<p>AEA = Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers. All Broadway, off-Broadway and most regional theatres have an agreement with AEA to use union members (or a specified ratio) in their productions.</p>
<p>LORT = League of Resident Theatres. Regional theatres as well as a very few non-profit Broadway companies are members of this group. As a group, LORT negotiates a blanket contract with AEA. Depending on capacity and potential revenue a LORT theatre is assigned a letter grade (A is largest, D is smallest). The resulting contract is called a LORT B, LORT C, etc. contract.Some companies have multiple theatres in their complex, and could have multiple contracts depending again on the size of that venue.</p>