Grand Rapids stages shouldn't run on unpaid labor.

We're a coalition of local actors, directors, and theatre-goers asking Grand Rapids theatres to build real, sustainable pay structures — starting with Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.

Sign the Pledge Learn the Issue

The Issue

Grand Rapids has a genuinely strong community theatre scene — but for the actors doing the work onstage, it rarely translates into sustainable income.

No consistent wage scale

Compensation for local productions varies wildly show to show, with many roles offering a small stipend, a gas-money honorarium, or nothing at all.

Unsustainable for working actors

Rehearsal schedules can demand 15–20+ hours a week for months, on top of the day jobs most actors need in order to afford to do the work at all.

Talent leaves the city

Actors who want to work professionally often relocate to Chicago, Detroit, or beyond — taking their talent, and their ticket-buying friends and family, with them.

This isn't a hobby. It's unpaid labor.

Every rehearsal, every line memorized, every Saturday given up — all of it happens before a single actor sees a dollar. Multiply that across a full season, and Grand Rapids is quietly asking its performers to subsidize its theatres.

15–20+ hrsa week, per production, unpaid

A group of local actors gathered together after rehearsal. — Every dark house is a missed paycheck for the actors who filled it.

Our Ask

We're not asking for Broadway wages. We're asking for a transparent, honest floor — and a plan to get there.

Fair pay, sustainable art. Paid rehearsals, paid performances. Every role deserves a wage. Talent shouldn't require a day job. Fair pay, sustainable art. Paid rehearsals, paid performances. Every role deserves a wage. Talent shouldn't require a day job.

Transparency before curtain call. GR actors deserve GR wages. Stipends aren't optional. Invest in the people onstage. Transparency before curtain call. GR actors deserve GR wages. Stipends aren't optional. Invest in the people onstage.

An empty, fog-lit stage before a performance.

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre

Primary Ask

As the city's largest and best-resourced community theatre, Civic Theatre is best positioned to lead. We're asking for a published, minimum per-production stipend for principal roles, with a public timeline toward a full pay scale.

Circle Theatre

Join the Standard

We're asking Circle Theatre to adopt a comparable baseline stipend structure and make its compensation practices public to performers before casting.

Shadblow Theatre

Join the Standard

We're asking Shadblow to commit to the same transparent-pay principle, scaled to its budget, so actors can make informed choices about which shows they can afford to do.

Voices from the Community

"I love this city's theatre scene. I just can't afford to keep saying yes to shows that pay in exposure."
— Local actor, Grand Rapids

"Directors want to cast the best person for the role. It's hard to do that when half your talent pool can't take unpaid time off work."
— Local director, Grand Rapids

"A fair stipend isn't a luxury ask. It's the difference between theatre as a hobby and theatre as a livelihood."
— Local playwright, Grand Rapids