The blogosphere is where important conversations happen! Here are some interesting posts from the bloggers who I read regularly.
- Broadway's 1st Quarter Results: Summer Lovin' happened so fast.Published: August 24, 2010With the end of the summer comes the end of the first 13 weeks of the Broadway season, which means it's time for us to check in and see how the grosses and attendance are stacking up so far.And lo and behold, it looks like Santa got his seasons messed up, because we got a nice present this summer!Grosses are up a considerable 2.9% this quarter, as compared to the first 13 weeks of last season. Attendance notched up 1.1% as well.This is quite a difference from the first quarter last y...
- Theater and Brand StewardshipPublished: July 6, 2010What do you think of when you think of the word brand? Do you think, first and foremost, of a logo? The swirled “G” of the Guthrie Theatre? The lowercase red-and-white “tkts” next to the discount booths in New York, or the lowercase white “tcg” – inside an orange circle – associated with the Theatre Communications Group? How about the big blue box with the white-lettered 2AMt inside it over there on the upper left of the screen right now? If what you think of when you thi...
- Speak Their LanguagePublished: August 5, 2010There have been a number of conversations sparking up this week about the inherent value of theatre, the arts in society. A particularly vocal area has been about value of the arts in education. These conversations have been going on over at the #2amt hashtag as well as various blogs and facebook. One document of particular interest was National Art Education Association’s 10 Reasons the Arts Teach. The major problem I find with a lot of the discourse is a certain lack of specificity. Clayto...
- How social are you?Published: July 29, 2010or, Please Don’t Be a Fair Weather Friend… A few weeks ago, I started writing this post. I didn’t even have the guts to put it on my own blog. I decided to write it for 2am Theatre. Then I saw this excellent post on PR For Smarties. So I immediately emailed Karen and asked her if she would be interested in collaborating on a post, seeing as we were clearly using the same brain. So, here it is! This post will probably not make me popular. For those of you that don’t know me, I’m a theat...
- Ritual And The ArtsPublished: August 26, 2010So this weekend I am acting as a master of ceremonies for a wedding reception. The request was made based, I kid you not, my curtain speeches before performances. I guess that teaches me not to give discounted tickets to my friends. They also chose me for my sense of humor. I am supposed to make some humorous remarks about the bride because her sister doesn’t speak English fluently enough to tell everyone how the bride tortured her when they were younger and how devoted they are to one anothe...
- The Planner vs. the EntrepreneurPublished: August 23, 2010Everyone who knows me well knows that I am, at heart, a planner. I plan everything I do, often very far in advance. I have spent much of the last two years trying to convince arts organizations to plan their art four or five years in advance. I believe that this time frame gives the organization the time it needs to find resources, create excellent art and attract an audience. Virtually every project we mount at the Kennedy Center was planned five years before it is on one of our stages. Wh...
- What To Do When “60 Minutes” CallsPublished: August 22, 2010Are you prepared for the day your executive director is led away in handcuffs? When auditors discover that the multi-million gift from that wonderful widow has gone missing? Or when “60 Minutes” comes knocking on the door asking difficult questions? It’s not just the BPs, Goldman-Sachs and Toyotas who need a plan. Crises large and small can and do occur in nonprofits and, hopefully, if handled promptly and well damage can be mitigated. Sunday’s New York Times carried two articles wel...
- Non-profits can do it. Why can’t we?Published: August 22, 2010I’m not talking about not paying taxes. I’m talking about subscriptions. Could a commercial theater subscription exist? One of the principal elements of a strong financial foundation for a not-for-profit theater is selling a season of shows through a “subscription”. Buy 6 shows for 1 low price, but you have to do it now! Touring “road houses” do the same. You get cash in the bank, before you need to spend it (unless your ticketing company holds on to it), and a reassurance th...
- The Donor You Don’t KnowPublished: August 18, 2010You thought you “knew” her … the donor who’s given you $200 a year faithfully for the past five years. You’re happy to have her, because she’s loyal and responds to your first renewal notice, saving you money. Aren’t we content? Then you read she passed away and left $1 million to your competitor. But suppose I had handed you a piece of paper well before that sad event showing you that specific donor gave substantially more money per year to each of seven specific other organizatio...
- Their eyes were watching youPublished: August 18, 2010Via the excellent daily newsletter You've Cott Mail, in today's Wall Street Journal: More museums are paying to send stealth observers through their galleries. Based on what they see, the museums may rearrange art or rewrite the exhibit notes. Their efforts reflect the broader change in the mission of museums: It's no longer enough to hang artfully curated works. Museum exhibits are expected to be interactive and engaging. As well, many foundations and donors are requiring proof that their fundi...
