Kate Shindle: Last News

The Disneyland Resort cast members that bring the magic to life have voted to unionize with the Actors’ Equity Association.

Ethan Shanfeld Brooke Shields has been elected president of Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and managers. She will serve a four-year term.

Actor Brooke Shields has been elected president of Actors’ Equity Association, the union has announced.

Disneyland cast members who work in the amusement park’s shows, parades and visitor meet-and-greets are a step closer to unionizing: Actors’ Equity Association has filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board for union recognition.

Actors’ Equity President Kate Shindle has announced that she will not seek re-election when her nine-year tenure ends May 23.

Actors’ Equity will hand out leaflets outside a workshop of the Broadway-bound Smash musical this week, “warning of the possibility of a strike” in light of ongoing negotiations with the Broadway League regarding compensation for work on shows in development.

Actors’ Equity president Kate Shindle is urging stage actors to “proactively and aggressively avoid breaking” the SAG-AFTRA strike by inadvertently accepting struck work.

Actors’ Equity Association, the union representing stage theater actors and stage managers, expressed solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA actors strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, saying “Nobody should step in front of a camera fearing that today’s work will be mined, manipulated or repurposed in the future without consent or compensation.”

Actors’ Equity Association has joined with other unions of the AFL-CIO in endorsing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign.

The show went on at Broadway’s Shucked on Wednesday night, though New York City’s bad air quality did have an impact on the staging: Book writer Robert Horn and composer Brandy Clark stepped in to play the main female character Maizy, with Horn reading the dialogue and Clark singing the songs.

Dancers at North Hollywood’s Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have become the nation’s only unionized strippers, officially joining Actors’ Equity after a 15-month battle with the venue’s owners.

76th Annual Tony Awards will go on without having to cross a picket line.The Writers Guild of America announced on Monday that they will not picket this year's show, which is set for June 11, amid the ongoing writers' strike.«Tony Awards Productions (a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing) has communicated with us that they are altering this year’s show to conform with specific requests from the WGA,» a statement from the guild explained, according to «Therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show.»«As they have stood by us, we stand with our fellow workers on Broadway who are impacted by our strike,» the statement added.The show will proceed, although in an unspecified altered form, as planned.Kate Shindle, president of Actor Equity, took to Twitter to share her thanks with the WGA for their agreement, «Thank you, @WGAWest and @WGAEast. @ActorsEquity members: time to double down on showing up at their pickets.»«Oh, and because it can’t be said enough: this is still #AMPTP’s fault, and the writers should never have been put in this position,» she added. «We can appreciate the grace AND point at the culprits, right?»Oh, and because it can’t be said enough: this is still #AMPTP’s fault, and the writers should never have been put in this position.

The Tony Awards Management Committee has called an emergency meeting for Monday to discuss the WGA writers strike and its possible impact on this year’s Tony Awards, Deadline has confirmed from sources close to the matter.

Just hours after members of Actors’ Equity Association joined the striking WGA picket lines outside of HBO and Amazon’s New York City offices today, Kate Shindle, Equity president, suggested in a statement to Deadline that the strike’s impact on the upcoming Tony Awards is yet to be determined.

Actors’ Equity Association has filed an amicus brief in Tennessee opposing that state’s new law – the first in the nation – intended to limit or ban some drag shows.

Actors’ Equity Association has condemned Tennessee’s new legislation restricting drag performance, urging theaters in the state to “join us in rejecting it entirely and lobbying for its elimination.”

Actors’ Equity said today that it’s making its Open Access membership policy permanent, allowing any non-union theater worker to join who can demonstrate that they have worked professionally as an actor or stage manager within Equity’s geographical jurisdiction. The 51,000-member union had launched the Open Access policy in July of 2021, but it had a sunset date of May 1, 2023.

UPDATED with latest: Dancers at a topless bar in North Hollywood have received approval from the National Labor Relations Board for a union recognition election, a move officials said could make them the only strippers in the United States represented by a union, according to the decision obtainedtoday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a “landmark” bill that creates the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund to supply much-needed support grants to small nonprofit performing arts organizations, helping them offset a portion of their payroll costs. Introduced by Senator Anthony Portantino (D – Burbank), Senate Bill 1116 was cosponsored by Actors’ Equity Association and the Theatrical Producers of Southern California.

Los Angeles area topless bar where a group of exotic dancers have filed paperwork attempting to unionize.On Thursday, the majority of the 30 strippers employed at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood, California filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to be represented by the Actors’ Equity Association, Deadline reported.If the employees are successful and election results are certified by the board, they would become the first strippers in the United States to be represented by a union, according to Deadline.Actors’ Equity is a national labor union that speaks for more than 51,00 actors and stage managers working in live theater.“Strippers are live entertainers, and while some aspects of their job are unique, they have much in common with other Equity members who dance for a living,” Actors’ Equity President Kate Shindle told Deadline.  “In my conversations with them, these dancers reported consistent compensation issues — including significant wage theft — along with health and safety risks and violations. They want health insurance and other benefits, like workers’ compensation.”Shindle added that the dancers “need protection from sexual harassment, discrimination and unjust terminations.”“We applaud their efforts to seize their collective power and unionize, like so many others across the country who are fed up with toxic workplaces,” Shindle said.

Unionizing campaigns sweeping workplaces across the country now include a strip club in North Hollywood. On Thursday, a majority of 30 dancers employed at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar filed a petition with the NLRB to hold an election to be represented at the bargaining table by Actors’ Equity Association.