Theater gig - how much would you charge?

[lowend219]

I just took this theater gig on about a week or so's notice. Here are the details:

need to learn 11 songs (still waiting on my charts)
2 rehearsals
3 performances

I'm doing it on the cheap (covering gas expenses) for a number of reasons:

A. an old friend from school in putting on the show and it is a benefit show so there will be no profit made by the producers

B. I'm still trying to get my name out there as a professional/session bassist. still trying to get out there and meet the other people (specifically the other musicians) who take gigs like this so I can make more contacts and get gigs on a more regular basis.

But out of curiosity, from the mouths of guys who do this more often than I do, what would you normally charge for a gig like this? $200? more? less? After this gig (assuming it goes well) I'd like to start charging a more normal fee.

 

[Freddels]

There are some guys on the DB side that do theater gigs, they will be more able to tell you what the going rates are (at least ball park).

 

[svtb15]

I say start charging now what you would want to get after that gig... Otherwise they will always want to get you for the cheap. Its just human nature.
How big is the theater? What is the ticket price?
Rehearsals should be more money on top of gig pay. Maybe 3/4 gig price... or if you are feeling generous 1/2 gig price...
Are performances in one day or is it three separate days? travel gas money.. Gas isnt sheep these days.

 

[Jon Moody]

I mainly do theatre gigs, and normally you don't tell them what you want to get paid; they hand you a contract which outlines it. Depending on the venue, I usually get $35-$75 a service (which is rehearsal or performance). That gives them 3.5 hours of my time, at which point the fee is doubled (which is outlined in the contract).

So with that said, I'd find out what theatres in your area are paying musicians. But if it was me and I was doing it as a favor, I'd still err on the low end of the rate in town, and charge $35 a service, which would end up with $175 when all said and done.

 

[Febs]

I mainly do theatre gigs, and normally you don't tell them what you want to get paid; they hand you a contract which outlines it. Depending on the venue, I usually get $35-$75 a service (which is rehearsal or performance). That gives them 3.5 hours of my time, at which point the fee is doubled (which is outlined in the contract).

So with that said, I'd find out what theatres in your area are paying musicians. But if it was me and I was doing it as a favor, I'd still err on the low end of the rate in town, and charge $35 a service, which would end up with $175 when all said and done.

I would echo this, except that I wouldn't charge less than $50 per service.

 

[amroach]

My double bass teacher does theatre work whihc is what I would also quite like to do. I remember the figure from one musical was about £120 a show.

 

[wemmick]

Have you done musical theater before?

I've been playing less than a year and was volunteered to join the pit band for my daughter's elementary school musical. I was happy to do it for free since it's my kid and it was a new thing for me to explore (and I was playing for an audience that was far more interested in seeing their own kids than paying attention to the pit band).

To state the obvious: it's very different from 4 chord rock songs. I didn't get bass charts -- the musical director wrote the piano's bass notes over the lyric sheets for me. I spent 50+ hours on learning and practicing the songs myself on top of a few band rehearsals and two performances.

Another part of the adventure is accompanying children -- changing tempos regularly in unexpected ways, listening to unintended dissonance as their voices don't quite find the key, having to turn down the volume as weaker voices are trying to be heard.

Will I do it again? Probably, for my kids' shows. Not likely for other shows unless there is some real money offered.

 

[SteveC]

What's the show?

The last few shows I've done have been $50 per show and $25 for rehearsals. Around here, that was pushing it.

I think in the future I would charge hourly for rehearsals as they tend to run long and never on schedule. Maybe if the band was "on the clock" it would force some organization by others.

I don't have a problem with $50 a show. That's about the best I can do around here. Shows are usually about 2 hours of playing, and as it's a show you are guaranteed start and finish with no surprises like in a rehearsal.

 

[Roy Vogt]

Typical Dinner Theater (low ball for here) pay is $60 a service.
It's LA-you should be able to get that if that's an option here in Nashville.
That would be basically $300 for the entire package. If you are feeling generous you could knock the rehearsals back to $35 each and do it all for $250.
That's probably more than fair-I was getting that amount 35 years ago for School Musicals as a hired gun in Texas.

 

[rooted]

What is a service? A length of time or something? Thanks.

 

[Roy Vogt]

What is a service? A length of time or something? Thanks.

A service is a performance-just typical musical theater lingo.

 

[Febs]

What is a service? A length of time or something? Thanks.

It's a rehearsal or performance, usually up to about 3 hours in length. In other words, on days where I play two shows, one at 2 PM and one at 7:30 PM, that counts as two services. Similarly, if there is a rehearsal that runs from 3 PM to 11 PM with an hour long dinner break, that is two services.

 

[biobass]

In central NJ theater gigs pay anywhere from about $35 -$75 per service (including rehearsals) for community theater and schools. Regional professional theaters can pay significantly more depending on the size of the venue. Typically there is a sitz-probe and dress rehearsal then the run. These amounts have been pretty static over the last couple of decades. I only go out for gigs at the higher end of the scale anymore, unless I'm helping out a friend or if I really want to do the show.

Cheers,
Dennis

 

[lowend219]

wow, WAY more response than I was expecting on this...thanks for all of the insight guys. Sorry for the late response, just had my laptop shippied back to Sony to fix some faulty parts.

