COSI FAN TITTY!

Opera actresses get paid double to show boobs

ACTRESSES willing to perform semi- nude in an opera will earn nearly twice as much as those wearing bras, it has been claimed.

A Metropolitan Opera revival of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, which opened in New York last month, features scenes where female performers parade around partly undressed while playing Venetian prostitutes.

And some of the actresses can be seen sporting nipple pasties and thongs, while others wear bras and panties.

Seven women play the prostitutes, with six being paid £ 340 per show to wear pasties in four or five of the nine performances.

However, the other four or five shows will see the women wearing bras, for which they will be paid a significantly lower £ 180 each.

Twist

In a strange twist, actresses were not made aware of the salary cuts until a few weeks before rehearsals began, with the women fighting back against an initial pay offer of just £ 98 per show for actresses wearing bras.

After a stand- off, the Met agreed to bump up their individual salaries.

A source close to the production said: “The pay cut suggests the value of the actresses’ work is negligible, and the only thing that makes it valuable is the nudity.”

According to officials at the Met, the move is a cost- cutting measure in light of its financial state.

Earlier this year the company offered voluntary buyouts to 21 of its 243 administrative staff – citing low box office and an increasingly bloated seasonal budget.

A Met spokesperson said cutting the salaries of bra- wearing actresses would save “several thousand dollars” over the course of the season.