'Third-Rate Actors' The Regional (or tour, or non-equity, or whatever that isn't NY or LA) Dilemma

@EmsDad Thank you for the numbers. How do you think the members of a city are identified? Are they members who live in that city or members who work there? St. Louis, for example, could be misleading. The MUNY will employ many people from outside the St. Louis area. The summer run there also extends the amount of work available, but the hires may not be from St. Louis at all.

@PaperTrope - here is the description of the methodology used by Equity from the report:

Your question is an interesting one. I would postulate that on balance, the amount of work done by actors from anywhere other than NYC in a given city is probably about equal to the amount of work done by actors from that city elsewhere. However, my guess is that actors based in NYC do more work outside the city than the converse, which means the numbers are probably biased on the high side. There is probably less work booked by local actors than the report would indicate. How much so would be anyone’s guess…

I think any way that you slice it, its a hard knocks life…

@PaperTrope and @EmsDad, I would guess that the numbers skew some based on 1) how far from NYC the regional market is, and 2) how many local hires the regional theaters make, which I think is based on their LORT contract tier. Other factors include the proximity of another major city/market, and the presence of affiliated MFA programs.

Roles in the top tier LORT theaters are largely cast out of NYC (and some Chicago and Los Angeles), with local hires typically booking ensemble or understudy only. So if the theaters in a given regional market are among the top LORT theaters in the country (eg, La Jolla Playhouse), and the regional city is far away from NYC so that it’s difficult for local Equity actors to travel to NYC to audition for the major roles, then I would guess that particular regional market will have fewer working Equity members because they are competing for a very small number of local hire contracts and can’t afford the time/money to travel to NYC to audition.

I think it’s possible that the number of weeks worked by Equity members in DC is higher, for example, because it’s easy and not that expensive to take the train or drive to NYC from DC to audition. You are not limited to local EPAs in DC.

Also, regional theaters associated with MFA programs (eg, La Jolla Playhouse) will cast their MFA students in smaller roles instead of using local Equity actors.

Another factor is whether there is another major city within shouting distance. For example, in Southern California, actors based in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and San Diego compete for the same theater work and often can be local hires by living with a friend or relative.

As others have pointed out, the regional theater market is incredibly competitive and filled with many actors with Broadway credits. And the work is cast out of New York City. The few local hire contracts at a top tier LORT theater will be cast out of a very competitive local pool.