And SPT . . . I pay my PA's more then many AEA SM's make in Washington DC.
I thought that all theatres had woken up to the reality that stage managers are not technically managers (we don’t hire and fire, we don’t set our own schedule, and a host of other issues) in the exempt/non-exempt touch stone, and if not AEA, they would need to be paid hourly, with overtime.
Unfortunately, I think it's market driven to a certain extent, and then sort of the accepted norm to a certain extent.
If I need a stage manager, and I offer $100.00 and find someone, then the next time, I may try to get away with $90.00 and see what happens. Part of the solution is for us not to take the low paying jobs.
The other thing is that we are sort of sold on the fact of the myth of the suffering artist - we need to need to suffer for our art, we need to work for nothing in hopes to get experience to get a paid job, etc, etc - we actually are enabling theatres to produce without paying a living wage – and people do this for years. (NYC seems to be the worse, with people doing workshops after workshops getting paid NOTHING to do an entire show – I did one workshop for a fairly established theatre company in NYC – and quickly realized the scam of showcasing.)
Go to school. Get an internship, and then wake up to the reality that this is a job, and you need to get paid for it. Yes, there is going to be a period where the pay is going to be crap, but never let yourself be taken advantage of. Producers need to learn that if they want someone full time, they need to pay full time (and this is not just a non-union issue, there are SPT contracts where the pay you could never live on).
In the end, if this is a career, you need to make calculated decision about home much time and money you are going to invest into your business (doing a show instead of paying job is in an investment in you $400.00 a week + Health Care working at Starbucks a week versus $100.00 and no health care to do a non-equity show means that you are hoping sometime down the line to make up that $300.00 + Health Care costs.)
And, the industry as a whole, needs to learn to stop take advantage of people early in the career.