Aspiring Actor to Actor's Equity

Earlier this month, 21-year-old Lisa O’Brien went to Boston for a night for an audition.  She was reading for a part in The Lonesome West, a five-person-play by Martin McDonough, being put on by the Irish theater company Tír Na.  Later that night, she got a call that every aspiring actor hopes for; she got the part; she was now a working actress.

(tirnatheatre.org)

“I was elated,” O’Brien said.  “To know that I’m going to be making money by acting and that I wouldn’t have to get a waitressing job or babysitting job to earn some cash.”

Landing this role also brings her one step closer to becoming a member of the most powerful union for stage actors in America; The Actor’s Equity Association.  According to their website, The Actors Equity Association was founded in 1913 and represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the United States.

“By doing the show I earn Equity points,” O’Brien said.  “It usually takes a few union shows to get an Equity card, and once you have an equity card, you get the benefits of the union.”

Earning equity points is part of the Associations Equity Membership Candidate Program.  It allows actors to earn credits for their work in theater productions in participating theaters.  After fifty weeks of work, they can send in an application with a payment of $400 to become an Equity member.

Alternatively, actors can become a member by employment under an Equity contract or by prior membership to sister Unions such as the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Arts.

Benefits for members include health insurance, a pension plan, exclusive access to members-only auditions, tax assistance, free housing while on tour, and a fixed minimum salary.  The 2011-2015 contract states that the minimum wage for a actor in a production on Broadway and National Tours is $1,703 per week.  Stage managers earn $2,799 a week for a musical and $2,405 for a play.

Lisa performing in Loose Knit
(photo by Mark Wyville)

Actors Equity is perhaps most essential for actors wishing to work on Broadway, as most Broadway only hire union members.  This can prove to be a problem for those who are ineligible to join.

“Actor’s Equity…doesn’t recognize visas of any kind,” said Irish actress Lauren Farrell. “They only employ citizens or green card holders.  So if I stay, on any kind of visa, I can’t ever get hired for a Broadway.”

Luckily for Lisa, who was born in Ireland but whose mother is American, she has dual citizenship. Working as an actress in the US and joining the Actors Equity is a very real possibility for her, and she is already off to a good start.

Last Wednesday, she walked across the stage at Broadway’s Majestic Theater to collect her diploma of acting from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  This week she begins rehearsals for The Lonesome West, which will run at the Davis Square Theater in Somerville, Massachusetts from May 17^th until June 3^rd.  The production company Tír Na has productions around the country and Europe and O’Brien hopes that this may lead to other roles in the future.

Lisa at the AADA class of 2012 Graduation Ceremony, Majestic Theater, NYC

But for now, she already has another gig lined up for when The Lonesome West ends.  This week, she was invited to join The Academy Company, a year-long production for graduating AADA students, in which they put on a series of plays around New York City theaters to talent agents, casting directors and other industry professionals.

“I had really began to doubt that I would get into the Academy Company,” O’Brien says.  “I saw nearly every one of the 90 actors in my year perform and the level of talent blew my mind. To be asked was really an honor and shock, but I’m so excited to be doing full professional productions for a year!”

These recent opportunities have changed her career ambitions.

“I used to think I would mostly be in film,” she said “but the more theater training I get, the more I love it.  I want to be working consistently… and comfortably, and if I’m going to do that in America, then the Actors Equity Association is definitely something I’ve got my eye one.”