How I Got My Equity Card

I arrived at the Equity building sometime between 5 and 6am and was the fourth non-union actor in line. It turned out to be a popular audition, so we waited patiently all day as Equity members strolled by us in the hallway and flashed their union card to enter the members-only lounge. They were the cool kids while we had to take turns going to McDonald’s for bathroom breaks and food. Maybe I was a little jealous.

I earned my Equity card in 1990 with Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of Love Letters. When I came to Steppenwolf, the company was in a period of transition, working towards moving into their new home, as well as expanding the size of their production schedule. I was in the right place at the right time.

During my time at The Juilliard School, I had the great fortune of taking a cold reading class with Rosemarie Tischler, who was at the time the Head of Casting and an Associate Artistic Director at the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival. The culmination of that class was getting to formally audition in front of Rosemarie and the staff at the Public on the Newman Stage, so as to keep us in mind for their summer Shakespeare in the Park seasons.

It took me nine years and four states to get my Equity Card! 

I decided I needed to pursue theatre professionally, so I got a few local stage management credits in Philadelphia and then applied to the MFA program at UC San Diego. Part of the draw of this fantastic stage management program was the opportunity to work on a show at La Jolla Playhouse and get my Equity card by graduation. 

A few months after receiving my MFA in acting from NYU, I was cast as Hermia in the Public Theater’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by A.J. Antoon.  Of course, I have no objectivity, but I believe it was a very special production.  It was certainly special to me, as it was with this production that I earned my Actors’ Equity card.

In the summer of 2006, I had just graduated from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. I was lucky enough to sign with agents and a manager after my senior showcase, and, before graduating, I had an offer to join the non-Equity company at that summer’s Williamstown Theatre Festival. I was delighted at the idea of joining such a well-respected company.

I got my Equity card in 2013 from Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., after almost giving up on ever making the shift.

I had just graduated from drama school at the Webber-Douglas Academy in London. Within a week of returning to New York, I got a job at Trinity Square Rep in Providence, Rhode Island, to be in A Christmas Carol. The reason I got the job was because my mother, who was absolutely terrified that I was going to be a professional actor, called a musician friend she knew who worked there.

When I was younger, I wasn't sure if I wanted to join Equity or not, but now, as a member, I can't imagine doing this as a career without it.