the day to day of a professional actor in the San Francisco Bay Area

mostly the day to day of a professional actor in the San Francisco Bay Area, but also the home of the Counting Actors Project

Monday, February 3, 2014

Counting Actors January 2014

Eleven shows are included in this month's count, bringing the grand total to 363.  This project dates back to June 2011, and if you'd like to see past posts in the series, learn more about selection criteria for the project and/or how to contribute statistics to the project, please go here.

January's shows
Theatreworks/Silent Sky
Ross Valley Players/Journey's End
ACT/Major Barbara co-production with Theatre Calgary; 4 members of Canadian Equity included in union actor count, two of non-union actors in this production are ACT MFA 'Equity Interns'; understudies not included in this count are 1 male Equity member and 1 female ACT MFA 'Equity Intern'
Berkeley Rep/Man in a Case & Pianist of Willisden Lane Case: co-production with Big Dance Theater.  adapted and directed by credits are for 1 man and 1 woman who are both counted here as writer and director; the woman also credited as choreographer and man also included in the cast; male sound designer and male video designer also onstage during the performance, but not included here.  Pianist: script adapted by director from book by actor. Actor is trained musician, telling her mother's story. 
Alter Theater/The River Bride co-directed by two women
Custom Made/Pain and the Itch
Rhino/Road Show male director and male music director; 2 male writers one credited with book/lyrics and one credited w/music
BACT/Mercy Watson to the Rescue union actor working w/out contract on this show - was cast prior to joining and allowed to work this show, counted as non-Equity actor
Cutting Ball/Ubu Roi
Brisk Weather Productions/Pardon My Invasion! major plot device of this show is female character 'inhabited' by a man's ghost, so female actor plays both male and female

The Stats:
9 male directors, 5 female directors
8 male writers, 5 female writers
75 total actors, 40 men, 35 women
28 union actors, 47 non-union actors
16 union men, 12 union women
59 local actors, 16 non-local actors

Many audience members contributed stats this month, as well as actors from 3 casts, and 1 director! Thank you to Anne Hallinan, Kelly Ground, Evelyn Jean Pine, Dale Albright, Kathryn Wood and Marie Shell for submitting statistics. Again, if you're working on a show or see a show with performances in February, please share stats for that project.  I can also take stats early for shows that may not perform until March or later, and then include those stats with the appropriate month.

If you've read this far, take a few minutes to share these statistics with your theater loving friends, your fellow artists, and/or the artistic staff at your favorite theater company.  Many companies are deep in season planning mode, so it's a great time to share this info.

The February edition of this project will be published between March 1st and March 5th.