Just a day after revealing through a tweet that she was leaving the Actors’ Equity Association, Patti LuPone opened up about her decision.
The 73-year-old three-time Tony Award winner tweeted Monday: “A whole week on Broadway watching my name get blown around. Abandoned my equity card; no longer part of this circus. Find out.’
She clarified in a Deadline interview Monday that she quit AEA in July after ending her run at Company, although she also added more in another interview with People, where she called AEA “the worst.” trade union”.
Opening up: Just a day after revealing through a tweet that she was leaving the Actors’ Equity Association, Patti LuPone opened up about her decision
Worst union: She clarified in a Deadline interview Monday that she resigned from AEA in July after completing her run at Company, although in another interview with People, calling AEA “the worst.” trade union,” adding more.
“They accepted my resignation and told me that if I ever wanted to rejoin, I would have to be admitted,” LuPone said.
“And that’s the perfect reason I retired from Equity. Fifty years to this year … I was a card-carrying member of Equity, and they don’t really know who I am,” the theater legend continued.
“They just said, ‘Fine, but if you want to rejoin, we have to approve you,'” LuPone added.
Approved: “They accepted my resignation and told me that if I ever wanted to rejoin, I would have to be approved,” LuPone said
While she appeared to be leaving the union in July, she made the announcement publicly on Twitter on Monday after her name was mentioned online following an unfortunate incident on Broadway.
Hadestown star Lillias White interrupted the show to reprimand a viewer for what the actor believed was an illegal recording device … but was actually a closed captioning device for a hearing-impaired viewer.
LuPone’s name has been mentioned for twice interrupting Broadway performances to punish viewers for using cameras or phones.
Online: While she appeared to be leaving the union in July, she made the announcement publicly on Twitter on Monday after her name was mentioned online following an unfortunate incident on Broadway
In 2009, she stopped performing during Gypsy to shock someone in the audience for using a camera flash during their performance.
Six years later, in 2015, she interrupted a Shows For Days performance to confiscate a viewer’s phone.
“If a phone goes off, or if an LED screen is seen in the dark, it ruins the experience for everyone else — the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage,” she said in a statement after the incident.
Stopped: In 2009, she stopped performing during Gypsy to blow up someone in the audience for using a camera flash during their performance
“I’m so devastated by this issue that I’m seriously questioning whether I still want to work on stage,” LuPone added at the time.
LuPone added that she left AEA because “they’re just not good. And I just didn’t want to give them any more money.”
Defeated: “I’m so devastated by this topic that I seriously question whether I still want to work on stage,” LuPone added at the time
“I just thought, ‘This is ridiculous.’ And I don’t know when I’ll be back on stage,” she adds.
“But the best kept secret is that you can perform without being a member of Equity. Nobody knows, so I don’t use their services. So I’m no longer a member of Equity,” she clarified.
She will next be seen in The School For Good and Evil, which debuts October 19 on Netflix, and she also stars in Season 11 of FX’s New York City-themed American Horror Story, also airing October 19. debuted in October.
Ridiculous: “I just thought, ‘This is ridiculous.’ And I don’t know when I’ll be back on stage,” she adds
Coming up: “I was just like, ‘This is ridiculous.’ And I don’t know when I’ll be back on stage,” she adds