Membership Benefits
Fred's Nightmare Gig
The call came in the middle of the off-season. Fred (not his real name) was having a slow couple of weeks. The contractor told him that the show, a Broadway-style musical, was not a Union gig, but it offered four weeks of work. Fred didn't like the below-scale wages, lack of pension, or the free rehearsals, but since little else was going on, he accepted it.
The show's score was fun to play, and it was nice to have the income. As luck would have it, on the eighth night, the musicians were told that the remaining shows had been canceled. Fred recalled with resentment how he had refused a decent wedding gig that would have conflicted with the third week. Now I've got no wedding gig and no show either, he grumbled to himself. Why was I so dumb to take a non-Union gig with no cancellation policy?
But before Fred could get too mad, the good news came: there would be a studio recording of the score next week, and the pit musicians would be paid scale for the session. He wondered what scale they were referring to since it was a non-Union session. It all really bothered Fred, but since he had already missed out on so much cash he had been counting on, he agreed to the session.
A couple of months later, Fred got a call from Dave, a friend in New York. It seemed that the recording of the show was being used in an off-Broadway production. The show had become a hit, and the production company was now employing just three live musicians, thanks to the backing track Fred had played on.
To make things worse, Dave told him, the show's going on tour. And one of the stops...a two week run in Fred's town. And there's no silver lining; the three live musicians are employed as part of the touring company. Not a single local musician will get any work from this show.
Honey, wake up! said Fred's wife as she tried to rouse him from a deep sleep. You're having a bad dream. What gig are you talking about?
Whew. Thank goodness it was all only a nightmare, he sighed.
