Rockin' The Boat: The "Rocktopia" VS AEA

A performing arts scandal has emerged over the course of this past week, one that centers around a cause that’s near and dear to my own heart: fair and livable wages.

I first caught wind of the calumny on BroadwayWorld.com. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the website, it’s an amazing resource that serves audiences, students and industry professionals alike as a one-stop-shop for ticketing, information, audition notifications, etc. In general, it’s a powerful communication tool for anyone interested in what’s happening in the performing arts world.

So imagine the importance and impact of the latest article I read, announcing that “Rocktopia” producers were under public scrutiny for not paying their performers a livable wage.

For those of you who are interested, the original BroadwayWorld article is linked to the bottom of this entry. I highly suggest reading it (it’s short, but SUPER powerful).

For those of you on your lunch break, I can quickly sum up the events for you--”Rocktopia” is an enormous, multi-million dollar new production that’s emerging this spring. Attempting to fuse together classic rock ballads with operatic standards, it’s been a buzzing around the performing arts community for awhile now. Since the initial audition notifications this past fall, the production has poured a TON of funding into advertising--on Playbill, Broadway.com, Variety, etc.The concert-style extravaganza is advertised as featuring a 40-person choir, a 20-person orchestra and a five-person band--not to mention multiple celebrity soloists, including Pat Monahan (the lead singer of “Train” ), Broadway headliner Tony Vincent, and opera singer Alyson Cambridge (https://broadway.news/2018/03/06/actors-equity-speaks-rocktopia-pay-chorus-members/). The official press release states that the show will fuse together a seamless mixture of opera standards, Broadway classic tunes and classic rock.

The production is slated to open for previews for the next two weeks on Broadway. It’s scheduled to play for six weeks at the Broadway Theater, officially opening on March 20th. Tickets are starting at $49 and upwards of $157 a piece. The Broadway League has claimed “Rocktopia” as an official part of the 2017-2018 Broadway Season, which means it will publicly report its weekly grosses alongside other Broadway shows.

This is where things get ugly.

When a show opens on Broadway as an official part of the Season, an official audition notice gets posted within Actor’s Equity. The Union has exclusive audition notification arrangements with all of the Broadway theaters, with the understanding that Equity members who successfully get hired will be offered Equity contracts. The ‘stereotypical’ Equity agreement for “first-class Broadway productions” was negotiated with The Broadway League; generally speaking, the agreement extends to traditional plays and musicals on Broadway. Tom Carpenter, the eastern regional director and general counsel for Actors’ Equity, stated that because of this arrangement, “only producers who are members of the League are required to use those contracts”.

However, sometimes a show like “Rocktopia” arrives on Broadway. Not technically considered a musical, it is also headed by producers who aren’t members of the League...which means they are not technically required to offer Equity contracts. In these cases, Equity will formally reach out to the producers to try and negotiate an individual agreement between the two organizations. The hope is that, although the producers are not required to recognize the Union’s standards, they will respect the power, reputation and legal representation of the Union. In the past, these producers have offered specialized contracts to the Equity actors involved in their productions; this has been the case for previous productions, such as “Home for the Holidays”, a similarly-styled concert that opened on Broadway in November of 2017. Again, the concert wasn’t considered a formal musical and was therefore outside the jurisdiction of the League... but the production had hired several Equity members, so the producers therefore decided to show respect to the Union. After Equity reached out, “Home for the Holidays” officially offered an Equity contract to all of its hired Members. The AEA was happy, the producers were happy, the performers were happy, and peace reigned throughout the land.

Carpenter himself has publicly acknowledged several times that these productions are not contractually obligated to follow Equity contracts. However, seeing as more and more of these productions seem to be popping up within the Broadway Season, Union members have voiced growing concerns about questionable safety regulations, rehearsal practices and pay issues. The Union has decided to therefore “prioritize” the issue, hoping to solidify a standard of behaviour--until, that is, “Rocktopia” appeared on the scene.

The producers of “Rocktopia” saw fit to hire several members of Equity within aspects of their production, but are seemingly refusing to deal with the Union in terms of contractual negotiations. In a formal statement issued in Broadway News, the producers of “Rocktopia” said that their production is not a ‘typical Broadway show’, but rather a “musical concert, one with no actors appearing on stage”. Because of this, the producers went on to say that Equity doesn’t have ‘jurisdiction over their production’--so they will not be offering an Equity contract to any of its performers. Completely disregarding past examples, the producers of “Rocktopia” have decided to offer their OWN financial arrangements to the Equity members of their cast, ones which they feel are “fair and reasonable.” Their official statement reads:

“With that in mind, and in respect of AEA’s long history of negotiation with “non-legitimate” attractions for specific terms when appearing on Broadway, the Producers suggested a fair and reasonable and financially viable arrangement, given the nature of the show and its limited run, which AEA rejected. The Producers have great respect for Equity and are still hoping to come to a fair and equitable agreement upon hearing further from the union.”

The ‘fair and reasonable’ financial agreement the producers offered?

$215/week for chorus work...in NYC.

According to AEA’s LORT rules, during Non-Performance Weeks, shows that feature a large cast (meaning 15 or more people) can only maintain a work-week of 50 hours, with no more than 47 hours allotted for rehearsal (http://actorsequity.org/docs/rulebooks/LORT_Rulebook_13-17.pdf).

