[NEohioPAL]Re: Rent review / Actors Equity

AdMan7601 at aol.com AdMan7601 at aol.com
Wed Feb 8 18:32:09 PST 2006 

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Before I start, let me say that I agree with Mr.  Berko's review about the=20
tour of Rent whole heartedly, and also that I love  and support non-equity=20
theatre / actors.
=20
     This may be nitpicking and not really relevant,  but just to clarify on=
e=20
small point. :
"The cast members are mainly professional theatre =E2=80=9Cnewbies,=E2=80=
=9D recent college =20
grads with little or no Broadway experience." (Berko review)
=20
     The current tour (and all tours after the first  national tour) of Rent=
=20
is entirely non-equity, which means that none of them  have had Broadway=20
experience. Now granted that I'm equity and have never had  B'way experience=
; but=20
none of them will untill they join the union. Many in the  tour in fact will=
=20
get their card by transferring to the Broadway company as  understudies or=20
actual roles as they open up. And let me say the cast is  awesome, they're a=
ll=20
extremely qualified and definitely Broadway caliber, but to  quote AEA's man=
tra,=20
"If it's not Equity, it's not Broadway". Does that mean that  they're not=20
professional? No, they are professional actors, just not unionized  professi=
onals.=20
Broadway as fact is all union. Producers need to stop  telling audiences=20
they're seeing a Broadway show on tour when they're not..=20
=20
     My actual point (and my attempt to get to it  coheseively failed), is=20
that I feel that we  in Cleveland, as a community  need to support our Equit=
y=20
actors as well. We need to be able to get more  contracts into more theatres=
 so=20
that the AEA actors can work. You'll have  several non-eq actors doing 7-8=20
shows a year whereas an equity actor will be  lucky to do one or two. We=20
shouldn't be outcast just because we've opted to join  the actors union. Wha=
t's the=20
big deal about a "Community" Theatre hiring on an  equity actor or two when=20
we're part of that same community also. We shouldn't  have to be asked by th=
e=20
director to work under the table if we want to work.  Even some of the theat=
res=20
that do have contracts don't support our members, they  cast shows out of Ne=
w=20
York or Chicago without even having an EPA in  Cleveland, or precasting the=20
equity roles.
=20
    There are many theatres doing great work trying to get  more contracts;=20
The Beck, Porthouse, etc..., but we as a community need to get  more people=20=
to=20
come see the shows at the theatres, so the theatres can make more  money and=
=20
use some of it to acquire more contracts. It shouldn't be a battle of  Equit=
y=20
against Non-equity, but a battle of Actors against the Community  to support=
 us=20
so we can all work. Our acting community has to demand more  support, just a=
s=20
our small faction of the equity community has to demand our  rights.
=20
    If you've gotten this far into my "rant", thanks for  reading this; thes=
e=20
are just my opinions. It's kind of frustrating that in the 9  months I lived=
=20
in NYC I did two off-b'way shows and a concert at the  largest US cathedral=20
(St. John, Divine) with my union card, and I move  back to Cleveland and I'l=
l be=20
lucky if I do one show this year.
=20
All the best, =20

Adam  Kern
AEA
_www.adam-kern.com_ (http://www.adam-kern.com/)=20


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<DIV>     Before I start, let me say that I agree with M=
r.=20
Berko's review about the tour of Rent whole heartedly, and also that I=20=
love=20
and support non-equity theatre / actors.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>     This may be nitpicking and not really relevant=
,=20
but just to clarify one small point. :</DIV>
<DIV>"The cast members are mainly professional theatre =E2=80=9Cnewbies,=E2=
=80=9D recent college=20
grads <U>with little or no Broadway experience</U>." (Berko review)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>     The current tour (and all tours after the firs=
t=20
national tour) of Rent is entirely non-equity, which means that none of them=
=20
have had Broadway experience. Now granted that I'm equity and have never had=
=20
B'way experience; but none of them will untill they join the union. Many in=20=
the=20
tour in fact will get their card by transferring to the Broadway company as=20
understudies or actual roles as they open up. And let me say the cast i=
s=20
awesome, they're all extremely qualified and definitely Broadway caliber, bu=
t to=20
quote AEA's mantra, "If it's not Equity, it's not Broadway". Does that mean=20=
that=20
they're not professional? No, they are professional actors, just not unioniz=
ed=20
professionals. Broadway as fact is all union. Producers need to stop=20
telling audiences they're seeing a Broadway show on tour when they're not..=20
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>     My actual point (and my attempt to get to it=20
coheseively failed), is that I feel that we  in Cleveland, as a communi=
ty=20
need to support our Equity actors as well. We need to be able to get more=20
contracts into more theatres so that the AEA actors can work. You'll have=20
several non-eq actors doing 7-8 shows a year whereas an equity actor will be=
=20
lucky to do one or two. We shouldn't be outcast just because we've opted to=20=
join=20
the actors union. What's the big deal about a "Community" Theatre hiring on=20=
an=20
equity actor or two when we're part of that same community also. We shouldn'=
t=20
have to be asked by the director to work under the table if we want to work.=
=20
Even some of the theatres that do have contracts don't support our members,=20=
they=20
cast shows out of New York or Chicago without even having an EPA in=20
Cleveland, or precasting the equity roles.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>    There are many theatres doing great work trying to g=
et=20
more contracts; The Beck, Porthouse, etc..., but we as a community need to g=
et=20
more people to come see the shows at the theatres, so the theatres can make=20=
more=20
money and use some of it to acquire more contracts. It shouldn't be a battle=
 of=20
Equity against Non-equity, but a battle of <U>Actors </U>against the Communi=
ty=20
to support us so we can all work. Our acting community has to demand mo=
re=20
support, just as our small faction of the equity community has to demand our=
=20
rights.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>    If you've gotten this far into my "rant", thanks for=
=20
reading this; these are just my opinions. It's kind of frustrating that in t=
he 9=20
months I lived in NYC I did two off-b'way shows and a concert at the=20
largest US cathedral (St. John, Divine) with my union card, and I=20=
move=20
back to Cleveland and I'll be lucky if I do one show this year.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>All the best,=20
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=3D0 face=3DArial size=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" PTSIZE=3D"10"=
><B>Adam=20
Kern<BR>AEA<BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.adam-kern.com/">www.adam-kern.com</A></B></FONT></DIV></D=
IV></FONT></BODY></HTML>

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