Chenango River Theatre

The 2016 season was Chenango River Theatre’s 10th season.  As a theatre, we are committed to fully professional theatre - casting our shows with professional actors drawn from anywhere in the country.  It’s a real rarity to find a theatre like ours in a rural market - we were the first theatre in the greater Binghamton area under annual contract with Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the union for professional actors and stage managers in the U.S.  Every production features professional actors and a professional stage manager - people devoted to making their living by this craft.

Why does it matter if you have a contract with AEA?  Basically, every actor who makes a living at theatre, is in the union.  When you see Broadway productions, or a show at any of the regional theatres around the country, you’re seeing productions using members of AEA.  So if you’re a theatre company, and you want access to casting the best actors from around the country, you need to reach an agreement with AEA to allow professional actors to work with your theatre company.  And when you’re talking about pay scale, you really can’t complain too much - our union actors barely make minimum wage.  That’s right - minimum wage.  And these are actors that are seen in major films, on network television and at premiere theatres around the country.  

Our commitment is to give our audience the best overall quality production that our budget allows.  As part of that commitment, we believe we have to be able to use professional actors on our stage.  We’re proud to be the the greater Binghamton area’s first professional theatre. 

                                                                                               Bill Lelbach, Artistic & Managing Director