A surprising twist – the residents of Avenue Q have their leases renewed!

September 13, 2009 • One Comment

 

The Monday after the Tony’s in 2004, the producers of Avenue Q shocked the Broadway and Touring community by announcing that rather than going on the road, the show was taking up residence in Vegas.   Tonight from the stage of the closing night performance on Broadway, the producers again announced an unprecedented course of action. 

 

The Broadway show was moving OFF-BROADWAY???

 

A brilliant move, by a savvy team of producers or a borderline failure like Vegas? 

 

I vote BRILLIANT.  The show (full disclaimer I was General Manager of Vineyard for the original off-Broadway production) has the potential to run for several more years off-Broadway where the financial equation will likely still work perhaps even better.  Maybe Avenue Q is the next Fantastiks!The show will certainly be a boom for New World Stages (although one has to pause just momentarily to ask – why not 37 Arts?). 

 

As usual Kevin, Jeffrey and Robyn also found a way to make the announcement as dramatic as possible. 

 

Ironically, I sent the entire producing team, including Vineyard and New Group Artistic Directors, Doug Aibel and Scott Elliot, emails last night congratulating them on taking big risks that paid off on the show and the group talent young artists on the show Jeff Marx, Bobby Lopez, Jeff Whitty and Jason Moore!

 

So, I now cheer them on for being adventuresome and visionary enough to change the game completely! 

 

Needless to say it’s innovative producing like this that will also keep off-Broadway’s resurgence going strong.

 

Certainly the theme song fits off-Broadway. 

 

Your work real hard
And the pay’s real low
And ev’ry hour
Goes oh, so slow
And at the end of the day
There’s no where to go
But home to Avenue Q!
You live on Avenue Q!

 

From where I am sitting – at home with my Avenue Q blanket on my lap while I type, I have to say Avenue Q ain’t such a bad place to be even if “it’s only for now” after all now just got a bit longer!

 

 

Final reprise:

 

I also have to give the team a second thumbs up on making the announcement such news and for the playful “official release” excerpted below from Broadway World. 

The musical’s Broadway producers Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman and Jeffrey Seller announced that AVENUE Q – the hilarious and enormously popular musical about a group of 20-something people and puppets who live as neighbors in an outerborough of NYC — will be presented at New World Stages as it was on Broadway, with director Jason Moore, creators Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty, as well as the show’s designers, choreographer, musical team and, of course, its cast of colorful, furry, outrageous puppets participating in the transfer. Casting for the Off-Broadway engagement of AVENUE Q is TBA. The musical will be produced at New World Stages by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, The Vineyard Theatre and The New Group.

 

Research indicates that this transfer is unprecedented, marking the first time that a Broadway musical has, indeed, moved to an Off-Broadway theatre.

 

About the decision to keep AVENUE Q running in New York, Mr. McCollum says, "AVENUE Q is about all of us, so why should it close? People arrive in New York every day hoping to make their dreams come true, so as long as they’re here, we’re here! It’s just one of the funniest, wittiest and wisest musicals ever written and the more you see it, the more you love it."

 

AVENUE Q beloved puppet character Rod says, "When I got the news that AVENUE Q was re-opening five blocks away, I couldn’t have been more delighted. After all, young people are still searching for meaning in their life — even more than when we opened six years ago! So I’m glad we’re here to help them and people of all ages navigate the turbulent waters of today’s world. My only regret is that my next job was going to be dresser for Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, but hey, I’ll take stardom any time, baby!"

 

AVENUE Q producer Robyn Goodman notes in an aside that she is also aware that gay puppet Rod is also tickled that he will now be geographically closer, and otherwise, to the male actors in the musical ALTAR BOYZ, running at an adjacent theater at New World Stages.

 

AVENUE Q’s man-hungry puppet Lucy says of the transfer, "I’m a working girl at heart. So the idea of moving Off-Broadway totally turns me on — plus, that means I can call Hooters and tell ‘em to shove that job! And to be at New World Stages is a dream come true. I always wanted to get closer to my audience. Frankly, honey, whether you’re serving 500 people a night or 800, after the first hundred they all sorta blur together."

PRODUCEABILITY – what should a playwright have in mind when writing

July 14, 2009 • No Comments

 

I need to start this post by saying one of the best things about the New York Theatre Community is all shared information and resources.  There are countless organizations that offer great workshops and information about how to produce theatre – especially commercial theatre.  There is of course the Commercial Theater Institute (CTI) which was started by the late Fred Vogel.  CTI has provided almost 30 years of training, published a great resource in The Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals, and has an impressive list of workshop leaders and alumni. [Most folks don’t know this but Fred’s work grew out of the nonprofits.  He was one of the founders of FedApt and worked along with George Thorn and Nello McDaniel.]  Certainly ART-NY has helped more than few organizations thrive and survive through all of the resources it provides to 350 or so nonprofit theaters in New York. 

 

These are just two of the many great organizations who offer support, guidance, and a forum for discussion about theater.  In the last year several organizations have stepped up their services to address the shift economy.  I certainly didn’t have to attend all of the offered meetings and workshops, and I am sure as with all programs like this some were better than others.  What I think is very valuable is that discussion was happening – I am sure some of it was frustrating, some of it inspiring, some of it self-serving, some of it cathartic, some was useful and some was undoubtedly invaluable.  I find talking about issues to be vital, even when I disagree with the discussion.  The most recent example would of course be the Emily Sands study on gender equality in the field of playwriting – was Sands the first person to ever address this, of course not, but her work has certainly stoked the discussion of gender in the theater.  Talk leads to action, even if it sometimes seems that there is way too much talk eventually it inspires someone to activate change.

