Laura Giannarelli - the 70's, Actor Overview

I'm not sure I have any great tall tales to tell, but I have been around town since getting out of Catholic way back in '78, so I do have a certain 'institutional memory', as it were.

Just off the top of my head, I can tell you that the theatre 'scene' back then was vastly different. The only Equity houses in town were Arena Stage and the Folger, plus Hayloft Dinner Theatre, way out in Mannassas. There was a gaggle of dinner theatres out in the 'burbs, but they were all non-Equity, and other than the National (a touring house only, then as now) and the relatively new-at-the-time Kennedy Center, there was a lot of nothin' out there, especially in terms of work on a small entry level -- New Playwright's Theatre was a hotbed of activity and there was the old Washington Theatre Club, but not much else.

Actors who were lucky enough to get their AEA cards at Arena or the Folger had to go to NYC once they had them, because those theatres virtually never hired local actors to play meaty roles. They cast everything other than walk-ons and understudies out of NY. So, actors would move to NY and then get hired to come work back down here. It was pretty nutty! However, there was really no other choice. Once you got your card, you really couldn't stay here in town, cuz you wouldn't get any work sticking around.There was so little going on professionally in DC compared to today that Catholic University's Drama Department (still headed by Father Hartke back in the '70s) got Press coverage from -- i.e. the shows were reviewed by -- the Washington Post and the Washington Evening Star.

When I was a student there, our main stage productions ran two full weeks, Tuesday through Sunday, with matinees, too!! And people subscribed and came in droves, because there wasn't a lot else to choose from in terms of live theatre. It was wonderful training for us students, but it was also a boon for theatre lovers in town, who had few places to go to see live theatre.

I'm all in favor of some way of holding on to the history of DC theatre. The times change so quickly, and people move on or pass on, and the stories disappear....