HOW MUCH WEST END ACTORS GET PAID | (FULL WAGES EXPOSED)

[@annacalstone610]

As a regular theatre goer it's really interesting to understand how much performers actually make. I've heard horror stories of folk needing to take on second jobs to make ends meet, especially when most of the shows are in London which is not a cheap city to live in. Would love to know more about touring shows and how they deal with accommodation etc cause there have been lots of reports of issues around touring shows and people struggling with accommodation issues etc

[@GeorgieAshford]

I think that’s a great idea thanks so much! 💖 🙏

[@HauntedChampagneProblems]

This is so helpful, as someone who wants to go into the acting field I find this informative and helpful!

[@GeorgieAshford]

So happy it is helpful!

[@alexhika]

This was soooo interesting! I have been going to the theatre in the West End for ages, but I have always wondered how the payment works - especially for emergency covers and such! (It was lovely to hear you mentioning Legally Blonde, I moved to London alone in 2011 and it has been my comfort show until it closed, I remember you and I remember loving every show when there was a lot of "double roles" or emergency covers on stage, I hope it wasn't too stressful to perform because from an audience perspective it was so cool! ❤️)

[@McKaylaBrookeOfficial]

as someone working to be a professional actress, this was very helpful. you're my new favorite person!!

[@gigimonrose3992]

Hi hun! Thankyou for this video. The ‘additional payments’ an actor could get was interesting. Just to plunk out an example you said being a dance captain was an extra £78. Is that an extra £78 per hour? I don’t get how it works! 🧐. Also what happens to the actors when the show ends? Some shows only last for a month or two! What happens in the dry periods??

[@Darkangel-A-c8z]

Very interesting. Wishing you a Happy New Year as well 😊

[@tananario]

I work in regional theatre in the US. Would love to hear you cover actor’s pay in UK regional theatre. I’m an non-Equity actor without management so I don’t make much but they cover transportation and housing, so it works out. Helps that I have an off-season profession.

[@jamesp8074]

What are the standard contracted hours for an 8 week show? Also, do you have to fill out a time sheet to claim the understudy payment etc. if you’re put on for an unscheduled performance?

[@markhobbs4433]

This was really interesting as a frequent audience member in the West End, this was the first video of yours I've watched but have subscribed and will definitely be watching more :)

[@GeorgieAshford]

So glad you enjoyed it! :) xx

[@marcuspd7502]

I recently heard that the West End pays a lot less than Broadway, but I didn’t realize how much less. Considering the cost of living in London is so high, I feel terribly that actors are making so little.

[@GeorgieAshford]

Completely agree!

[@lordsp]

I know now why Agents usually have a ton of actors represented... I represent content creators (on a 20% fee) but offer a lot other services besides just contract negotiations. I don't know how much the commission on the contract negotiation is something that inflates the costs for the production by just adding a middleperson. I loved the video! Could you do a video on the more broad cost of doing a production of a show? I mean, besides the actors, the musicians, stage managers, audio, etc? Everything regarding theatre costs seems to be so secretive

[@CathlynRoseMcKellar]

Thank you so much for this video! I’m moving to the uk to study musical theatre and have been trying to find all this info!! Love your videos btw!! x 😊

[@justkiki01]

Thank you so much for making this video!! It was really really informative ❤️🥰

[@GeorgieAshford]

Thank you so much! So happy you found it useful! 🤗💖

[@adamnorton2952]

Thank you Georgie for creating this, this was incredibly helpful 😊

[@GeorgieAshford]

You’re so welcome :)

[@TheSpinDoctor]