 

So (you knew it was coming) when I started writing this post I was planning to tear apart the below as and example of what is wrong with commercial theater and what was behind the decline of off-Broadway.  I was gong to rail about theatre’s issues having begun far before the economic issues of the day and that this workshop was the perfect example of the wrong kind of thinking that played into many of the problems we are currently experiencing.  I was incensed enough that I was going to declare workshops like this as having a murderous effect on the creation of new work.  But when I started to write, I wanted to set a context about the resources we have available including Theater Resources Unlimited who is producing the “offending” workshop.  I went to their website and saw some really interesting topics for programming and, well, I felt obligated to start a discussion not lead an attack.   So here is the workshop that caught my attention when the information was posted at Life Upon the Sacred Stage:

 

PRACTICAL PLAYWRITING:

How to Write for Commercial Production
A HALF-DAY INTENSIVE for writers presented by
Theater Resources Unlimited and The Drama Center

 

Saturday July 25th, 1pm to 6pm
The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, Studio 2D

 

What often holds playwrights back is that they rarely consider the person who will buy and produce their product: the producer.  With all the work, hope and sweat they invest in considering character, theme and plot, playwrights rarely take into account produceability.

 

This half-day intensive will be taught by Diana Amsterdam of The Drama Centre, TRU’s new Program Director for Playwrights. With segments of the workshop taught by presentation coach Grace Kiley, who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis, and learn how to present themselves successfully; and a panel of commercial producers, to be announced.

 

• WHAT IS PRODUCEABILITY? The fact that producers always ask this question, and playwrights hardly ever do, causes a serious disconnect between the commercial producer and most playwrights.

 

• WRITING TO A MARKET – We will ask each playwright questions he or she has probably never considered before: Who is your market? Who is going to buy tickets? Who is this play written for?

 

• WRITING VIABLY – Creating writing that holds the attention of the audience with a strong storyline and defined events. This module will cover such primary writing elements as: arc, desire, motivation, conflict, and the clear delineation of theme.

 

• WRITING ECONOMICALLY – Number of characters, number of sets, extravagance of sets: all these are serious considerations for most commercial producers.  Does the play require a casting director, or can it be done successfully by seasoned unknowns?  Is there a  chorus of thirty that can be pared down to two?  Are you kidding yourself when you think one actor can play eight parts?

 

Our curriculum and instructors are as follows:

 

Saturday July 25th

1:00-1:15 Introduction

1:15-2:15 How to Write a Play that a Producer Can Love – taught by Diana Amsterdam

2:15-3:15 Getting to the Essence: A Good Synopsis and How to Pitch It – taught by Grace Kiley

3:15-3:30 Break

3:30-4:30 Identifying Your Market – an inter-active "pitch" session with feedback from Diana Amsterdam, Martin Platt, Cynthia Fritts-Stillwell

4:30-5:30 Cost and other Commercial Considerations – taught by Diana Amsterdam, Martin Platt, Cynthia Fritts-Stillwell

5:30-6:00 Open discussion and Q&A

 

Now that I have calmed down from my initial reaction, I have to say that I can imagine some of the discussion that might happen under this outline could help a playwright market themselves and sadly may be things that Playwrights haven’t thought of.  But I can also easily see the the discussion leading to something I might find uncomfortable and compromising. 

 

I think the core idea that one can write to be produced vs. write to tell a story is what first ignited a fire in me.  It also seems geared towards early career playwrights and setting a tone with words like “viably” and “economically” that are not as important as quality – from a glance would August Osage County with its large cast and goodness forbid three acts have met the implied terms of “produceability?”  Should a playwright be thinking about the above while writing, after writing, at all?  I have mixed feelings on some of it.   Certainly playwrights would benefit from thinking of who the audience is for a theatre or what type a work a producer normally produces BEFORE sending a script, but not when writing it.  Maybe it is the title, but “How to Write a Play that a Producer Can Love” seems counterintuitive.   Shouldn’t playwrights be writing for the audience?  But at the same time shouldn’t a playwright be aware of what is happening in the field whether good or bad?  I certainly have been guilty of looking at the cast size, time period, and setting before even reading a script.

 

Thoughts?  Discussion?

This week’s interesting articles and blog posts!

July 5, 2009 • No Comments

 

 

    From the papers and websites:

     

  • Now, Sarah’s Folly – NYTimes.com – http://shar.es/Gj5o

  • Female playwrights find it’s still a man’s world — Newsday.com – http://shar.es/GvPV

  • ‘Girls Night,’ Bachelorettes plays – WSJ.com – http://shar.es/G7al

  • Summer tourism to NYC down sharply. Tourists forgoing Broadway for less pricey atttractions. http://tinyurl.com/n6zegy

  • Mayor Michael Bloomberg – A public insurance plan will help heal a broken health care system – http://shar.es/cj5u

  • How Not to be Hated on Facebook – TIME – http://shar.es/cjaT #fb

  • BackStage on the amazing Bernie Telsey http://bit.ly/EkA1b w/actors Telsey tales-note 1st one http://bit.ly/tQGlP

  • City’s Funds For Film and Television Tax Credits Run Out http://bit.ly/DeLkn

  • Critic Peter Marks says that the power of the critic "theater, like most politics, is local," http://is.gd/1lpVZ

  • Bravo, Sarah Jessica Parker launching art-themed reality series http://bit.ly/ayTQZ

  • Playbill profile of MCC Artistic Director Bernard Telsey’s double life as a casting director – http://bit.ly/11dlAF

  • Kaiser on Arts in Crisis http://bit.ly/hQfwE H

  • Nonprofits Employ Tougher Measures as Downturn Deepens http://bit.ly/18ud9h

  • Twitter Revamps Following and Followers Pages – http://bit.ly/LFlWJ

  • Male Nonprofit Executives Earn 27% More Than Female Leaders, Study Finds http://twurl.nl/hfkofm

  • Kennedy Center to Spread the Knowledge http://bit.ly/1gwGiq

  • Productive but Neurotic New York – Crain’s New York Business – http://shar.es/5W13

  • Charles Isherwood of the NYT on the NT Live Phedre http://bit.ly/lbi00

  • It’s official: T.R. Knight is headed to Broadway http://tinyurl.com/nqz2vz

  • Guthrie Theater Wraps Up Highly Successful Kushner Celebration http://tinyurl.com/mdxv5f

  • Recession Taking a Toll on Nonprofits, Bridgespan Survey Finds http://bit.ly/LMxYt

  • Facebook Could Create a Revolution, Do Good, and Make Billions – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/fYGc

