New York City theatre aficionados may deride dinner theatre as "live television" and "opera buffet," but for some theatergoers across the country, a stage show goes as naturally with a meal as surf does with turf. Actors' Equity, the national union of actors and stage managers, recently approved new contracts covering its members who appear in venues offering those combinations.
According to information provided by the union, salaries in most (but not all) Equity-approved dinner theatres will increase by 17% over four years.
Equity's eastern region covers the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron, Ohio; the Lake George Dinner Theatre in Lake George, N.Y.; the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, N.Y.; and four in Florida?the Mark Two Dinner Theatre in Orlando, the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, and the Golden Apple Dinner Theatres in Sarasota and Venice. Another Florida dinner theatre, Jan McArt's Royal Palm Dinner Theatre, suspended operations while the new contract was being negotiated.
In addition to negotiating increases in salaries (first-year minimums go to $500 per week from $331; increments have been initiated for dance captains and understudies), Equity representatives also negotiated an end to raked stages in Eastern region dinner theatres. Led by Jean Paul Richard, Chair of the Eastern Region Dinner Theatre Committee, and Equity Senior Business Representative Rick Berg, the team also secured overtime rates, protective clothing, consecutive rehearsal salaries, increases in stage manager minimums from $401 to $723, higher pension caps, and increases in the Equity Health rates, which provide medical coverage for actors working under contract.
All six dinner theatres in the central region?American Heartland Theatre in Kansas City, MO; Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis, Ind.; Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in Chanhassen, Minn; Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre in Oakbrook, Ill.; Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre in Lincolnshire, Ill.; and The New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kans.?signed new four-year contracts, with salary increases between 14% and 17% over the duration of the agreements. Minimums now range between $426 and $553 per week for actors, and $516 and $781 for stage managers.
Other improvements include dance captain increments, overtime rates, protective clothing, increases in the Equity health rates, increased understudy coverage, holiday pay, and modifications in the television spot commercial rules.
In the western region, the Lawrence Welk Dinner Theatre in Escondido, Cal., entered negotiations in "severe financial challenges due to the ongoing energy crisis in that state," and negotiated only a slight increase?5%?in first year minimums. The only other dinner theatre under Equity's jurisdiction in the western region, the Country Dinner Playhouse in Greenwood Village, Colo., agreed to a 10% increase in first-year minimums.
Improvements were achieved in the areas of dance captain increments, non-pro ratios, and higher overtime rates.
Equity urges members to check with the union when negotiating a dinner theatre contract, because terms for each theatre vary widely. However, this year the union cut down on that source of confusion by standardizing much of the contract language in the eastern region.