Regional Theatre Survey

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>I don't know if anyone will find this interesting, but I thought I would share this just in case.
I am going to begin this by saying I am not a numbers person and not a statistics person. However, my daughter and I became curious about where the actors working in Chicago area musical theatre received their degrees because that is where she would primarily like to work.</p>

<p>To narrow it down, I looked at the 2012 seasons of the two primary Equity regional theatres in Chicago that produce large scale musicals, Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre and Drury Lane Oakbrook. Between these two theatres, there were 9 musicals produced in 2012 (1 straight play, and I did not count that). Although there are many other smaller Equity theatres producing musicals, I decided to just concentrate on the two that are the most well known, and known for hiring the best local actors as well as holding auditions in New York and bringing in actors from around the country.</p>

<p>These two theatres employed 150 actors during 2012. 118 of them appeared in 1 show at one of the theatres. 26 actors appeared in 2 shows, 4 actors appeared in 3 shows and one actor appeared in 4 shows. Because the seasons overlap, the most any one actor could appear in is 4.</p>

<p>59 different schools were represented among the 150 actors. 23 actors had no school listed anywhere (mostly older actors). 3 actors said they had no degree.</p>

<p>So, what schools are most heavily represented in Chicago musical theatre? Not a big surprise-
Northwestern had 21 graduates - the leader by far.
Next is CCPA-Roosevelt with 8, Columbia College with 7, CCM with 6, Illinois & Ball State with 5, Michigan & IWU with 4, Millikin & CMU with 3.
Then there are many more with 2 and 1.
Guess which schools didn't show up at all? NYU and BoCo. </p>

<p>Anyway, remember this is just a snapshot. And the number I think is really amazing is that 59 different schools were represented -- which shows that talented people come from everywhere!</p>

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<p>Such an interesting thing to contemplate, isn’t it? The thing that struck me was how heavily weighted the results are in favor of “local” talent, despite the fact that these companies reportedly cast a net as far as NY to recruit their performers. What that says to me is that the old adage is at least partially true. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I suspect there is a fairly strong network of local grads that at least partially accounts for the results. And I suspect that would hold true in just about any theatre market you studied.</p>

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<p>The thing is that there’s no way to know if that ‘local talent’ had remained in Chicago since graduation. My guess is that that would not be the case with most/all of them. They may very well have been some of those who auditioned in NY. It’s not unusual for regional theatres to hold NY auditions. Not all, but many do. </p>

<p>These compilations are interesting and I’ve always enjoyed reading them when I see them on CC. I think they do provide a snapshot, and only that, into any particular dynamic of the theatre world. If a similar snapshot were to be done looking at a different season, it would not be unusual for it to look different, or similar for that matter. That’s the funny thing about theatre, it’s almost impossible to predict much with any degree of certainty. :)</p>

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<p>That was my point exactly. No matter where the graduates lived, even if it was in NY, the casting directors seemed to favor those who had graduated from local schools. Thus my comment that the school network appears to be very influential</p>

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<p>Definitely different seasons would yield different actors, but I don’t know if the school list would substantially change.
Northwestern graduates seem to especially get cast a lot at the Marriott theatre, and the founder and head of the Musical Theatre program at Northwestern occasionally directs shows there (his wife is the costume designer for the theatre). I agree that they are probably cast even if they currently do not live in Chicago.
There were many roles specifically for African-American actors in 2012, and one show (My One and Only) cast a lot of dancers.</p>

<p>Here are the shows for the 2 theatres for 2012:
My One and Only, Dreamgirls, Hero (a world premiere), Pirates of Penzance, Legally Blonde, Gypsy, Xanadu, Hairspray and Singin’ in the Rain.</p>

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<p>Good to see Ball State in there. IS Western Michigan represented?</p>

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<p>$$$$$$ Why bring in out of town talent and have to pay for housing? Also most if not all Equity pay goes to the stars they are casting to sell the show.</p>

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<p>Good point! Regional theaters here bring in leads but a lot of the cast is local or regional. They also may not pay enough to make someone living in NYC want to audition and/or relocate. Maybe it’s not so much about what school, at all.</p>

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<p>I also know from past experience that the overwhelming majority of Boco kids go straight to NYC after graduation. I would also assume that the NYU kids stay put as well. Another factor in this would be the amount of graduates who either already have or are getting their equity cards. Once you have your equity card it really restricts your ability to find regional work.</p>

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<p>Excellent, more data! Thanks merlehay. I think even the broadway statistics might have a slight geographic bent. For example, I’d bet that the ratio for national-tours to broadway would be slightly higher for schools not in the northeast, but perhaps not a significant fluctuation.</p>

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<p>^^^^ National tours usually come out of out NY and LA. In most cases they are cast by the same Broadway people.</p>

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<p>I typed a large reply but lost it so I’ll try to recreate but it’s never as good the second time!</p>

<p>As beenthereMTdad just mentioned, national tours audition and hire out of NY, as do many of the regional Equity theatres. “Name” stars are hired for many shows, both in regional theatres and Broadway theatres (read “tv or film” stars). It is a bit of a problem for live theatre actors regardless of theatre location. Talent salary is a pretty small percentage of a productions costs, btw.</p>

<p>Chicago and other major metro areas have many large, very respectable Equity theatres. Very often Chicago Equity theatres are the “first try” theatres just before their run on Broadway, using many of the same actors in both venues. </p>

<p>Many, many NU Theatre/MT students move to NY after graduation as well. As I stated above, most theatres in the country audition and cast in NY, that’s where most of the actors are. Where you went to school is relatively irrelevant from a geographic viewpoint, it may count for other reasons that have been stated on CC but not so much because of where it was located.</p>