- Some thoughts on Dynamic PricingPublished: August 18, 2010A couple of months ago, a good dialogue about dynamic pricing began when Trisha Mead (PR and Publications Manager, Portland Center Stage) wrote a blog post on the benefits of dynamic pricing on the 2am theatre blog, and then Adam Thurman (Director of Marketing, Court Theatre) wrote a response entitled "the perils of dynamic pricing." It reminded me how often marketers disagree with each other when it comes to so called best practices.If your organization is considering dynamic pricing, a couple...
- GenerosityPublished: August 18, 2010The most direct way of encouraging your audience to be generous with you is by being generous with them. Give them things. Give them a honest and candid look into your artist process. Give them insight to help them enjoy the work better. Give them something online that makes them laugh, even if they never actually come to see the work. Find a random person in your venue lobby and give them some free concessions. Do something, anything, to help people understand that their interaction with your...
- One business model to rule them allPublished: August 17, 2010A favorite moment in my arts conference trek this summer was an Americans for the Arts panel on new business models in the arts. Clara Miller of the Nonprofit Finance Fund cut through the clutter with this little phrase:''There is one business model: reliable revenue that meets or exceeds expenses. Any questions?''This after I had been spending months exploring various business entities -- B Corporations, Low-Profit Limited Liability Companies (L3C), co-operatives, holding companies, fiscal spon...
- The Corporate TalePublished: July 24, 2010When I talk with other people in the arts, one thing always makes me cringe. I hear it from brand new companies and from very huge organizations: Were looking to attract more corporate sponsorship... According to Giving USA (executive report is free, but requires registration) in 2009, Corporate giving only made up four percent of philanthropy. Individual giving makes up 75% of giving in the US. $14.1 billion was given by coprorations in 2009. $227 billion was g...
- Top Salaries as Percentage of Expenses Gets More ComplicatedPublished: August 12, 2010So, I went to go look up this information on good ole Charity Navigator so I could make you all a chart and... well, there are a couple of issues. The first is that it is using tax returns generally from 2007-2008, while the Voice article is using 2008-2009. Comparing the CN data and the VV data, for example, it appears that Carole Rothmans salary increased during this period from $252,624 to $374,855, and Todd Haimes also seems to have gotten a $100K raise between FY 08 and FY 09 but withou...
- Top NYC Theatre Salaries Expressed As PercentagesPublished: August 11, 2010By Isaac ButlerUPDATE: The chart below, since it relies entirely on the Village Voices data only uses net assets. I dont have time to do it with annual budgets today, but I will do so tomorrow. So the chart isnt that useful. Apologies. More useful one coming tomorrow.The Village Voice has an article today that shows the salaries at the top ten largest nonprofit theaters in New York City. I was curious what happens to this chart when you look at the salaries as a percentage of the theaters t...
- The Age of the Artist in Residence: Are Actors Next?Published: August 12, 2010The in-residence artist is ubiquitous, not just in the theater but in, say, the visual arts. But the theater seems to be cultivating a taste for the idea as a way to alleviate the poverty. And it has me thinking. Specifically, two high-profile announcements — one relating to Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and the opening of its new house there, and one relating to New York City’s Roundabout Theatre Company – has me wondering if we’re entering a new era of in-residence artists and if...
- Popular is Not the Opposite of RelevantPublished: August 12, 2010If you have a moment, read the piece from the LA Times the other day wherein two local LA critics talk about the small theatre scene. It’s worth reading for its own merits, and it is an interesting discussion with a number of really perceptive insights from the two critics, Charles McNulty and Steven Leigh Morris But one thing Morris said stood out that I want to challenge, or at least frame differently. It’s this one: “Pleasing and selling are awfully seductive, essential really; they m...
- Art, disease, and economicsPublished: August 16, 2010Economist John Kay offers a useful rant against our common approach to measuring economic impact for the arts (and sports, and leisure activities). He begins the rant by applying that very same approach to a less desirable social element: disease.Many people underestimate the contribution disease makes to the economy. In Britain, more than a million people are employed to diagnose and treat disease and care for the ill. Thousands of people build hospitals and surgeries, and many small and medium...
- Ceding Control Of Your Message (Just A Little)Published: August 4, 2010I am experiencing the slight panic that goes with having other people promote your events over social media more frequently these days. It is difficult to cede control of my information dispersal to other people, largely because it is increasingly involuntary. Because services like Google and Twitter allow you to see what people are saying about my organization, I often find that people are forwarding incomplete information or mangled information. Some of it is a result of copy and paste which l...
