Musical Theatre Artist - Career & Salary Overview - Music School Central (2024)
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Overview:
Musical Theatre is an intriguingly lucrative industry, with Broadway as a whole earning over 1.25 billion in the entire 2013-2014 season alone. The actors, dancers, and pit musicians are typically well-paid if they get gigs on Broadway, especially the professional actors who have been accepted into the “Actor’s Equity” union. Off-Broadway actors tend to make less than Broadway actors, but they can still have hugely successful careers.
Because of the wild popularity and excellent job opportunities presented to people with musical theatre training, colleges are increasingly placing resources and emphasis into high-level direction, with many graduates of the top schools getting positions in Broadway, television, and more.
Although the film and popular music industries gross more overall than musical theatre, the highest-earning entertainment project of all time, with more than $5 billion earned to its name, is actually Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera. Pretty crazy, huh?
For a solidtextthat addresses the subject of acting in musical theatre, check out this well-reviewed book on Amazon.
Most musical theatre actors are trained at a school with a heavy emphasis on “triple-threat” performance, that triple-threat being singing, dancing, and acting. Nearly every musical theatre musician receives classical voice training from the vocal teachers at their music school, although this is not the case for every institution. Having the benefit of studying at a school with dedicated voice, dedicated dance, and dedicated acting teachers is of absolutely tremendous benefit to the prospective musical theatre artist. Additionally, you must be excellent at auditioning for roles and have the stamina to perform anywhere from 6-8 shows a week.
Although professional college-level training is not required, nearly every single musical theater musician I have ever known has graduated college or spent at least a few years in college. There are many colleges that offer excellent training in musical theatre, however, three notable ones seem to consistently send actors and actresses to Broadway, and they are:
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
New York University Tisch School of the Arts
Carnegie-Mellon University’s School of Drama
Salary
Getting accepted into the Actor’s Equity Association (AEA) union gives you the right to demand a certain amount of salary per week. As of 2013, according to this article,the minimum salary a Broadway actor can ask for per week is $1,754. Depending on a number of other factors, including being an understudy, being a dance captain, or if your image will be used in the company’s promotional materials, you are entitled to increments of higher weekly salary. Keep in mind that many shows won’t let you audition until you are in the AEA or in a sister organization.
Getting into the AEA requires that actors work a certain number hours of week as well as completing other requirements. Check out the actor’s equity website for more information.
If you work Off-Broadway, the minimums are typically in the $500-$700 per week.
Generally, the average Broadway salary for non-celebrity actors is between $45,000 and $220,000 per year, depending on the run of the show or their contract length in an ongoing production. The current Equity weekly minimum salary for Broadway actors is $2,439 per week.
Like screen actors, theater actors have their own union, Actors' Equity Association, which dictates the minimum salary its members must be paid. Every major professional theater in the U.S., including Broadway and Broadway tours, operate under an Equity contract. Theater actors are paid on a weekly basis.
How much does a Broadway Musician make in the United States? The salary range for a Broadway Musician job is from $29,370 to $41,382 per year in the United States. Click on the filter to check out Broadway Musician job salaries by hourly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, and yearly.
Broadway is very competitive–extremely competitive–but it's also wonderful and rewarding and an experience like no other. Do the work now that will get you in the right doors, get you in the right auditions, get you in the right BFA programs, and get you in the right shows. That's what's going to get you on Broadway.
Actors in Wicked, Jersey Boys, Book of Mormon and The Lion King work off a production contract that pay out $1754 per week minimum and most trend closer to $2000 per week.
Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig reportedly had a base salary of $40,000 a week during the run of A Steady Rain, in addition to a percentage of sales from the box office. Meanwhile, Lin Manuel Miranda, who authored Hamilton, earned about $105,000 per week in royalties alone in 2016, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
#2re: Are Broadway actors given vacation days? Most Broadway actors work under what is referred to as the Equity "Production" contract. Section 77, entitled "Vacation", essentially provides for 1 week vacation for every 6 months worked. The section also includes notice requirements, etc.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $95,500 and as low as $29,000, the majority of The Lion King Broadway salaries currently range between $48,000 (25th percentile) to $73,500 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $89,000 annually across the United States.
The Lion King sits at the top, with a Broadway gross of $1.9 billion. Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run. † Background shading indicates shows running in the week commencing 26 April 2024 in Broadway theatres.
That said, there is confirmation that each main cast member made at least $3,400 a week for their actors' salaries (and even more after a crucial deal was signed.) According to The New York Times, Broadway actors make a union-mandated minimum of $1,900 a week, which would amount to $116,300 a year.
Understudying roles also comes with additional pay. Swings, who understudy multiple ensemble tracks, earn $116.15 over the performer minimum, or $20 if a performer is only a partial swing. Understudying principal roles can add $60 to the weekly salary, while understudying chorus roles adds $17.50.
Both locations are world-leading, but Broadway seems to have an edge, mentioned in popular media at a higher rate than the West End is. However, it is worth noting that many references to London's theatre scene tend to mention the city, rather than 'West End' specifically.
National average salary: $61,014 per year Primary duties: After earning a master's or doctorate degree, theatre majors can become theatre professors who teach college students basic and advanced acting techniques, playwriting, directing and theatre management.
How much do actors on Broadway make? Broadway is entirely unionized by a union known as “Equity”. “Equity Scale”, which is the minimum pay for any performer on Broadway, is $2,034 a week. However, a top performer can take in $100,000 a week and established stars can make more based on a percentage of ticket sales.
The estimate average salary for Aladdin - The Musical employees is around $77,910 per year, or the hourly rate of Aladdin - The Musical rate is $37. The highest earners in the top 75th percentile are paid over $88,630.
Introduction: My name is Annamae Dooley, I am a witty, quaint, lovely, clever, rich, sparkling, powerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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