The way it used to be done in Germany and Austria by Stage Entertainment was to just employ actors (shock horror!) as full-time employees who got holiday pay, sick pay etc etc and were paid basically by PAYE. Not sure if they did it for everyone, but I do know some high-ranking principals were employed permanently (kind of like The Royal Ballet I guess) and moved from show to show but as times came in which there were no shows suitable for someone across continental Europe by that production company, that particularly arrangement stopped some years ago. The entire self-employment arrangement for long-running shows really needs to change to employment and annual contracts move to Broadway-style open-ended ones to give people some job security. It’s not new either really as back in the days of weekly rep (explained below for anyone not au fait) in the UK there were hundreds of smaller theatre companies all over the U.K. until about the early 1980s (but dropped in number massively from the 1960s - all the original Coronation Street and Crossroads etc cast were from rep companies) and they employed their performers for X amount of time (a season, a year, or an ongoing contract) as of course each rep company needed a Star Juvenile Male, Star Juvenile Female, Character Male, Character Female, Star Mature Male, Star Mature Female plus ensemble players plus an “ASM And Small Parts” or two (assistant stage managers who were also supernumerary players in crowd scenes or might have 1-2 lines but usually understudied too - that was the main training route for all actors at one time, and just as rep for the audience has been replaced with TV, that kind of career path sort of has too - Eileen Atkins’ memoir is a good book to read if you want to learn about that kind of training as she explains it well), and older performers retire and younger ones move into Mature or Character roles, there was a progression and a stability. There were major downsides to it like a low rate of pay, a LOT of work (see below) and having to buy your own costumes in some companies and having to take an active role in the box office or backstage or set building but tbf it doesn’t hurt any actor to get an appreciation of the bigger picture. What was rep? Simply put the National Theatre now is similar to what used to be Three-Weekly Rep which was high-end rep where an employed company (often plus guest stars) would do the same play 8 shows a week for 3 weeks and in the final week rehearse the next play so there was a cycle of 2 weeks of performing, 1 week of perform-and-rehearse. The Nash isn’t quite the same as the company in each production they have in repertory at a time isn’t exactly the same people, often people are only in 1/3 productions running in each theatre at a time. Weekly Rep was the cheaper, more similar to “turnover television” in approach and market (soaps or weekly dramas/sitcoms!) for performers and audience. Every week would be an entirely new play so they’d rehearse in the day Week 2’s play whilst performing Week 1’s play 8 shows then in Week 2 would be rehearsing Week 3’s play in the day. They’d have a dozen or so stock sets (drawing room, castle, woodland…) that could serve just about anything in their repertoire easily enough. Early TV worked the same way - rehearse all week, tape on Friday, start over the next week. People went to the theatre often the same night every week to their local rep company and that activity was replaced in their lives by a weekly TV show, over time. Weekly Rep was cheaper, paid worse and of course was a lot more work but it trained some of our best performers and was an apprenticeship that is unmatched nowadays really - nothing quite does the same job in the same way and trains such versatility and speed and so on. But, all of those old companies actually employed people. High time Equity fought for employment - sick pay, holiday pay, redundancy pay, maternity pay, parental leave etc, proper notice of ending a contract early. For the big production companies there would be an obligation to find alternative work within the company for someone if their show closes too, just like everyone else permanently employed gets.

[@tananario]

Maybe edit this into paragraphs. I gave up.

[@TheSpinDoctor]

@@tananario Paragraphs or not, it’s the same length regardless. No one’s forcing you to read it.

[@HelenRosemarySmith]

This is interesting

[@mwmheps]

This is so interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@GeorgieAshford]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@fienockers6038]

This was so cool and informative, I want to know everything!

[@GeorgieAshford]

Thank you!!

[@booksvsmovies]

Great video! You're channel is always so informative Are you given the opportunity to renegotiate your contract/wages or do you keep the same pay throughout your run?

[@stephaniechristol1625]

How much is actor James Norton being paid for his lead role in A Little Life? I've already seen the play seven times (including 3 stage seats)!!! It looks very tiring. How he does that nine times. a week?!

[@luctownend2514]

Early... Oh wait ur not on my tik tok now but on my KZbin!!! 🎉🎉

[@GeorgieAshford]

🤗🎉💖

[@TomHicks03]

Would the agents’ commission percentage work the same way as tax where it’s just taken off from the weekly wage? Also, thanks for the video it’s extremely useful!! xx

[@GeorgieAshford]

It works differently to tax but yes it is taken off the weekly wage! X

[@TomHicks03]

@@GeorgieAshford ooh I see! Thank you! From your personal experience would you say the pay is sufficient enough to stay afloat during the cost of living crisis? x

[@monikasowinska1024]

Thank you for this video. Really informative and interesting. Could you please let me know where I can get more information about musicians in the theatre? This is my child's career of choice and I would like to research it together with them. Thank you in advance.

[@vjmappy]

Which agency would you recommend for a young newbie in the theatre industry

[@matildaallen2387]

Im worried because the idea of performing i love and i have loved being in my school shows. however ive only ever been in ensemble cause i have no confidence and don't think im a good actor. I kinda want to go for a lead role next year but i worry i wont be good enough

[@lucykashimeri7079]

Bit confused when you saaid in the addtional payments about a swing having no manning levels what does that mean ?zxx

[@cutiekika]

This video was so complete and explained it so well! I'll never work in the West End but find it very very interesting

[@CherryHavoc]

I’m curious to know what criteria they use to determine what a lead role is, what a supporting role is etc.

