Equity in the News May 2020

Actors' Equity Association has released the following statement following the announcement that Disney's Frozen close on Broadway.

As Utah Shakes’s summer season shutters, theatres from Missouri to Massachusetts weigh alternatives to staying dark for the rest of 2020.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival announced today it will cancel its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Festival announced a revised season on April 13, there are simply too many obstacles to overcome. The safety and health of the Festival’s staff, artists, audiences and community guided this difficult but necessary decision.

Actors’ Equity Association says it agrees with the Broadway League’s decision to refund Broadway tickets through September 6, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actors' Equity Association, the national labor union representing professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, released the following statement regarding media reports that the Broadway League would be refunding Broadway tickets through September 6.

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.

On May 6, Actors' Equity Association President Kate Shindle participated in a press call with fellow union professionals in the arts, entertainment and media industry to discuss the challenges and measures being taken in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our members are hurting," she said. The Actors' Equity Association represents about 52,000 stage managers and actors working in the theater. As previously reported, the coronavirus crisis has resulted in the shutdown of Broadway, West End and other theatrical venues, leaving many in the theater community unemployed.

Television can fake it, movie audiences can wear masks, but a live theatre performance like “Romeo and Juliet” needs real actors kissing and fighting rivals in front of real people.

Representatives from Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA, SDC, IATSE, and more shared progress and new developments regarding employment during the pandemic.

From Broadway to Hollywood-and everywhere in between-COVID-19 has paused, postponed and cancelled productions, performances and events leaving most of the country's four million creative professionals out of work. Arts, entertainment and media professionals and their unions have united to ensure all workers in the industry can access economic relief. With the expectation that arts and entertainment professionals will be some of the last workers able to return safely to their jobs, creative professionals and their unions continue to advocate for government-provided economic support.