Kate Shindle will not seek re-election as president of Actors' Equity Association, according to a report in The New York Times. The move will end a nine-year tenure in the role effective May 23.
Shindle told the Times that she expects to remain active in the labor movement, but is stepping down from the leadership role within the union to focus on her acting career. The presidency is an unpaid volunteer position, and Shindle says the time commitment made it so she wasn't able to work enough weeks to qualify for the union's health insurance.
Her tenure was marked by a number of unprecedented challenges, first and foremost among them the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying shutdown of almost all live theatre worldwide.
Shindle's Broadway acting credits include originating Vivienne Kensington in Legally Blonde and The Mad Hatter in Wonderland, along with performances in Jekyll & Hyde and Cabaret. Shindle also starred as Alison in the first national tour of Fun Home.
