That wouldn’t be enough.
Anthony Ramos is pulling back the curtain on the financial realities of Broadway performers, with the original Hamilton star revealing what he really got paid while appearing in the smash hit musical during its early days.
“Yo, it was nice,” Anthony told Vivian Tu on her SoFi podcast Richer Lives when she asked what it was like when he got his first Hamilton paycheck. “Well, no, no, actually it wasn’t because we were Off-Broadway, and I was making like $420 a week.”
While paychecks increased when the Lin-Manuel Miranda-written musical moved to Broadway in July 2015, Anthony shared that most performers’ finances were likely still pretty precarious.
“You get paid better on Broadway, but even on Broadway it can still be tough,” Anthony, 33, explained. “If you’re an ensemble member, you’re a chorus member, you’re probably making like $1,800 a week.”
The actor—who originated the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the production—continued, “But they’re paying their agent, 10 percent to the agent, 10 percent to the manager, 20 percent of the top and then in New York you’re paying, 30 percent, 40 percent tax.”