"How I got my Equity card"....100 Years of Equity

Since I don't have an Equity card I am sharing the stories of two other actors below. I am eligible to join Equity, but have not yet done so. Once an actor joins Equity we cannot work non union theater, other than a few exceptions. So, if I had joined Equity without any prospects of working in Equity productions, I could limit myself in the area of non union theater. Equity level theater is the ultimate in stage work, but I work mostly in television and film.

As Kristin Chenoweth's stand in for the American Country Awards every December, I can tell you her talent bursts out of her like a thousand shooting stars! Her singing is off the charts. She can do everything from country, to Broadway hits, to opera. Best of all she hilarious and beautiful. I've  worked with hundreds of celebrity performers over the years but she stands out to me as one of the most talented.

By Kristin Chenoweth  
"I had just graduated from Oklahoma City University and was headed to the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia to become an opera singer. I decided to make a pit stop in New York. My best friend, Denny, wanted to move there to make it as an actor. I went along! I was at Actors’ Equity waiting to be seen for a show a Papermill. Because I wasn’t a member of the union I had to wait five hours to be seen! Finally I got in for my audition and ended up getting one of the leads in a musical called ANIMAL CRACKERS. I had an important life decision to make: Opera or Musical Theatre? Guess what I chose! Not only did I get my Equity Card through that job, I never had to wait five hours again!!"       Excerpt from Actors Equity website

Tim Jerome is like family to me...actually he is family since he's my husband's cousin! Tim has had a long, successful and varied career. He has appeared in everything from sitcoms like Lou Grant, to Woody Allen films, to Broadway shows like "Phantom of the Opera". He is also the founder of Main Street Musicals.

By Tim Jerome...."I got the bug in High School and set out on the road to "the card" at Ithaca College as a Music/Voice major. I loved singing opera and was fortunate to perform fairly frequently. I spent the summer of 1962 as an Equity Apprentice (a pre-membership status similar to today’s EMC) at Corning Summer Theater where I worked in the scene shop and got to play a Soldier in Othello with the young James Earl Jones.  During my senior year, I was given an AGMA Award, a membership in AGMA, which ipso facto became my parent union.   It was the Viet Nam War era and for a variety of reasons, one of which was the student deferment, I decided to get a Masters at Manhattan School of Music.  During those two years, I realized that my talents were more suited for a career in musical theater.  In 1967, I Apprenticed at Lambertville Music Circus.  In those days, if you Apprenticed for two years and were cast in speaking roles in two shows, you could join Equity.  That’s what happened to me and that’s how I got my card.  A few years later, I requested that Equity become my parent union.  And now, though I work in all of our performing jurisdictions (and have had the honor to represent performers on the boards of AGMA, SAG, and Equity) I am proudest of -- and most grateful for - my Equity card." 

Tim Jerome, IMDB link, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0422040/

For more personal stories on how others got their equity cards, go to ActorsEquity.com

For more info on Actors Equity 100th Anniversary please see yesterday's blog:


Actors Equity Assocation....Celebrating 100 Years