  • Variety – interesting business/creative model for the musical "Ella": http://bit.ly/OpU1z

  • Bard Stars Esparza, White Help Raise $1.3 Million for Public – Bloomberg.com – http://shar.es/74rL

    •  

     

      From the Blogs (For a daily update check What’s being talked about on the Blogroll regularly.  It is updated several times throughout the day.  Follow me on Twitter to receive a tweet whenever it is updated.)  If there is a blog I am not following and I should please let me know.  You can see the blog roll by category here.:

       

       

      • *’Bums on Seats’ * "PR folk are always asking how… from Hannah Nicklin – Blog

      • The Huffington Post says The Skylight is following… from Artsy Schmartsy

      • Be careful what you say from The Mission Paradox Blog

      • Acceptance Video for the ITBA’s Citation for Excellence from Flux Theatre Ensemble

      • On Theatre Etiquette from Theatre Bay Area Chatterbox

      • July 1, 2009 – Can we practice empathy together? from SEE Blog

      • Paneled on July 8th! from Parabasis

      • What? A Panel About Theatre Blogging? from The Playgoer

      • Ohio Theatre Update from The Playgoer

      • Here’s how to solve the arts funding crisis  from Stage: Theatre blog | guardian.co.uk

      • Have we seen the last of the looooong running musical? from PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE

      • Women Actors Make Way Less Money Than Men from Women & Hollywood

      • Valuing Cultural Diplomacy and Engagement for the arts from ARTSBLOG

      • Creative risk pays off for the Guthrie from Carolyn Jack

      • Gender Bias Gets Confusing! (But Poetic) from Parabasis

      • My last e-mail to Emily from The Hub Review

      • Microphilanthropy from Createquity.

      • Thinking Bigger with your Vision, your Board and your funding from For Impact Daily Nuggets

      • Are Nonprofits Good At Social Media? from The Agitator

      • Is Michael Kaiser a Demigod or Merely Superhuman? from Clyde Fitch Report

      • As Mayoral Control of Schools Lapses, Will Arts Education be affected from Clyde Fitch Report

      • On Quality, Value and Criticism from Flux Theatre Ensemble

      • Goodbye and Thanks from AmericanTheaterWeb

      • First Rehearsal to the Third Power from Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog

      • Free, Says Gladwell: Such a Little Word… from Clyde Fitch Report

      • How is Tony Voter turnout? from PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE

      • Gentle Persistence from A Small Change- Fundraising Blog

      • Gender Bias in Theatre — Digging a Little Deeper from Women & Hollywood

      • The “Turn-A-Round King goes National from off-stage right

      • The 500th Post: 16 Nonprofit Marketing (and Life)… from Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog

      • Truth, beauty, trust from The Artful Manager

      • Around the horn: Thriller edition from Createquity.

      • Are Audiences Lemmings or Thinking Lemmings? from Clyde Fitch Report

      • Today’s Must Read from Parabasis

      • O, malignant and ill-boding audience! from Struts and Frets: Kris Joseph

      • I’m lost, but I don’t think I am the only one from off-stage right

      • A Balancing Act from The Halcyon Blog

      • Broadway (officially) lends T.R. Knight ‘Tenor’ role from Entertainment Weekly’s Ausiello Files

      • Why Every Nonprofit Is Accountable For A Vision from SPURspectives

      • And then it’s gone… from Theatre Aficionado at Large

      • How convenient are we? from One Producer in the City

      • Women Directors Breaking Through in Theatre from Women & Hollywood

      • Is the Curtain Closing on Live Theater in America? from Culturebot

      • Jerry Lewis, Marvin Hamlisch taking ‘Nutty Professor’… from Culture Monster

      • A ‘West Side Story’ for the Twitter set from Culture Monster

      • Saving Arts Programs? There’s an .App for That. from ARTSBLOG

      • What You Do Isn’t Worth Paying For: The Message Google… from Technology in the Arts

      • What You Do IS Worth Paying For, We Just Can’t: Non-Profit… from Technology in the Arts

      • New York Arts Fund Offers Cheap Rent to Charities from Give and Take

      • Femme Fight from Blank New World

      • Rock and a Hard Place 3: What Actors Want from a poor player

      • Theatre as Case Study? from Parabasis

      • Fisking Emily Glassberg Sands from The Hub Review

      • The Impact of Giving Circles from Nonprofit Law Blog

      • Politics Of Online Ad Targeting from The Agitator

      • Considering the Creative Ecology from The Artful Manager

      • Keeping The Passion Alive While I am Away from Butts In The Seats

      • Question For My Inside The Arts Family from Butts In The Seats

      • Rehearsing opposites from Struts and Frets: Kris Joseph

      • Breaking the ’5th Wall’… from NEA New Play Development Program hosted by Arena

      • Engaging Dissent from NEA New Play Development Program hosted by Arena

      • I Want To Make Something Really Clear from Parabasis

      • A Good Post From David Dower from Parabasis

      •  An Open Letter to Roundabout from Theatre Aficionado at Large

      • Box? What Box? from Entrepreneur The Arts Blog

      • The Norman Conquests – Table Manners from Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals

      • TWITTER’S TIME HAS COME from Jane Fonda

      • Twitter Guide Book… from Mashable!

      • Theatre is about more than comfy seats | Matt Trueman from Stage: Theatre blog | guardian.co.uk

      • How to Lose Your Audience in One Easy Step from Theatre Bay Area Chatterbox

      • How Broadway Talks to its Audiences Using Social Media from Mashable!

        • The New York Times continues the discussion on parity for Women in Theater

        June 28, 2009 • No Comments

        Today’s New York Times takes a look at shows directed by women in New York in Who’s in Charge of This Show? She Is by Patricia Cohen. Links at the end of the post for more of the discussion on Women in Theater.  But interesting points to be made from the New York Times article:

        This has been something of a banner year for female directors in New York, a development that wouldn’t be worth noting if it weren’t so rare. In July alone three new Off Broadway shows directed by women (including Ms.[Judith] Ivey [Vanities]) are beginning previews. On Broadway eight shows last season — a record — had a woman in charge, with most of them garnering outsize praise for their work. “Hair,” directed by Diane Paulus, won the Tony for best musical revival this month, for example, while Phyllida Lloyd is one of the few directors — male or female — to have two shows running simultaneously (“Mamma Mia!,” which has raked in a fortune over the last eight years, and the new entrant, “Mary Stuart,” which earned Ms. Lloyd a Tony nomination).

