Actor Brooke Shields has been elected president of Actors’ Equity Association, the union has announced.
Shields took the lead in a three-way race, beating out stage manager Erin Maureen Koster and actor Wydetta Carter. Actors’ Equity is represents 51,000 actors and stage managers.
Shields succeeds Kate Shindle as president, who announced in April that she would not seek re-election when her nine-year tenure ended May 23. Shindle has said that she will remain active in the labor movement but now intends to focus on resuming her acting career, noting that the unpaid position of president left her with so little time for acting that she had not been able to clock enough professional hours to quality for Equity health insurance.
Shields’ win was confirmed this morning by Equity, which announced the results of its 2024 Officer and Councilor Election. In total, 45 council seats across all three regions and representing four categories were filled, effective immediately. All terms are four years except where noted.
In addition to Shields, the 2024 officers include Rashaan James II, elected Eastern Regional Vice President; Sarah Labarr, elected Central Regional Vice President, without opposition. Jeffrey Landman was elected Western Regional Vice President, without opposition. All officers were elected to four-year terms.
In announcing her run for the presidency in April, Shields said, “I felt it was my responsibility to step up, I want to lead with strength. I want to lead with intelligence, with compassion, with passion. And, of course, a little bit of humor, always…I have been in the trenches with you and you have always had my back. And I’m here to tell you that I have your back.”
Shields comes to the position with no experience in union leadership, but has been a working actor since childhood. She has appeared on Broadway in Grease, Chicago, Cabaret, Wonderful Town and The Addams Family.
In addition to the national elections, the following candidates were elected in regional positions:
In the Eastern Region:
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Principal Councilor:
Jeff Blumenkrantz Jennifer Cody Jacqueline Jarrold Claire Karpen Austin Ku Jeffrey Omura Kellie Overbey Kate Shindle Nancy Slusser Richard Topol
Michele Ragusa was elected to a two-year term as Eastern Regional Principal Councilor.
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Chorus Councilor:
Belinda Allyn Holly Ann Butler Rebecca Kim Jordan Nikka Graff Lanzarone Melissa Hunter McCann T. Shyvonne Stewart
Ryan Rodiño was elected to a two-year term as Eastern Regional Chorus Councilor.
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Stage Manager Councilor:
Anne McPherson Rebecca McBee Peter Royston
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional At-Large Councilor:
Tamara Anderson Logan Benedict Leslie Sears
In the Central Region:
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Central Regional Principal Councilor:
Rebecca Prescott Colin Sphar Nikki Switzer
The following candidate weas unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Central Regional Stage Manager Councilor:
Katherine Nelson
The following candidate was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Central Regional At-Large Councilor:
Carolyn Fast
In the Western Region:
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Western Regional Principal Councilor:
Ry Armstrong Michael James Bell Kate Burton Barbara Callander Josh Grisetti Kwana A. L. Martinez
The following candidates were elected to two-year terms as Western Regional Principal Councilor:
Brian Herndon Cynthia Marty Gregory North
Juliane Godfrey was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional Chorus Councilor.
David S. Cohen was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional Stage Manager Councilor.
Michelle Dunn was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional At-Large Councilor.
Shields took the lead in a three-way race, beating out stage manager Erin Maureen Koster and actor Wydetta Carter. Actors’ Equity is represents 51,000 actors and stage managers.
Shields succeeds Kate Shindle as president, who announced in April that she would not seek re-election when her nine-year tenure ended May 23. Shindle has said that she will remain active in the labor movement but now intends to focus on resuming her acting career, noting that the unpaid position of president left her with so little time for acting that she had not been able to clock enough professional hours to quality for Equity health insurance.
Shields’ win was confirmed this morning by Equity, which announced the results of its 2024 Officer and Councilor Election. In total, 45 council seats across all three regions and representing four categories were filled, effective immediately. All terms are four years except where noted.
In addition to Shields, the 2024 officers include Rashaan James II, elected Eastern Regional Vice President; Sarah Labarr, elected Central Regional Vice President, without opposition. Jeffrey Landman was elected Western Regional Vice President, without opposition. All officers were elected to four-year terms.
In announcing her run for the presidency in April, Shields said, “I felt it was my responsibility to step up, I want to lead with strength. I want to lead with intelligence, with compassion, with passion. And, of course, a little bit of humor, always…I have been in the trenches with you and you have always had my back. And I’m here to tell you that I have your back.”
Shields comes to the position with no experience in union leadership, but has been a working actor since childhood. She has appeared on Broadway in Grease, Chicago, Cabaret, Wonderful Town and The Addams Family.
In addition to the national elections, the following candidates were elected in regional positions:
In the Eastern Region:
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Principal Councilor:
Jeff Blumenkrantz Jennifer Cody Jacqueline Jarrold Claire Karpen Austin Ku Jeffrey Omura Kellie Overbey Kate Shindle Nancy Slusser Richard Topol
Michele Ragusa was elected to a two-year term as Eastern Regional Principal Councilor.
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Chorus Councilor:
Belinda Allyn Holly Ann Butler Rebecca Kim Jordan Nikka Graff Lanzarone Melissa Hunter McCann T. Shyvonne Stewart
Ryan Rodiño was elected to a two-year term as Eastern Regional Chorus Councilor.
