Begin Again: When and Why Should We Join the Union?

Dance Magazine: I’m a nonunion musical theater performer, and I recently attended my first in-person Equity chorus call (ECC) for the Broadway show Wicked. (Ever heard of it?) I found out about the audition late the day of. So by the time I got to Open Jar Studios in midtown Manhattan, I was number 80 on the nonunion list—a paper that dancers who are not members of the Actors’ Equity Association wake up at 4 am to write their names on, in case casting chooses to see nonunion artists after they finish with Equity performers.