2,411 posts
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Post by theatreian on Sept 20, 2017 21:23:37 GMT
I have always been curious as to what the actors do when touring in a show as to who decides where they stay. Is it up to them? Do they pay for it themselves? Do they need to organise it ? I'm sure someone on here must know.
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on Sept 20, 2017 22:13:49 GMT
It can vary! Standard equity touring contract provides a weekly subsistence allowance (on top of the weekly salary) that can go towards many things such as food and travel, but mainly towards digs. It's usually up to the actor to sort digs themselves, but there's a lot of options available, including a very well-known and popular facebook group dedicated just to theatre digs. And of course there's the ever popular Air BnB, too! A theatre/company manager can also provide a cast with a digs list, which is, as the name suggests, a list of various different hotels/B&B's and digs that are related to the theatre they are in that week/month. It can be a pretty daunting challenge at first, especially if you're on a say 15-week tour, that's 15 places you need to try and find to stay. And then you have to combat budgets, prices, travel, distance to theatre, staying in strangers houses, different qualities of houses/hotels. And sometimes digs people cancel at the last minute leaving the actor stuck, and sometimes actors cancel at the last minute leaving digs people out of pocket. But thankfully not too often!
Some producers who don't work to equity minimum sometimes don't provide that extra allowance and the actors then have to source and pay for it themselves, out of the probably already modest weekly pay packet.
I think in America, sometimes the company manager books the entire cast into hotels or similar so they don't have to worry about that, but they can opt to take the money they would've spent in a hotel and go and find somewhere themselves, but from what I'm aware of in this country, it's very much down to the actor to source and book, with some help along the way! However, if you are on a UK tour that includes international dates (including Dublin), then accommodation is completely provided for you.
As I said above, yes it can be daunting, but once you've done it a few times you do get the hang of it, and if you end up visiting regional theatres often, you tend to try and stay with the same people if they're available and you like each other! And whilst it is one of the more stressful parts of touring, it does give you the opportunity to explore so many parts of the UK you never otherwise would - especially if you're on a big tour with month-long stops!
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Post by firefingers on Sept 20, 2017 22:35:30 GMT
Yes, theatre digs... some great, some terrible and you quickly develop stories about both. Think current touring allowance (or was when I came off my last tour in June) is £219 a week. This puts you a couple of hundred under what a travelogue would likely charge. There are all sorts available, though since AirBnB became a thing some digs have put prices up and opened themselves up to everyone. 3 bed apartments and similar are common that you then share with others on tour, but requires a lot of organisation and planning to live with someone you may be sick of after a couple of weeks. Most common still I think is people renting out their spare rooms for extra cash. These people are often older, kids have left home and renting their old room. Some are lush, ensuite bathroom and even own small kitchen I have known, some are damp and bedbug ridden holes... Such is life. B&Bs are an option, and often will do a deal with theatre people, but it is more money. Every theatre has a digs list, a list of places that people rent from so you get them to email that over and start calling. There is a website called theatredigsbooker that people use as well. You can find some incredible bargains, and it varies from city to city (spent a Christmas in a lovely place on the South coast with my own bathroom, big room with bay window, double bed, all for 70 quid a week). One thing to remember about digs money is your agent doesn't get a cut like they do on your wage, so if you stay in low budget digs you can make more money.
It is a very British thing, digs don't seem to exist elsewhere. At least friends on the Wicked and Les Mis international tours had Facebook pages filled with hotel rooms (with two double beds in a room for only them!) and swimming pools, jacuzzis, spas etc... really must get on one of those. Only times I have personally known a company manager sorting accommodation over here was for the name on panto, and for Edinburgh Fringe where the producer would have 4 or 5 people sharing a flat so made financial sense for everyone.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2017 0:14:13 GMT
When I went to York to see the premiere of the final leg of the English Shakespeare Company's Histories cycle - Henry VI and Richard III (played by Andrew Jarvis) - I stayed at a small and modest B&B. When I came down to breakfast, I was astonished to see Andrew Jarvis sitting at a communal table squashed up against a young Australian-accented couple, all commenting on the poorly pouring teapots. The couple were flicking through some local flyers during breakfast, and one told the other that a series of Shakespeare plays called Henry VI was on in town, and then added dismissively that he'd never even heard of Henry VI, the monarch or the play. Andrew Jarvis didn't so much as flicker an eyelash at this comment, but asked them if they were from Australia ("Yes") and said he'd had the pleasure to work for a bit in Australia himself and how much he'd enjoyed it. He didn't mention to them this work had been playing lead roles in the ESC Histories plays.
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2,411 posts
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Post by theatreian on Sept 21, 2017 8:27:56 GMT
Thanks for your replies. It has satisfied my curiosity.
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256 posts
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Post by grannyjx6 on Sept 22, 2017 2:59:23 GMT
A friend of mine who has always been a bit 'arty' and lived not too far from our local theatres, rented her spare room out for years to various actors on 'tours'. She really enjoyed it and of course the extra money came in handy. She was a divorcee and it always worried me her being on her own, but didn't bother her one bit. She moved to a smaller house, further away from the theatres and so no longer does this.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2017 13:18:23 GMT
Good topic thread - I've always heard that theatres do have lists often private families or people who may put up performers. I figure some of these could be the better off theatre patron type who may enjoy talking about a play/musical with the performer.
You do see a bit of casts renting apartments especially in YouTube clips. Bigger cities have many hotels, often I've been asked by performers when I've Stage Doored how to get to certain areas where they are staying.
More experienced performers will have favourite hotels or probably have set private people they stay with - I'd guess this is useful for performers who sometimes take pet dogs on tours.
University accommodation during the summer may also be used.
Some performers in shorter plays in particular if they are in reasonable travelling distance to home may commute. I'd guess London based performers in shows at Theatre MK may do this for example. A lot depends on good transport links but an hour on the road each way may be preferable if you can sleep in your own bed, also saves money on hotels potentially. I've certainly heard of performers who may only stay over on matinee days as commute and shows are too much but go home on single show days.
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