- Mandatory Non-Profit Salary CapsPublished: August 3, 2010Last week, the NY Times had a story about how lawmakers are really scrutinizing the salaries of non-profit leaders. The paper notes that New Jersey recently passed a provision that “includes a limit on what nonprofit groups can pay their chief executives if they are providing social services under state contracts. The cap, based on a formula that also applies to for-profits providing such services on behalf of the state, is part of a broader effort by Gov. Chris Christie to rein in salaries o...
- The Endowment ConundrumPublished: August 9, 2010Ask any ten board members what would make their organizations more successful and nine of them will say, "All we need is an endowment." An endowment provides 'guaranteed income,' reducing the need for fundraising, and provides a measure of stability for the organization, they argue. Since private fundraising is such a scary concept for so many board members, and feels so uncontrollable, the concept of guaranteed income seems like a godsend. Of course, I certainly would rather have an endowmen...
- Deep Pocket Donors & Corporate Benefactors Stretched to the LimitPublished: August 11, 2010Keely Saye Is the failure of the arts to maintain market share among providers of contributed support a short-term problem related to increased social service, health, and educational needs, or will it persist? In my opinion, the question must be considered from two different perspectives. In reference to the short term, the answer would appear to be an unqualified yes. This can be considered a “short-term” problem in that it is one that has arisen relatively recently. Fundr...
- Text to Give Pricing & CostsPublished: August 11, 2010When considering which provider to use, it can be difficult to find their pricing information so I’ve aggregated it here. There are more variables beyond cost since different businesses offer different options in reporting and wrap around services. Some of the providers require an application process for nonprofits for charitable or logistic reasons. Below I’ve provided a price chart for each business. Monthly fee packages govern the number of outgoing messages, simultaneous...
- How Does Mobile Giving Work?Published: August 9, 2010Mobile giving is like the wild west of online fundraising. Nonprofits are still trying to understand much of what is being done in mobile giving. Some nonprofits are moving west and striking it rich, while others are having a hard time finding a place to start. What is mobile giving? Basically a nonprofit provides its donors an option to give via text messaging by texting a specified keyword to a specified five or six digit number. When this keyword is sent, the cell phone compa...
- Is bigger better when you're talking about blasts?Published: June 22, 2010Here comes an old chestnut of a joke for you.Size doesn't matter.When people are peddlin' you email blasts for your shows, they'll all trumpet the size of their lists. 100,000. 350,000. 650,000! Immediately you'll feel that "bigger is better" pull and think, "Wow, just imagine all those impressions at a cost of only pennies per!"The moment someone tries to sell you a list, the first question you should ask is "How many subscribers do you have?" But don't stop there.The second question yo...
- 5 Ways to get higher open rates on your email blasts.Published: June 23, 2010Yesterday we dismissed the myth that the size of an email blast list determines its value. Since we know that the true success of any advertising campaign is the number of conversions and ROI (return on investment), it's essential that we examine ways that we can increase those conversions. And before we get to the message inside the blast, we've got to make sure as many people are opening it as possible. Here are five tips you can use to increase the open rates on your email blasts, wheth...
- The Tonys and marketing BroadwayPublished: June 25, 2010Just about everyone else has weighed in on Hunter Foster's Facebook group "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway," so here's my 2 cents.Like the other major awards shows, there are two sides to the Tony Awards. They're supposed to celebrate the best in terms of artistic achievement and act as a marketing tool.The producers of the Emmys, Oscars and Grammys have it easy. You watch the ceremony and you want to see the TV show or movie or listen to the song, it's cheap and simple.The Broadway Lea...
- Broadways Coming Attractions? Definitely Maybe.Published: June 28, 2010Broadway's Coming Attractions? Definitely Maybe.UPDATED - July 8, 2010Yesterday, I highlighted 21 plays, musicals and special events that are "confirmed" for Broadway's upcoming 2010-11 Theatrical Season.Today, I give you a list of 14 shows that producers have indicated are heading to the Great White Way this season, but these shows have not yet secured theatres or specific dates.Again, just like yesterday, the caveat is that some may never arrive.Here are the fourteen shows that may (or may not...
- Things To Ponder: Who Is Your CEO?Published: June 21, 2010Gene Takagi at the always enlightening Nonprofit Law Blog links to a two part entry on why the title of the senior leader of a non-profit should transition from Executive Director to President/CEO. The argument made in the pieces is that the person in that position gains credibility within and without of the organization. Takagi only touches upon this very briefly because his greater concern is who is legally the CEO of the organization, the executive director or board chair. I voraciously cons...
