Original casts of long-running musicals, of course, often make an invaluable contribution to the development of their shows, but they are typically unrewarded and uncredited beyond the original run.
A notable exception was the company who helped create the original production of A Chorus Line, who were awarded a small percentage of the show’s net profits for the rest of their lives (though for the most recent Broadway revival there was an attempt made not to pay this, with an argument being proposed that this was meant to cover only the original life of the first production on Broadway, not the performers’ lives; but their moral right prevailed, and they continued to receive the royalty).
It is otherwise only in one instance, namely the production of the cast album, where the work of the original cast lives on in perpetuity, and performers typically receive an agreed royalty for that contribution - but not, it turns out, forever.
This has just been tested by the revelation last week that the original cast of Les Miserables had been informed that First Night Records, who produced the original album and continue to sell it profitably today, were invoking an old contractual clause agreed with Equity to cover cast albums was being invoked, and that royalty payments cease after a period of 25 years.
In a story in the Independent on Sunday on the weekend, Martin Brown, Equity’s assistant general secretary, explained the situation: “We made an agreement with record producers back in the 1960s that secured payments for artists for 25 years. At that time, the legal copyright was 20 years, so we secured a five-year extension to the legal copyright. First Night Records are trying to use that nearly 50-year-old contract to terminate payments at 25 years, even though the legal copyright is now much longer.”
In response, John Craig, managing director of First Night Records, said Equity signed the same clause again in 1985 and 1994. “The beef that the players have should be with Equity and not with us. Their union signed a silly contract, and there are quite onerous clauses in that contract from our point of view, and this gives us an opportunity to renegotiate a contract with more sensible clauses.”
Or, it seems, to attempt to invoke a contract that he agrees is silly (from the actors’ point of view, at least) and take the windfall. But the fact of the matter is that even if there is not a legal right to be paid, the actors have a moral one: their work is continuing to be used and to make money for the record company. As original cast member Michael Ball tweeted on January 13, “First Night Records, you cannot be serious. Not sure if its legal..but moral? I think not.”
Of course, the other key issue is that the situation with Les Miserables is unprecedented: as the longest-running musical in West End history, no one expected when it opened in 1985 that it would still be running 25 years later, and the original cast album would therefore still be a viable commodity.
But there’s also another, more behind-the-scenes perspective, to the way the cast album was made in the first place, and how different the conditions they are made under is to on Broadway. On Broadway actors get a full week’s salary for each nine-hour day of recording (with a one-hour break) and then get a percentage of a week’s pay for each additional hour up to four hours with further payments kicking in the longer they work; their payment is largely upfront, with only a small royalty then following once the album recoups its recording costs. In the UK, on the other hand, actors are given a minimal session fee to make the recording, but the Equity-agreed percentage of the royalty they then earn is higher.
So the actors share the risk of making the album by lending their services at a much-reduced rate; but should therefore continue to share the rewards on the rare occasions, as now, when a product that wouldn’t exist without them continues to be a success.
It’s important that this issue is settled now to everyone’s mutual satisfaction, as of course it is only going to occur again now that The Phantom of the Opera has passed its 25th anniversary. Michael Ball appealed to everyone’s consciences in a further tweet on January 15, “I feel certain that First Night Records management and those with influence over them will behave honourably and show magnanimity and class.”
There’s an important point of principle at stake, but also a practical matter: the sums of money involved are not huge, but every little bit counts for some actors. As Mark Ravenhill wittily tweeted, the future of some of the cast depends on it: “Dementia divas. Pay @RebeccaCaine and @frankieruff [Frances Ruffelle] their Les Mis cast album royalties or we’ll never get them in to Denville Hall.”
Yesterday afternoon, I ran into Michael Ball who told me that the campaign to get the royalties reinstated had paid off in every sense. He later tweeted, “John Craig and First Night Records behave with magnanimity and class. Told you. Good feelings to all.” EquityUK confirmed in a tweet themselves: “Good news! #LesMisRoyalties for the original cast have been reinstated. Now we are going to talk about a new agreement with the BPI.”
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