Stage-Struck

Manhattan's off-Broadway theater is a crucible of experimentation and a museum for the classics of the American stage. But off-Broadway is not supported by arts foundations or by individual philanthropists. It is subsidized--inadvertently--by the actors who perform there. The minimum for most of its casts is a pitiable $75 a week.

For nearly two months, Actors' Equity has been trying to improve that dismal old scale. After negotiations over contract renewal finally broke down briefly last week, the union called a strike that closed down 16 off-Broadway shows.* Among the strikers were Geraldine Page and her husband, Rip Torn, who interrupted previews of a new Macbeth. Miss Page walked the picket lines in front of the Circle in the Square theater, where she had put off-Broadway on the map 20 years before in Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke. She noted that even then she was making $75 a week. Torn observed that for the whole year of 1968, he had earned only $1,600. Of course, he was out of work much of that year, and indeed, only about 25% of Equity members are actually in a play in a typical week.

No Industry. Speaking for the struck managements, League of Off-Broadway Theaters and Producers President Paul Libin retorted that "Equity has panicked" and "there are certain economic facts that don't allow us to pay actors a living wage." Though scattered around town in generally tacky buildings, off-Broadway productions have risen in cost to about $30,000 for a straight play, $60,000 for a musical. (Financing on Broadway runs five to ten times as much.) Seat prices are high, averaging around $3.95 to $10, and thus approaching the Broadway range. But even so, seating capacities are so small and costs so inflated that barely 5% of off-Broadway productions show a profit.

Producer Richard Barr, who claims to have run into the red on all but three of the 50 plays he has mounted there, commented that "an actor isn't supposed to live on off-Broadway alone. Off-Broadway is supposed to be used for the development of careers. It was never its intention to support the industry, and if Equity thinks so, its behavior is irresponsible." It is true that off-Broadway has served as the training ground for many current stars, including George C. Scott, Jason Robards Jr., James Earl Jones, Colleen Dewhurst and Dustin Hoffman. It also has nurtured writing talents like Edward Albee, who gave Producer Barr two of his off-Broadway hits. Barr's third was The Boys in the Band, which has netted its backers a 1,750% return already. Other notable off-Broadway successes: Hair (now uptown), The Fantasticks and The Threepenny Opera.

When negotiations first began, Actors' Equity was asking $200 a week minimum (rising up to $290 for a few high-grossing hits). That would have been more than the on-Broadway minimum ($165.45), and the producers' opening offer was a range of $80 to $160. By the end of last week, the gap had narrowed somewhat, with the union demanding a $125 minimum, plus fringe benefits, and management countering with $90. Declared Libin, theatrically: "If Equity holds to its present demands, off-Broadway is finished."

* Unaffected were half a dozen other theaters that are off-Broadway geographically (out of midtown) or contractually, because their capacity exceeds 299 or because their owners have special agreements with Equity.

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