During the week leading up to the production’s first-public performances (which includes previews), the work-week is only allotted 52 hours; all 52 hours are available for rehearsal usage.

Assuming that rehearsals do not run longer than standard (the allotted 52 hours), that comes out to roughly $4.13/hour for Equity members...before taxes.

The current minimum wage in the US is $7.25/hour (https://paywizard.org/main/salary/minimum-wage).

If this is the type of ‘respect’ that “Rocktopia”s producers are showing the Union and their own performers, imagine what the rehearsal safety standards must be like. Imagine what the rehearsals themselves must be like!!

Puts a whole new meaning to the term ‘slave wages’ for performers, doesn’t it?

Equity publicly responded to the producers’ ludicrous proposal by extending another offer, one that involved union contracts---one that was, again, rejected by “Rocktopia”s producers.

That’s when things got public.

Equity, in an attempt to protect itself and its members, did what it does best--it called upon the power of collective bargaining to put pressure on the production to pay up. The Union issued a formal summation of the situation to the media, including BroadwayWorld.com and Broadway.News, two publications that are prominent among industry professionals.

“The hundreds of Equity members who spoke out today made it very clear that there is nothing reasonable about offering $215 a week while also not covering all of the performers with Equity contracts,” quipped Equity spokesperson Brandon Lorenz.

Carpenter himself issued a public statement condemning the actions of the producers, which demonstrated a clear desire for profits over paying fair and livable wages to its performers. “Our membership has spoken loud and clear that they want their union to be more assertive,” Carpenter said.

Finally, twenty-two hours ago, the AEA came out with a formalized statement which reads:

"Rocktopia" is a live performance that combines rock songs and classical music, and it's starting previews on Broadway in two weeks. Producers are advertising this as a Broadway show and charging Broadway ticket prices - but their Broadway Chorus isn't being offered an Equity contract. In fact, we've heard from members who have reported being offered as low as $215 for a week of Chorus work.

You know that Chorus members are no less talented than any other performer on Broadway, but the Rocktopia producers are refusing to put their Chorus on an Equity contract. Will you help us tell Rocktopia's producers that their Chorus deserves the protection of Equity workplace rules and reasonable wages?

Rocktopia's Facebook page accepts reviews that are visible to the public, and we want you to tell everyone that producers who charge Broadway ticket prices while paying their Chorus rock-bottom wages are only worth one star (the lowest rating). Below is some sample language, but feel free to write your own message to Rocktopia's producers and their Facebook audience. With your help, we can make sure people know that Rocktopia isn't paying a livable wage, and how that will impact the Chorus's ability to create a good experience for the audience, night after night.

Our negotiating team is ready to find a solution that works for Rocktopia's producers that protects their Chorus members with an Equity contract. We'll be sure to keep you up to date as this campaign progresses!

Recently, “Rocktopia”s Facebook page has disabled its comment section due to the overwhelming response from Union members. AEA has urged its members to take to other various social media platforms, including Twitter.

Here is why YOU, a professional singer, should care---

In this time of the Trump era, we are seeing unions in general disappearing at an alarming rate. The Teachers Union, once a powerful negotiator on the national platform, has been reduced to a shell of its former self within many states’ borders. The power of the many is once again being put to the test by the few with financial might. Those in positions of power are not as sympathetic to the plights of their workers as they were in previous generations, and the arts are no exception to this rule. The AEA stands as a powerful symbol of performer’s rights, and producers have long been wary of crossing the Union for fear of financial and legal recompense. If the AEA can be directly challenged in such a manner, how long will it be before AGMA houses start attempting to do the same?? Already there are grumblings within the Chicagoland music scene--- rumors of major companies and local houses that have cut or reduced the number of AGMA contracts offered, or that rules and standards are not being sufficiently enforced... or that the pay scale seems to be sliding in favor of the company. AGMA is in no way as powerful as their sister union; should the AEA be directly challenged in this manner and fail to maintain previous standards, we can be assured that AGMA and other smaller performing unions will follow suit.

So what can YOU do?? Voice support for your fellow performers on your social media platforms. Take the time to leave a Twitter message for the producers of “Rocktopia”, stating that their desires to produce profits do not trump their responsibilities to their performers. Attend a local organizational meeting and bring up the issue; start talk amongst your own colleagues and peers about the issue of livable wages. Call your local radio station or write your local newspaper and mention the scandal---people LOVE a scandal, and this is certainly the time and place to cause a public stir. Think creatively of ways to draw public support for performers and unions alike, as peer pressure seems to be the only thing that producers will kowtow to.

Finally, if you’re at the time and place within your own career, I would urge you to consider joining AGMA, AEA or a sister performing arts union. The days of being an independent artist and being assured of receiving fair and equal treatment is over--it is only through the strength of the many that we will all benefit. A partial list of Unions and Professional Organizations can be found here: https://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/resources/unions-pro-organizations/.

The original BroadwayWorld article that sparked this entire blog can be found here:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/ROCKTOPIA-Producers-Under-Fire-for-Offering-Unfair-Wages-to-Chorus-Members-20180306