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Tony Adams is a Chicago based theatre artist, husband and father, and artistic director of Halcyon Theatre. He's been fortunate to make my way as an actor, designer, director and writer (in alphabetical order) He also staged managed twice. He is a horrible stage manager.
What Does It Cost, Man?
Submitted by Tony on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 20:24
A couple of folks have asked how much the festival costs to mount each year, so I figured I'd post it for everyone to see. Below is the Alcyone 10 production budget:
| Performance Space Rental | (5,300.00) |
| Rehearsal Space (All but $500 was donated) | (4,500.00) |
| Audition Space ($160 worth was Donated) | (330.00) |
| Performance Rights and Music Rental | (1,060.00) |
| Postcard/Poster Printing (was donated) | (150.00) |
| Program Printing (was donated) | (500.00) |
| Mailing Costs-Postage | (140.00) |
| Advertising | 0.00 |
| Scenic Materials | (400.00) |
| Props | (200.00) |
| Lighting | (250.00) |
| Light Board Rental | (650.00) |
| Costumes | (300.00) |
| Sound | (40.00) |
| Scenic Designer (Tony did, so was $0) | (250.00) |
| Lighting Designer (Tony did, so was $0) | (250.00) |
| Costume Designers | (275.00) |
| Music Director | (200.00) |
| Sound Designer (Directors and Tony did, so was $0) | (200.00) |
| Stage Manager | (300.00) |
| Misc, Truck Rental, etc. | (125.00) |
| TD Fee | (300.00) |
| Total Production Expenses | (15,720.00) |
The things in the budget like printing that were donated are noted beside it. I did the lighting design and coordinated the sets, so there was no designer fees paid there. We've been fortunate to get an incredible amount of support, including a lot of donated space.
The numbers for rehearsal space are estimated at $10/hr, which is just about the cheapest you can find in town. So in rehearsal space alone we received $4000 worth of support. Also the design budgets themselves are probably laughable to some folks, but we make do with what we have.
The scary thing for me is Jenn and I are backing the festival. So any funds that are not raised, donated, or made up through box office sales, we're on the hook for, for all intents and purposes.
A question we often get is do we pay actors. The short answer is: we want to. It's one of our top priorities, but the money isn't there yet. (Kids need diapers and all, so Jenn and I can't kick in anymore than we are.) What we try to do to bridge the gap between our goal and current reality is if the show breaks even, half of any net positive revenue is split amongst cast and crew. (It's not the 'Wolf's revenue sharing, but we try.)
Without 70-100 people donating their time, the Alcyone Festival couldn't happen. So it's pretty amazing that each year it goes better than the year before. And with all that support hopefully we are able to take one baby step closer to equality through quality. (and one step closer to paying everyone working on the shows.)
