Equity Has a New Plan for 99-Seat Venues

Changes are in the works for Actors’ Equity’s 99-Seat Theater Plan, the union code under which L.A.’s sub-100-seat theaters operate. These theaters present a majority of the city’s professional productions.

The changes, which will go into effect Jan. 15, are the result of nearly three years of talks--within Equity and also with a committee of leaders of sub-100-seat theaters, followed by a vote of the union’s local board. The new plan will be presented to the local membership of Equity at a meeting Friday.

Since its birth in 1988, the 99-Seat Plan has required payments to actors that range between $5 and $14 per performance, depending on the box-office gross. While these sums may sound small, they at least provide actors with a token reimbursement for their time, in contrast to the defunct Equity Waiver plan, which did not require payments.

Productions that extend beyond 80 performances under the plan are required to move to an Equity contract, which means greater compensation for actors.

Some critics of the plan wanted to reduce the number of performances that are allowed. However, that number will remain at 80. “We were able to change some hearts and minds” on that issue, said producer Joe Stern.

The biggest change is in the amount and structure of the token payments. Under the agreement, there will be two payment structures, depending on theater size, and gross is no longer a factor until a production has played at least 12 weeks.

Theaters with capacities between 60 and 99 seats will be required to pay, at a minimum, $7 per performance in the first four weeks of a show, $10 per performance in the next four weeks, $15 per performance in weeks nine through 12 and either $15 per performance or each actor’s equal share of 15% of the gross, whichever is higher, after week 12.

For theaters with fewer than 60 seats, most of the scale is lower: $5 per performance in weeks one through four, $8 in weeks five through eight and $11 in weeks nine through 12. However, if the show continues beyond 12 weeks, compensation will be the same in these smallest theaters as it is on the larger level.

Under the new plan, producers will have to provide free parking for actors. Any promises of eventual performances by understudies must be put into writing, and producers will have to obtain written permission from Equity to use smoke or fog effects or a raked stage. Ticket discount policies for Equity members will also have to be spelled out under the new plan, with three suggested options: Members could receive any unsold seats in the first two weeks of a show, half-price tickets at any performance, or free tickets at one Equity-only performance.

In addition to clear-cut changes, the language of the plan also has been clarified, said John Holly, Equity’s Western Regional director. He mentioned one particular change that he believes will clarify the rights of actors to continue in their roles when they move to larger theaters with Equity contracts.

James Harper, a member of Interact Theatre Company who served on the committee of producers that consulted with Equity, applauded the plan’s clarifications but expressed concern that membership companies--in which the members serve both as producers and actors--may not be able to afford the new compensation structures. He said there is talk of trying to set up a separate plan for such companies.

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SPECIAL OVATIONS: Theatre LA has announced several special awards to be presented at the Ovation Awards ceremony on Nov. 8 at La Mirada Theatre.

Los Angeles Poverty Department, also known as LAPD, won the annual award for community outreach. LAPD is known for its productions that feature homeless people and other denizens of Skid Row.

Producer Robert Fryer and playwright Jerome Lawrence will receive lifetime achievement awards. Fryer programmed the Ahmanson Theatre for much of its history, and Lawrence is a longtime L.A. resident known--with his late collaborator Robert Lee--for such plays as “Inherit the Wind” and “Mame.”

Charles Kenis and Audrey Skirball Kenis will accept the Doolittle Award for theatrical leadership. The couple is best known in theater circles for endowing A.S.K. Theater Projects, which supports a number of programs that develop new theater works, but they also are financial supporters of many other theatrical endeavors in L.A.