- My Prescription for SummerPublished: June 28, 2010Every June I make the same recommendation to my students: use the summer months to plan for the future of your organizations but also, and vitally, to replenish yourselves for the year ahead. During the height of the season, it is difficult, if not impossible, for many arts executives to do comprehensive, thoughtful long-term planning. Leaders of smaller arts organizations especially have trouble finding enough time to clear their minds and schedules of day-to-day challenges and to think mor...
- To BP or Not to BP? Should Art Museums Accept Polluted Sponsorship?Published: June 28, 2010The BP Grand Entrance at the Los Angeles County Museum of ArtCultural institutions in Great Britain and the U.S., which had until now relied on BP, the British oil company, as a benevolent, generous patron, are now faced with decisions...
- NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Announces New Report on How Americans Use Electronic Media to Participate in the ArtsPublished: June 29, 2010When compared with non-media participants, Americans who participate in the arts through technology and electronic media – using the Internet, television, radio, computers, and handheld devices – are nearly three times more likely to attend live arts events; attend twice as many live arts events; and attend a greater variety of genres of live arts events, according to a new report from the Arts Endowment
- Aging GracefullyPublished: June 23, 2010This week I attended a reading produced by one of my favorite theatre companies. Known for top-notch productions of classic American work, they know their niche and have developed it beautifully by creating and promoting a consistent — and consistently great — product. As I surveyed the audience, I realized I was in the severe minority for not having gray hair, squinting at the stage, or dozing off during the performance (through no fault of the play itself). Thinking back to other produ...
- How To Find Your Most Passionate Fans.Published: July 2, 2010If Pareto’s Principle is accurate, then 80% of your word of mouth comes from 20% of your fans. One of your goals as a marketer is identify those fans, so that you can enroll them in your army and use their forces for good (your product) instead of evil (your competition). So how do you do it? Malcom Gladwell talked about Ivory Soap’s genius 1-800 # technique in the Tipping Point. I’m a fan of niche social networks. But here’s another tip that dawned on me the other day. Have a Gene...
- Perpetuating the MythPublished: June 20, 2010I've just returned from the Theatre Communications Group Annual Conference. The theme for the conference was "Ideas into Action," and it built upon the previous year's conference where the field took a look at some of the major issues facing all of us. The idea was to take what we discussed last year and to explore "bold new solutions."The first session I attended was entitled "Theatres Becoming Centers in the 21st Century." I attended partially because my Artistic Director, Molly Smith, was sp...
- American Repertory Theater: Finding the Profit in Nonprofit? Part IIPublished: June 12, 2010By Thomas Garvey Special to the Clyde Fitch Report The Donkey Show photo by Marcus Stern What’s perhaps most depressing about the recent revelations regarding Diane Paulus, husband Randy Weiner and the American Repertory Theater is that there’s been so little overt reaction to them. The news that the A.R.T.’s artistic director had commandeered one of its theater spaces for private profit was greeted with a shrug by some, and with silence by most. At Harvard, the debate behind closed doors...
- Dramatists Guild Advising Rejection of NY Musical Theatre Fest ContractPublished: June 9, 2010A storm may be brewing. An email blast from the Dramatists Guild that went out late last week, provided to the Clyde Fitch Report by an anonymous blogger, is advising members not to sign contracts with the New York Musical Theatre Festival this year. You can tell from the wording of the email advisement there is something of a heated standoff going on — and the Dramatist Guild has elected to play hardball (or curve ball, if you prefer). Challenging NYMF in this direct and all rather memorable...
- Ushers and Entryways: Audience ExpectationsPublished: June 10, 2010The 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 the conventions of the space and the event harmonize with that price, or absence of price. Here is a photo from a live show earlier this week: She and Him, at Millennium Park in Chicago, on...
- My 2 Bucks on PricingPublished: June 9, 2010If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I have two primary social circles: indie software and indie theater. I’m writing this with both of you in mind, but I’m going to start out with the theater kids and bend it back around. Software kids, sit tight for a second. See, at the moment the world of indie theater is having a great big-ol’ chew-it-up hash-it-out discussion about the pros and cons and wherefores and howtos of dynamic pricing. I find this fascinating, and entir...
- Should the Tonys invite off-Broadway?Published: June 10, 2010I have to disagree with Bloomberg News writer Jeremy Gerard, who argues that the Tony Awards should expand to include off-Broadway plays and musicals.I understand his point - the best theatre in New York City doesn't always take place from 41st to 54th Streets, with a quick detour to Lincoln Center. Over the past few years, I've seen terrific off-Broadway productions and some Broadway shows I could have missed.But the Tonys, in addition to recognizing artistic achievement, are also a marketing...
