Equity in the News

Two senators, one assemblymember, artist labor leaders, several social justice advocates, and activists as well as actors of every stripe gathered at Boston Court Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 8. But when the curtain rose on a rally exhorting Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign SB 1116 into law, all of them were simply theater kids.

Performing artists union Actors' Equity Association petitioned Aug. 18 for an election to represent dancers at the Star Garden following months of protests over safety conditions and other concerns. Should the dancers secure an election and vote in favor of the union, they will form the only bargaining unit of strippers in the country and just the third ever.

Strippers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood, California, have filed with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to join the Actors Equity Association, a union of performers and other show business professionals.

Stefanie Frey is with Actors Equity, the union that represents 51,000 theater stage workers and stage managers. To Frey, strippers are no different adding, "It's not just Star Gardens. This is really an industry-wide problem with some of these issues."

Strippers who would normally be inside the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar entertaining patrons were instead outside on the sidewalk picketing Friday.

The theatrical union has taken on a high-profile organizing effort at North Hollywood's Star Garden Topless Dive Bar after dancers have spent months picketing.

On Saturday nights, the strip clubs fill up. But at Star Garden, a dingy dive bar in North Hollywood advertising topless girls, the real action is outside.

Westphal, a former Equity councilor and staff member, passed away in February 2022.

Broadway castmembers requested this action after reports of owed payments and benefits, including as recently as Thursday.

The move comes on the heels of a week filled with turmoil for the theater, including the decision by the company’s board of directors, led by chairman Charles E. Harris, to place artistic director Ken-Matt Martin on leave.