Highest paid current West End star or role?

The equity minimum pay grades are quite complex in that they vary depending on whether it is WE (commercial or subsidised) and touring and the size of venue (seating capacity). Added on to this are other payments, dance captain, understudy payments, lines/small roles etc. It will be the role of the artists agent to negotiate their individual fees but it is safe to say that producers will only pay the minimum required as simply demand for jobs simply outstrips supply.

So if Actor A is cast in the ensemble but their agent wants more money for them than the minimum offered by the producer, the role will go to Actor B and so on!

Minimum rates can only be negotiated upwards if the actor has a unique ability which in the producers eyes no-one else can deliver. Top of the bill "names" and stars agents can negotiate high sums as these performers are unique and the producer needs the "name" to sell the show. This is where there is often HUGE discrepancy between actors pay onstage between the ensemble (who can do most of the work) and the star who does far less!

Pantomime is the biggest example of this when the "star" can be on say £10k (or considerably more) per week and an ensemble member of the cast being paid £700.

I always think it is a nice gesture when I hear that the star of the pantomime takes the entire cast, crew and band out for a meal one evening as a token of appreciation of how hard they all work.

Actors on tour usually arrange their own "digs". They are given a touring allowance on top their salary. Having known actors on tour they invariably say that this does not cover the entire cost.

Remember this is before tax. Plus, with respect to your friend, being a performer is a skilled job that only a few people can do. Like you might argue that paying a locksmith £100 to change your locks in 15 mins is expensive when you're actually paying for their training, experience, niche skill etc.

Always wondered if actors go on the dole when they are not working

I have to apologise, I misread that your friend is doing 'catering' not 'caring' work. So my argument was that catering is less skilled than performing. But I totally see that care work is a very particular skill indeed. Sorry!

Not denying there’s a huge and unfair wage disparity in society, but theatre is not the problem. Nearly all playwrights and directors end up making far less than minimum wage (one Olivier winning director once told me they’d totted up the amount of hours they’d spent developing a highly successful show and divided by their salary, and it came out at about 20p an hour). Actors are only well-paid if they land a hit or become famous; they don’t make much more than minimum wage and are expected to work for free for years and pay thousands in training.

Because capitalism.

I expect performers in big hit shows get very good bonus payments for 90% plus sold out shows.
If this is not the case then equity have not done their job.

Also re: the payment/day rates for actors V other professions.

To use teachers as an argument, as I know that one, the £700 a week isn't far off what supply rates would be in London, in fact you might get a bit more depending on your agency. And I used supply as like actors, it's both pro rata in that it's not a year-round salary.

Or on the flip side, I got paid, I think £150 for a day's adult teaching, now while my hourly rate on the day looks high, that doesn't factor in the prep that went into it (for this one I'd have been earning about 20p an hour). Similarly with actors, who have to prep for a role, take dance classes/excercise classes/voice lessons all related to their job that comes out of their pocket rather than say if you worked for Tescos and needed the training to make you able to do your job properly, the company would pay. So all of this is a factor.

Should everyone from caterers to carers also be being paid for? of course. But I believe that's a bigger discussion about capitalism, Tories and Brexit among many other things.