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Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Insurance for Musical Instruments
« on: Jan 13, 2018, 06:38 pm »
My instincts say that instrument insurance is overkill for a university production. It is likely that the cost of the insurance plus the administrative costs to set it up are too high to make it worth it for a short show run. However, I think it is not unreasonable for the students to get a written contract from the university saying that if any damage occurs during a rehearsal or performance the university will be responsible for the repair/replacement costs. In addition, spare guitar/ukulele/[insert your show's instrument here] strings should be purchased by the production and kept on hand during rehearsals and performances for when a string inevitably breaks. That is really the most likely thing that will come up on the standard wear and tear front, so as long as those are available then I think wear and tear compensation is unnecessary.
KMC does bring up the good point of who should provide the instruments. I have worked on several professional non-equity shows where the actors have provided their own instruments. I would argue that it's different from standard props or costumes in that using a different instrument than someone is used to can affect their performance, so many people prefer to use their own. I don't believe any of the actors I've worked with who brought in their own instruments have asked for a rental fee; they all simply offered to bring their own in. However, if your university is requiring your actors to use their own, I think it would be reasonable to offer some compensation. And in either case if the actor is expected to leave their instrument in the theater for the full duration of the run (rather than bringing it home every night if they choose) a rental fee would be even more necessary.
It may be worth approaching your school's music department to see if instruments can be borrowed for the run of the show. These would already be covered by school insurance, and the music department may even provide extra strings, etc. along with them.
KMC does bring up the good point of who should provide the instruments. I have worked on several professional non-equity shows where the actors have provided their own instruments. I would argue that it's different from standard props or costumes in that using a different instrument than someone is used to can affect their performance, so many people prefer to use their own. I don't believe any of the actors I've worked with who brought in their own instruments have asked for a rental fee; they all simply offered to bring their own in. However, if your university is requiring your actors to use their own, I think it would be reasonable to offer some compensation. And in either case if the actor is expected to leave their instrument in the theater for the full duration of the run (rather than bringing it home every night if they choose) a rental fee would be even more necessary.
It may be worth approaching your school's music department to see if instruments can be borrowed for the run of the show. These would already be covered by school insurance, and the music department may even provide extra strings, etc. along with them.