        “It’s getting better and better,” said Ms. Ivey, 57, during a break between rehearsals. The fourth-floor studio is air-conditioned to ice-cream store temperatures, so she wears a lime-green scarf wrapped around her neck. On her feet are colorful tapestry slippers. How often, she asked, do middle-aged women without an Olympic-type record get a crack at directing a show? “I feel that’s what Second Stage is doing for me,” Ms. Ivey said. She has directed a few plays in recent years but no musicals before this new version of Jack Heifner’s 1976 show. “They are giving me a chance.”

        That chance, however, is something that does not come as easily or as frequently for female directors as it does for their male counterparts, many people in the theater contend.

        Leigh Silverman, 35, who directed “Well” on Broadway in 2006 and the musical version of Neil Gaiman’s children’s tale “Coraline,” which is running Off Broadway, is optimistic about the uptick in directing jobs for women. “I think it is really exciting,” she said. “There were multiple women nominated for Tonys this year. In the short range it’s incredibly encouraging.” Still, she maintains: “It’s not a level playing field. There is no parity.”

        Pretty much everyone in the business is quick to acknowledge that with so much money at stake, it’s understandable that producers want to work with people they know, and with people who have already had box-office success. Such established directors are generally men.

        One certainly can’t deny there is no parity.  We should all be applauding the face that more women have been on Broadway in the last year which hopefully won’t be an anomaly but the new norm.   I have often said to friends that I think female directors have it more difficult than ANY other group in theater – and let’s not even discuss female directors of color!

        But I have to take a moment and note that although I applaud the New York Times for writing an article on this disparity, would the reporter have described what say Michael Grief or Joe Mantello was wearing in the rehearsal studio?  Seems a bit stereotypical to me.

        The last paragraph is also a bit disturbing, and perhaps a good explanation why in so many seasons we feel like we are seeing the same old thing again.  This past year included a season of more highly acclaimed shows than most seasons of the last decade.   (I have gone so far as to hypothesize that we are entering a new arts renaissance).  I have to imagine that some of the success of the last season is some new folks (or “second-timers”) mixing it up on Broadway with some amazing veterans.

        What really gives women in Britain a leg up over those in New York, Ms. Lloyd said, is the nationally subsidized theater. Because of the government money, theaters — including the eminent National Theater and Royal Shakespeare Company — have been more likely to hire female directors, giving them the crucial experience of running a large production, she said.

        Maria Aitken, nominated for a Tony in 2008 for her direction of another British import, “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps,” has a similar view. “You don’t have a structure where young female directors can come and get training,” she said.

        The sheer size of the United States also makes a difference. In Britain it’s not hard to lure producers and artistic directors to spend a couple of hours on a train to see a production, she said, while attending a show far from New York most likely requires a flight and an overnight stay.

        Ms. Aitken, 63, who is directing Simon Gray’s play “Quartermaine’s Terms” at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts this summer, said she wonders whether New York’s “money men” will make the journey to see it. For directors not as well known or experienced as Ms. Aitken, the web of personal relationships is even more important. Just as producers prefer to work with people they know, so do playwrights. “Everybody wants to work with their friends,” said Pam MacKinnon, 41, who is directing the premiere of Cusi Cram’s “Lifetime Burning,” for Primary Stages this summer.

        Luck — a frequent character in these stories — helped Ms. MacKinnon get established. Her agent also represented Edward Albee, and he suggested that the two meet. They got together for lunch and hit it off. She has subsequently directed eight productions of Mr. Albee’s work, including the official premieres of “Peter and Jerry” and “Occupant.” She mentioned that the director Anna D. Shapiro, who won a Tony in 2008 for “August: Osage County,” has also had a longtime relationship with the playwright Tracy Letts from their collaboration at the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago. (“August” is closing on Sunday, but it earned back its investment and took home an armful of Tonys last year.)

        During her acceptance speech Ms. Shapiro referred to Steppenwolf and Mr. Letts, saying, “I’m pretty sure that the only way that you get to have a life in the theater is if somewhere in your life you come upon a group of people who, although they don’t need to, make room for you.”

        Look we all know this business is more “about who you know” in many cases than “who is best for the job.”  A lot of these women are well-known names in the theatre industry, with good reputations about working with others, and I have to believe the producers are at a point where they can’t deny knowing about them – thanks to many of the great nonprofit theaters that have been much better at creating opportunities for female directors.  So, the network is expanding.  Perhaps a good question is how to make it expand quicker – especially at a time when there seem to be more and more female producers running shows.

        But I don’t want to dismiss some important points made about the British system.  I think overall the road for young directors, male or female, is a difficult one.  The informal system in place now usually requires being an assistant for little or no pay.  Anyone who can’t support themselves from some source (other than working another job because more or less the assistant is needed endless hours a day) is excluded by time requirements.  There are a few great programs out there that could be models (ever major market in the U.S. could benefit from say a Drama League directing program), but there need to be more.  The current season will hopefully inspire some younger females to stick it out, but I couldn’t fault them if they chose a different path.  After all of the top of my head I can think of at least a dozen wonderful female directors who have never been on Broadway but have great credits for wonderful productions in New York, Chicago, Seattle, etc. but sadly it seems like most seasons only have one slot for such a director to leap to the Broadway arena.

        As for Ms. Aitken, she is sick and tired of the whole subject. When she first started directing after acting for many years, she said, “I sometimes felt like a performing bear who could walk and chew gum at the same time.”

        It is much better today, but, “it annoys me and upsets me even now that we have to be considered a special case,” she said. “I want to stop being an oddity.”

        I couldn’t agree more!

