It took me nine years and four states to get my Equity Card! After training under Richard Thomsen and John Peakes at Michigan’s BoarsHead Theater as an apprentice, then intern in 1974-75, I joined the company as an Equity Membership Candidate. I managed to rack up 40 EMC points before my husband’s job took the family to Richmond, Virginia. There, I worked at Barksdale Dinner Theatre and Theatre IV. Both were non-Equity at the time, but under the direction of Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway, they now comprise the thriving Virginia Repertory Theatre.
Another family move to Princeton, New Jersey had me rushing into New York to audition and be cast at Light Opera of Manhattan under the direction of William Mount-Burke. The commute eventually proved too difficult with a family, so after two shows and some additional EMC points, I found work closer to home. At Theatre Intime, a summer theatre on the Princeton University campus, my work came to the attention of Nagle Jackson and Rob Lanchester, artistic and associate artistic directors at McCarter Theatre. And suddenly, I had work at McCarter (The Dining Room and Judevine: A Vermont Anthology) and my Equity Card! The seven seasons I spent at McCarter were a joy, blending an exciting, creative professional life and the raising of four children.
The journey to getting my Equity Card was long and circuitous, and worth every minute! I am grateful and proud to be a member of Actors Equity since 1984.
