300 Join Labor College Fundraising Gala
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Lara Manzione of the National Labor College reports on last night’s “Time to Build” fundraising gala at the college.
Following the first day of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting held at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., the college hosted a “A Time to Build” gala last night. The gala honored Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), and the presidents of five entertainment unions: Ray Hair, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM); Ken Howard, Screen Actors (SAG); Matthew Loeb, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Roberta Reardon, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and Nick Wyman, Actors’ Equity (AEA).
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says he selected the NLC as the location for this Executive Council meeting because “education is such an important part of the future of the labor movement, and a key way for us to transmit labor’s values during a time of change in our economy and our society.”
St. Louis Equity Members Collect $25,000 for Flood Relief
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This is a cross-post from the Actors’ Equity website.
Stages St. Louis opened its 25th season with the smash hit “A Chorus Line” and a check for $25,000 to the Red Cross benefiting the Missouri Tornado and Flood Relief Fund. The cast presented the check to Red Cross Executive Director Cindy Erickson at its June 29 performance.
Donations were accepted after each performance by members of the company and by the box office staff. Additionally a carwash was held and hosted by the cast at the Robert G. Reim Theatre. A big thank you goes out to the company for their time and efforts as well as to the Stages audiences who, once again, demonstrated their overwhelming generosity.
Equity Celebrates 98th Anniversary
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Happy anniversary to Actors’ Equity, which celebrates its 98th anniversary today, May 26. The oldest performing arts union in America, Equity represents more than 49,000 professional stage actors and stage managers nationwide.
On this day, 98 years ago, 112 actors gathered at the Pabst Circle Hotel in New York City to form Equity and to improve the wages and working conditions of all men and women working in the noble profession of acting and the American theatre.
Actors with Disabilities All but Invisible on TV
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About one in eight Americans is disabled, but you wouldn’t know it from watching TV. In the new fall TV season, only six characters out of 587, about 1 percent, will have a disability. Even more amazing is that only one of those actors has a disability in real life.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and a new report shows persons with disabilities are all but invisible on the nation’s five broadcast networks— ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC. That also means there are few opportunities for actors with disabilities to be cast.
The report, “Where We Are On TV,” by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) also found that of the six disabled characters, all are white and five are male. Yet 51 percent of all disabled people are women and only 18 percent are white. Robert David Hall, who plays Dr. Albert Robbins on the CBS show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and has a prosthetic leg, is the only real-life disabled person cast in a regular role in a series. The other five are all actors portraying disabled people. You can download the report here.
Actors’ Equity Launches Bid for Commemorative Stamp
Actors’ Equity has launched a nationwide campaign to become the first union honored with a U.S. postal stamp. The union is petitioning the U.S. Postal Service to issue a stamp commemorating the union’s 100th birthday on May 26, 2013.
Equity is applying for the stamp to spotlight a century of professional theater in America and Equity’s unique contribution to our nation’s art and culture. The process is highly competitive and must begin years in advance.
The postmaster general of the United States, who makes the final decision on which stamps are issued, requires applicants to start the petitioning process at least three years in advance of the proposed issue date.