        More on the discussion of Women in Theater:

        Continuing the discussion on Gender Disparity in theater:  Emily Sands – notes and impressions from June 22 Presentation

        Women in Theater: Are all things equal?

        Emily Sand’s OPENING THE CURTAIN ON PLAYWRIGHT GENDER full thesis

        Emily Sand’s OPENING THE CURTAIN ON PLAYWRIGHT GENDER presentation from June 22

        Student Matinees create opportunities for all students. They are important and have a huge impact when done well.

        June 21, 2009 • 2 Comments

        Frank Rizzo (Hartford Courant, Variety) who I tend to agree with on most topics posted the a very ill-informed take on student matinees: they are done more or less for funding purposes only and not having any true impact on attendees or developing audiences.  Basically Frank suggests we give students free tickets to attend a regular performance and give up on student matinees.

        Here is my the response to Frank’s post that I put in his comments section – ironically I think that my posting of the comment or trying to crashed the Courant site because I can’t get on it since – so I will check throughout the day to make sure my comment got through:

        I couldn’t disagree with you more about student matinees (of which I have attended dozens).  The logistics of attending a show outside of school hour are virtually impossible to arrange in most cases.

        First and the largest issue, your plan assumes that the students can find transportation to the theater. Without buses, which are expensive many students can’t even get to the theater.  You may argue that they make it to the mall or to the movies which is true, but some parents view malls as babysitting services and frankly malls are cool social settings where kids already gather – not exactly what most kids think of when they think of their local theaters.

        Second, your plan also assumes that children are old enough to attend the theatre on their own.  If we wait for every students theatre-going experience to begin when they are old enough to attend on their own, we might as well write them off?  If you haven’t experienced something, you won’t miss it. The reality is that movies, sports, etc a geared towards children at a very young age.  If we aren’t providing a similar point of entry for the theatre (and all of the arts) we will become even more irrelevant.  And once again we can’t rely on parents to seek out this experience alone.

        Third, the factors above and your plan would likely create an even smaller audience in that those who would choose to attend or could attend are those that could AFFORD the transportation or whose parents didn’t work at night and could take their kids to a show or didn’t have other children or can afford a babysitter.  Our ticket prices are already too high why would we want to create more barriers for attending.

        This is why schools have such strict rules about what can be required as class room activities and field trips.  And I am pretty sure we aren’t going to convince the school system to provide after school buses or teacher support for theatre attendance when the arts are being cut out of many of our schools.

        My childhood and formative years were filled with professional arts experiences via student matinees.  And I had a mother who firmly believed in providing these experiences outside of the school hours but as a school teacher didn’t necessarily have the time, energy or money to make it to the few arts experiences that were available in El Paso, TX.  Without those matinees, I would never have pursued a career in theater.

        A well prepared audience at a student matinee (by both the school and the theatre) can be one of the best audiences around with completely honest reactions.  Certainly adults can and should be encouraged to attend with the students – at 10:30am.  It is an opportunity to give tickets to local partners or a special subscription or discount offer.  Frankly any actor or other theatre artists who wants to complain about it should take a moment and try and remember what brought them to the arts.  And then they should take some action to participate in either the preparation of the audiences or the day’s experience – it can be as simple as asking what the preparation was.  I am not suggesting more work for the actors – the theatre should be doing the heavy lifting, but we all are responsible for making sure theatre is available to audiences of all ages.  Or get used to the fact that our audience will be smaller and smaller.  You don’t miss what you never have.   I know first hand how much work the matinees are and how frustrating they can be but the alternatives are unacceptable to me.  It reminds me the stereotypical self-indulgent directors who are so concerned about their “art” that they have forgotten completely about the audience and the reasons for creating theatre in the first place.

        The point of the matinees isn’t to convert everyone into as die-hard theatre attendee.  It is a chance to reach a few future theatre participants, to enhance the education curriculum and to foster an understanding of the importance of the arts.

        Your suggestion for free vouchers (and a way to make sure the students actually attend)is a fine idea for summers, a one time specific project, or a way to encourage students to attend a show.  I actually have always been a proponent of all student tickets being free or at least lower than the price of a movie ticket (often free tickets remove the value of the experience completely).  But if that is the only access provided, we won’t be doing our jobs as theatre practitioners or meeting the missions of most nonprofit theatres.

        The Tony Awards: Musicals

        June 4, 2009 • No Comments

        Below are thoughts, predictions, wishes, etc about Sunday nights Tony Awards – this post will address the musical categories (plays and special performances to follow).   Of course I know that the Awards have become more about selling tickets (especially on the road) and the ceremony, well, you can read my thoughts about the ceremony here.  But for the sake of this post, I am going to remove all cynicism and believe for a bit that the awards are about excellence.  This year was a really great year for musicals.  Even though I think Billy Elliot will sweep a lot of the awards, I think in many categories it is a really close call.  For the most part, I can honestly say, I won’t be mad no matter who wins this year.

        I should note that even though I am not a Tony voter, I try my best to mimic the process, so many of the shows, I have seen recently (I often hold off on purpose for those that I can wait on).  Some I have posted thoughts (not reviews) on, some I haven’t – two reasons for this, timing and frankly until I was really encouraged recently to put my thoughts on shows in the blog, I hadn’t posted much about shows I was seeing.

        Best Musical

        Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Next to Normal

        Rock of Ages

        Shrek The Musical

        For once, I am with the actually in full support of the front-runner.  I enjoyed all of the shows for very different reasons, but Billy Elliot really was in a league of it’s own among these nominees.  Without question for me it had the strongest emotional impact and stayed with me the longest.

        Best Book of a Musical

        Billy Elliot, The Musical,  Lee Hall

        Next to Normal,  Brian Yorkey

        Shrek The Musical,  David Lindsay-Abaire

        [Title of Show], Hunter Bell

        This is a difficult one for me.  I am slightly biased (okay more than slightly) towards original material for this category, but this isn’t the Oscars where you have adaptations and originals, so that said…I think Billy Elliot will win and I won’t mind in the least bit but for originality and story Next to Normal might deserve it a bit more.  Of course for pure originality the vote would go to [Title of Show] but we all know how about the voters long-term memory issues about anything that has closed.

        Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

        Billy Elliot, The Musical, Music: Elton John, Lyrics: Lee Hall

        Next to Normal, Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

        9 to 5: The Musical, Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton

        Shrek The Musical, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

        Billy Elliot will win and it will deserve the win, as a friend said to me the other day “the score could not have matched the show better.”  But honestly, I love Dolly Parton.  I really enjoyed 9-5.  I never posted about it because I saw the first preview and it would be morally wrong to write about a preview (yes I believe that full heartedly).  But I had so much fun at that show.  I just don’t understand the negativity and lack of love for it.  There I said it.

        Best Revival of a Musical

        Guys and Dolls

        Hair

        Pal Joey

        West Side Story

        Hair, Hair, Hair.  Easiest pick of musical categories for me.

        Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

        David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish – Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Gavin Creel, Hair

        Brian d’Arcy James, Shrek The Musical

        Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages

        J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

        Tough category, one of the most difficult of the year.  But it should be the Billys who win it.  I loved all of the other performances and wouldn’t be upset if any of them won.

        Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

        Stockard Channing, Pal Joey

        Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical

        Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical

        Alice Ripley, Next to Normal

        Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

        I don’t see how Alice Ripley doesn’t win this.  But I am a huge fan of all of the ladies in this category.

        Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

        David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical

        Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical

        Will Swenson, Hair

        Again super tough category and Aaron Tveit isn’t even included (what is is with the men in musicals this year – why couldn’t there be 6 nominees?).  Again all of the performances in other years would be winners.  I think that Gregory Jbara deserves it the most.  He carries the darker side of the show on his shoulders.  How in the world can anyone not cry when he turns himself into a scab for his son’s dream.   It is a really remarkable performance.  Although David Bologna’s Expressing Yourself was my favorite number of the entire season and the final moment between Michael and Billy is one of the most beautiful moments of friendship ever portrayed in a musical.  Why couldn’t they both go off to London?  What will poor Michael do trapped in the coal town!

        Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

        Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal

        Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Karen Olivo, West Side Story

        Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey

        Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Again, tough category, but Haydn Gwynne is my pick.  Although any of the ladies would be fine by me.

        Best Scenic Design of a Musical

        Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls

        Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Scott Pask, Pal Joey

        Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

        Sorry friends in this category, I think the Brits have it and deserve it with Billy Elliot.

        Best Costume Design of a Musical

        Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages

        Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical

        Michael McDonald, Hair

        Shrek The Musical was by far the greatest creative achievement on stage for costumes this year.

        Best Lighting Design of a Musical

        Kevin Adams, Hair

        Kevin Adams, Next to Normal

        Howell Binkley, West Side Story

        Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Sorry friends in this category, I think the Brits have it and deserve it with Billy Elliot.

        Best Sound Design of a Musical

        Acme Sound Partners, Hair

        Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages

        Brian Ronan, Next to Normal

        Sorry friends in this category, I think the Brits have it and deserve it with Billy Elliot.

        Best Direction of a Musical

        Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Michael Greif, Next to Normal

        Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages

        Diane Paulus, Hair

        I could just repeat “Sorry friends in this category, I think the Brits have it and deserve it with Billy Elliot,” but I have to say it is astounding that two women are nominated for best direction of a musical.  I am proud as can bee to have worked with two of the directors in this category and their work this year was astounding.  Really difficult category!

        Best Choreography

        Karole Armitage, Hair

        Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical

        Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas

        Peter Darling should win if for nothing else than Angry Dance.  Again very competitive year.

        Best Orchestrations

        Larry Blank, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas

        Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical

        Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal

        Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical

        Billy Elliot, the Musical should win.

        Dance Billy dance…living up to promises, Billy Elliot delivers.

        June 3, 2009 • No Comments

        Only a true cynic’s heart would not melt during Billy Elliot.  All of those cute kids.  The desire of one kid to express himself inspiring an entire community. This is the stuff of good musicals.  But it is the juxtaposition of uplifting material with a dark tale of a fight for human dignity, a miners’ strike  that is decimating a community,  that makes Billy Elliot soar.

        The design elements are impeccable, the cast is phenomenal (lots of Tony wins likely with both groups),  but it is all about the dancing and Billy doesn’t disappoint.

        In some ways the show didn’t feel like a musical or a play.  It felt more like a wonderful piece of dance unrolling slowly before our eyes reaching a crescendo in the second act at in all important audition scene.  The dance was supported by a wonderful score, mostly non-traditional musical numbers that were essential to the balance of the two tones of the show, and short narrative scenes that didn’t over-explain the story.

        I found myself on the edge of my seat at end of act one’s Angry Dance.  It was an act break like no other.  Almost completely dance, completely entrancing and more evocative of the story than another showstopper I had ever seen.  And one of the funniest and most endearing numbers ever to be performed has to be when Billy and Michael sing Expressing yourself.   This is certainly the first time a show’s dream ballet not only made sense but moved the story forward with beauty and grace.

        The story we all know from the movie, but one can’t help think of the current economic crisis during the show.  You have to root for Billy (Trent Kowalik portrayed Billy at the show we saw, and he tore my heart out at the end of the show as he walked down the aisle past me with a tear rolling down his cheek).  His father’s struggle as a single parent maybe a familiar story but it is portrayed with such heart and emotion, you want to leap to the stage and hug the wonderful Gregory Jbara.    Haydn Gwynne’s dance teacher captured the magic of seeing a great talent for the first time and the heartbreak that goes along with nurturing that talent, but not being able to fully nurture the child.  I also have to mention David Bologna who played Michael with the comic wit of an actor three times his age.

        At the end of the show, I was struck by the fact that this was not a traditional musical but I didn’t mind in any way.  It is a beautiful show and will likely win a lot of awards Sunday night.  Anyone who has ever worked in the arts should see this show.  So should anyone who has a dream.  I just wished I had kept up dance classes when I was young, because after the show I inspired and wanted to pirouette down Broadway.

