81 stories by "Peter Finlayson"
What's the difference between the Internal Revenue Service and Actors Equity Association? One is a callous, far-flung bureaucracy that wants more of your money " and the other collects taxes…
The 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival did it again, With a significant rise in participation, attendance and revenue, it would seem that there is a hunger for new edgy works for Los Angeles aud…
In January, the federal government called out the institute (Harvards A.R.T. Institute) for burdening its students with loan debt averaging about $78,000 each…Â will take the next th…
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has a significant milestone birthday this year. It is seventy years old and this means that "fringe" is seventy too. Where there was one fringe festival…
Last night, I got a chance to see a new documentary, Love 99. Yes, it was about the conflict we have endured with AEA, and it was a great reminder that the fight is still in front of us.…
As the intimate theatre scene in Los Angeles is looking to stabilize itself, when in December Actors Equity Association, the national union for stage actors and stage managers, implemented a…
Last week New Musicals Inc. filed a charge against Actors Equity Association through the National Labor Relations Board. The charge centers upon unfair business practices, accusing AEA o…
Seldom does a day go by that someone doesn't ask me, "Are there any good plays going on right now? What should I go see?" I guess being the publisher of a theatre magazine supposedly gives m…
The Road Theatre just opened a new show at their Lankershim location "Â The Lyons by Nicky Silver. This play Which originally opened off Broadway at The Vinyard Theatre in 2011. Th…
The Nate Holden Performing Arts Center on Washington Blvd in Los Angeles is now presenting a revival of Five Guys Named Moe, by Clarke Peters, and starring Obba Babatundé. The premise of…
Black Theatre Matters: A Dialogue, took place on a Monday February 27th, at the Offices of Actors' Equity Association in North Hollywood. An eminent group of African American artists: Robert…
Last December, Actors' Equity Association (AEA) imposed a new plan regarding the use of its members for productions in intimate theatres in Los Angeles County. A two-year battle between AEA …
The seats are about to be filled. Antaeus Theatre Company is ready to occupy their new home: the Kiki and David Gindler Performing Arts Center located at 110 E. Broadway in Glendale. John Sl…
Recently, I had the privilege to see a performance of Zoot Suit, the revival at the Mark Taper Forum. While I often speak of theatre as an important tool of cultural consciousness, I also lo…
A pinch of words, a drop of insight, a shadow of a doubt, a dust of vision, lots of maybes, countless hopes and endless sentiments. You have the ethereal mist that makes up the alchemy of th…
This open letter to the L.A. Theater Community first appeared on Facebook and is reprinted here with permission: Dear Colleagues, Actors Equity has chosen to put us on the public “Do N…
Walking into Walden House off of McArthur Park in downtown Los Angeles, can be a slightly unnerving moment. Â It's a discomforting environment, lots of tough looking guys milling about, ta…
I had actually considered leaving this column blank. For many, that is the outlook for theatre in Los Angeles this year. As of December 15th, there are at least 26 theaters that will no …
For those of you unfamiliar with my story, there were portions of my life that, let me put this delicately, were a bit seedy. I spent a good number of years looking for easier and softer way…
Actress and writer Vanessa Stewart is well-known in the Los Angeles theater community and to Footlights readers. With her husband, French, she is a popular host of LA theater award cerem…
PRESS RELEASE From Lawsuit Plaintiffs LOS ANGELES (Dec. 9. 2016) " In response to a court decision on Thursday, Dec. 8 dismissing their lawsuit against Actors' Equity Association, the Plaint…
I grew up in Dearborn Michigan. For those of you unaware, Dearborn is the home of Ford Motor Company and is immediately adjacent to the City of Detroit. I mention this because there is s…
The Los Angeles Theatre Community is facing an existential crisis. After decades of struggle, and a tenuous thirty-year relationship with Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the union fo…
Footlights received this open letter to the entire Actors' Equity membership from actor and Equity member Leo Marks. In it, he references an upcoming Equity meeting on November 7th, 2016…
Footlights received this letter from actor and Actors’ Equity member Leo Marks. In it, he references an upcoming Equity meeting on September 12, 2016: For those of you wonderin…
