US/CA TOUR SCHEDULE

[jotunheim]

Is there any consensus as to if the current tour will be extended?

I know nothing is guaranteed and this would be speculation, but to those that are more experienced and would have knowledge to how the strong the bookings are, does it seem that it will run beyond the current Hartford CT end date?

Jason

[Rich B]

Is there any consensus as to if the current tour will be extended?

I know nothing is guaranteed and this would be speculation, but to those that are more experienced and would have knowledge to how the strong the bookings are, does it seem that it will run beyond the current Hartford CT end date?

Jason

Nothing official has been published but as soon as it is, I'm sure it will be posted here.

regards,
Rich

[rob_hanson1979]

The tour is doing well, isn't it? I would hope they wouldn't end it.

[ERinVA]

This was posted in Rich Hebert's thread, but I'm copying it here because it's relevant to your question.

http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... 19&p=78268

A few things I forgot to mention about my conversation with Rich. He said that there may be a few more stops after Hartford. He said that after those few that the tour would continue but it would then be non-union and would be very different (I don,t think that ment for the better).

Joe

[Rich B]

The tour is doing well, isn't it? I would hope they wouldn't end it.

Every tour show I have been to has had good attendance but I think it's going to come down to what the balance sheet says. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

[kport]

I am not certain how a tour can be 'non-union'. Among other issues, wouldn't many larger venues be under pressure if they booked in non-union productions, especially those promoted by large management such as Networks Entertainment?

From what I have heard, changing to SETA contracts has been part of the financial success of this tour. As far as I can tell, every touring production managed by Networks Presentations has unionized cast. It simply would not make sense to not stick with the 'system', warts and all, and build a business model around that reality.

What I do not know is whether some of the cast are on a standard touring contract, while others are on SETA. Normalizing all of them to conform to SETA (which is accepted by Actors' Equity) some time in the future may be the issue that was raised here.

This is purely conjecture on my part.

[angelenroute]

Further conjecture: one person's response to the question could be related to his or her union status. Their feelings on the matter would be affected by what happens to them and/or their friends in that situation, which would be understandable.

[CJ-Rochester]

I too wonder how they could tour with a non-union cast. Given the significant role that union membership has in this particular story, it would be the height of irony.

[accessmenj]

As much as it would hurt, I would have to stop attending Billy Elliot The Musical if it ever used scabs. I could not be that much of a hypocrite.

[LiamM]

Scabs are those who cross a picket line and go to work replacing workers who are on strike. If the tour was reconstituted as non-union, then there would be no strike and the actors would not be scabs. It would still be rather ironic to have non-union actors playing the role of union miners.