Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Off-Off Broadway Seeks New Equity Showcase Rules by Garrett Eisler
village voice: "In the late 1960s, Actors' Equity started allowing members to forgo their salaries for specially approved 'showcases' to be seen by potential employers. But today, the Equity showcase code has become the de facto legal framework for all of Off-Off-Broadway, where more and more theater artists gravitate to do the work they passionately believe in."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
If the new rules allow actors to do what they are interested in without worrying so much about union contracts, then it only makes sense. Becoming a member of Actor's Equity shouldn't prevent actors from working on new and experimental works even if they get paid less.
I worked on an Equity Showcase over the summer, and even with sold out houses a good 80% of nights, the show still did not make money because of the lack of performances. As is in this situation, the code gave a starting non profit company and many young actors exposure to a variety producers and agents that they otherwise would not have had the opportunity to impress if they were working outside of an equity contract. However, if a show does not get picked up to bigger and better things, it is hard to stay off the ground when using the current showcase code.
Post a Comment