Equity in the News Backstage

After almost six months of nationwide shutdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Actors’ Equity Association is allowing three theater companies to mount indoor shows using union members.

The COVID pandemic has hit many industries hard, but theater artists have had more trouble than most getting back on their feet, and many are facing dwindling options with no federal safety net to fall back on.

Walt Disney World in Orlando announced Aug. 12 that it will be providing an on-site COVID testing center for employees and their families. This announcement came after more than a month of back-and-forth between the mouse and Actors’ Equity Association, which had called for Disney to provide its employees with COVID testing, in order to ensure the safety of Equity members who work in the park. Disney World initially reacted to that request by not re-hiring the 750 union members it normally employs.

Actors’ Equity has approved the opening of two theaters since stages across the nation shut down in mid-March to quell the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19: Barrington Stage Company and Berkshire Theatre Group, both in Western Massachusetts.

Actors’ Equity—the nation’s union for stage actors and managers—has revealed the protocol for auditions in the age of COVID-19 social distancing. For an industry accustomed to in-person auditions, live theater actors are preparing to embrace homemade video submissions for the few gigs that are hiring.

A May 6 press conference by phone featuring leaders from 10 industry unions, from television writers to theater electricians, shed light on the challenges facing all sectors of the entertainment industry while dealing with the impact of COVID-19 in the United States.

March 12, 2020 is a date already written in the history books of New York City; the grim day on which every Broadway theater was forced to shutter in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, nearly two months into the shutdown and with no foreseeable end in sight, many performers are left asking, “What next?”

Theater leaders are beginning conversations around how to reopen their institutions after they were shuttered by the coronavirus.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: for actors, the COVID-19 job losses are stark. New York state, a global epicenter of the performing arts industry, reported that job losses in arts and entertainment are up by 3,880% from last year. With theaters shut down, the sector has one of the highest increases in unemployment claims along with food services, a traditional side-industry for performers. 

Since it was announced that Broadway would suspend all performances to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading through New York City, the past few days have been uncertain for Broadway artists. However, Friday night, union leaders of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG) negotiated a deal with the Broadway League—representing producers and theater owners—to offer emergency compensation to performers during the shutdown.