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Actor Brooke Shields has been elected president of Actors’ Equity Association, the union has announced.

Shields took the lead in a three-way race, beating out stage manager Erin Maureen Koster and actor Wydetta Carter. Actors’ Equity is represents 51,000 actors and stage managers.

Shields succeeds Kate Shindle as president, who announced in April that she would not seek re-election when her nine-year tenure ended May 23. Shindle has said that she will remain active in the labor movement but now intends to focus on resuming her acting career, noting that the unpaid position of president left her with so little time for acting that she had not been able to clock enough professional hours to quality for Equity health insurance.

Shields’ win was confirmed this morning by Equity, which announced the results of its 2024 Officer and Councilor Election. In total, 45 council seats across all three regions and representing four categories were filled, effective immediately. All terms are four years except where noted.

In addition to Shields, the 2024 officers include Rashaan James II, elected Eastern Regional Vice President; Sarah Labarr, elected Central Regional Vice President, without opposition. Jeffrey Landman was elected Western Regional Vice President, without opposition. All officers were elected to four-year terms.

In announcing her run for the presidency in April, Shields said, “I felt it was my responsibility to step up, I want to lead with strength. I want to lead with intelligence, with compassion, with passion. And, of course, a little bit of humor, always…I have been in the trenches with you and you have always had my back. And I’m here to tell you that I have your back.”

Shields comes to the position with no experience in union leadership, but has been a working actor since childhood. She has appeared on Broadway in Grease, Chicago, Cabaret, Wonderful Town and The Addams Family.

In addition to the national elections, the following candidates were elected in regional positions:

In the Eastern Region:

The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Principal Councilor:

Jeff Blumenkrantz Jennifer Cody Jacqueline Jarrold Claire Karpen Austin Ku Jeffrey Omura Kellie Overbey Kate Shindle Nancy Slusser Richard Topol

Michele Ragusa was elected to a two-year term as Eastern Regional Principal Councilor.

The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Chorus Councilor:

Belinda Allyn Holly Ann Butler Rebecca Kim Jordan Nikka Graff Lanzarone Melissa Hunter McCann T. Shyvonne Stewart

Ryan Rodiño was elected to a two-year term as Eastern Regional Chorus Councilor.

The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional Stage Manager Councilor:

Anne McPherson Rebecca McBee Peter Royston

The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Eastern Regional At-Large Councilor:

Tamara Anderson Logan Benedict Leslie Sears

In the Central Region:

The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Central Regional Principal Councilor:

Rebecca Prescott Colin Sphar Nikki Switzer

The following candidate weas unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Central Regional Stage Manager Councilor:

Katherine Nelson

The following candidate was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Central Regional At-Large Councilor:

Carolyn Fast

In the Western Region:

The following candidates were elected to four-year terms as Western Regional Principal Councilor:

Ry Armstrong Michael James Bell Kate Burton Barbara Callander Josh Grisetti Kwana A. L. Martinez

The following candidates were elected to two-year terms as Western Regional Principal Councilor:

Brian Herndon Cynthia Marty Gregory North

Juliane Godfrey was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional Chorus Councilor.

David S. Cohen was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional Stage Manager Councilor.

Michelle Dunn was unopposed and deemed elected to a four-year term as Western Regional At-Large Councilor.

Ben Lanzarone, the composer, arranger, musical director and pianist who wrote music for such shows as Dynasty, Happy Days, Mr. Belvedere and The Tracey Ullman Show, has died. He was 85.

Lanzarone died Friday in his Los Angeles home of lung cancer, his family announced.

The Brooklyn native toured with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Art Garfunkel, Mary Travers, Anthony Newley, Petula Clark, Lainie Kazan and Mason Williams and for Broadway served as the musical director on the original 1972-1980 production of Grease and arranger on 1972’s Via Galactica and 1975’s Truckload.

His long association with TV producers Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer resulted in scores for Dynasty, The Colbys, The Love Boat, Vega$, Matt Houston and Hotel.

And for production companies led by Thomas Miller, Edward Milkis and/or Bob Boyett, he came up with music for episodes of Happy Days (including the one in 1977 when Henry Winkler’s...

Composer Ben Lanzarone, whose work was featured in television shows such as “Happy Days,” “The Love Boat” and “Dynasty,” died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on Feb. 16. He was 85.

Lanzarone received ASCAP’s “Most Performed Composer Award” for his work composing television scores. He wrote for episodes of “The Tracy Ullman Show,” “The Jay Leno Comedy Hour” and” Mr. Belvedere.” In association with Aaron Spelling and Doug Cramer, he composed many scores for “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat,” “Vegas,” “Matt Houston,” “The Colbys” and “Hotel.” In addition, he wrote the music for numerous episodes of “Happy Days,” “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy.”

