There's Not Much Work for Actors. Now Their Unions Are Fighting.
At issue: Who should represent performers and stage managers when theater is recorded and streamed, one of the few viable options during the pandemic.
At issue: Who should represent performers and stage managers when theater is recorded and streamed, one of the few viable options during the pandemic.
She's been to 39 shows since the 2016 election, and believes Broadway will return. But she doesn't have the "gumption" to see herself depicted just yet.
The fund that covers thousands of performers will require that they work more weeks per year to qualify.
Amanda Kloots kept the world informed while her husband, a Broadway actor, lost a battle with Covid. After many grueling months, she's trying to look ahead.
Nicholas Edwards starred in the closely watched "Godspell" production. "Usually the stage is a safe place," he said, "but it became a place where I was anxious all the time."
The coronavirus pandemic has prevented most in-person theater this year, so the prize board is changing the eligibility rules for its annual drama honor.
Thrilled for the role, needing a paycheck and confident that the theater was safe, Jessika D. Williams left the actors' union to take the part.
The venues, all small nonprofits in New England, will be permitted by Actors' Equity to put on work with union actors.
Several hundred workers are receiving $1,000 relief payments from the Public Theater.
Decision comes after months of uncertainty following a Broadway shutdown that kept many shows from opening.
"It takes a lot of work and humility, and it requires that white people step aside," says one of several artistic leaders who have done just that.
Only 50 audience members apiece will be allowed to attend tent performances of "Godspell" and "Harry Clarke" in the Berkshires.
The pandemic has darkened theaters around the country. So this summer, some are staging scenes in parks and fields for small groups of masked patrons.
At issue: payment for media buying and marketing strategy for the Broadway revivals of "West Side Story" and "The Music Man."
The first professional musical staged in the United States since theater shut down is also a de facto public health experiment.
A Barrington Stage Company production won the blessing of the actors' union, but was unable to get permission from Massachusetts state officials.
Calls for diversity grow louder, and there are shows in the pipeline. But many are being shepherded by newcomers, not the powerful industry regulars.
The annual awards show for Off and Off Off Broadway theater was prerecorded and streamed after the coronavirus led to cancellation of a live ceremony.
A 29-page document released this week amounts to a call for wholesale restructuring of the system, onstage and backstage, on Broadway and beyond.
Theaters in the Berkshires are planning live shows, "Godspell" and "Harry Clarke," with limited audiences and virus-related protocols in place. One will be indoors, and one outdoors.
The Broadway actor's battle with the coronavirus was followed closely by many as his wife chronicled his experience on social media.
The Broadway actor's battle with the coronavirus was followed closely by many as his wife chronicled his experience on social media.
The Broadway actor's battle with the coronavirus was followed closely by many as his wife chronicled his experience on social media.
Watching through windshields. Audiences of two. An elbow bump instead of a kiss. Theaters across the country find novel ways to play in a pandemic.
Disney+ is streaming a live-capture film of "Hamilton." It's just the latest chapter in a deepening relationship between the company and the musical's creator.