LORT

The League of Resident Theatres (LORT) is the largest professional theater association of its kind in the United States, with 74 member theaters located in every major market in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia. LORT members collectively issue more Equity contracts to actors than Broadway and commercial tours combined.

LORT is also a forum for sharing information regarding all aspects of theater. According to the organization's website, their semi-annual meetings provide opportunities for members to study, discuss, and exchange information on such non-labor management issues as development, marketing, public relations, education, and technology, as well as provide a forum for developing professional relationships. LORT is also committed to the continued training of current and future LORT managers.

LORT serves as a way for member regional theaters to bargain collectively with Actors' Equity Association, The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and United Scenic Artists, among other major labor unions in the entertainment industry.

The League of Resident Theatres was formally established on March 18, 1966 by Peter Zeisler, managing director of the Minnesota Theater Company (a.k.a. the Guthrie Theatre), Thomas Fichandler, general manager of Arena Stage, and Morris Kaplan, an attorney. Peter Zeisler was appointed the first president, with Thomas Finchandler as vice president and William Bushnell, manager of Baltimore's Center Stage, as secretary. There were 26 member theaters at the organization's founding. Until then resident theater troupes negotiated individual contracts with Equity; most of them used modifications of commercial theater contracts. In some instances the theaters operated under the terms of Equity's new stock contract, however, resident theater managers have long felt burdened by what they call Equity's "one production" type of contract used on Broadway.

Theaters are categorized into tiers A through D. Tiers B+ through D are determined by the weekly actual box office receipts averaged over the last three complete fiscal years. No theaters can move in or out of Tier “A”.

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