Tootsie National Tour: Equity Production Scrapped, to start non-union?- Page 2

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 4:15pm

SouthernCakes, don't blame Troika for that - blame the ROAD PRESENTERS. That is their doing. People LOVE getting riled about this and rail against the show's producer when, in fact, the real culprit is the local road presenters and they are getting away with minimal blow back.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 4:24pm

HogansHero said: "are you folks seriously laboring under the mis-impression that ANY tour is going out this fall? LOL"

Seriously. We all know that theatre will be among the last businesses to reopen, but touring will probably be the last of the last. The mechanics behind it- a large group of people working closely together, moving from city to city to large venues that then draw in thousands of people from a broad surrounding area- are mind-boggling to reconcile with COVID-related safety.

I think the issue is moot: this tour, and any tour, will not be happening for a long time.

[jvoom]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 4:26pm

Apologies if this is a dumb question or a bit off-topic but I'm genuinely curious - what benefits are there for an actor to be non-union? I understand everyone has to start somewhere but the last Hairspray tour had a few "older" actors in the mix. I would have assumed, given how especially fickle theatre is, everyone would want to be part of a union

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 4:43pm

Kad said: "Seriously. We all know that theatre will be among the last businesses to reopen, but touring will probably be the last of the last. The mechanics behind it- a large group of people working closely together, moving from city to city to large venues that then draw in thousands of people from a broad surrounding area- are mind-boggling to reconcile with COVID-related safety.

I think the issue is moot: this tour, and any tour, will not be happening for a long time."

We are facing as yet undetermined existential crises. Before we decide whether to blame road presenters, how about we find out which of them survive the pandemic. 

 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 4:49pm

There are no qualifications. Anyone not in the union is non-union, so you, my parents, etc are all “non union actors” if you chose to audition.

And there’s plenty of reasons to not join if you don’t live in NYC, etc.

[JennH]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 5:15pm

jvoom said: "Apologies if this is a dumb question or a bit off-topic but I'm genuinely curious - what benefits are there for an actor to be non-union? I understand everyone has to start somewhere but the last Hairspray tour had a few "older"actors in the mix. I would have assumed, given how especially fickle theatre is, everyone would want to be part of a union"

Not when show business itself is a contract to contract based business. It's not a "regular" job that you go to every day with constant pay in that field. I'm not a USPS employee who's part of Union AND going to work in that job/field every day for years on end. Show business is contract to contract. You're likely hardly ever working anyway, and if you're Union, the Union only works for you when YOU work. If you're not working as an actor, it's not like your actors' union status means anything outside of show business, except the ability to be seen at Union auditions. 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 5:29pm

Kad said: "HogansHero said: "are you folks seriously laboring under the mis-impression that ANY tour is going out this fall? LOL"

Seriously. We all know that theatre will be among the last businesses to reopen, but touring will probably be the last of the last. The mechanics behind it- a large group of people working closely together, moving from city to city to large venues that then draw in thousands of people from a broad surrounding area- are mind-boggling to reconcile with COVID-related safety.

I think the issue is moot: this tour, and any tour, will not be happening for a long time."

I actually feel like touring (especially non-equity) may come back before Broadway comes back.  Remember, there are a lot of areas in the country that are already starting to open up again (wrongly, it seems, but that doesn't change the fact that they are) and a non-union tour that frankly doesn't have to worry about Equity stepping in and making sure everything is 100% clear, playing to some of these markets seems reasonable by the fall.  I'm not at all saying that I agree with any of this, but I could easily see a non-equity tour playing Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. this fall, where they've been hit less and have been much less strict about shutting things down.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 6:24pm

The logistics of tours only playing cities that are deciding to open prematurely would be a nightmare and more than likely wouldn’t be worth it financially. We’ve got a long road ahead of us before tours get up and running again.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 6:43pm

Broadway61004 said: "Kad said: "HogansHero said: "are you folks seriously laboring under the mis-impression that ANY tour is going out this fall? LOL"

Seriously. We all know that theatre will be among the last businesses to reopen, but touring will probably be the last of the last. The mechanics behind it- a large group of people working closely together, moving from city to city to large venues that then draw in thousands of people from a broad surrounding area- are mind-boggling to reconcile with COVID-related safety.

I think the issue is moot: this tour, and any tour, will not be happening for a long time."

