Some Mirvish shows are smaller and cheaper than others. Can audiences tell the difference?

The changes were impossible to miss.
Gone was the large digital screen that wrapped around the stage, replaced by two-dimensional pieces of printed scenery that were raised and lowered from the rafters. Dialogue was cut. So too, it appeared, were key props and other parts of the set. 
As I watched Tina Fey’s musical “Mean Girls” earlier this month at Mirvish’s Royal Alexandra Theatre, I couldn’t help but feel that this touring production was noticeably different than the one that ran in Toronto less than two years ago. 
My eyes weren’t deceiving me. This iteration of the show, which runs until Sunday, is indeed different from the original tour — though it may not be marketed as such. It’s one of more than a dozen non-union productions travelling across North America, at least five of which have played in Toronto over the past year. 
Audiences who purchase a ticket to these productions — seats can cost more than $100 — may go in thinking they’re seeing a show equal in calibre to those on Broadway, with similar production values and designs. But with non-union tours, that’s not always the case. Some elements of the show are usually scaled down or cut entirely; scene changes that were once automated may now be done manually; and the cast and orchestra are typically smaller. 
Most notably, actors and other company members working on non-union tours are often paid less than their unionized counterparts.
Ensemble actors in this current “Mean Girls,” for instance, earn a starting salary of $600 (U.S.) per week, plus a weekly allowance of $294 and a percentage of producers’ overage earnings, according to an audition notice for the production. Because these workers aren’t covered by a standard union contract, they also usually receive fewer benefits and protections compared to those on unionized tours. 
Compare that to when “Mean Girls” first played in Toronto in October 2022. That production, a larger tour with unionized performers, paid its actors a starting salary of $2,168 per week, according to an audition posting.  
Non-equity tours, once rare, have become increasingly common in recent years as producers seek to stretch the profit margins of their shows. When popular Broadway musicals head out on tour across the continent, they usually begin as unionized productions, nearly identical in scale to the ones running in New York City.
These tours can run for several years as they criss-cross the U.S. and Canada, playing one-week (or multi-week, in the case of larger cities like Toronto) engagements for local audiences. Then, once demand dampens, many of these productions are recast, downsized and turned into non-union tours. (The Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents professional performers and stage managers in the U.S., maintains a list of union and non-union tours on its website.)
They’ll subsequently play one- or two-night engagements in smaller towns that cannot sustain a standard one-week run. Occasionally, these non-equity productions will return to larger markets (like Toronto) for longer engagements. But, by and large, they’re built so they can be mounted at a new venue nightly. 
That’s not to say, though, that the simpler designs mean audiences are always seeing a show of lesser quality. Case in point: this current tour of “Mean Girls.” Yes, many elements in this production are scaled down and now analogue. But they were a surprising improvement over the distracting digital screens and video projections that were the centrepiece of the original tour, which I described as “tacky” in my previous review. 
As well, a non-union production doesn’t necessarily mean that performers are any less talented. In fact, I found this company of “Mean Girls” to be superior to the previous touring cast.
Actor Natalie Shaw has all the requisite acting and vocal chops to nail the role of Cady Heron, the fish-out-of-water new kid at North Shore High School who wants nothing more than to fit in. Meanwhile, understudy Oshie Mellon (on for Alexys Morera) has killer voice as Janis Sarkisian, the goth kid who becomes Cady’s friend. And Maya Petropoulos perfectly captures the ice-cold demeanour of Regina George, the “apex predator” and leader of the most popular (and feared) group at Cady’s high school. 
Earlier this year, I was also stunned by the talent in the non-union touring production of “Chicago” that ran at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre. Canadian actor Kailin Brown was simply scintillating as the brassy murderess Velma Kelly, while Katie Frieden delivered an equally terrific turn as the vain and narcissistic Roxie Hart. 
But not all non-union musicals are up to this calibre. Toronto’s most recent production of “The Book of Mormon,” penned by the team behind “South Park,” largely felt stale and tired, with a solid if unmemorable cast and production designs that came across as distractingly cheap. (At one moment, I thought a wobbly set piece was going to break apart mid-scene. Thankfully, it didn’t.)  
Even more disappointing was “Shrek,” which ran at the Princess of Wales Theatre earlier this month. The musical, based on the 2001 animated film about the adventures of a green ogre, boasts an illustrious creative team (Tony winners Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire wrote the material).
But this touring iteration felt akin to a community theatre production, haphazardly staged by Danny Mefford. The set designs by Steven Kemp are dreary, while the costumes (no one is credited with the designs) look like they were pulled from a Halloween consignment store. Most perplexing of all was the use of puppets to portray young Shrek and Fiona. Was it an artistic choice (it certainly didn’t look like it) or did producers simply want to save money by not hiring child actors? 
If you see enough of these non-union productions, you’ll start asking yourself that question relating to every element of the show.