The Stage

US Equity reports mixed fortunes on wages

Published Monday 15 March 2004 at 17:10

New York, USA

Wages, workweeks and overall earnings were up for members of US Actors’ Equity Association during the 2002/3 theatre season but there were also some serious declines, according to the union’s annual report.

A total of 17,642 Equity members (44.1%) found work last season, up from 17,256 in 2001/2. Some 5,931 of Equity members were employed each week - an all-time high for the union. However, these totals are offset by the fact that there were 2,753 new members of the union in 2002-2003, bringing the total of Equity ‘members of good standing’ to 39,981 up from 39,507 the year before. Which means there were actually 88 fewer total Equity members working in 2002-2003 than there were in 2001/2.

Members earned a combined total of $264,533,392 last season, up from $249,785,000 in 2001/2. But the median weekly salary for Equity members during that time was $487 a week.

Production contracts (those used on Broadway and in major touring shows) accounted for the lion’s share of the work, with 22.8% of the total, for 2002-3. Yet there was also a 6.9% decline in touring weeks - a problem the union attributes directly to the ever increasing use of non-Equity tours. The production contract total was followed by those for resident theatres (19.9%) and developing theatres (17.2%). The area which showed the most increase was that of special agreements, which accounted for 19,993 of the workweeks for 2002/3, up from 11,833 in 2001/2.