Here's a snippet: "It's the sort of pay deal you'd expect to grease the palms of a Premiership footballer. In a blow for female equality, Idina Menzel is set to become the highest-paid actress in West End history. Although little known in the UK, Menzel, whose performance garnered a Tony for "best actress" in New York, will command a truly jaw-dropping fee. Potential investors tell me her package is budgeted at $30,000 per week, plus accommodation. That dwarfs the probable record for a leading lady, held by Jerry Hall, who got an estimated £10,000 a week for The Graduate."
The spokesman for the show goes on to say that nothing's been finalized yet, but you get the general idea...
And actually, if you look at that as the "package" - the 30,000 AND the fact that they're covering her accomodations, which I'm sure will be lovely, it's MORE than 30,000.
Now what would you say if today I started over?
Without a thing but this taped together four leaf clover
And I'll pretend like everything is already alright
And I'll run toward the sun till the castle's out of sight
And why? I admired her performance, but as everyone has learned since she departed, the show is the star. Will Brits other than show queens give a damn? Isn't the show a pre-sold family event, like ANNIE? Well, more power to her.
Will she play it 8 times a week there?
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Elaine Paige seems to have a going rate of £25k for her last outings in King and I and Sunset Boulevard. So the whole things about Jerry Hall holding the record at £10k is inaccurate.
Just think how luck you are with US Equity. Our London ensemble minimum is just under £400 and a Phantom or Valjean is looking at £1500 if lucky.
Go Idina. Considering she got a third of Kristin salary when Wicked first started, she has every right to get a nice chunk of change. And don't forget, she's only doing the West End for only three months!
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
Yeah...I'm actually second guessing my earlier posting about her salalry being in pounds. I converted it and that's a lot of money/. It's more likely it's 30,000 US dollars, But plus acommodations still a nice chunk of change to bring back across the pond to hubby.
I new it had to be a lot. They are worried about how her reviews will be???? I am sure they will be like the New York reviews. I dont know how the shows reviews are going to be but her reviews wont suprise me.
"I never had theatre producers run after me. Some people want to make more Broadway shows out of movies. But Elliot and I aren't going to do Batman: The Musical." - Julie Taymor 1999
I heard (not from a reliable source, so who knows) that Idina was making like 50k per week when she left. I would HIGHLY doubt that she would go to West End for less. 54k+ in US dollars sounds about right.
Pretty pretty please don't you ever ever feel like you're less than f**ckin' perfect!
Although I think this is a wonderful opportunity for her, frankly I'm worried for Idina's voice. This role wreaked havok on her chords the first time around, whats to say it wont happen again. And if she does lose it again, as she did around the middle of her B'way run, I'm afraid that London critics and audiences wont be anywhere near as forgiving as US audiences were. Of course, these fears may all be totally unnecessary, but I think theyre valid points to consider.
This was already said but I'll echo it. Why? Idina Menzel doesn't really mean much in the UK... and her take on the role is not really definitive... does a Tony mean that much? Are there no belters in England?
By doing the show across the pond, she is cementing the fact that she owns the role. She owns Elphaba the way Jennifer owns Effie, Barbra owns Fanny, Carol owns Dolly, etc., etc.
"Elaine Paige seems to have a going rate of £25k for her last outings in King and I and Sunset Boulevard. So the whole things about Jerry Hall holding the record at £10k is inaccurate. "
I was thinking the exact same thing. Idina beat Elaine Paige in terms of salary??