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Too many sick days on Broadway.....

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Scott:
I need to check with sources to find out more about the current state of affairs.

But I do know the first time I heard of this phenom was during the earlier days of Rent.  According to an audio engineer on the show, the producers refused to hire singers with legitimate voices and insisted on hiring talent lacking in proper training (in order to retain a "gritty" feeling.)  Without legitimate training, these perfromers continually blew out their voices, so absenteeism soared.

chrrl:
This is a great topic and a fascinating debate - thanks for posting it!
It's clearly a weighty issue, but I will say that when I worked on a show that had 3 swings the cast seemed to keep injuring themselves and there were nights that we had all swings on and were splitting tracks.  At the same theater on similarly challenging shows (or more challenging) when we only had 2 swings they rarely got to perform.  Of course we have to protect actors from doing themselves permanent damage or making things worse when performing with an injury, but it also seems that the bigger the safety net the more it's abused.

MatthewShiner:
Interesting article from a great blog

http://www.theproducersperspective.com/my_weblog/2009/10/executive--summary----overall-response-------in--general-respondents-are-consumers-of-live-entertainment-who-picked-up-the.html

centaura:

--- Quote ---I also note that young actors tend to push themselves a little more outside of rehearsal, less willing to scale back their non-work life to deal with the pressure  and demands of a 8-show week on  a open-ended run.  Yes, this is difficult . . . but it is the contract they signed.
--- End quote ---

I had a run-in with this in London, when I saw RENT on the Westend.  One of the leading ladies had a strained voice, and should not have been performing at all.  But (according to the rumors I heard after the fact) she had strained her voice doing other commitments, so was not allowed to skip any performances (or any more performances - don't remember).  Anyway, it was painful to hear her open her mouth and whatever voice she had was gone by the second act, she went from hoarse to total laryngitis.  Before I got to ask the rumor mill why she was even onstage, I left the theatre not understanding why they had let her go onstage.  The quality of her performance was non-existent.  When I found out later that she had strained her voice doing things outside her RENT contract, that then affected her ability to fulfull her RENT contract - I wasn't sure what to think. 

When and how to you deal with someone who's not respecting their contract that way?  I know that working 6 days a week with only one day off sucks, and that most folks feel that they should take whatever work they can get - when you life is either feast or famine, most want to take advantage of any feasts that come up.

-Centaura

Tempest:

--- Quote from: centaura on Oct 20, 2009, 12:22 pm ---When and how to you deal with someone who's not respecting their contract that way?  I know that working 6 days a week with only one day off sucks, and that most folks feel that they should take whatever work they can get - when you life is either feast or famine, most want to take advantage of any feasts that come up.

--- End quote ---

That's the question I puzzle over, as well.  Also, what's the order of priority on commitments?  I'm sure that RENT performer has contracts on those other "commitments" as well.  Did she sign them before she took the role in RENT?  After?  In the middle of the run?  Did she take the other job, first, but it didn't begin until after RENT had opened?  If these were prior commitments, doesn't she have a responsibility to them higher than the show?  It's murky ground, and a question that most professions don't have to deal with. 
"Do your highest work at all times," is a great phrase to throw out, but we all know that the human body has limits and show business and performing is ROUGH.  I don't think that an easy answer to this question exists, but discussion is a great start.

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