FIRST OFF . . .

A group of 10 actors and actor-producers has formally requested that Actor’s Equity redraft its controversial Actors 99-Seat Theater Plan and conduct a new vote on a revised plan. In a May 25 letter to the union’s Western Advisory Board, attorneys for the group requested that the March referendum be set aside in favor of a new referendum to be “conducted fairly and properly under the (Equity) constitution and applicable (board) and membership resolutions.” The letter alleged violations of the Equity constitution, prior membership resolutions and federal and state law. It stated that, in the event of the board’s refusal, the group (Barbara Beckley, Maria Gobetti, Salome Jens, Valerie Landsburg, Tom Ormeny, Allan Miller, Greg Mullavey, Linda Purl, Joe Stern and Michael Wadler) would file formal charges with Equity’s executive secretary in New York and, if necessary, file suit in federal court. A spokesman at the Equity office acknowledged receipt of the letter and said an “appropriate response” would be drafted “as soon as possible.”