Also an arranger, musical director and pianist, Lanzarone became a force in popular music when he began associating with Bob Crewe and Charles Fox. Lanzarone’s album “In Classic Form” came as a result of their collaboration, showing off his talent as a classical and jazz pianist.

Kate Shindle has been re-elected president of Actors’ Equity, the union representing more than 51,000 theatrical actors and stage managers. She was first elected to the post in 2015, having previously served as the union’s eastern regional vice president. She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde, with other notable Broadway roles including Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Vivienne in Legally Blonde and the Mad Hatter in Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland.

In other elections, Dee Hoty was elected Eastern regional vice president and Kelley Faulkner was elected Cntral regional vice president. Doug Carfrae, running unopposed, was elected Western regional vice president.

The union did not provide vote totals or say who the losing candidates were in any of the races.

The election also included 42 council seats across all three regions, representing principal actors, chorus actors and stage managers, along with a new at-large category.

The candidates elected Eastern Region Principal Councilor:

Victoria Clark

Michele L.

Transport Group's The Unsinkable Molly Brown just opened at Abrons Arts Center, starringTony Award nominee Beth Malone Fun Home as Molly Brown David Aron Damane The Book of Mormon, Big River, The Life as JJ Whitney Bashor The Bridges of Madison County as Julia Omar Lopez-Cepero On Your Feet as Vincenzo Alex Gibson SpongeBob SquarePants Natasha, Pierre the Great Comet of 1812 as Erich and Paolo Montalban Pacific Overtures, The King and I as Arthur. Rounding out the cast are Paula Leggett Chase Kaitlyn Davidson Tyrone Davis, Jr. Gregg Goodbrod Michael Halling Karl Josef Co Nikka Graff Lanzarone Shina Ann Morris Keven Quillon and CoCo Smith.

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After a Sold Out engagement last fall, Soblessed Live returns to 54 Below on July 27th at 930 p.m., benefiting Broadway CaresEquity Fights AIDS Krysta Rodriguez 'Smash' and Adam Kaplan Newsies join host Lesli Margherita Matilda in Soblessed Live featuring Christine Dwyer Wicked, Chris McCarrell Les Miserables, Nikka Graff Lanzarone Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Kate Shindle Legally Blonde, Aea President, Alex WyseDeaf West's Spring Awakening, Chelsea Nachman Twitter as Laura Benanti.

The Skivvies the undie-rock comedy-pop duo of Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley just kicked off their monthly residency at 42West with Splashdance- featuring an all-star line up of guest artists from the worlds of Broadway, Television and Film. The first concert took place last night, with guest stars James Carpinello Rock of Ages, Phillipa Soo Hamilton, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Adam Kantor Rent, Next to Normal Jessica Vosk The Bridges of Madison County, Nikka Graff Lanzarone Chicago, Natalie Tenenbaum, Ephraim Sykes Motown, Newsies, Memphis, Zak Resnick Piece of my Heart, Mamma Mia, Robyn Anderson, and many more.Check out highlights from the concert below...

Hosted by Lesli Margherita Matilda, the late night Soblessed Live at 54 Below on February 7th featured performances by Adam Kaplan Newsies, Joey Taranto Kinky Boots, Michael James Scott Something Rotten, Megan Sikora Like a Million Broadway Shows, Mo Brady The Addams Family, Nikka Graff Lanzarone Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Ellyn Marie Marsh Kinky Boots, with special guest appearance by Julia Murney as Jeremy Jordan and musical direction by Drew Wutke. Scroll down for photos...

For the current episode of the Theater People Podcast, host Patrick Hinds interviews Mo Brady and Nikka Graff Lanzarone, hosts of 'The Ensemblist' Podcast. The episode concludes with section of 'The Ensemblist' episode In Tech. Mo and Nikka are both Broadway performers in their own right--Mo is an The Addams Family alum and Nikka was seen in Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and as Velma Kelly in Chicago.

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The Public Theater tnight presents the one-night-only Public Theater annual gala One Thrilling Combination at the Delacorte Theater. Directed by Ted Sperling, the gala event will celebrate Marvin Hamlisch, The Public Theater and the 40th anniversary of the creation of A Chorus Line. Performers will incude John Lithgow, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Zachary Quinto, Martha Plimpton, Billy Porter, Jonathan Groff, Sutton Foster, Joshua Bell, Lindsay Mendez, Claybourne Elder, Krysta Rodriguez, Marissa McGowan, Laura Shoop, Peter Dugan, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Jessica Wu, Mylinda Hull, Brooke Sunny Moriber, Nicole Lewis and more...