- What I Am Learning On My TourPublished: June 7, 2010My 50 state, 69 city tour is almost over; I will make my last presentation on July 16 in Boise, Idaho. The tour has been both inspiring and depressing at the same time. It is inspiring to see so many communities that value the arts and so many individuals determined to maintain arts in their cities and states. I estimate that some 11,000 people will have attended an "Arts in Crisis" tour presentation. Each of these individuals cares deeply for the arts in their home towns. When I visited Bi...
- Let's get ready to minglePublished: June 9, 2010Trendwatching's latest trend analysis suggest that the online world is not driving citizens into digital isolation. Rather, it is fueling real-world gathering at a new scope and scale. Says the summary of ''Mass Mingling'':Thanks to the online revolution, hundreds of millions are now actively searching for, finding, connecting/signaling, and staying in touch with likeminded souls in the virtual world. Constant updates, GPS and mobile online access is now bringing this explosion of dating, networ...
- Outsourcing: Make sure to consider the CONs as well as the PROsPublished: June 6, 2010A couple of weeks ago, NPR ran a story entitled "Everyone Else Outsources, So Why Can't the Arts?" Since that time, the story has stuck with me. One positive result of the global economic crisis is that it has forced mature organizations to rigorously examine business practices, many of which haven't changed since the publication of Danny Newman's Subscribe Now! I am consistently amazed at the number of organizations that choose to remain stagnant because change is scarier than doing nothing an...
- What’s Next for Broadway and Live Event MarketingPublished: June 1, 2010A few months ago, I was invited to serve on the judges’ panel for the interactive jury of the Art Directors Club annual awards. I reviewed hundreds of campaigns looking at some pretty cutting-edge creative work with an incredible group of judges from leading interactive agencies across the globe – from Japan, Sweden, Amsterdam, Spain and the Philippines among many others. It offered me a solid global perspective into the current state of interactive marketing, not just by reviewing the submi...
- Study: Wealthiest donors are giving less to nonprofitsPublished: March 24, 2009JVA Consulting often hears its clients say that their financial situation would improve if they could only find some deep-pocket donors. While that may be true, research shows that there are fewer of those big donors out there. According to Philanthropy Journal, a new study found that the wealthiest donors in the U.S. are giving less. Among those making $5 million or more a year, giving dropped to $855,200 a year in 2007 from $995,192, says a study of high-net-worth donors by Bank of America and...
- Report To MePublished: June 1, 2010I was reading this article on effective email messaging, the gist of which was … make it relevant via personalization. Now there are a variety of ways to personalize, especially in (but not limited to) the online environment — using the donor’s location to tailor content, keying off of actions taken (completed a survey, signed an online petition), using transactions as a trigger, using donor milestones as a trigger (“Congrats on your fifth anniversary as a member”). Messages keyed to a...
- Micro-donations: Proving Size Doesn’t Always MatterPublished: June 3, 2010The Obama campaign, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and The American Red Cross have all embraced electronic micro-donation campaigns as an effective tool in gathering financial and community support for their causes. The prominence of these cases and their rampant success provides the evidence necessary for arts organizations to begin adopting this new technology to enhance their current giving campaigns. These organizations altered the traditional view of contributed income by looking at three h...
- Dynamic Pricing: Making It Work?Published: June 2, 2010The debate over dynamic pricing continues. Back in March, Gene Carr from Patron Technology wrote a great overview of dynamic pricing and voiced his support for the practice. Last week, Trisha Mead at 2am Theatre challenged the naysayers with a post about her own successful dynamic pricing experiment. And The Mission Paradox responded by cautioning readers about dynamic pricing’s potential to tarnish a non-profit’s image. While there has been plenty of discussion about audience impact, what...
- The perils of dynamic pricingPublished: May 26, 2010Over at 2am theatre Trisha wrote this post on the benefits of dynamic pricing that merits a response. A quick primer: This is how she defines dynamic pricing - Under this model, you advertise your lowest regular adult price, with the phrase “Starts at $XX.” Then you make sure the lowest advertised price requires them to buy early, come to the least popular performance night and sit in the very visible but not very good seats right up front on the side. If they want a better night, a bett...
- The perils of dynamic pricing - Part 2Published: May 27, 2010Looks like yesterdays discussion merits a follow up. Ive got two more reasons why we should approach dynamic pricing with caution: 1. Creates too many choices - Most performing arts organization have too many pricing options as it is. We have different prices based on day of the week, seat location, etc. Its pretty well established what happens when we have too many choices. It paralyzes us. It causes us to default to the status quo. Neither of this things are good for the performi...
