Well, the theater offered the program to actors and I know some actors there this summer entered the EMC program, so what's the difference there in terms of applying as an ASM?
It is different for a wanna-be actor and a wanna-be SM. It has to do with non-AEA ratios. Regional theaters have a minimum # of AEA contracts they need to fill, usually per show or, in some rare cases, per season. After that, they are allowed to round out their season with a certain # of non-AEA people. This is usually done for the big musical or the big play -- the first X number of actors, plus the 2 SMs, need to be AEA, the rest of the roles can be filled with non-AEA performers. These are usually the chorus or smaller roles, and the performers are allowed to get EMC credit. The theater cannot give up one of its required AEA SM slots to a non-AEA SM; therefore, unless both AEA SM slots are filled the PA cannot receive EMC credit.
Make sense? Yes. IN THEORY. Fair? Hell, no!
Most regional theaters have 2 AEA SMs on staff, and one of them is the ASM and one the PSM for one show, and they flip-flop roles for the next show. And while some theaters actually do require the SMs to do this all season, most only contract the 2nd AEA person to help out during the tech period, and some theaters fulfill the requirement by saying that there are 2 on staff and only contract them to be the PSMs on their respective shows -- in other words, one is only the PSM for shows 1,3,5 and one for 2,4,6. The PAs are only supposed to fill in the gaps but for the most part they end up doing the ASM's job. And because 2 AEA SMs are the minimum requirement for most productions, there's no way you can argue to AEA that the PA should get points, because what you're basically asking for is to give a union contract to a non-union employee, even if the theater is one of those that only pays lip service to the rule.
BE AWARE THAT MOST THEATER COMPANIES WILL NOT TELL THIS TO A PROSPECTIVE SM PA. You'll find out the hard way.
I was at one of those self-same theaters when I was getting my card, and when I found out I couldn't get EMC points as the ASM I asked to be put on the books as an understudy, which the theater agreed to, even though they'd sooner get a volunteer from the audience to step into a role before I'd ever do it. You can also ask them to put you under contract for the last week of employment. If they agree, they may ask you to repay the theater the extra $$ they'd spend on you, but voila, instant membership!