For those of you interested here's a little bit more info on my and my situation.

I consider myself a pretty solid musician: play 4, 5 and recently started on 6 string bass guitars, play a little bit of upright, read charts fine, have played plenty of different genres, take direction pretty well etc etc. Have a pretty good background in theater, though not necesarily from being down in the pit (Theater major in college, mostly tech) I also pride myself on having a profesional attitude, being on time, prepared and in good spirits whenever I'm on a gig.

I've only recently decided to have a go at getting some more profesional gigs. So I'm considering this gig a stepping stone for meeting some more musicians and local upcoming theater types. I also do genuinely want to help out my friend, this is a benefit show for a good cause and I'm all about helping out. I was more interested to see how I could go about figuring fees for more pro gigs in the future. You guys have definitely given me some good info.

So Monkey, you tend to contract with the houses directly as opposed to particular musical directors or producers?


quick side note: The guitar player who hired me for my last pro gig is a mutual friend of myself and the director of this show (though I wasn't aware of this at the time) he reccomended me to the director for the bass chair, so I must be doing something right!

 

[SteveC]

What show is it?

 

[BassJunkie]

I would charge $400 dollars for everything. $50 a rehearsal and $100 a show. If that seems high it's only because I feel there would be other playing opportunities I'd have to pass up that would probably pay the same. But, for a friend as in your case, I would go cheaper.

 

[lowend219]

What show is it?

Its a friend's original 1 man show called "From Foster Care to Fabulous" which is essentially about his life. Its a benefit show, the proceeds I believe are going to arts programs for foster children. Make no mistake, I'm not unhappy about my pay (or essential lack thereof) for this gig. I'm helping out a friend and its for a good cause.

 

[Jazzdogg]

In central NJ theater gigs pay anywhere from about $35 -$75 per service (including rehearsals) for community theater and schools. Regional professional theaters can pay significantly more depending on the size of the venue. Typically there is a sitz-probe and dress rehearsal then the run. These amounts have been pretty static over the last couple of decades. I only go out for gigs at the higher end of the scale anymore, unless I'm helping out a friend or if I really want to do the show.

Cheers,
Dennis

What's a sitz-probe? Sounds like the kind of procedure a doctor is likely to recommend to males after age 50.

 

[Michael Vee]

What's a sitz-probe?

It's a highly archaic German theatre term. It's getting the cast together with the orchestra/band for the first time to go through the songs and get the cast used to hearing the songs the way they will sound for the performance versus the way they did with the rehearsal pianist. Usually it's done sitting down, but not necessarily. It would be done before the first "tech" rehearsal. Most community groups skip the "sitzprobe" completely in the interest of saving time, so it's a formality you'll seldom see these days.

Speaking of which, I also love it in community theatre when someone refers to the typical 3-5 piece show band as the "orchestra". Wrong! It's a show band! Most of what I do has the main piano part- usually on an electronic keyboard, a "utility" keyboard player who covers a lot of the string or brass parts and sound effects, bass, and drums, which are normally acoustic kits. Sometimes they'll have utility wind and/or brass players who play several instruments in those categories. I also play a small number of piano/bass/drums shows. None of these sound like what I'd consider to be an "orchestra"! Okay, enough of that stuff.

In the east Tennessee/west NC region, the typical non-union community theatre gig goes anywhere from free/out of pocket to $125-150 to $350. Most of them are in the middle of that range. Pay in my area is probably representative of most of the country, going on talking with other theatre players in different areas of the country, also on what previous posters in this thread have noted.

If a player made $125 a night for a bar gig, they'd consider themselves lucky. In community theatre, that amount would be stretched out over a full week of tech rehearsals and the first weekend of shows, then probably a second and sometimes a third weekend of performances. At least seven, most likely ten or eleven, sometimes 14 or more "services". That's a lot of driving back and forth for the money, especially if you don't live close to the venue. It's also a big commitment in a short block of time. With all the rehearsing and performing, at the current cost of gas and other incidental expenses, plus gear maintenance, strings, and so on, you really have to love doing it. A lot of day-job bassists who have families just can't, or can't justify, doing it.

Back on topic! To the OP: Ask for a higher amount than you might think, and if it's too much, let them counter-offer. I'd ask for $350.

 

[biobass]

While sitz-probe (or sitzprobe, I've seen it spelt both ways) is an old German opera term, it is still quite widely used both as a term and in practice around here. Yes, I've been at a few which were nearly as painful as some of those over 50 year old male medical exams! ;>)

I agree with MikeVee that the term orchestra can be used to describe pit bands from a trio to upwards of 20 pieces, but again, around here that is the commonly used term. I've played community theater productions of West Side Story which employed 21 musicians and professional productions of Urinetown which employed five for that's how it was originally orchestrated.

Regional differences in terminology, I suppose.

Also, I wanted to point out that, again in this area, the gigs that I take pay the same for rehearsals and shows. I've been playing musical theater for about 35 years now and it is where I concentrate my playing. I don't try and pay the mortgage this way, but it is quite enjoyable, the hours and conditions are generally good, and I usually play with top caliber musicans.

Cheers,
Dennis