        Completely forgot to post last week’s interesting articles! Sorry

        June 1, 2009 • No Comments

         

        LAByrinth Gets New Leaders http://bit.ly/wSz7O

        TIME’s The Future of Twitter – http://is.gd/KxqB

        Harvard Business School’s New "M.B.A Oath" http://tr.im/mVpb

        Quality too good to pass up – Entertainment News, Legit News, Media – Variety – http://shar.es/XQXL

        Tunesmith takes on "Minister’s Wife" Variety – I hear great things about this show. http://tinyurl.com/mj8q9x

        Hold the Interview | forimpact.org GREAT LINK to Chip and Dan Heath article – http://shar.es/XAGh

        Tips on Filling Out the Governance Section on the New Form 990 (IRS) http://bit.ly/KqeW0

        10 Ways to Think About Social Networking And The Arts (the zen of "free" as a strategy) http://bit.ly/1Dpo5

        Babes in Broadwayland: How Old Is Old Enough? http://bit.ly/ymtpi

        White House Officials Discuss Plans for Social-Innovation Office http://twurl.nl/zbxpum

        Shubert teams with NYC and Co. – Entertainment News, Legit News, Media – Variety – http://shar.es/0mLz

        Stephen Belber: ‘Is it better to write for Hollywood?’ – Los Angeles Times – http://shar.es/0nSL

        Broadway embraces web community – Entertainment News, Legit News, Media – Variety – http://shar.es/mLLj

        Conference Committee report is out on HB2649. Stripped as promised by Rep. Smith. (link at @jimonlight http://is.gd/KPrS)

        Shrek: a critical perspective from a very important person

        May 30, 2009 • No Comments

        On May 16, I was honored to take my niece and my sister to their first Broadway show, Shrek.  They had come to to visit Brian and I and to celebrate my niece’s 6th birthday.  Throughout their visit, I continued to write blog posts, tweeted and updated my facebook status.  My niece would ask me each time she saw me posting something on my computer or blackberry, what had I written, I would show her and she would read it back to me (proud aunt now boasts that the kid reads on the 5th grade level and is so super smart).

        When we got back from the show, I went to write a post about Shrek and thought it best to capture her experience of the show.

        JSC: When you walked into the Broadway Theater what did you think?

        My niece:  It was so big and pretty.  I liked all of the drawings on the ceiling.  And I got a special booster seat so I could see.  Everyone was so nice to me.  I love the Fiona ears and program you got me.  And the seats were bouncy.

        JSC:  When the curtain rose what was your first thought?

        My niece:  I wanted to see big Shrek, but then little Shrek walked around while his parents sang to him and he grew up into big Shrek.  I wish Shrek’s parents didn’t have to send him away.

        JSC: Who was your favorite character?

        My niece:  Pinocchio because he is my friend Johnny [now is a good time thank the amazing John Tartaglia for giving us a wonderful backstage tour and hanging out with us]. I love Johnny.  I watch Johnny and the Sprites.

        JSC:  Did you like anyone else?

        My niece:  Fiona was very pretty and she sang and danced.  She was funny when she farted [interview had to be held for a while while my niece giggled and laughed]. I LOVED Shrek and Donkey they were funny.  And Auntie, I told you Puss in Boots would be in the show – I was right and you were wrong, he passed by when they were walking through the forest.  You said he wouldn’t be in it and he was.

        JSC:  Yes he was, you were right.  Any other characters you liked in the show?

        My niece:  All of them.  I loved Gingy even though he was a puppet.

        JSC:  What did you think of the songs and dances?

        My niece:   I liked them.  Lots.

        JSC: What was the best part of the show?

        My niece:  At the end, I got to go backstage and meet Johnny and Shrek gave me a hug and told me “happy birthday.”  I have a picture of us.  [good time to thank Brian D’Arcy James for coming over to meet her and let her take a picture with him in full make-up – it was between shows]. And I got to see Gingy and Fiona’s tower and the costumes and the dragon, but I wasn’t scared of the dragon because it is a big huge puppet that Johnny makes move.

        JSC:  Did you mom like the show?

        My niece:  Yup.

        JSC:  What was her favorite part?

        My niece:  Mom, what was your favorite part of Shrek [My niece screams this to my sister in the next room as I did not realize she told her mother that she needed privacy for her interview]. She says she liked the Donkey because he was funny.  And she LOVED when Shrek and Fiona farted [hysterical laughter].

        JSC:  She didn’t say that did she?

        My niece:  Yes, she did [more hysterical laughter, giggling finally ceases].

        JSC:  Did your mom really say she liked the farting? [more laughing]

        My niece:  No but it was funny.  She did say she liked Donkey.

        JSC:  Was there anything you didn’t like about the show?

        My niece:  I wanted to meet Fiona so I could tell her how pretty she was and that I want to sing as good as she does.  Will you tell her?

        JSC:  Maybe Sutton Foster who played Fiona will read this interview.

        My niece:  That would be cool.

        JSC: Scale of 1 to 10, what did you think of your first Broadway experience?

        My niece:  10!  I LOVED IT.  Especially the singing and the farting [laughter].  When can we go again?

        I should note both Brian and I agreed the best part of the show for us was watching our niece watch the show, eyes wide open in awe and completely engaged.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun show with great performances, but there is nothing like seeing a child glowing in the magic of theater!   Also, another thanks to John Tartaglia for being such a great host and wonderful friend, and the generous Brian D’Arcy James for taking a minute and to say hello and wish her a happy birthday, it really was above and beyond the call of duty!

        Are there too many good shows and not enough audience members?

        May 27, 2009 • No Comments

         

        At one point in early April I made a joke to my husband that the critics were only writing rave reviews – because if shows sold tickets,  producers would buy ads and therefore critics would keep their jobs.  I didn’t really think there was a conspiracy–mostly because I think critics are smart enough to know that writing good reviews for every show wouldn’t save arts journalism (but that’s another post), so could the answer be that there were a bunch of really great shows opening around New York City? 

