Although it's more commonly known as the Equity lounge, union officials make sure to underscore its official name—the Audition Center—lest people equate it with a room at some random Holiday Inn hosting a Vic Damone tribute band. And, indeed, the 3,600-square-foot space is 100 percent Naugahyde-free.
But Vivienne Lenk remembers it from the 1970s, when it had an earthier feel. "I remember when there was still smoking allowed in the lounge," says the Queens resident. "I introduced…the motion to ban smoking at chorus calls and auditions. I got tons and tons of petitions; it became a better place when it became smoke-free." After all these years, she recalls it fondly: "I found many jobs off of the Equity bulletin board. Not just for me but others."
The center, on the second floor of the Equity building in Midtown, still has bulletin boards that announce not only casting notices but also housing, discounts, and free tickets. It has bathrooms, dressing rooms, and three studios for auditions.
As hard as it might have been for Lenk's contemporaries to imagine the lounge without cigarettes, it is now also free from another actors' accoutrement: the cell phone. "It's really nice," says Michael Busillo. "Coming in from Queens on the train above ground, I have to hear everyone's conversations."
Busillo also favors its communal spirit, which is not merely embodied in a bulletin board touting sublets and a gypsy robe adorning a corner. "At an Equity audition there's a camaraderie," he says. "The competition kind of goes away for a minute. [At other auditions] it feels a little more like people are sizing you up."
The Audition Center at Actors' Equity Association, 165 W. 46th St., NYC 10036; (212) 869-8530; www.actorsequity.org.
Runner-up: The Drama Book Shop, 250 W. 40th St., NYC 10018; (212) 944-0595; www.dramabookshop.com.
—Andrew Salomon