Still, life's been hard on Equity members this year, and at least it was a gig.

I am reminded of the story I once read of a woman who got a gig acting in a television commercial. Her job was to take a bite out of a hamburger and give a big smile.

The hamburgers were cold, they'd been slathered in grease (to make them photograph better), and the scene had to be filmed over and over. And she had to give that big smile.

"It may not have been Shakespeare," she concluded, "but it sure was acting."