- Filthy LucrePublished: March 24, 2010A while back on #2amt, an extremely provocative gauntlet was thrown, on the OH so touchy subject of money. Filthy lucre. We can’t live without it. Most of us got into the theater profession to avoid having to think about it too much. Yet as some point we all are faced with the task of assigning an actual monetary value to our art. Worse, we must then publicly announce it. And then EXPECT PEOPLE TO PAY IT. This particular gauntlet was thrown over the subject of pricing. NO theater, @TheNineChi...
- Filthy Lucre Part Two: Redefining RewardPublished: April 2, 2010We do not make theater to make money. I’ll say that again. We do not make theater to make money. Our donors don’t contribute to us so we’ll make money. Our boards don’t support us to make money. We don’t sit up at night dreaming of how we can tweak our business models to bring more dollar signs into our realm. (Note: Haven’t read Filthy Lucre part one? Read it first to get up to speed.) “BUT- Broadway!” you say. To which I reply, most Broadway investors never see a return on the...
- Filthy Lucre #3: Through the Looking GlassPublished: April 15, 2010We price everything backwards in the theater. Tell me if this sounds familiar: You debate with your box office/marketing/artistic staff to find just the right price point that feels “accessible” (read, your friends tell you that this is what “they” will pay to see your work, despite the fact your friends are comped and rarely actually pay to see your shows). You create special discounts for young folk (because they’re poor, you theorize inaccurately) and old folk (fixed incomes! Plus t...
- The Filthy Lucre Magic Bullet: Dynamic Pricing.Published: May 24, 2010Ah, 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 in the theater have any notion whatsoever what the other person paid for their ticket. You might believe that, because you have posted your prices on a postcard or a brochure, that your audience has developed a reasonab...
- It’s The Relationship, StupidPublished: May 21, 2010Again 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 up from a pile of anonymous scripts and slap artistic directors upside the head saying “DIRECT ME!” Playwrights get shows produced at theaters because of the relationships they have with those theaters (or with taste makers th...
- For the HuffPo: NY Arts Advocates Target Cuts; Extent of Job Losses UnknownPublished: May 27, 2010The following is my latest piece for the Huffington Post: How many jobs will be lost? This has been the question since New York Gov. David Paterson announced a 40 percent cut to New York State Council on the Arts for the 2010-11 fiscal year. In response, arts advocacy organizations are launching an all-hands-on-deck effort to force Paterson to retreat — or at least to convince members of the fractious, dysfunctional state legislature, nearly two months late in voting on a budget, from going a...
- Top 5 Ways NOT to Build a Younger AudiencePublished: April 30, 2010It popped up in my newsfeed again: another article about an opera/museum/symphony theater company’s new initiatives to attract a “younger audience.” I open these articles with a combination of dread and excitement these days. Maybe this time, this new organization (that spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on a market research study) will announce a genuinely new idea- something that really addresses the interest gap between young pop culture enthusiasts and high culture curators. Inste...
- Ask a Tony nominee: Katie FinneranPublished: May 24, 2010We chat with the Promises, Promises scene-stealer
- Your Career v. Your HealthPublished: May 4, 2010(Photo Borrowed from doctorbulldog.wordpress.com) Have you ever gotten sick over tech week? Had to battle a cold on opening night? Most of us have experienced the, “I’m too busy to sleep, or eat, or exercise because I’m in “launch the show” mode”. This will inevitably leave you exhausted or sick, which decreases your personal efficiency and means you have to spend even more time getting everything done than you would have had you remained healthy. Actors tend to be better at th...
- A Listening Strategy for Your WebsitePublished: May 18, 2010Do you know why users are coming to your organization’s website? I mean specifically. Can you tell me what percentage are coming to purchase tickets, what percentage are coming to research your upcoming show, what percentage are coming to find directions to your location? Do you know if the users were able to complete the task that they came to your site to do? Were they satisfied with their visit? If five percent of users are coming to find restaurants near your theater and this infor...
- Arts saturation point and audience developmentPublished: May 4, 2010I had been reading the article in the Ottawa Citizen: Where have all the theatregoers gone? The article takes on the question after a theater run that was supposed to run 5 weeks closed one week early due to not enough audience. The problem seems to be that while Ottawa theatre companies have been springing up faster than revelations about wannabe lobbyists, there aren’t enough audience members, and especially new ones, to go around. Blame whatever you want — competing entertainment, a...
- The Truth About Attracting Younger AudiencesPublished: March 7, 2010In the past few weeks, I have served on a couple of panels and delivered a few speeches about attracting younger audiences. In doing so I found that many people harbor some misconceptions about attracting younger audiences. I understand that younger audiences are a sexy topic to funders and board members, but there are a few things we all need to think about before launching our assault on the Gen X'ers and Millenials.Product. Of the four Ps of marketing, most will agree that product is the most...
