We are proud members of Actors\' Equity Association and are writing to show our support for the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF), for the Showcase Code and its use by producers at NYMF, specifically, and for the principle that the up-front compensation for actors doing development work (of which NYMF Showcases and Readings are examples) should cover travel and basic expenses, but should not be equated in concept -- or in amount -- with production salaries. This petition requests that AEA: 1) Freeze showcase fee-scales for NYMF at last year\'s levels; 2) Reduce fees for readings - almost always funded by the writers - to $50 per performance ($100 minimum, including 29 hours of rehearsal); 3) Keep all festival presentation agreements within the \"code\" structure; 4) Appoint Festival alumni to the AEA committee that supervises the Code; 5) Work with NYMF to develop a sensible and feasible plan for enforcing work rules during the Festival season. We are occasionally recruited to perform in Readings and Showcases of new musicals and have performed at least once with NYMF. We understand that the vast majority of festival readings and showcases are guided and paid for by the artists themselves -- writers, composers and directors. Rather than add to their financial burden by raising actor stipends or pushing artist-driven showcases to become short-term contracts, we would like to keep costs affordable, within the standard showcase range, and instead share in back-end revenue and/or be guaranteed a position with the project when it transfers to production. Even when producers are involved in developing Showcases or Readings, we understand that they will never recoup their expenses from the nominal box-office revenues generated by these formats. Remuneration for producers materializes only when their gamble pays off

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