[@thomas965o]

I assume just the amount of songs/dialogue/dancing that role will do

[@CherryHavoc]

​@@thomas965o Sure, but where is the threshold? It can't be number of lines because this would be skewed in shorter shows vs. longer shows. It can't be percentage of lines because this would be skewed in shows that have larger numbers of characters. For example, I think we'd all consider Phantom from Phantom of the Opera a main character, but when you look at it objectively he has a lot less stage time than the other 'main' characters. Do Christine and the Phantom get paid the same? Christine is on stage for almost the whole show but the Phantom definitely isn't. Jean Valjean from Les Mis is arguably the main character of the show but doesn't get a huge amount of stage time because there are SO MANY other characters. I saw Les Mis in the theatre not that long ago and the ensemble had so much to do, I think most of them had more stage time than the actual characters.

[@Phelie315]

@@CherryHavoc I would assume that there are no hard criteria but each show kind of determines that for themselves ... but if there is any kind of system to this then I would definitely be interested!

[@richardlaundon]

Back in the late 90s I did a bit of stage crew work at Darlington and remember being shocked at getting £15 an hour and being told that the crew that do the get in also do the get out plus hours were paid in full so if a get in was 2 hour 10 minutes you got paid 3 hours :D The one thing that I wouldlove to know but is proably so complecated to try and explain is the whole tax situation as I belive actors are considered self-employed ?

[@GeorgieAshford]

Yes that’s correct! Great idea for a video!

[@paulotoole4950]

There is some really interest stuff about this especially about options in TV and film. Check out American Gods and the Hollywood attorney for Depp in the trial. Also if you think about it you might work for 3 months and then not work for 3 months and so on so if you paid tax normally you would always be claiming it back. Georgie, it might be worth doing something about responsible money use like paying your NI. Pensions etc.

[@paulotoole4950]

@Steven Lee It would be something to be very careful of and to make sure you keep track of anything you buy for work.

[@acwils]

I read that the child leads in Matilda only get £50 a performance!!! Sounds a bit bad for a lead role?

[@GeorgieAshford]

Omg! I’ll have to have an ask around!

[@tami.41]

I'm a musical theatre actor in Germany and here you often get paid per show, not per week or month. And you're often working as a freelancer. But we also don't really have this concept of a "west end" or "broadway". Everything's a little different over here :D

[@darkangelw8472]

Jeez, considering the London rentals, council tax etc is astromonous. And then, if not living in London, living close enough to London to get into work.

[@GeorgieAshford]

I know it’s pretty tough

[@devandeedo8308]

We’re u at Tivoli in Copenhagen on Friday. I swear I saw u or someone who looked exactly like u.

[@GeorgieAshford]

No I wasn’t! I wish!

[@emmermayonegg]

It feels like if you have to jump into a cover role mid performance you should get more than £8.25 or whatever, like I get that if you’re understudying the whole performance you’re doing more work, but if you’re ensemble for half the show then suddenly have to play a lead I feel like that’s harder than knowing you’re playing a lead from before the show begins

[@lisstherese]

Am i right if i think the amounts are also a before tax amount? And could you go into how you pay taxes as a performer? Are u freelance?? Is it deducted monthly? :)

[@milliejay1451]

I have a question. If you’re understudying a lead role, for example, is it £28 per week or £28 per show?

[@GeorgieAshford]

Per show!! Xxx

[@brianeduardo1234]

3,000 a month is not a lot in London and the extras are shockingly low

[@michael43567]

it is when you consider the overwhelming majority of people in London earn between 1,500 & 2,500. It's about decision-making. You shouldn't live somewhere where rent is 2k & your car is 700. Live within your means

[@lornablackman5077]

The west end theatres charge so much for their tickets. I feel sorry for the actors...REALLY then they have to organise their own tax

[@maddietillem6778]

Love this video! Random question, do swings/dance captains get paid a responsibility fee or is that included in their swing additional payment?

[@CodeDeb]

I worked as stage crew on a West End show years ago and made £13 a show 😭 but I LOVED the job

[@Phelie315]

what? I don't know how much minimum wage is in the UK but ... this seems illegal. Or was it a long time ago?

[@joeykaupas847]

Is there a boot of you as Margot? Some of those salaries suck.