I am writing in response to a recent letter to the editor, authored by Brad Wallin, a longtime and valued subscriber at Salt Lake Acting Company.
In the letter, published by The Salt Lake Tribune on May 29, Mr. Wallin raised his well-meaning concerns as to SLAC’s business practices, particularly around the treatment of our actors and the handling of funds donated to the theatre company.
While I have already reached out to Mr. Wallin directly, I’d like to take this opportunity to provide answers to his questions in the same forum in which they were originally raised.
First and foremost, Salt Lake Acting Company is a professional theatre company and as such, subject to adhering to the guidelines set forth for Actor’s Equity Association, the union representing professional actors and stage managers in the United States. My staff and I are in regular communication with AEA and consult them on every decision we make pertaining to the employment of actors. We adhere to all guidelines regarding hiring — and, recently — in the unfortunate need to terminate agreements due to this unprecedented global pandemic.
Mr. Wallin raised a question about the allocation of funds from his ticket donation for our postponed spring production, “How to Transcend a Happy Marriage.” In reference to that production, the cast was in the middle of rehearsals and paid weekly during that time. Upon learning that we would be unable to proceed with the production, the cast was given more than the AEA requirement of severance pay. We received no complaints from these actors, as they knew that as a professional theatre company, we were doing right by them.
In regard to this summer’s (unfortunately) now-cancelled “Saturday’s Voyeur,” we have been as transparent as possible in our decision to direct all ticket donations from that production toward the newly-announced Amberlee Accessibility Fund, which entails major renovations to our lobby in order to install an elevator that will make our Upstairs Theatre fully wheelchair accessible. This will undoubtedly make for an improved overall theatre-going experience for so many of our patrons.
Since the “Saturday’s Voyeur” actors were unable to perform this summer, we devised our upcoming digital short series, “We Got the Laughs,” as a creative way to still employ and most importantly, pay, this talented group of actors. For each one of these short videos (which are 1 to 3 ½ minutes in length) the actor will receive the equivalent of an entire week’s salary. We’re producing 10 of these films.
During this challenging time, we have placed safety and stability for all SLAC artists (both onstage and off) above everything else. We can proudly say we constantly strive to do right by our actors, both in accordance with Actors Equity and in good conscience.
Utah’s arts organizations are nothing without their audiences. At SLAC, we always welcome patron feedback and questions. Please, feel free to reach out to us directly to be assured that your donations are being handled with care.
Cynthia Fleming
Executive Artistic Director
Salt Lake Acting Company