Highlights of New Musical Theater Touring Agreements and a Look Ahead

November 1, 2024

George Fiddler  -  AFM Director of Touring/Theatre/Booking Division and Assistant to the President

In April, a successor theatrical musical Pamphlet B and Short Engagement Tour (SET) agreement, negotiated with the Broadway League and Disney Theatrical Productions, Inc., was ratified by the bargaining unit. The agreement became effective April 15 and will run until February 28, 2027. Retroactive pay and related percentage pay items going back to August 2023, were due for musicians on shows that were running upon ratification.

In these negotiations, the Broadway League applied SET performance rules, travel rules, and per diem that conform to the latest Actors’ Equity Association agreement. These per diem rules went into effect August 2023 and have had a positive impact on touring musicians.

With the new agreements, our team won sizable gains in wages, health care, pension, travel penalties, and other areas that have not been addressed in decades. Here are a few details:

• Wages increase 3.5% from August 28, 2023, to August 25, 2024; 3% from August 26, 2024, to August 31, 2025; and 4.25% from September 1, 2025, to February 27, 2027.
• Vacation pay for SET will increase according to the same percentage rates and schedule.
• Health benefits for full Pamphlet B and SET will increase to $140 per week. For those who participate in a local’s health plan, the producer will continue to contribute $140 per week when they are affected by a Rule 24 layoff.
• Musicians will earn one performance of paid sick leave for every four weeks of employment, with a cap of six performances per tour year. Up to three sick performances may be borrowed against future accruals in the tour year.
• Pension payments on overage earnings are now included up to a ceiling of $1,000 of earnings over minimum salary per week.

This successor agreement will achieve substantial economic improvements for musicians. These positive results were gained without conceding any significant benefits or protections from prior negotiations.

I have commenced monthly Zoom meetings for all musicians on our Pamphlet B and SET shows. These meetings provide a forum for any musician touring on our agreement to share concerns or questions about the new agreement, or road life in general. I am slowly developing tactics to increase interest in this communication tool to make the AFM more accessible to touring musicians.

Theatre Musicians Association (TMA) had their annual player conference August 18-20 in Portland, Oregon. I attended and presented a summary of the past year’s Pamphlet B and SET tours. I gave information about the new and continuing shows, including future hiring of local musicians and hiring trends.

I also reported on the KeyComp situation for the year ahead. For this season only, The Lion King continues to use KeyComp. There is only one new show touring that utilizes a modified form called KeyComp Light. It is similar to a synthesizer as it does not record the tracks with actual instruments, as is the case with the full version of KeyComp. Spirited discussions and questions followed the presentation.

For the coming season, I intend to make regular show visits, especially with the seven new shows that are beginning this fall. There is no substitute for face-to-face meetings to personalize the AFM.

In addition to the seven new productions, there are 15 continuing tours that employ significant numbers of touring musicians and local hires. We expect more shows to join the roster in the next few months.

As in most years, the roster of new shows beginning in the 2024-2025 season is a diverse cross section of the previous Broadway season. The subscription series in all major markets where Pamphlet B shows tour will provide a rich variety of choices for the upcoming season.

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