Happy actors say the Hale is a class act

Josh Richardson and John Sweeney are actors, so they know how to deliver a dramatic line.

And the dramatic line they wanted to deliver as they stood in the lobby of the Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley City was that, contrary to recent media reports, they couldn't be happier with their working conditions or who they work for.

"My favorite place I've ever worked," said Sweeney.

"I've felt nothing but love here," said Richardson.

Told you they could emote.

The two were responding to stories this past week that the Hale Centre Theatre's top executives earn annual salaries in excess of $100,000, plus the use of a car, while actors are paid $30 to $60 per performance. One former Hale actor compared that to what little kids make mowing lawns in the neighborhood.

But Richardson and Sweeney have an entirely different take.

If there are people out there who think a not-for-profit community theater that receives government subsidies is paying its directors too much and cheating its actors, it's not them.

Far from scoffing at $60 a performance, they call it downright lucrative.

"You can easily clear $300 a week at Hale. That's good pay in this business," said Sweeney, an actor/director who came to Utah from Philadelphia and has worked in theater for 34 of his almost 40 years. "The irony for me is that by working part time at Hale I make more than when I worked full time as a nonequity actor in Boston, where I made $190 a week."

Not only that, said the actors, but Hale's fringe benefits are well above the norm. Perks include a season pass to all plays, comp tickets for family members to an actor's performance and what they termed "excellent" meal service for the cast.

"As silly as that sounds," Sweeney said of the food, "it just doesn't happen other places."

"I can't speak for every actor," he continued, "but it (disgruntlement) is certainly not representative of the actors I know who work here. I'm writing a letter to what I call my theater family, telling them the stance that's being taken by some in the media suggesting we are victims or unfairly treated is not the way I feel.

"I don't want people to read what's been reported and look down and feel sorry for us (actors) and somehow think we're enslaved or something. I mean, we're happy to be working here. We're really happy. I certainly don't begrudge anyone (executives) what they earn. Every night is a sellout. They've created a successful venture. Would it be less successful if it were turned over to somebody else? Probably."

Josh and John said there is an inherent problem in comparing actors' pay at the Hale with equity, or union, pay at other theaters.