[Dixielandjazz] I'd rather to be a Carnegie Hall Stagehand

[Stephen G Barbone]

Sing it to the tune of "I'd Rather be an Oscar Meyer Wiener"

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

October 28, 2009 - NY TIMES - By Daniel J. Wakin
With Contract’s Help, Carnegie Crew Draws Big Pay

Some of the highest-paid people at Carnegie Hall . . . are members of  
Carnegie’s permanent stage crew, the self-effacing men in dark suits  
who glide out to tote a podium, shift a music stand and make sure that  
concerts start on time, or at all.

The men — Dennis O’Connell, properties manager; James Csollany,  
carpenter; John Goodson and John Cardinale, electricians; and Kenneth  
Beltrone, carpenter — were identified on Carnegie’s tax return for the  
2007-8 season as being the hall’s leading five earners after its top  
executive, Clive Gillinson. Their annual compensation ranged from Mr.  
O’Connell’s $422,599 (with an additional $107,445 in benefits and  
deferred compensation) to Mr. Goodson’s $327,257 (with $76,459 in  
benefits and deferred compensation), the return showed.

. . . . the vast majority of artists on Carnegie’s stages earn far  
less. In fact, many musicians toiling in the trenches have to lay out  
their own money to rent the main auditorium or Carnegie’s smaller  
halls, Zankel and Weill. The Carnegie stagehand salaries outstrip  
compensation at Lincoln Center and elsewhere. At a time of belt- 
tightening at Carnegie, they stand out in greater relief.

The average stagehand annual salary and benefits package at Avery  
Fisher and Alice Tully halls (Lincoln Center) is $290,000 . . .

Ms. Hall-Tompkins said she begrudged the stagehands nothing.  
“Musicians should be so lucky to have a strong union like that,” she  
said.

Renters of the hall’s (Carnegie) main Stern auditorium and the smaller  
Zankel Hall are generally charged extra for the stagehands, depending  
on the needs; the minimum charge for stage labor at Weill Recital Hall  
is $540 per performance. In rent alone, outside presenters can pay  
from $1,475 at Weill on a weekday afternoon to $15,600 for a weekend  
evening at Stern.

Stagehand costs for a concert with orchestra and chorus in Carnegie’s  
main hall average around $7,000 to $8,000, said Peter Tiboris, a  
conductor and the general director of Mid-America Productions, a major  
producer of concerts at Carnegie Hall.