Stagehand$ Salary at Carnegie Hall Hits Half a Million

You may get to Carnegie Hall through practice, but you get to walk away from Carnegie Hall with a half million a year by being a stagehand at the legendary venue.

Bloomberg News blows the lid off the shocking salaries that Carnegie doles out annually, saying that while "a star pianist can receive $20,000 a night... he or she would have to perform at least 27 times to match the income of Dennis O’Connell, who oversees props at the hall."

Indeed, O’Connell made $530,044 in salary and benefits last year, and the four other members of his full time team (including two carpenters and two electricians) each took home about $430,543. The site points out that the stagehands "benefit from a strong union: Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees." Stagehands at the hall do everything from move equipment to prep work on the three stages to operate audiovisual and sound fixtures, and only the Artistic and Executive Director, Clive Gillinson, makes more — earning a whopping $946,581 per year.

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By Jen Carlson in News on October 20, 2009 3:12 PM

Comments [rss]

stagehand4ever

i am a stage hand and i dont see the point all the other comments on here at all bing a stagehand is very hard work. its a lot more then just moveing sets on and off stage. alot of stage hands work for the stage not the show and bild the sets, props, and do lights, makeup, and come to ever dry and wet tech. then are at every show and when its all done take every thing down. so yeah i can see someone makeing that much a year 4 all the hard work they put in 2 each show. if u have never been a stagehand then u have no right 2 say wether or not thats fair pay 4 the amount of hard work put in 2 it ( sorry 4 the bad spelling)

wow 14th street

To Hymietownhero,

"Your poetry sucks",ain't much of a poem either.

See you on my night shift job ,at Bellevue ER with

the cops handcuffs still fastened on your wrists.

inoyourider

The pianist would have to work 27 performances!

Oh my god, isn't that terrible?

Bet you the stagehand works about 250 days a year, and without him there wouldn't be any performances.

You fucking douches look down your nose because he holds a traditionally blue collar job yet earns white collar money.

It's Carnegie Hall, not your retarded kids class play.

Guest

Union=Mafia. Nuff said.

wow 14th street

Ah, the "star pianist" works usually since age 5 or 6

about 12 hours a day at music school and other tutor's to

get that 4 hour $20.000.00 fee for a performance.

Let alone the cat fights and wiggles and benign bribes

one has to do to get into the "commercial" marketplace.

Only the fittest survive or the richest and of course

no union protection.

HymietownHero

Your poetry sucks.

wow 14th street

This little bit of waste pointing at show biz

ain't nothing to the waste of money in the military and

other venues like Medicaid provider cheats.

Easier to look at Carnegie hall ,then "secret" Government waste.

This is a sexier story for the news.

riskreward

Surprisingly old news. This same article came out in 2000, but back then he was only making $382,066. I cant find the orignal, but google for "It pays to be a stagehand". Clearly nobody who matters sees a problem with this.

savedbyzero

...the star pianist only works 4 hours a day to pull in...
A bit simplistic. I suspect they have years and years of education and practice (!) to get to Carnegie Hall.
:p

rhonda718

My dad was a New York stage-hand and I didn't see him for about the first 20 years of my life. They often work 8 a.m. to midnight, weekends, holidays. They perform/supervise renovations to the theater between seasons/shows.

If you take a look at the tax return that notes these guys salaries, it says they each average 80 hours a week and I believe it. $300,000 at 80 hours a week is only $120,000 base. CH is the creme job of the New York stagehands. Most of the guys at CH have put in 20-25 years in the union before they even get there.

Do they earn too much? Probably...

Nevertheless, the star pianist only works 4 hours a day to pull in his/her $20k.

angry_pickle

Please, we all know unionized overtime is generally bogus.

lucyvanpelt

After spending how many hours a day practicing over many months for just that concert, and paying the agents, managers, teachers, coaches, publicists, etc. who got them that gig. And then paying cartage if you're bringing your own instrument (harpists, etc.). Most musicians in the mid stages of their careers don't get to keep all that much of that $20K.

douchebag5000

how many of you commies feel the same way about goldman sachs?

Murgus

As someone that has done stage hand/lighting and sound for the last 20 years (albeit non-profit theater) I know that there is no way on earth to justify this kind of money.

It's not like they're dealing with complicated technical systems. The lighting for example is as simple as it can get, a general wash with the occasional spot on 1st violin or the concert master.

Props, what props, moving a piano, music stands etc is not rocket science.

What these guys are making per year could fund a dozen or so struggling theaters and their staff, and those are the places you can see work for $10 - $20, not the $90 - $300 it will cost to go to a concert at the Hall.

I've always been and always will be a union guy, but this is outrageous in the extreme.

Clarice City

Thanks for the insight.

just saying

IMO best reply

Sleepy

Once again, Union bullshit. This is why our country is fucked. Scum of the earth. Someone needs to start putting inflatable rats in front of these guys' homes.

JacqueMehoff

these unions jobs are few and far between.

these guys stay in these jobs till their seventies then hand it down to their sons. all these sweet union jobs in broadcasting are the same.

how often do you see a young guy in the control room?

you know what's another sweet gig, school custodians.