Went to see a performance of “Come Fly Away” last night here in San Diego. I’m curious as to how the performers get paid? Do they work on a contract basis for as long as the show runs? Does the same cast, in this case about a dozen dancers, travel from city to city or do the producers hire local performers? Any idea how much they get paid? Medical benefits?
A lot of it depends on whether they belong to Actors Equity, the actor’s union which does provide health insurance and sets higher wages than most non-Equity productions pay.
I can almost guarantee though that the same dancers travel town to town. It would be next to impossible- and more expensive- to hire local talent and rehearse them sufficiently for a short run.
Addendum: Equity frowns on non-Equity productions. They understand the appeal of them for many “starving actors” who want and-or need the experience and the money (which isn’t a lot) of a tour, but they usually forbid Equity members to work in them. While they can’t legally stop them, they can make it difficult for them to get work in anything Equity affiliated.
Barry Williams, best known as Greg Brady, starred in a non-Equity tour of The Sound of Music back in the late 90s or early 2000s. His salary was $5,000 per week on the tour, which of course was many times higher than anybody else. (This is something several tours do: they take a C-list actor- one whose name is known in Peoria but isn’t doing well in L.A. or NYC- and make them their lead, and he or she gets paid a decent salary while others get peanuts; by the time you get down to the chorus members they’d probably do as well to flip burgers money wise, BUT they’re in show biz.)
Anyway, Equity fined Williams $50,000. They couldn’t legally force him to pay since a private agency can’t impose a fine except in rare cases, BUT what they could do was prevent any other Equity production- stage or film- from hiring him until the fine was paid. I think Williams eventually paid it when he got some screen work that paid more than the fine would be.
There are a few factors that determine how much an actor is paid. The Equity pay scale is broken down into house size. There is a formula that takes into account the ticket price and the amount of seats in the theatre. This is the minimum that the actor can be paid, but most of the leads will be offered more. In addition to the pay they will get a per dium for every day they are on tour.
For a big musical the whole cast tours and a few crew people, they will pick up more crew for set up, strike, and sometimes the run from the local union. (if it is a union venue). The only performers that they will get locally is the orchestra. Occasionally they will tour with musicians, but it is not common.
As for health insurance Equity actors are only covered when they are in a show. When they are not acting, they are not covered.
This is all based on the Canadian Actors Equity so the heath care may be different in the States.
Regional theaters have a rating. I can’t recall what its called.
A theaters rating sets the types of productions and actors they hire. A higher rated theater must use top scale actors. Its been years and years since my theater classes. IIRC actors are in various class levels based on experience. That establishes their pay.
I recall reading that our repertory theater in Little Rock moved up to a higher rating. They’ve struggled since because the actors they hire cost more. They have to sell more tickets or they lose money. They almost never hire any local actors.
Found it. 
The tier rating determines the actor equity salaries that must be paid. The Arkansas Rep is a LORT theater.
LORT League of Resident Theaters