Question for Ask Bk Day -
Is "waiver" theater in L.A. (or anywhere else for that matter) different from the "Equity showcase" code in New York?
As someone has already posted, waiver theater is an Equity thing in LA that allows actors to participate in a play for no remuneration as long as the theater seats ninety-nine or less. They receive seven dollars a day as a stipend (this only recently). In terms of rehearsal time and breaks, Equity rules apply, although few follow them (we do).
Waiver theater, of course, started out as one thing and has mostly evolved into something else. It used to be that one could produce waiver theater for almost no money -- that's what it was supposed to be about. Then certain theaters and producers began to realize they could do productions with stars or known people for a fraction of the cost in a regular theater, and so these fairly grandiose waiver theater productions began happening. They, of course, made other waiver theater productions look poor, so the bar got raised and suddenly everyone had to spend more to not look cheap. And up it went until waiver theater's costs of production are outrageous, what with sets, ads, publicity, and most of all, theater rental.
One of the prime offenders was the Tiffany Theater, a beautiful two-theater waiver space that was as expensive as any small above 99 seat theater (like the 300 seat Coronet). They charged more than anyone for theater rental, you had a prime Sunset Blvd. marquee, and we had plays like Bermuda Avenue Triangle with Bea Arthur in a 99 seat theater.
