Real estate takes center stage for theater companies

UPDATED, Oct. 3, 9:59 a.m.: Theater companies across the U.S. are often responsible for finding a crash pad for directors and actors from out of town. In New York City, that community is often plunged into the pricey, dog-eat-dog real estate game.

Company and general managers keep tabs on furnished apartments found through brokers who specialize in short-term leases, as well as corporate housing and rental complexes with flexible landlords. Expenses on housing range widely, depending on the production.

Housing can range from less than $3,000 a month up to $8,000. Very rarely, it will cost more than $10,000 a month for an A-list Broadway star, Marie-Claire Martineau, an associate broker and owner at brokerage Maison International, told the New York Times.

Housing actors who visit town to work on a show is often a union requirement, as at the Roundabout Theater Company, located at 231 West 39th Street.

“You get all kinds of requests,” Sydney Beers, general manager of Roundabout, said. “’I smoke; I want a balcony. I’m scared of elevators; I want a walk-up — but a nice walk-up. I cannot go on stage if I don’t have a lot of sunlight in my apartment.’” [NYT] — Mark Maurer