New York – For the second consecutive year, Actors’ Equity Association, the national union representing more than 51,000 theatre actors and stage managers across the country, released its Regional Theatre Report. This report analyzed the job opportunities available to members in each of Equity’s 28 Liaison Areas around the country.
This year’s report, covering the 2017-2018 season that ended in May 2018, confirms $124 million in wages earned by Equity members. Work weeks per member increased 8 percent over last season. Additionally, 18 of Equity’s 28 regions (nearly two-thirds) saw gains in work weeks per member when looking back at last season.
Washington, D.C./Baltimore is the first region to surpass an average of more than 20 work weeks per member. View the full report online.
“This report shows that there are exciting performances being created by professional actors and stage managers all across the country, not just Broadway,” said Brandon Lorenz, National Director of Communications. “More work opportunities in regional theatre is good for everyone, giving more options for the audience to see theatre, and more money into the pockets of Equity members.”
This report is an invaluable organizing tool, done in part to help guide the Equity 2020 mission to be build a modern and strategic organizing program to help create more paid work opportunities.
Methodology: The report includes data based on work done under paid contracts and excludes internal membership codes. The report measures work weeks and the number of members in a Liaison Area to determine work weeks per member. Equity defines Liaison Areas as all theaters and Equity members within a 100-mile area around each city, regardless of size. This report does not include information about the three biggest cities, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, each of whose theatre scenes operate very differently than the Liaison Areas. National tours were classified based on a show’s city of origin, in keeping with longstanding practice.
ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its Members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included). Member: AFL-CIO, FIA. www.actorsequity.org #EquityWorks
March 28, 2019
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