Follow Friday: 05 Feb 10
One nice tradition on Twitter is the “follow Friday” hashtag, where you pick out a few of the people you follow and suggest them to the rest of your followers. It’s an easy way to meet new people and make new connections.
So we’re going to pay homage to our roots with our own version. These are some of the stories, posts and people we’ve been following this week…
Dan Granata on the difference between Small Ball & Long Ball.
Here’s the pitch: what kind of theatre are you? Are you trying to knock it out of the park every time you’re at the plate, or are you trying to build and grow naturally, playing to the strengths of your team? Sports, once again, provides an apt metaphor.
Tony Adams on a different form of color blindness.
A comment in response to an article by Chicago Tribune theatre critic Chris Jones, where Tony Adams, artistic director of Chicago’s Halcyon Theatre takes a closer look at the color-blindness of casting and theatre coverage. It’s a comment that probably won’t get published on the Tribune site. Which is a shame.
Paul Mullin suffers some more slings & arrows.
His focus is on Seattle, but his message resonates with any theatre company that has a board. You do have a board, right? How well do you know them? More to the point, how well do they know you and what you do? Instead of sitting down to sulk about the conclusions of the book, Outrageous Fortune, do as he suggests and invite your board members to any of the stops on the book tour. Show them the lay of the land and ask them what they’re really doing to help bring theatre to life.
Andrew Taylor on the cumulative value of stories.
So you’re on the interwebs, tweeting to Facebook, Digg’ing your Friendfeed, letting everyone know you’ve ousted your wife as the mayor of the coffee shop on Foursquare. That’s still a connection, no matter how tenuous or ephemeral. Clearly, you love knowing where your friends might be, where they’ve gone and what they liked. What if you could do the same with a theatre seat? How many people have sat in seat 13, row G? What did they see, how did they like it, did they come back?
Charles McNulty on the lessons of Pasadena’s loss.
Why does a theatre close? Where did the audience go? We tried to give them what they wanted. McNulty suggests that if we give our community what they need, they will come.
Steve Julian wants your opinion. Is theatre dying?
This follows up on and develops the theme from McNulty’s post, especially in this comment by Jay McAdam, co-founder and executive director of the 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles.
Scott Walters displays some TACT.
We were already reading his Theatre Ideas blog, but now Scott Walters and his colleague, Tom Loughlin, have created a new blog, Theatre Arts Curriculum Transformation. They’re rational enough–or insane enough–to suggest a new, realistic approach to theatre education.
Arena Stage gets Devisive.
No, that’s not a typo. The New Play Institute at Arena Stage is getting ready for their next #newplay convening, this time around the theme of Devised Work. You’ll want to watch the #newplay hashtag on Twitter, or down in our scrolling widget below, on February 19 and 20 to follow the conversation even at a distance and, at times, join in with questions and comments. You’ll even get to see some of the #newplay conversation live.
Lindsay Anne Black asks an excellent question.
We’ve all been reviewed. Some were good, some were maybe not so good. And when you read the reviews–if you read the reviews–it’s easy to tell whether or not the critic understood what you were trying to do. Click on the link to see her question and, if you’re on Twitter, you can give her your answer. Or you can comment right here…
