We are always interested in financial details about the professional theatre. This month's issue of The Believer has a new feature called "Creative Accounting," described as "an ongoing series that will show where the money goes for all of the major creative industries. Future issues will cover book publishing, television, fine art, and public sculpture."
The two-page piece details the costs--$170,029--entailed by the Civilians, a NYC-based theater company, to commission and workshop a new play. The Civilians are an unusual troupe. In their own words, "The primary activity of The Civilians is the creation of original projects from investigations into real life. Using methods that combine documentary and artistic practices, The Civilians’ process encourages a deep, inquisitive engagement between the artists and their subject matter. The resulting shows are boldly theatrical, often incorporating elements of musical theater."
The play in question, Brooklyn at Eye Level, is about the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. The Atlantic Yards is a mixed-use commercial and residential development project of 16 high-rise buildings, currently proposed in the neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Park Slope. The development includes the Barclays Center, which would serve as the new home of the New Jersey Nets. Like many large-scale developments, the project is very controversial.
The Civilians divide their project into three parts. Investigation, over $36,000, covered interviewing local children, adults, and real estate experts. An Urban Studies student was funded to provide context on the history of Brooklyn. Transcribing 250 hours of taped interviews was over $2,500. The second part lead to the first presentation, at a cost of over $71,000. Development, another $62,000, included additional interviews and commissioning a playwright, at $10,000, to shape the play. It ended with a second workshop that ran for four days at the Brooklyn Lyceum. The show was not reviewed, but New York Magazine placed it in the "Brilliant/Highbrow" quandrant of its Approval Matrix for December 22, 2008. A fun song from the show, "Four Brooklyns," is online here.
If you don't know The Believer, it is worth a look. Published by the folks responsible for McSweeney's, it describes itself as "a monthly magazine where length is no object. There are book reviews that are not necessarily timely, and that are very often very long. There are interviews that are also very long." It teeters among contradictory qualities: ironic, sincere, trendy, unfashionable, serious, funny, over-serious, and sometimes more than a little cliquish.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Personal Earnings on and about Broadway
It's raining money for some on Broadway. Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, stars of the new drama A Steady Rain, are earning nearly $100,000 each a week, according to Michael Riedel writing in the NY Post.
Although their base salary is only $40,000 a week, they get a percentage of the box office. The play is slated to run for 12 weeks, leading to each actor receiving $1 million by the close in early December. In the first week of previews, only five performances, the straight play sold 100 percent of the house with an average ticket price of $143.35; the top ticket price is only $128--not counting premium seats, which are selling.
Incidentally, Michael Riedel's column is often a juicy read. He reports the scuttlebutt, the gossip, the stuff you don't get on the theatre blogs or on Playbill.com. He is also the co-host of Theatre Talk, the NYC public television interview show available on the Web. It, too, is worth a look.
Although their base salary is only $40,000 a week, they get a percentage of the box office. The play is slated to run for 12 weeks, leading to each actor receiving $1 million by the close in early December. In the first week of previews, only five performances, the straight play sold 100 percent of the house with an average ticket price of $143.35; the top ticket price is only $128--not counting premium seats, which are selling.
The Post adds that Julia Roberts was said to earn more than $150,000 a week in the revival of Three Days of Rain on Broadway in 2006. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane each made more than $110,000 a week in The Producers and The Odd Couple. They're probably worth it. When David Hyde Pierce left the musical Curtains for a vacation week in 2007, box office fell by $240,000, according to Variety.
Bloomberg.com reports that Charlotte St. Martin in her second year as executive director of the Broadway League received $340,105 in salary and benefits. Poor Ms St. Martin: she has to work 52 weeks for that!Incidentally, Michael Riedel's column is often a juicy read. He reports the scuttlebutt, the gossip, the stuff you don't get on the theatre blogs or on Playbill.com. He is also the co-host of Theatre Talk, the NYC public television interview show available on the Web. It, too, is worth a look.
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