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Huvitav artikkel Toronto Star'is RICHARD OUZOUNIAN'i poolt:
Grease shows why actors' union matters
Tonight, a touring production of Grease starring Frankie Avalon opens at the Hummingbird Centre.
Outside the theatre will be members of the Canadian Actors Equity Association conducting an informational picket line to explain why they would like you to boycott this show.
The major problem is that none of the performers connected with this tour belong to either the Canadian or American branches of Equity, which is the labour union that represents stage performers. (Avalon is only a member of the Screen Actors Guild.)
It might surprise you (as it surely surprised me) that the Hummingbird Centre is presenting a production that features a non-union cast.
Even more surprising are the facts that they don't announce it in any of their advertising or that they're charging top price of nearly $85 for tickets. Even the most expensive shows in our region (The Lion King, Stratford's The King And I) only ask $20 more than that.
So if the producers of Grease are demanding the same price that they would for a union cast, you might assume they're paying said cast at the union level.
But if you did, you'd be wrong. According to records filed with the offices of Equity in New York, the salary and expenses being offered to the average cast member of Grease are just slightly more than 50 per cent of the minimum that Actors' Equity requires its members be paid in a similar touring situation.
In other words, you're paying the same, but the actors are making less. I wonder who's pocketing the difference?
The producers of shows like this tour of Grease argue that they're giving young actors a chance to earn some valuable experience. Only they neglect to point that out in their advertising, or offer you a lower price for the training service they're asking you to provide.
The last time this happened locally was when a non-Equity production of Cats played the Canon in February of 2002. Once again, it charged full price and didn't announce the fact.
On that occasion, the cast's level of expertise was painfully obvious. It's not that they were untalented, but they were unseasoned, and that clearly showed in their performances. I received numerous letters, e-mails and phone calls from patrons who felt they had been cheated.
This Cats had been sold as if it were like all the others that passed through town and the price tag was the same. But what went on the stage told a different story.
I'm not here to say that every Equity actor is good and every non-Equity actor is bad. That's just not how it goes. Talent is not automatically granted to a performer with a union membership card.
But what an Equity production does guarantee is that both labour and management are working with a set of fair rules toward a common goal: the making of (hopefully) memorable theatre.
It also strikes me, and perhaps many others in Toronto, as truly insensitive to import a show that features a non-union touring cast during this summer when SARS has put hundreds of local professional actors out of work.
If you want to support Toronto's beleagured theatre scene, then go to one of our many local organizations that hire professional talent and pay them an appropriate wage.
And if a show like Grease comes along, demand that it be advertised as what it is.
As a consumer, you wouldn't accept this kind of treatment from any other industry. Don't let it happen to you in the world of entertainment.
Grease shows why actors' union matters
Tonight, a touring production of Grease starring Frankie Avalon opens at the Hummingbird Centre.
Outside the theatre will be members of the Canadian Actors Equity Association conducting an informational picket line to explain why they would like you to boycott this show.
The major problem is that none of the performers connected with this tour belong to either the Canadian or American branches of Equity, which is the labour union that represents stage performers. (Avalon is only a member of the Screen Actors Guild.)
It might surprise you (as it surely surprised me) that the Hummingbird Centre is presenting a production that features a non-union cast.
Even more surprising are the facts that they don't announce it in any of their advertising or that they're charging top price of nearly $85 for tickets. Even the most expensive shows in our region (The Lion King, Stratford's The King And I) only ask $20 more than that.
So if the producers of Grease are demanding the same price that they would for a union cast, you might assume they're paying said cast at the union level.
But if you did, you'd be wrong. According to records filed with the offices of Equity in New York, the salary and expenses being offered to the average cast member of Grease are just slightly more than 50 per cent of the minimum that Actors' Equity requires its members be paid in a similar touring situation.
In other words, you're paying the same, but the actors are making less. I wonder who's pocketing the difference?
The producers of shows like this tour of Grease argue that they're giving young actors a chance to earn some valuable experience. Only they neglect to point that out in their advertising, or offer you a lower price for the training service they're asking you to provide.
The last time this happened locally was when a non-Equity production of Cats played the Canon in February of 2002. Once again, it charged full price and didn't announce the fact.
On that occasion, the cast's level of expertise was painfully obvious. It's not that they were untalented, but they were unseasoned, and that clearly showed in their performances. I received numerous letters, e-mails and phone calls from patrons who felt they had been cheated.
This Cats had been sold as if it were like all the others that passed through town and the price tag was the same. But what went on the stage told a different story.
I'm not here to say that every Equity actor is good and every non-Equity actor is bad. That's just not how it goes. Talent is not automatically granted to a performer with a union membership card.
But what an Equity production does guarantee is that both labour and management are working with a set of fair rules toward a common goal: the making of (hopefully) memorable theatre.
It also strikes me, and perhaps many others in Toronto, as truly insensitive to import a show that features a non-union touring cast during this summer when SARS has put hundreds of local professional actors out of work.
If you want to support Toronto's beleagured theatre scene, then go to one of our many local organizations that hire professional talent and pay them an appropriate wage.
And if a show like Grease comes along, demand that it be advertised as what it is.
As a consumer, you wouldn't accept this kind of treatment from any other industry. Don't let it happen to you in the world of entertainment.
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0Kui see artikkel nii huvitav on, oleks võinud maakeelde ümber panna. Saanuks ma ka targembass.
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0Eks see artikkel põhimõtteliselt ütleb, et Grease'i näitlejad ei ole ei USA ega Canada vastava ametiühingu liikmed ja neile makstakse umbes pool tasust mida muidu peaks maksma ametiühingu liikmetele. Samal ajal ei ole sissepääsu hinnad sugugi vastavalt odavamad. Autor kritiseerib sellist tegevust ja leiab, et peaks siiski palkama kohalikke näitlejaid või siis reklaamima seda etendust vastavalt. Autor toob näiteks eelmisel aastal mänginud show Cats, mis samuti müüs kalleid pileteid, kuid tänu oma võõrnäitlejatele oli kaunis kehva tasemega.
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0tolkijal on tapselt oige - aga lahen ise homme ohtu Torontosse seda vaatama. Laheme kuuekesi, sest et on uks ime ilus kena eestlana pea osas.
Kes neid tooliste uhinguid jouab rahuldada?
Loodan oudselt, et ta EI ole kehva tasemega ja minu mottes on pileti hind tavalie. Isiklikult, ma ei hooli mis uhingus nad on voi ei ole, kui palju nad saavad makstud voi teevad hoopis muidu...vabad inimesed, naitlejad ja publik -tehku mis tahtku.
Kes neid tooliste uhinguid jouab rahuldada?
Loodan oudselt, et ta EI ole kehva tasemega ja minu mottes on pileti hind tavalie. Isiklikult, ma ei hooli mis uhingus nad on voi ei ole, kui palju nad saavad makstud voi teevad hoopis muidu...vabad inimesed, naitlejad ja publik -tehku mis tahtku.
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0Aitüma, hää ineme!
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0Oled sa mees kuupealt pärit kus saab $20 pileteid Lion kingile?
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0$20 piletitest ei ole midagi kirjutatud. Tekstis ütleb ju selgesti, et $20 MORE than that.
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0Ma ei ole veel aru saanud MIS/KEDA see eestlanna PEAOSAS mangib?...olen nainud et EN raagib PEAOSATAITJAGA ja see on inglise nimega!?Tanan!
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0Kas keegi on nainud Toronto lehtedes arvustust? olen püüdnud leida aga ei ole - kas selle union'i värgi pärast?
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0Kommentaarid sellele artiklile on suletud.
