Local Equity Talent Is Showcased In Holiday Cabaret Series
This time of year is always full of Christmas musicals, concerts, and lively carolers, but the Holiday Cabaret Series at Davisson Entertainment is something completely different. From December 12th to 17th, five unrelated holiday concerts are being presented back to back as part of a festival which showcases local Equity actors and artistic entrepreneurs.
According to their website, "The mission for Davisson Entertainment is to cultivate and enrich the diverse and spectacular arts & events community that resides here in Arizona. By striving to provide multiple diverse and enriching live performances...Our goal is to provide local artists with means of producing and showcasing their work...we can provide artistic growth and support to such talented artisans right in our own backyard. The fundamental idea of local art supporting local artists." Daniel Davisson, the CEO and Lead Production Designer for Davisson Entertainment, has compiled a wide variety of holiday themed concerts that are co-produced with the artists themselves.
The series also showcases some of the finest local members of the Actor's Equity Association, the union for stage actors and stage managers. With fifty thousand members nationwide, AEA is a highly respected union which includes every current member in a Broadway company as well as 200 members locally. AEA insures safe working conditions, reasonable working hours, a minimum pay scale, with possible pension and health care for members. It protects actors that have committed to an incredibly competitive industry in which it is infamously difficult to make a living wage. Locally there are only two Equity Theatres, Phoenix Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company, as well as a few others that are currently growing their contracts and relationship with Equity like, Arizona Broadway Theatre, Arizona Regional Theatre, BLK BOX PHX, and more. Local members have pledged to only work under AEA contracts which are often limited to one member per show, or in the case of ATC, are mainly given to out-of-towners. With so few opportunities to perform locally, concerts like the ones in the Holiday Cabaret Series are clever ways to showcase our amazing union members outside of a traditional theatre setting. And the performers Davisson has lined up are some of the Valley's brightest stars, including five Equity actors: Sally-Jo Bannow, Shana Bousard, Brian Runbeck, Seth Tucker, and Toby Yatso.
Davisson has made a clear commitment to AEA, and his non-profit theatre company, BLK BOX PHX is a local leader in supporting the union. His most recent production, "Bauer," featured an all Equity cast. This Holiday Series represent a continued effort to showcase voices that are otherwise limited with performance opportunities.These are a few of the most seasoned local Equity artists and by highlighting their talents the hope is to make the union more visible and increase the number of local contracts in future productions. The only way to increase the union's presence is through opportunity, a chance to showcase talent outside of audition rooms. Thank you to Daniel Davisson for your support of local AEA artists!
About the shows:
On December 13th and 17th, enjoy "A Swingin' Christmas", a show packed with songs that swing with humor, heart and holiday spirit, featuring Equity members Brian Runbeck* and Shana Bousard*.
On December 14th, Union member Sally Jo Bannow* performs with Brian Sweis, with in, "A Grown-Up Christmas" - a little sugar, a little spice, some naughty and some nice (ages 16+).
"Naughty and Nice"on December 15th Equity artists, Seth Tucker* and Toby Yatso* present an unexpected, beautiful, ridiculous, offensive and downright hilarious event with elf-ed up language.
Other concerts in the series include: "Season's Greetings"on December 12th with award-winning T.A. Burrow. And, "First You Dream" cabaret on December 16th with Christy Welty.
More information and tickets: https://www.davissonentertainment.com/holiday-cabaret-series
* Denotes members of Actor's Equity Association
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