This afternoon, Florida Stage announced that it was filling for chapter 7 bankruptcy and closing its doors forever. Florida Stage was the largest theatre company producing only new work in the United States. They were also the largest theatre company in the South Florida Theatre Region. Unfortunately, they had 1.5...
The Follow Friday posts are back! We look at communities remembering their own stories and pulling together to give to the arts, philanthropy from donors and from theatre companies themselves, playwrights living in towns small and large. We also look at theatre companies working together and, well, working at all....
So you’re at the Humana Festival of New American Plays and you’ve got a few minutes. You’ve seen the art, you’ve looked at the gifts, you’ve had a beer. Maybe you’re in the mood to play a game. Maybe you’re looking for something to engage audiences at your own theatre...
Last weekend, I saw approximately half of the shows at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. I’m heading back this weekend for the rest, but I wanted to write about the themes and connections between those first three shows. I saw this combination by...
Up here in the Northwest, the crisis du jour has been all about Intiman Theatre’s recent public cry for help… they need about $1 mil by summertime or they are going to need to close their doors. Suddenly, Rocco Landesman’s provocative statements about the American theater being oversupplied had a...
Indulge me in a little rhetorical drama, I have, on occasion, so indulged many of you. The USA needs theatre. We are a potentially free and democratic people, but when the citizens become disenchanted and politically disengaged, we disenfranchise ourselves and cede leadership to those who can tolerate swimming in...
Monday night, here in Vancouver, we celebrated The 28th Annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Vancouver cultural landscape, The Jessies are our answer to Toronto’s Doras or Broadway’s Tony Awards. They honour theatre excellence over the past year. You can say what...
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,...
If Rocco Landesman claims that artists are entrepreneurs, I think it is important to look at other entrepreneurial models, outside the theater world, to see what they are saying about the work they do, and how their work connects to customers and community. On person I follow pretty closely is...
