Sandra Karas

Savannah Repertory Theatre announced today that its summer musical presentation of The Spitfire Grill will be led by Dani Vazquez in the role of Percy Talbott, who arrives in the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin with one suitcase and a number of secrets.

Actors' Equity Association, the union which represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and stage managers, announced the results of its 2022 office and councilor election.

At the deadline for filing federal income taxes, Actors’ Equity Association is calling on Congress to pass the bipartisan Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA), introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL).

The hearing gathered artists and creative workers led by Carson Elrod, co-founder of Be An #ArtsHero/Arts Workers United, to testify on the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their industry and ways that Congress can better support the creative economy moving forward.  

Be An #ArtsHero / Arts Workers United is proud to announce its co-founder Carson Elrod will testify in a Congressional House Hearing before the Small Business Committee (SBC) chaired by Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) on the Arts and Culture Sector titled “The Power, Peril, and Promise of the Creative Economy.” 

This bill would correct an unintended consequence of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act which led to tax increases for many performing artists who could no longer deduct the cost of their ordinary and necessary unreimbursed business expenses. 

Kicking off Rep's return to live performance and the official start of a capital campaign for their new downtown venue is THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, a benefit cabaret May 27th and 28th featuring the music of Jason Robert Brown.

Earlier this week, some shocking revelations came to light concerning Donald Trump's tax records, including a $70,000 write off for hair styling for The Apprentice. Now Actors Equity Association Secretary/Treasurer Sandra Karas, who has worked extensively with Equity's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, has doubts that such expenses could be tax deductible.

Savannah Repertory Theatre is pleased to announce their new Executive Artistic Team led by Executive Artistic Director, Ryan McCurdy and Managing Director, Jennifer Bishop.

SAVANNAH REPERTORY THEATRE presents the third show of their 19/20 season - VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, Christopher Durang's hilarious and complete sendup of Chekhov in our modern age. Known for its Broadway run with Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce, as well as its Tony Award win for Best Play in 2013, this masterful comedy from the author of Laughing Wild and Baby with the Bathwater centers on middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia, who share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. When their movie star sister Masha swoops in with new boy toy Spike, old resentments flare up, and no one is safe from the crossfire. Also on the scene is the sassy maid Cassandra, who can possibly predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness directly threatens the imperious Masha.

SAVANNAH REPERTORY THEATRE announces that the Pulitzer-Prize winning American classic Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry will kick off their 2019/20 season at The PLAYshop (980 Industry Drive, in Savannah), running September 27th - October 6th. Tickets are on sale now at http://savannahrep.org.

The fifth annual Broadway Stage Management Symposium (BSMS) will feature over thirty Broadway Stage Managers and Professionals in an incredible array of panels addressing important aspects of the art and craft of stage management. As the leaders of a theatrical company, stage managers are responsible for the mounting, maintenance and running of a show. They deal with a wide variety of issues and need to be well-versed in both production processes and people skills. The BSMS provides a unique forum to engage with top professionals on numerous topics important to stage managers at all levels.

New York Representatives from Actors' Equity Association joined the 32nd Annual Arts Advocacy Day meeting in Washington, D.C. to protect the bipartisan National Endowment for the Arts. The meetings were part of a multi-day national arts action summit meeting that united arts advocates from across the country.

Actors' Equity Association, the union which represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and stage managers, announced the results of the 2018 National Council election.  In total, 55 Council seats across all three regions and representing three (3) categories (principal actor, chorus actor and stage manager) were filled, effective immediately.   

Actors' Equity Association announced today that it will hold a series of tax seminars for actors and stage managers across the country, featuring Sandra Karas, Equity's Treasurer, a working actor, licensed tax attorney and Chair and Director of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. The announcement comes as hundreds of Equity members gathered for the first day of VITA appointments at Equity's New York Office. 

A new tax bill has been agreed on by congressional Republicans that will eliminate middle-class tax deductions for agent and manager commissions, union dues, training classes, and other business expenses, while protecting the more top-earning talent by leaving loan-out corporations unaffected. As Hollywood Reporter reports, what this means is that some working actors may see their taxes quadruple, according to an analysis by Actors' Equity. In addition, this will impact writers, directors, and screen and television actors.

Sandra Karas, an actress, tax attorney and the Treasurer of Actors' Equity Association, the labor union for actors and stage managers on Broadway and across the nation, released the following statement on behalf of the union after news reports that a tax bill introduced in the House of Representatives today would eliminate a variety of itemized deductions.

Actors' Equity Association ('Equity'), the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 professional actors and stage managers, today announced the results of its 2015 national council election, with all seats effective immediately for three-year terms. Kate Shindle was named as new president of the union, replacing incumbent Nick Wyman.  Running uncontested in top-ranking officer positions were Paige Price (First Vice President), Rebecca Kim Jordan (Second Vice President), Ira Mont (Third Vice President) and Sandra Karas (Secretary/Treasurer).

Robin Carus, Josh Walden and Adam Fitzgerald have announced the upcoming reading of Jason Huza's WRAPPED IN PINK (story by Josh Walden, Written by Jason Huza). The reading will be presented on Monday, May 26th at Pearl Studios (500 8th Avenue, 12th floor) in studio 1209 at 6:00 PM. The evening is free of charge and will feature a post-show talk back with the audience. Reservations may be made by emailing wrappedinpinkreading@gmail.com. Seating is extremely limited.

After critically acclaimed productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth, the Queens Players return to the Secret Theatre with a hardcore, punk rock, in-your-face version of William Shakespeare's Richard III.