- A Collection of Worst PracticesPublished: March 20, 2010A couple of weeks ago while sitting on a funding panel, I said to a representative of a very large funder that I didn't understand why people were so afraid to fail, and then discuss their failures openly so that everyone could learn from them. Especially in the fields of technology and audience development, more advances come out of failure than anything else. The funding representative said that she felt the same way, but heard from companies that they were afraid to admit their failures becau...
- The Blurring of the Line between Marketing and PublicityPublished: May 2, 2010The global economic crisis has made almost every industry reexamine its business practices in an effort to reduce costs, find efficiencies and tap new sources of revenue. A sector with perhaps some of the most significant changes has been media outlets. Television stations are now requiring reporters to also function as their own cameramen and video editors. Some stations are heavily investing in online media as their revenues from broadcast commercial sales shrink (Pepsi decided not to advertis...
- Closing the circle on the customer.Published: April 30, 2010When a customer buys a ticket to a Broadway show for the first time, we have an opportunity as an industry. An opportunity to close the marketing circle on that customer and never, ever let them leave. When a customer buys a product, they are much more likely to buy a second product that is similar in nature. In other words: Sell one show, and it’s easier to sell a second, and a third, and so “fourth.” It’s our job as producers to close that circle on the customer, directing them to ot...
- The customer is not always right. $481M says so.Published: May 4, 2010Everyone hates baggage fees. It's a crime airlines don't listen and let you stow aboard luggage for free, as much as you want, right?Well ...In case you missed it, the airline industry is a tough business. One of the few bright spots helping them stay afloat in the 2009 recession was baggage fees, which drove $2.7 billion in extra passenger revenue to U.S. airlines. Delta came out on top with $481.8 million from such fees -- a vital solution, since at year's end Delta still bottomed with a net l...
- Boards Reconceptualized, Part IPublished: May 2, 2010If you have been a reader of my blog, you know that I believe that the traditional NFP organizational model (501(c)3) suffers from systemic malfunction, and that the board role is central to this condition. For me its time to look beyond, to some possible solutions, and hear others opinions. Boards of directors have 3 essential functional roles: governance (fiduciary, professional staff oversight, and assessment of mission accomplishment), resource development, and offering expertise. Most...
- Boards Reconceptualized, Part IIPublished: May 7, 2010Recapping quickly and moving on -- My last blog posed a governing board of 3, who would be certified through a formal vetting process, and then become responsible for insuring that the public interest is being served by the incorporated arts organization. These duties would include fiduciary responsibility, management oversight and assessing the extent to which the stated mission of the organization is being accomplished. The question to address now is whether individual donors would be as...
- Boards Reconceptualized, Part IIIPublished: May 15, 2010So I have proposed a 3-member fiduciary board that in order to serve must receive certification from a controlling authority. A states attorney general would be an appropriate authority, since h/she is ultimately responsible for oversight of a not-for-profit corporation. I believe this idea has merit and deserves public vetting. As I see it, board authority and competence is essentially unchecked by any external authority. Not only can board members behave any way they want, but if the...
- Sense of Community II: Aren't We The Social Media?Published: May 29, 2010Thanks to Isaac, I'm now following Antenna, a TV blog, and this sentence caught my eye:I find myself more eager to watch “live” TV these days and one big reason why is the social experience of watching along with everyone else on the internet.The larger, RTWT argument is that while Tivo, Roku, and Hulu push us towards a private, disengaged TV-watching at your own pace, the phenomenon of TVittering (Twittering along with your TV) predisposes you to watching TV communally, at the same time. It...
- Oh No, Does This Mean Another "Off"?Published: May 28, 2010Michael Feingold, in Village Voice (h/t Playgoer), has this to say about Broadway/Off-Broadway:New York theatergoers, in effect, no longer possess Broadway as a venue for seeing plays; it belongs to the ultra-rich and the tourist trade. This puts Off-Broadway's nonprofit institutions in an awkward situation. They would like to take risks, to test works that are untried and perhaps unready, to let novice writers and directors spread their wings and perhaps fall flat on their faces. But their own...
- Broadway Marketing Ready to Play FoursquarePublished: May 6, 2010It’s Friday night. 8 p.m. After scanning Facebook for last minute status updates from friends and scrolling through a nearly endless number of tweets, it’s time to figure out what to do around New York City. My iPhone lights up with an alert message. A friend has just checked in on Foursquare at the rooftop bar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another alert. Someone else is at a Sara Silverman book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square. Alert. Party at the Hotel on Rivingto...
