‘Into the Woods’ and ‘Six’ performers warn of a possible actors strike ahead of Kimmel Center shows

Broadway enthusiasts excited to see Six or Into the Woods at the Kimmel Cultural Campus on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon may get to see the actors from two touring shows interacting with showgoers. But it’s not the typical meet-and-greet.

Touring members of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents actors and stage managers in theater, are planning to distribute leaflets at the Kimmel Center on Friday and Saturday, to share information about their attempts to get better pay and benefits in a new contract. They’ve been unable to reach a contract with the show producers who employ them, and they’re warning of a possible strike.

A strike authorization vote has already been held, and 95% of those voting approved a strike. If that happens, it would be the first strike of Broadway shows on tour since 1968, according to the union.

One of their major pain points in seeking a new contract is the rising cost of food and housing in the places they visit on tour. The union members get a per diem, a set allowance, to cover those costs, and they are asking for an increase in that amount.

Actors are often dipping into their salary to pay for food and hotel rooms in safe, convenient locations, Actors’ Equity president Kate Shindle said.

“There is no other business that would ask you to go on a business trip and ask you to pay for your expenses,” said Gavin Creel, who plays Cinderella’s prince and the wolf in Into the Woods. “We’re not asking for the Ritz. We’re asking for Residence Inn.”

They are also seeking improvements in understudy and swing coverage for when they’re sick or injured on tour, so actors and stage managers can take time to recover without risking cancellation of a show.

Six stage manager Amber Johnson said stage managers on tour have no substitutes with them on the road, so it’s difficult and sometimes impossible to get coverage in an emergency situation.

“Coverage on and off stage has always been on the back burner of priorities, but I think COVID really pushed it to the front,” Johnson said. “Knowing that a person could be out at any time and for several days really brings into focus what real coverage looks like.”

In addition to adequate pay and coverage, Johnson said union members are seeking health-care contributions “that keep pace with our present economic realities” and added that “it’s vitally important to have access to reproductive care, regardless of what state we are in at the time.

As of 10 days ago, the union thought a deal was close, said Shindle, a Moorestown native. Now, she thinks the likelihood of a strike is about 50/50, she said.

“We are so hardwired to make sure the show goes on. Nobody goes into theater or goes onto a national tour so that they don’t do their show,” Shindle said. “This is not frivolous. This is long overdue.”

The actors and stage managers have been working without a contract since Feb. 5. Shindle said they have met with the Broadway League, which represents the show producers, 18 times since January.

The Broadway League, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the negotiations.

Actors’ Equity has already made compromises on compensation in recent decades to keep producers from using nonunion performers on tour.

Those who perform in a few Broadway hits make the highest salaries on tour, while performers on other shows make considerably less, with the opportunity to earn “overages” pay when a show is well-attended. Occasionally an actor on tour will make more than they would on Broadway because of overages, but that’s rare, according to Shindle.

“There’s only so far we can bend,” Shindle said. “If people can’t pay their expenses on the road and ensure they can save a little bit while they’re out there, it almost doesn’t matter what the top salary is.”

One of the terms the union is seeking is transparency between producers and union members on revenue and profit information that factors into overages, she said.

Members of the union are also planning to walk the sidewalks and talk with theatergoers in Milwaukee and Durham, N.C., where Frozen and Les Misérables are on tour this weekend.

Creel, who has been acting professionally for 27 years, said he’s earned the ability to negotiate higher pay in his own contracts. Still, he’s encountered the argument that actors are lucky just to have work, given the number of people who want those jobs.

“You don’t hold it over a person who works in a business how lucky they are to have a job,” Creel said. “You’re lucky that you have me in this job. You need to take care of us.”

He doesn’t want to strike, he noted, but he thinks it’s important to send a clear message to producers.

“I don’t come out here only because I get paid on Thursday, but I am a businessman and that’s part of the reason I do it,” he said.