I got my Equity Card two years ago while working on the new 99-Seat Agreement in Los Angeles. Becoming an Equity Member was something I was always working towards and was on my mind from a very young age. I started attending a competition dance studio at the age of five and furthered my dance training at a performing arts high school in New Jersey, where I officially fell in love with theatre when I got cast in the role of Anybodys in West Side Story as a freshman. Following graduation, I split my time between studying at the Boston Conservatory (and later Pace University) and working in non-union theatre.
Since I’m predominantly a dancer, I know the struggle of waking up at 5:00 in the morning to attend an ECC, spending the entire day at the New York Equity building just hoping for the chance to be seen as a non-union actor. I hoped for the day when I could walk into an audition and sign up like many of my peers. As a student attending a BFA Musical Theatre program in New York at the time, I never would have expected to get my card working under an Equity contract for a small theater in Los Angeles.
After several years of only working on different nonunion productions of West Side Story, I was offered a jukebox-type musical comedy called Prairie-Oke, a parody of the television show Little House on the Prairie. When I found out I officially booked the gig, I was hesitant to work on a project that was completely different than anything I had done before. But, when I found out I would be getting my Equity card if I accepted the job, I immediately decided to take it. I really felt like I deserved my card; I put in the time through years of working non-union. Though part of me wanted to scream it from the rooftops, it was such a personal victory that I felt like I wanted to keep it to myself.
I am very grateful to be in the Union because I understand the many different aspects of protection. Now, I get to audition through invited calls for Equity Members, and I feel like my time is valuable because I no longer have to wait around all day to be seen. Plus, if it wasn’t for Equity, I wouldn’t have had the experiences I’ve had here in Los Angeles.
Originally published in Equity News, Summer 2017.