<p>Have no idea what you mean MTpragmatist - why do you think national tours hire more kids from non-ne schools? Again, most hire out of NY, why would the geographic location of a school matter once they’ve graduated?</p>

<p>OP - If your daughter wants to stay in the midwest area then it would probably be slightly better for her to attend a college in that area, but only slightly. You also have left off the Goodman Theatre and the Steppenwolf Theatre, two highly respected Equity Theatres. I believe the Goodman will be producing a show shortly that is slated for Broadway this coming Fall.</p>

<p>This is all a bit weird to me, but please understand that most kids in their first 5 years or so out of school take jobs where ever they can get one, especially if it’s Equity. Regional, national tour, international tour, cruise ship, off-Broadway, Broadway, whatever. Being fussy as to location of a show means, most likely, being unemployed.</p>

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<p>Yes, I didn’t include Steppenwolf or Goodman because they do not typically do musical theatre, although I’m pretty sure my D would audition for straight plays there given the chance!</p>

<p>Chicago is often a starting point for sit-downs and national tours, and when it is the originating city, they hold auditions here. My D went through rounds of callbacks for both the Mary Poppins and Billy Elliot tours. Neither tour hired a large number of Chicago actors, unfortunately.
Currently, there will be a pre-Broadway tryout of “Big Fish” here, and we know at least one local actor hired.</p>

<p>I’m not sure why my D is set on having most of her career in Chicago – I think college may change her outlook, depending on where she ends up. We visit New York fairly often, and I think she doesn’t find it appealing as a city to live in, whereas Chicago is very livable. </p>

<p>Definitely agree that being fussy as to location may lead to unemployment – I think she realizes that, but wants Chicago to be her home base.</p>

<p>I don’t know if my original survey provided any answers for us – I think it shows my D she can go almost anywhere and still get a job in Chicago if the role is right for her.
So back to worrying about preparing for the big audition year!</p>

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<p>Chicago is a great theatre town and a great place to get started. And you can’t forget all the comedy and improv that’s there plus a few tv shows. It also is more liveable than NYC for a great many people. It’s not a bad choice, but the decision might be a little premature.</p>

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<p>Personally, I think it’s one strategy—to focus on a strong regional theatre town like Chicago and build your connections there. I believe it is easier - or less difficult - to forge connections regionally than to land in NYC, say, “Here I am!” and try from there. Of course, as amtc says, you should definitely go where the jobs are and not be picky. But another approach - or maybe a concurrent approach- would be to really focus on local regional and build from there. Merelhay’s stats bear this out–your chances of being hired are much higher, for whatever reason, if you are local and have built connections.</p>

<p>I’m confused 'beenthereDad," why you say: “Once you have your equity card it really restricts your ability to find regional work.” I’m assuming you mean ‘non-professional regional work.’ Chicago and other theatre-rich cities have many equity opportunities. Non-equity work pays far less, if at all. That strategy of not getting your equity card on purpose is a strategy youth actors are advised to do, because it does make them more versatile, but I wouldn’t recommend that for adult actors who want to live on their salary ideally–if that’s what you’re saying? To my mind, having an equity card increases your chances in general (not always) of landing well-respected, upwardly-mobile, paying jobs both regionally and on B’way. There are plenty of regional equity theatres, many excellent and doing really interesting stuff as well. Chicago is certainly among the best regional theatre towns in the country. :-)</p>

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<p>Many regional shows only have a couple (leads) of Equity performers in the cast.</p>

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<p>And depending on the size of the theatre, the Equity pay may not be what you could make off of doing non-Equity work. And this isn’t regional per se, but my D has several friends (class of 2012) on cruise ships who are living their dream and being well compensated for it. Several of the theatres in Myrtle Beach pay exceptionally well. I was shocked, but happily so, by what a few of her friends make performing there. And it is much less expensive to live in Myrtle Beach than in NYC.</p>

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<p>Connections… Actor12 and AustinMTmom answered a lot of the question for me. I’ll add that just because the theater is an equity theater does not mean that all the actors are paid equity. It just means if they employ an equity actor, the must pay the contract rate. Also, an equity actor cannot act in a non-equity production or theater. A regional theater can’t afford to pay equity scale to the entire cast so they are very selective, i.e. the stars or draws which impact the bottom line.</p>

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<p>There is more to it than that. Equity theatres operate under various agreements with Actors Equity that stipulate, among other things, how many actors must be under Equity contract (the Chicago Area has its own set of Equity Rules, for example). For Chicago Area Theatres (CAT), Regional Theatres (LORT’s) and on down the chain, this is typically specified in tiers based on the potential weekly gross. There are other stipulations as well, such as the chorus for any musical must be 50% Equity, extras and understudies cannot be counted, EMC’s do not count, etc.</p>

<p>Equity theatres under tiered structure contacts may only hire the number of Equity members that they are required to and will fill all other roles with non-Equity members (from my understanding, this is pretty typical to keep costs down). Equity stage managers and ASM’s count, so theatres may start with those two slots and so forth.</p>

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<p>All of the Equty contracts are available on the Equity website if anyone is curious. Being non-Equity but working in an Equity theatre enables you to earn EMC points and all actors benefit from the union protections, Equity or not. </p>

<p>When my D was acting professionally, she was non-union because we were told a child Equity member would never get hired in Chicago because they would have to be paid too much. One show she was in required all actors to be Equity, but we were allowed a Taft-Hartley exemption – had to write a letter stating she declined to join. This was the only job, however, that she was paid Equity scale.</p>