The Producer's Perspective: There’s been a brouhaha brewing on Broadway lately over the decrease in the use of the Actors’ Equity “workshop” contract, and the increase in use of the newbie “lab” contract for the development of new musicals.
The high-profile case that has thrust this topic into the spotlight is none other than Hamilton whose actors are asking for a piece of the profits since many have been around the show since the beginning of its blessed life.
1 comment:
This article was the first time I had heard of this issue and to be completely honest it doesn’t really sound like an issue that should be receiving any attention at all. First off the actors in Hamilton signed a contract and seem to want the 1% only after it becomes beneficial for them to do so. The thing is that the contracts they signed are all negotiated by the union which they are all members of. If every show was as successful as Hamilton I’m sure workshop contracts could be reworked to have more flexibility but to be completely honest it sounds like the lab contracts are the better deal for both producers and actors in many situations. In my opinion this sounds like a the actors want to have their cake and then get more cake from the producer because the bakery is doing well. If the producer decided to reward that on top of their contracts it would undoubtedly be a generous act of kindness but there should be no obligation for him to do so.
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