Let me tell you how Universal Studios works for the hired
dancer. Universal utilizes a stepladder system. Each show has
6 or 7 separate casts. When you’re hired, you may be placed
in cast 6 or cast 7 and as you train, perform and gain
experience you’ll move up to casts 1-3. This is very
important since only full time casts 1-3 receive total
health care benefits. Universal benefits include full medical
benefits, a dental plan, a 401K retirement plan and free
massage for performers in the park. That’s right free
massage!
Sound good so far? Consider this too...Universal Studios
Theme Park also gives a dancer time off to perform other jobs
in the industry. This is unheard of in the dance world! Its
called a Professional Leave of Absence. Of course, the outside
work must be approved by Universal but your job will be secure
until you return from your new endeavor. This is great! While
you’re working at Universal you can audition for other dance
jobs. Say for example you land a job dancing on the Academy
Awards Special. You’ll be allowed to rehearse, perform the
special, work for a new choreographer, make money, gain
experience and return to a full time job right away. Michael
Laughlin said, "We want a long term dancer, a happy
dancer and an experienced dancer and we think it’s important
to allow a dancer to gain that experience and bring it back to
Universal." This is a plus you can’t put a monetary
value on.
About the Work
As a contracted Universal employee, park rules are
standard for each show but contracts are different for each
show. As always, read your contract carefully and don’t be
afraid to ask questions.
The work week alternates from three days to four days and
you are allowed to work up to six shows per day. Every show is
10-20 minutes of nonstop high energy dancing. Some are
heavily costumed or have heavy makeup and all of the shows
have pyro special effects.
Money
Once hired you will enter into a rehearsal period
of 2-6 weeks depending on the show. ASK! Your rehearsal pay
is an hourly wage, somewhere between $9 and $12 per hour,
depending on the show. You will also make an hourly wage when
you eventually train other casts. You see, casts 1-3 will
train and clean up performances of casts 4-6.
Show pay is another story. Lets use Beetlejuice as our
example. Show pay for Beetlejuice was $39 per show. During the
peak summer season Beetlejuice might be performed up to 10
times in one day. Let’s say you’re in cast 2 and you
perform 6 shows from 3 P.M. to 10 P.M. That’s $234 a day.
Multiply that for a four-day week and an ambitious dancer can
make a very nice salary. Add full medical and dental benefits,
stable long-term employment and the ability to perform
industry jobs outside of the theme park and you have a place
of employment few dance jobs can match.
Here’s a brief breakdown of the four main shows:
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice has undergone a facelift and has moved indoors
into its own theater. This show is heavily costumed with quite
a bit of makeup. The lighting and pyrotechnic special effects
are still terrific and work even better indoors. There are
five dancers in the show and all dancers must sing.
The 25-minute show is based on the movie with everyone
singing rock songs. If you are going to audition for
Beetlejuice, prepare a rock type audition piece and be
prepared to dance both jazz and some hip-hop. One thing
Michael stressed, do not show up in costume! Just wear
something to dance in and be prepared to sing.
Blues Brothers
Dancers and characters for this show need to sing
and dance. Michael added a Cab Calloway character that fits
perfectly. The Blues Brothers used to perform on the street
but have now moved into their own Blues Brothers Theater.
Again the show is approximately 25 minutes long and it pays
$34 per show.
Totally Nickelodeon
Based on the television show, this is geared to a
younger audience. Dancers need jazz, tap and ballet training
along with some street dance ability. Costuming is casual,
mostly overalls and dancers have to interact with the crowd.
The show is 25 minutes long and the pay for this production is
$38 with a minimum of four shows per day.
Boom Operator
First of all, it’s only 10 minutes long and the
pay is only $18 per show but because of it’s length you are
allowed to work 7 shows per day. OK, I’ll do the math. That’s
a minimum of $126 per day. Boom Operator is a mini-version of
"Stomp". It’s fun, contemporary and very funky so the
three dancers performing will have to have dance and
percussion ability. Michael likes tap dancers for this show.
Dancers with good tap training are used to picking up rhythms.
Yes, but what about Florida? I didn’t forget about
Universal Studios Escapes, located in Orlando Florida. I spoke
with Adrian Lepeltier, the Director of Show Development.
Adrian wanted to let you know that Universal Studios Escapes
has all of the same shows as the California park but because
Florida is quite a winter vacation spot, their peak season is
a lot longer. That means dancers can work full time for a
larger percentage of the year.
Universal Escapes auditions about four times a year while
California auditions once or twice a year. Universal Escapes
also travels the country, auditioning in various cities. Both
theme parks place ads in local papers and trade papers with
specific audition information.
Universal Studios should be a consideration for any dancer
in the business and many highly acclaimed dancers have
Universal Studios on their resume. The Universal Theme Parks
change their production shows often so call or write to get
the latest on shows being produced and how you can audition.
You can also check their employment
section of their website. The addresses are:
Universal Studios Theme Park
Entertainment Office
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, Ca. 91610
Phone: 818-777-1000
Universal Studios Escapes
Casting Division
1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Orlando, Fl. 32819-7601
Phone: 407-363-8000
For more information on all types of dance employment, get
Don Mirault’s new book Dancing…For
A Living-Two. To order, send $19.95 plus $3.00 shipping
and handling to:
Rafter Publishing
11333 Moorpark St. #141
Studio City, Ca. 91602
