There’s some good news for actors in the Boston area—Actors’ Equity has negotiated a new contract with the Producers Association of New England Area Theatres (NEAT), increasing minimum salaries by 28 percent.
Equity, the nation’s union for professional stage actors and managers, is promoting the news as a victory in its #EquityWorks campaign, which focuses union activism and dealmaking in cities beyond the three with the union’s highest membership—New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The agreement, which will start in September and last until 2022, also provides additional perks to stage managers who will see their pay double during production tech weeks, when a show integrates all of the design elements, as helmed by the stage management team.
According to a 2018 Equity report, roughly 1,000 union members live in the Greater Boston area, which also folds in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The area is home to many regional theaters, including the Huntington and the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge and Trinity Rep in Providence. The region also has several theaters in Western Massachusetts that thrive during the summer season.
Though there are many popular actor training programs there—including Brown, Emerson College, Boston University, and Boston Conservatory at Berklee—New England has often struggled with the stigma of being a launching pad for actors, not a sustainable permanent home.
The Boston theater scene has also been going through some tough times as of late; with many venues closing down or being repurposed, professional theater artists in Boston have been feeling some existential angst. Anxiety in the city reached an apex when Boston University announced it was selling the building that has been home to the Huntington for nearly 35 years, and Emerson College announced that it would be turning its iconic Broadway preview house, the Colonial Theatre, into a dining hall.
However, things have more recently been on the upswing for Boston actors. After substantial backlash, Emerson announced it would not repurpose the Colonial, and “Moulin Rouge!” began previews in the newly renovated, ornamented theater. The Huntington ended up signing a long-term lease for its space from the building’s new owner, securing its place on Huntington Avenue and in the city’s arts scene. This new contract for professional actors is another burst of wind in Boston actors’ sails.
“As someone who has been negotiating this contract for so many years, I was thrilled to see so many Equity members in the room talking about how we could move forward together to create a stronger professional theater community for Boston actors and stage managers,” said Spiro Veloudos, producing artistic director of the Lyric Stage Company of Boston and president of NEAT.
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