June 20th – What would you pay? I mean, at what
level would you still think;
“Yup, that’s great deal I got there”
In all branches of the arts over the past years the sorts of
money being asked for and, more importantly, paid to performers in both the
music (classical and rock) and acting professions has and is bordered on the
obscene. Many will say it’s not about the money it’s all about my art. My reply
of;
“Fine, then you won’t mind doing this show/tour for free then”
soon shuts the buggers up. Exorbitant prices for our tickets
to go see some performer or another on a one-night stand usually mean that the
star, his agent and entourage are walking away with a fistful of cash at the
end of the gig. I’m all for people being paid a fair wage, but I do draw the
line at a stand-up or gang of four making £30k a night for a 90 minute gig…think
that’s scary? Top comedians often gross £20m per tour…now that’s scary.
With the top film actors, $20m per movie is average (gulp)
with some making in excess of $70m per movie plus 15% executive fees plus all
the cossie they wore and the cars they used in the movie. They’ll also all tell
you, at the end of their day, just how exhausted they are (I’ve even had this
phrase used by actors who’ve just done a matinee and evening performance of a
play); my reply of;
“Yes, but then, you’re not minin’ coal, are you?” soon shuts
the buggers up.
Pay and perks isn’t all either. It’s far from unusual for
actors, particularly in theatre, to have their dressing room/s redecorated to
their taste if the run is a six-week or more one; not unusual to have multi
thousands spent on such re-fashioning only to have to change it shortly after
to accommodate the demands of yet another ego.
You'd think, back in the day, that the art would sufficient, fuck the gravy-train...well maybe not; everyone was on it. When Jimi Hendrix played the Newport Jazz Festival (don't ask) this day in 1969 his fee was...$125,000. They also paid his travel, his accommodation in a
hotel and transport via helicopter to the gig; he played a two-hour set then buggered off; that'll be $125,000
please; thank you. Worth about $2.5m nowadays. That's $20,833 a second... Me? I think they got him for a snip.
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