Your friends have HIV/AIDS. Your loved ones are dying. Nobody understands how to directly combat this rampaging disease, but you do: it’s time to dance. From its early beginnings, Hats Off! has grown to become a gargantuan celebration of community spirit. A culmination of the nation’s best and most exciting performers, Hats Off! is one of THE musical theatre… Read more.
This week, something horrible and something wonderful happened in our industry. Horribly, a request from an American company was sent to Australian agents and dance schools seeking dancers for a new Kylie Minogue video clip stating that, due to budget constraints, these dancers would not be paid. There have been many reports in the media about this issue… Read more.
The Equity Foundation (Actor’s Equity’s professional development arm) have announced a world-first research project in conjunction with the University of Sydney. The Actors Well-Being Study will be conducted in order to give researchers a clear picture of the health and well-being of all Australian actors and performers, including both those who find their professional lives difficult and… Read more.
Following an ambiguous statement from producer Paul Dainty about the number of Australian performers to be employed in the recently announced UK import I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Musical, the Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance have confirmed a substantial victory for Australian performers. In a bulletin yesterday, Actor's Equity – a branch of the Alliance –… Read more.
Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths, Richard Roxburgh and ninety six other Helpmann Award winners have called upon Live Performance Australia – the hosts of tonight’s Helpmann Awards – to reconsider their recent termination of a long standing overseas artists agreement. An open letter was published in The Australian today signed by Rush, Roxburgh and Griffiths as… Read more.
At midday on Monday 2 April 2012, the employers organisation for the Australian arts industry – Live Performance Australia (LPA) – informed Actor’s Equity of their plans to terminate the standing Agreement which governs the use of Foreign Artists in Live Theatre in Australia. Equity, the performer’s union, have condemned the move to terminate The Agreement,… Read more.
Toni Lamond will conduct a masterclass for Equity Members The Equity Foundation will be hosting several workshops and masterclasses in the next few weeks for members of Equity. Established in 2002, the aims and objectives of the Foundation are to advance the interests of professional performers in Australia, and the interests of the Equity section… Read more.
Today, I write on a subject, about which I am extremely and profoundly passionate: Australia and Australians in the Arts. No, this is not a ‘patriotism’ column. I’m not about to hark on about singing the national anthem at every theatrical event (although, kudos to Kookaburra for giving that idea a red hot go). I… Read more.
As far as jobs go, touring overseas and performing in a musical can seem like a very glamorous profession. Having worked in this situation myself, I am keenly aware life upon the wicked stage ain’t never what a girl supposes. Opinions of friends and acquaintances outside the industry are very often over-romanticised to the tune… Read more.
The internet has done wonders for everyday life but its use to promote shows is being brought into question by Equity. Equity is questioning whether companies should use outlets such as YouTube to post rehearsal footage, given shows and performers are generally unpolished during this stage. Representatives of Equity met with the Sydney Theatre Company last… Read more.
