BWW SPECIAL FEATURE: How I Got My Equity Card - By Merwin Foard
By: BWW Feb. 06, 2010
BroadwayWorld.com is proud to present its 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!
Today's 'How I Got My Equity Card' features Merwin Foard who is currently standing by for Nathan Lane and Terrence Mann in THE ADDAMS FAMILY on Broadway. Foard's other Broadway credits include: LITTLE MERMAID; SWEENEY TODD; LA CAGE...; ASSASSINS; OKLAHOMA!; KISS ME, KATE; 1776; JEKYLL AND HYDE; BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; and LES MISERABLES. Merwin is a two-time recipient of the Gypsy Robe, for ASSASINS and the revival of LA CAGE.
He has been seen in several Disney films, including: POCAHONTAS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, MULAN, HOME ON THE RANGE, ENCHANTED and RAPUNZEL.
"It was early 1982 and I was a voice major at the Manhattan School of Music. Houston Grand Opera was mounting a revival of SHOW BOAT starring Donald O'Connor and they were looking for male legit singers over six feet tall for their ensemble so at 6'5" I thought I had a pretty good shot.
A few of us from school went to the Equity building for the open call where we were met by hundreds of auditionees. It was announced that a "typing out" would take place before any auditioning, so we were ushered in twenty-five guys at a time to stand before the production table. I was typed out. Knowing however that I possessed what they were looking for according to the breakdown, I told the monitor I had been typed IN and filled out the requisite index card of personal info. When my number was called, having replaced my glasses with contacts and taken off my sweater, I went back in and sang the last sixteen bars of "Night and Day". The conductor then asked me to sing the last bit of "Ol' Man River," which I did and then they scheduled a dance callback.
Well I got the job and my Equity card. The show toured major markets for eleven months and ended at the Uris on Broadway. While on tour, I asked the staff if they remembered my sneaking back in even though I had been typed out. They said that yes, they knew, but agreed that if I had the guts to do that, perhaps they should give me a listen. I have now been in over a dozen Broadway casts. The moral, know what it is you do well and don't be afraid to stick up for yourself."
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