opening number and a couple different Act 1 sets. I was happy they were able to pull this off, even though the 5th is a smaller stage.

Not sure how Lion King on tour compares to Broadway, but I thought their sets were quite phenomenal as well. I'd also consider Lion King a megahit, so that would explain that.

All very interesting, but I agree with you ravnquest1. Don't go in with preconceived notions based on if a show is union or not. I've seen a few high school plays and amateur local theater plays that rock, even if they don't have a mega-Broadway budget.

If you don't mind me asking - are you an actor? What shows have you been in?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 6:56am

"In Seattle we normally get a program printed by Encore."

The Equity information, if applicable, will be in any program as it is one of the rules with the union that it must appear. I tend to use playbill and program interchangeably. Sorry for the confusion.

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 12:39pm

Awesome, thanks for the info!

[TMedeiros17]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 8:21pm

I can't wait to see the Legally Blonde non-eq tour.

[angelxschunard]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 8:30pm

"Non Eq ticket top price: 70something."

Not really true. The equity tours that come through the Community center have tickets priced as low as $50 for orchestra seats. I've never spent more than $65 per ticket for an equity tour ticket in Sacramento.