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Stage Manager Councilor:
Anne McPherson Rebecca McBee Peter Royston
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional At-Large Councilor:
Tamara Anderson Logan Benedict Leslie Sears
In the Central Region:
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Central Regional Principal Councilor:
Rebecca Prescott Colin Sphar Nikki Switzer
The following candidate weas unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Central Regional Stage Manager Councilor:
Katherine Nelson
The following candidate was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Central Regional At-Large Councilor:
Carolyn Fast
In the Western Region:
The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Western Regional Principal Councilor:
Ry Armstrong Michael James Bell Kate Burton Barbara Callander Josh Grisetti Kwana A. L. Martinez
The following candidates were elected to two-year terms as Western Regional Principal Councilor:
Brian Herndon Cynthia Marty Gregory North
Juliane Godfrey was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional Chorus Councilor.
David S. Cohen was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional Stage Manager Councilor.
Michelle Dunn was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional At-Large Councilor.
- 5/24/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Flying Over Sunset will end its limited engagement Broadway run three weeks earlier than planned, producer Lincoln Center Theater announced today. The musical, which imagines a meeting of the three real-life figures Aldous Huxley, Clare Boothe Luce and Cary Grant, will play its final performance at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 16.
The production, which began previews on Nov. 11 and opened Dec. 13, was originally scheduled to run through Feb. 6. The show recently canceled a number of performances due to the detection of Covid within the company.
When it closes, the production will have played 28 previews and 35 regular performances.
Flying Over Sunset, which received mixed-to-positive reviews (and made Deadline’s Top 10 year-end best list), features a book and direction by James Lapine, music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Michael Korie, and choreography by Michelle Dorrance. The cast included Harry Hadden-Paton as Huxley, Carmen Cusack as Luce and Tony Yazbeck as Grant,...
The production, which began previews on Nov. 11 and opened Dec. 13, was originally scheduled to run through Feb. 6. The show recently canceled a number of performances due to the detection of Covid within the company.
When it closes, the production will have played 28 previews and 35 regular performances.
Flying Over Sunset, which received mixed-to-positive reviews (and made Deadline’s Top 10 year-end best list), features a book and direction by James Lapine, music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Michael Korie, and choreography by Michelle Dorrance. The cast included Harry Hadden-Paton as Huxley, Carmen Cusack as Luce and Tony Yazbeck as Grant,...
- 1/4/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Aldous Huxley, Cary Grant and Clare Boothe Luce – a grouping that might sound more like the set-up for a joke than the premise of a musical – were, in real life, proponents of lysergic acid diethylamide, what we’d now call early adopters. Though each of them tripped the light phantasmagorical during the 1950s, the writer, the movie star and the ambassador never actually came face to face, much less mind to mind, at least as far as we know, but they somehow should have, a situation the new, very original and often delightful musical Flying Over Sunset seeks to rectify.
With a book and direction by James Lapine (Into The Woods), music by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and lyrics by Michael Korie (Grey Gardens), Flying Over Sunset boasts a top-notch creative team and cast and a physical production that’s one of the most ravishing on Broadway. Carmen Cusack (Bright Star) as Luce,...
With a book and direction by James Lapine (Into The Woods), music by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and lyrics by Michael Korie (Grey Gardens), Flying Over Sunset boasts a top-notch creative team and cast and a physical production that’s one of the most ravishing on Broadway. Carmen Cusack (Bright Star) as Luce,...
- 12/14/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Kate Shindle has been re-elected president of Actors’ Equity, the union representing more than 51,000 theatrical actors and stage managers. She was first elected to the post in 2015, having previously served as the union’s eastern regional vice president. She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde, with other notable Broadway roles including Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Vivienne in Legally Blonde and the Mad Hatter in Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland.
In other elections, Dee Hoty was elected Eastern regional vice president and Kelley Faulkner was elected Cntral regional vice president. Doug Carfrae, running unopposed, was elected Western regional vice president.
The union did not provide vote totals or say who the losing candidates were in any of the races.
The election also included 42 council seats across all three regions, representing principal actors, chorus actors and stage managers, along with a new at-large category.
The candidates elected Eastern Region Principal Councilor:
Victoria Clark
Michele L.
In other elections, Dee Hoty was elected Eastern regional vice president and Kelley Faulkner was elected Cntral regional vice president. Doug Carfrae, running unopposed, was elected Western regional vice president.
The union did not provide vote totals or say who the losing candidates were in any of the races.
The election also included 42 council seats across all three regions, representing principal actors, chorus actors and stage managers, along with a new at-large category.
The candidates elected Eastern Region Principal Councilor:
Victoria Clark
Michele L.
- 6/19/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Flying Over Sunset is currently in rehearsals The musical, with a book and direction by James Lapine, music by Tom Kitt, and lyrics by Michael Korie, features choreography by Michelle Dorrance, and stars Carmen Cusack, Harry Hadden-Paton, Erika Henningsen, Jeremy Kushnier, Emily Pynenburg, Michele Ragusa, Robert Sella, Laura Shoop, Atticus Ware, and Tony Yazbeck. Aria Braswell, William Colin, Danny Gardner, Kate Marilley, Tony Roach, and Michael Winther understudy various roles.
- 2/27/2020
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
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