Actors' Equity to Celebrate National Swing Day Tomorrow

Actors' Equity Association will mark its second annual "National Swing Day" with a social media celebration tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Using the hashtag #EquityTeamSwing, the event will flood Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with posts and discussions honoring Swings.

The day's festivities will include:

· Instagram Takeover - Swings on the road across the nation will take over @ActorsEquity on Instagram for the day, showing the world Swing Life in four time zones. The participating performers are Meryn Beckett (Kinky Boots in Salt Lake City), Malik Shabazz Kitchen (Hamilton in Chicago), Benjamin Susak (Wicked in Orlando), and Kelli Youngman (The King and I in Los Angeles).

· Twitter Chat - Swings from Broadway, including Francesca Granell (Cats), Paloma Garcia Lee (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), Tyson Jennette (Book of Mormon) and Jesse Swimm (School of Rock) will answer questions about being a Swing on the Great White Way.

· Facebook Live - We'll go behind the scenes at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre as Henry Gottfried and Olivia Phillip, swings at Waitress, demonstrate how they stay prepared to take on any number of roles at a moment's notice.

Swings are those members of the company who cover the parts played by other chorus members. Often the most important to cast because of the nature of the job, a Swing must have vocal range, be able to dance and be able to step into a role from young child to an older character, male or female. A Swing also must know the smallest detail of every "track." Essentially, the Swing must be able to do it all and must be ready to go on at a moment's notice.

"We really couldn't do what we do without Swings," said Rebecca Kim Jordan, Actors' Equity Association's Second Vice President and Chair of the Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA). "Their ability to master so many different parts and jump into any of them as needed is what makes us able to say 'the show must-and will-go on!'"

Actors' Equity Association represents more than 50,000 professional stage actors and stage managers nationwide. Equity negotiates wages, working and safety conditions, and provides a wide range of benefits including health, pension and 401k plans for its members. The union is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. For more, go to www.actorsequity.org.