Equity also declined to share data on harassment complaints, though union officials privately said it’s rare for members to file charges against other members. The last widely publicized case was Randy Quaid’s ouster from Equity in 2008 after actors complained to the union that he physically and verbally abused them during the Seattle production of a Broadway-bound musical.

Several Broadway veterans contacted for this article — Glenn Close, Sutton Foster and Donna Murphy among them — say they have never experienced harassment in the theater. And prominent casting directors like Bernard Telsey say they have heard few if any stories of predatory behavior.

Others believe harassment is as often as not in the eye of the beholder.

“I work on a highly sexualized musical, ‘Cabaret,’ where there has always been a certain amount of offstage ass-slapping and nipple-tweaking,” said Artie Gaffin, who has been a Broadway stage manager for 30 years. “Most people have thick skin or they know it’s all in fun, not personal.”

But talk to performers in their 20s and 30s and a generational divide begins to reveal itself. Younger actors seem to have less tolerance for flirtatious or licentious behavior than performers of earlier generations, particularly those who came of age in the 1970s when directors like Bob Fosse, a notorious womanizer, were Broadway giants.

Sexual Quid Pro Quos

Hilary Bettis left her small town in Minnesota a decade ago to pursue dreams of acting and writing. She had talent, signing with an agent and getting commercials; she also had beauty. The combination led to theater opportunities, invitations for drinks and parties and more come-ons than she says she can remember.

One prominent producer, whom she would not name, offered to help finance a show of hers if she would masturbate him, Ms. Bettis said. On another show, a director personally supervised the choice of underwear that she would wear in a scene, and then wouldn’t leave when she wanted to change her clothes. (The female stage manager got him out.) Another director criticized her work in a make-out scene and proposed that she practice with him. She has also been referred to in derogatory terms for female genitalia, she said, and had her breasts and backside grabbed in audition rooms or at meetings on several occasions.

Image Julia Jordan Credit... Walter McBride/Corbis

“I want to be known for my work and my integrity, not for being someone to sleep with,” said Ms. Bettis, 29, who is now a playwriting fellow at Juilliard.