         

        There were certainly more than enough shows opening.  Off-Broadway the non-profit theaters were at the height of their seasons and even commercial off-Broadway was showing some life with the new multi-plex theaters seeming to be almost full for the first time in a while.   The double digit closings on Broadway in January and early February opened up a lot of theaters.  Most of the closings were limited runs or long-running shows except for the wonderful Dividing the Estate which should have been allowed to stay at the Booth longer (everyone buy tickets to see it at Hartford Stage – go buy now – come back and finish reading the post after getting your tickets), but each closing announcement was quickly followed by an opening announcement.   Theater owners seemed determined to keep their spaces filled.   Producers seemed to scale back shows a bit or resorted to producing PLAYS (hooray!) to keep costs down.  It certainly wasn’t the rush on theaters that the late 90’s and early part of this decade provided but the theaters certainly weren’t going dark. 

         

        And then it happened…review after review: Ruined, Exit the King, God of Carnage, Our Town, Hair, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Mary Stuart, Next to Normal, The Norman Conquests (all three), Rock of Ages, Reasons to be Pretty, Waiting for Godot, West Side Story, Everyday Rapture, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and that doesn’t even name all of the shows that were getting raves – so please don’t get upset if I left your show off -  or the ones that are still to open off-Broadway (high hopes for MCC Theater’s Coraline and everyone is telling me to rush to the Public Theater’s Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson).   It was as if we entered a mini-Golden age for the theatre and so many wonderful straight plays!  They even opened a second  “Plays only” window at the TKTS Booth.

         

        So, I started what seems like an endless odyssey to see all of these wonderful shows that are out there.   Now, I am a pretty regular theater-goer, I see most of the Broadway and off-Broadway season each year and even make it to a smattering of off-off-Broadway productions.   But I am finding myself in a the theater a lot more this spring, there is just so much to see!  And you know what, the critics are right, the shows are well-deserving of their raves.  As a matter of fact, the only reviews I seem to disagree with are some of the “mixed reviews”  (come on way too tough of 9-5 it was as much fun as Rock of Ages and hello DOLLY PARTON’s songs were great and Tovah Feldshuh cannot receive enough praise for Irena’s Vow). 

        So, I am going to all of this wonderful theater and loving it.  More than that, I am proud to be a part of the New York theater industry.  How can anyone not take great pride in all of the wonderful work throughout the City. 

         

        But then at intermission I start looking around at the houses, then after the show, then I start getting there early to watch the audiences come in, and I am deeply, deeply distraught that so many of these wonderful shows with all of these great reviews are playing to partial houses and in some cases partial is bring very polite.  Sure some of the musicals are doing well and I can’t even get house seats at God Of Carnage (and I have tried 4 times) but I have to think if some of these shows were in a less competitive environment they would be playing to higher percentages of houses or would they?

         

        Are there too many good shows out there and not enough audience for them?

         

        My knee-jerk response is to point to ticket prices.  They are so high.  After all the New York Times just reported how Broadway had record grosses this year.  (Note Ken Davenport over at Producer’s Perspective breaks the stats down and shows the drop-off in total audiences that matched these record grosses, so clearly higher prices play into the slight uptick).  But it would be foolish to say that ticket prices were the issue, lets not kid ourselves they are ridiculously high and the premium seats are way out of control – too many held, etc., but come on practically ever show is at the Theater Development Fund’s TKTS Booth (Follow TDF on Twitter if you don’t believe me) and there are so many other discounts out there!  Google a show and you can get a discount ticket!

         

        So is it the about stars?  This season is certainly has more big names involved  on and off stage than any other recent season.   Reasons to be Pretty doesn’t have stars, I hear it over and over.  Well they have done a great job finding a handful of stars to host talk-backs every night for the week or two and that doesn’t seem to solve the fact that this AMAZING show is playing to way too small of houses.  (again, please pause in your reading and go buy tickets to Reasons to be Pretty, really you can come back and finish the post after, I will wait just don’t get lost in their great new web videos, you can go back and look at those later). 

         

        So what is it?  And don’t anyone dare say the word “marketing.”  Frankly some of the best marketing out there is for the shows that aren’t filling up and some of the worst for the shows that are (I won’t name examples because of dear friends involved in the shows but you all have seen some of the commercials and print pieces). 

         

        Is tourism down?  Are all those “staycations” I keep reading about causing this?  I would imagine they are having some balanced effect – New Yorkers who stay home make up for the tourists?

         

        Are the audiences just diminishing?  Have lack of school programs and the value of theater sunk so low that we are now on a trend to just see audiences grow smaller and smaller?  I might think this had more validity if so much of the work out there weren’t so darn relevant and good.  But we can’t completely rule it out.

         

        Or is it perhaps that the balance of long-running shows to new shows is off-kilter.   After all the entire theater business is more or less about balance, so did all those long-running shows that closed throw the audience levels off?  I hate to say it but I think this is the largest factor.  Maybe some of the theaters should have stayed dark a little longer.  After all a couple more shows like Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys, Wicked, Avenue Q or August Osage County might balance out some of the competition.  And certainly it would be great if off-Broadway production costs could be reversed so that you could have once again sustain long runs. 

         

        So the question isn’t really are there too many good shows out there, but there are too many NEW good shows out there.  What will happen next?  Can some of these shows maintain their success or survive their lower numbers and pull off a longer run?  With so many of the shows on Broadway are we setting ourselves up for next season to mirror this one?  The summer and fall already have a rich schedule from the nonprofit theatres (in New York, Chicago, San Diego, etc.) with several of the shows looking like they are possible transfers, so there will be plenty of competition to fill the theaters that do empty. 

         

        I think this means we as an industry have to do some thinking and planning and do it darn quick.  We are digging a hole that is going to be very difficult to get out of if we let it become a trend.  We have to make an environment where a good show can run. We have to make off-Broadway and off-off Broadway sustainable.  We have to reach beyond New York and make sure that theater can be sustainable, vital and relevant throughout the country.   It means dealing with production costs and ticket prices, cultivating future theater audiences, and most importantly learning from the current slate on the boards to find a balance that works.  We can’t just write it off as an anomaly or blame it on the economy (oh my that sort of rhymed), just as the nonprofit theater world must revise its business model to meet a new reality so does the commercial side of the industry.

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