Claudette Nevins

Today's top stories: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? begins previews tonight, and more!

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that actress Claudette Nevins has died at age 82. According to People, her family confirmed her in a statement, announcing that she died in hospice on Feb. 20 at her home in Los Angeles.

Members of the 'Pro99' movement of Actors' Equity Association have issued an open letter to AEA's newly elected president, Kate Shindle, in response to her victory and to her inaugural address as president of the national union for actors and stage managers. The open letter is signed by over 400 Equity members (listed below), including such notable names as Ed Asner, Francis Fisher, Sally Kirkland and Alfred Molina. The 'Pro99' movement formed in late 2014 in opposition to AEA's rollout of a new plan that will effectively force 'intimate theaters' in Los Angeles to pay Equity actors minimum wage, go 'non-union' or even close - despite an overwhelming vote against the plan by 66% of the Los Angeles membership on an advisory referendum. 'Pro99' members around the nation, who take their name from the current AEA '99 Seat Plan' that allows members to volunteer in smaller venues, oppose AEA's new promulgated plan. They are requesting that Equity leadership put a moratorium on the plan until local members' voices can be heard, and that the union work with its members to develop an alternative plan that will more realistically address the needs of the Los Angeles theater community.

The Light in the Piazza's Michael Berresse has replaced Andrew McCarthy to perform alongside Laura Benanti and Alix Korey in a September 19th benefit reading of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite