After the gusher of cynicism and bitterness surrounding this years Tony Award telecast I suggested on Twitter that instead of whining about movie stars and dime store trinkets representing our business that A.) They were in a different business and B.) Whining that They are getting it wrong doesn’t help,...
ideas
The space and conventions around a live performance determine whether it is fundamentally inclusive or exclusive. When an arts organization or producer decides to charge $100 for a ticket, and another decides to put on a show for free, either performance can be “legitimate” and draw a large crowd, if...
O the ill-lit, often lonely corners of the Internet where theater-company blogs reside! O the carefully eked-out production notes and interviews and dramaturgy, still photos and videos and audio conversations—sometimes engaging, sometimes profound, sometimes beautiful—that end for eternity with Comments (0)! Unless a relative, friend, or fellow company member sees it, in...
Our good friend Dave Charest has started a new video series where he talks about creativity and content while trying not to get hit by cars. It’s exciting. He calls them “Walks With Dave,” and we’ll be featuring them here from time to time… Why Create Content? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRCtUnEhF2Q[/youtube] How to...
Here’s an extra-large helping of stories to get you through the Memorial Day weekend. What have we been following at 2amt this week? Storefronts and stories, history and hopes. Recipes and blueprints, restaurants and royalties. Responsibility and sustainability, creativity and reality. Also, if you’ve ever said, “Bring me the head...
Ah, Dynamic Pricing. The holy grail of entertainment earned revenue. Has worked for the airlines for YEARS. And yet we are still deeply afraid of it. What am I talking about? Assumptions number 3, 4, and 5. Let’s throw out the notion that two people sitting next to each other...
Again and again and again at the Theater Bay Area conference a few weeks ago I heard playwrights being given the cold, hard truth about why their work is not getting produced (and why it is). Here’s the facts: The open submissions process is a lie. Work does not rise...
Or more precisely, just listen, as this is just the audio from Michael Kaiser’s appearance at Portland Center Stage last week. Whether you agree or disagree with his advice and observations, it’s worth a listen. Some of his advice applies more towards the large, institutional theatres and, in many ways,...
I’ve just finished reading this passionate post by Michael Billington on the Guardian’s Theatre Blog imploring Jeremy Hunt, the culture minister of the new coalition government in the UK, not to cut funding for the arts. It’s a fairly straightforward argument, complete with the requisite data showing quite clearly that...
I am a ranter. No surprise I guess that a blogger likes ranting, it would seem to be a blogger’s stock in trade, and I have a reputation as something of a John the Baptist of the CAPS LOCK… but I more specifically mean in real life. I tend to...