Actors’ Equity, the labor union of professional actors and stage managers, said Thursday that it intends to use Chicago as a test city in a new advertising and social-media campaign designed to “educate” audiences about the difference between Equity and non-Equity touring productions of Broadway musicals.
Since the union in most circumstances bans its members from appearing in shows that do not have a union contract, that effectively means that non-union tours cannot use actors who have ever appeared on Broadway or in most other first-class musical productions. The continued branding of such tours as part of “Broadway seasons,” or as national tours of currently running Broadway shows, has long been a bone of contention with the union. The producers of non-Equity shows have said for years that they aim to offer a quality and affordable product in a business with very high costs.
In an interview Thursday, the union’s executive director, Mary McColl, said that the new campaign, which she described as “low budget” and “grass roots,” will have the tagline, “Ask if it’s Equity.” Websites will inform potential theater goers how to assess the standing of the tour they are buying.
Most, although not all, of the tours that play Chicago are Equity shows, a fact that McColl acknowledged, saying that the campaign was also intended to thank local presenters for booking union shows. Historically, Equity has had little leverage over presenters, who make their deals directly with producers, thus explaining the union’s decision to try and appeal directly to the ticketbuyers.
McColl, who is based in New York, also said that the union’s many active members in Chicago had made the choice of the city a natural one for a campaign that will be rolled out as a national endeavor, and will be a significant departure from the past Equity practice of setting up picket lines outside non-union productions.
