57: Paying a Liveable Wage in Theatre with Ryan Guzzo Purcell

Artistic Finance

Can non profit theaters afford to pay livable wages? Director Ryan Guzzo Purcell joins us to talk about The Williams Project, a Seattle based theatre company with a core belief to pay a livable wage to its staff while providing a pay-what-you-can model for its audience. The company is six years old and is hoping to break into regional theatre status. When it does so, it will pay the highest wages of any non profit regional theater in the country.

The Williams Project:

https://www.thewilliamsproject.org/mission

James Baldwin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin

Blues For Mister Charlie:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_for_Mister_Charlie

Actor's Equity Rate Sheets:

https://www.actorsequity.org/resources/contracts/

USA 829 Rate Sheets for Theatre Designers (USA is the design union):

https://www.usa829.org/Contracts/Collective-Bargaining-Agreements-CBAs/Theatre-Opera-Dance

Good Analysis of Non-Profit Broadway by Rob Meiksins:

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/nonprofits-off-broadway-search-enterprise-models/#:~:text=These%20are%20all%20union%20houses,with%20fewer%20than%20499%20seats.&text=Off%2DOff%2DBroadway%20is%20a,it%2C%20not%20for%20commercial%20success.

Other Pay What You Can Theaters:

Azuka Theatre - Philadelphia:

https://www.azukatheatre.org/pay-what-you-decide

Theatre MU - Minneapolis:

https://www.theatermu.org/boxoffice

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All other resources:

www.artisticfinance.com

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