I actually feel like touring (especially non-equity) may come back before Broadway comes back. Remember, there are a lot of areas in the country that are already starting to open up again (wrongly, it seems, but that doesn't change the fact that they are) and a non-union tour that frankly doesn't have to worry about Equity stepping in and making sure everything is 100% clear, playing to some of these markets seems reasonable by the fall. I'm not at all saying that I agree with any of this, but I could easily see a non-equity tour playing Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. this fall, where they've been hit less and have been much less strict about shutting things down."

But the actors, state managers, and production staff will almost all be coming from heavily afflicted areas on the east or west coasts. 
 

Not to mention for a Broadway tour to be financially viable, it HAS to be hitting bigger markets. A mini-tour consisting only of the southwest and Great Plains states won’t make it worthwhile. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/5/20 at 7:01pm

broadwayguy2 said: "It's a VERY ****ty thing.

RE: HOUSING AND PER DIEMS: Double occupancy rooms is *very* standard on tour, regardless of AEA or Non-AEA. The chief difference being that on *most* AEA tour tiers, you are given a choice of two company hotels and a choice to share a room or have your own room... your choice determines how much Per Diem you receive as the housing cost is deducted... or you may take the full Per Diem and find your own housing. The Per Diem listed for this casting call is low, but the housing is provided by the producer separately, so it would balance out *somewhat*

The thing that really strikes me on these salaries is that they are offering overage payments to the cast... it's not NEARLY equitable (pun intended) to the overages called for by AEA SETA agreements.

RE: TOUR HOUSE SUBSCRIPTIONS = PRE-SOLD AUDIENCES: Tour financing is actually somewhat complicated and that pre-sold subscription has very little to do with how these things are determined. I'd be happy to TRY to explain that in another post.

It's VERY ****ty. Some people already had signed contracts and Stage Management and Company Management had been engaged for a little while. There ARE provisions for pulling the plug on a show, so I am curious to see where this falls with AEA membership... and I am REALLY curious - and scared - to see the numbers that made them make this choice... and I bet a hefty portion of the blame for this goes to the local presenters and not just squarely on Troika's shoulders."

I have heard directly from the PSM that the show was not bonded yet, so while offers had been made, nobody had a signed contract (Equity won't issue contracts until the bond is in place, exactly for the reason that they need to make sure any penalties CAN be paid within the terms of the contract).

I would also add that neither the original producers nor Troika had reached out to Equity about qualifying for a lower tier when the presenters reportedly started pulling back their guarantee amounts. The original casting notice, and what I assume offers were thus being made based upon, indicated the show was going out under Tier 2 of the SET Agreement, so there would have been room to potentially drop down several tiers and still remain under an Equity contract.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/6/20 at 12:39am

Aha! Thanks. I had not spoken to anyone directly because, well, loaded and heated subject.. truly. I was under the impression it was bonded, and considering several people indicating that had active offers, I assumed that it was. That makes it all the more curious.

I know it was SETA, so thank you clarifying which tour was assumed.

(I don't think most people here know, or even care, how HEAVILY offered weekly guarantees affects the budgets of a show for a tour.)

This is all just one big trainwreck mess.

[MsIbuki]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 8:33pm

I don't even know if Tours will happen this year judging by the outlook of how people are attending vaccination rollout. It seems that normal is far away yet! I'm a tour operator myself and I have to admit that the healthier the Tourism industry is, the better I can plan my future and feel confident that all the losses I had to take last year will be recovered. You can read well some reports and see what I mean! The reports of the previous years were great and 2019 was showing that the tourism development seemed unstoppable.

Updated On: 5/10/21 at 08:33 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/8/21 at 8:12am

MsIbuki said: "I don't even know if Tours will happen this year judging by the outlook of how people are attending vaccination rollout. It seems that normal is far away yet!"

Tours should be starting up by the fall. The Wicked tour has already announced that it will be returning in Dallas this August. All subject to change, of course, but tours are seemingly back on the books with every major market having a new full lineup of shows starting in the fall, and in some markets, even later.

[massofmen]

Posted: 5/8/21 at 10:21pm

Tootsie is a horrible show that lost its investment on broadway. 
Why in the heck should this thing tour at all?
I'm amazed this thing actually had road producers wanting to actually boook it.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 12:28am

massofmen said: "Tootsie is a horrible show that lost its investment on broadway.
Why in the heck should this thing tour at all?
I'm amazed this thing actually had road producers wanting to actually boook it."

This is very true - however, it seems pretty obvious that some parts of this country will love it. 

[unclevictor]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 1:05am

Tours are where the $$$ is at. Look at Adam’s Family for example

[JAKE LAURENTS]

Posted: 4/14/22 at 1:54pm