BWW SPECIAL FEATURE: How I Got My Equity Card - by Christine Ebersole

BroadwayWorld.com is proud to present its newest weekly feature, presented in association with and to celebrate the importance of the Actors' Equity Association. "AEA" or "Equity", founded in 1913, is the labor union that represents more than 48,000 Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans, for its members.

Check back weekly for new entries from stars of stage and screen on how they got their Equity cards!

"I was waiting tables at the Lion's Rock on 77th, between 1st and 2nd. The year was 1976.

It was a cold January night/ after my shift, when I got a call from my agent. When I answered the phone, she said, "Darling, you're on Broadway!"

The previous September, I auditioned for Shepherd Traube for a revival he was producing of ANGEL STREET. (The movie is called GASLIGHT.) Christine Andreas had already been cast to play the part of 'Nancy", the Cockney maid, but he was looking for people for possible future replacements.

The night I got the call, Christine had given her notice, because she was going on to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, opposite Rex Harrison.

It hadn't even been a year since I graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and I had no professional theatrical experience. The producer, Shepherd Traube, graciously bought my Equity card for me, because my only prior theatrical experience was waiting tables.

All in all, it was a humbling experience, because the show closed in three weeks, and I was back at the Lion's Rock, begging for reinstatement."

Click Here for More Entries in BroadwayWorld.com's New Series "How I Got My Equity Card"

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.