NEW YORK — Looks like Patti LuPone has given her final regards to Broadway.
The three-time Tony Award winner took to social media to reveal that she gave up her Actor’s Equity Association membership months ago.
“Quite a week on Broadway, seeing my name being bandied about. Gave up my Equity card; no longer part of that circus. Figure it out,” LuPone wrote on Twitter Monday, apparently referencing last week’s controversy over fellow Tony Award winner Lillias White reprimanding an audience member from the stage for what she thought was rude conduct — which the 73-year-old LuPone has often done.
“When the run of ‘Company’ ended this past July, I knew I wouldn’t be on stage for a very long time. And at that point I made the decision to resign from Equity,” she wrote.
A membership in the New York City-headquartered union is required to perform on Broadway and other legit theaters across the U.S. Relinquishing her card could mean the end of LuPone’s professional theater career, which includes acclaimed turns in “Gypsy,” “Anything Goes” and her breakthrough performance in 1979′s “Evita.”
The American Theater Hall of Famer can still appear in concert and cabaret performances and nonunion productions without an Equity membership.
Reps for Actors’ Equity did not respond to requests for comment.
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