- Conventional "Wisdom"Published: May 3, 2010I was asked an interesting question on my Arts in Crisis tour stop in Phoenix: Is there conventional wisdom amongst arts organizations that I disagree with and try to fight against? I didn't give a full response during the live interview. Here is a more thoughtful list: All we need is an endowment. Of course, if someone drops an endowment in my lap, I will be thrilled to accept it. But the cost of creating an endowment is high since it takes focus away from the key strategic areas for all ar...
- A Lasting Legacy of RecessionPublished: May 17, 2010One of the legacies of the lengthy recession we appear to be leaving behind us is that arts leaders are exhausted. I have spoken with thousands of arts managers over the past six months and it is astonishing how many are considering leaving their positions in the relatively near future. Very few of them are departing for wonderful new opportunities with other arts organizations. The vast majority are planning to leave their jobs with no new position on the horizon. These managers are so tire...
- Oskar Eustis takes to YouTube!Published: May 30, 2010Via Matthew Freeman, Oskar Eustice announced the Public's 2010-2011 Season:My only response to this is that Oskar Eustis is a surprisingly poor salesman. The point of any act of culture, including advertising, is to take knowledge or experience and transfer it to the audience. In this case, the goal of this video-let is to make the audience get the feeling, "Holy Cow! I should go see The Public's new season!"Do you know how you don't do that? By telling us that the work you're putting forward t...
- Oskar Eustis takes to YouTube!Published: May 28, 2010Via Matthew Freeman, Oskar Eustice announced the Public's 2010-2011 Season:My only response to this is that Oskar Eustis is a surprisingly poor salesman. The point of any act of culture, including advertising, is to take knowledge or experience and transfer it to the audience. In this case, the goal of this video-let is to make the audience get the feeling, "Holy Cow! I should go see The Public's new season!"Do you know how you don't do that? By telling us that the work you're putting forward th...
- Measuring Sports With Arts’ YardstickPublished: May 17, 2010For a long time there has been a sort antagonistic undercurrent between the arts and sports, more on the part of the arts than sports. Personally, I think it can be traced back to high school where artistic and athletic pursuits both competed for after school program funding, but that is just my theory. (Borne out by those humiliating wedgies and locker stuffings the jocks carried out on the drama kids. Not me, mind you. Just something I have heard.) But you see signs of it all the time. Arts or...
- Eliminate theatre critics at your peril | David CotePublished: March 10, 2010Cost-saving US publishers are ditching seasoned reviewers – and pitching criticism into incoherent chaos in the processOn Monday, the iconic industry trade paper Variety sacked chief film critic Todd McCarthy and chief theatre critic David Rooney. Cost-cutting, explained Neil Stiles, president of the publication; reviews will henceforth be farmed out to freelancers. New York's critical community was left aghast. Variety has effectively told the world that it doesn't care about having an author...
- What are theatrical previews for?Published: March 10, 2010Andrew Lloyd Webber is furious that bloggers have been 'reviewing' previews of his new show. Does he have reason to be angry?Andrew Lloyd Webber would presumably like to uninvent the internet. The official press night of his latest show, Love Never Dies, a sequel to the hugely successful Phantom of the Opera, is tonight, but the composer is furious that message boards, blogs and chatrooms are already buzzing with opinion posted by those who have been to preview performances.No doubt if the comme...
- A leaner North Shore Music TheatrePublished: March 8, 2010After reading about a spate of regional theatres shuttering, I'm happy to see one making a comeback. The North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass., which closed in 2009, has announced its new season under a new owner. William Hanney, who also owns Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck, R.I., bought the bankrupt venue. The season starts off with Gypsy, July 6-25; followed by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aug. 3-22; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sept. 21-Oct. 10; A Chorus Line, Nov. 2-21; an...
- Five tips on how to build your blurb.Published: March 9, 2010Ah, the blurb . . . that short piece of copy that's supposed to encapsulate everything about your show, and convince the reader to fork over $121.50 so fast, they don't even have time to check for discounts.Creating the perfect blurb is one of the biggest and earliest challenges that Broadway and Off-Broadway shows face, but it's one of the most important things in your advertising arsenal. Right after your artwork, the perfect blurb can mean the difference between a high-grossing week, and lo...
- A Vision: Arena Stage Permitting Tweeting During PerformancesPublished: March 9, 2010Arts Marketing, the blog of Chad Bauman, director of communications at Arena Stage and always a must-read, is posting some inconvenient truths about the demographic challenges facing live theater. (“Demographic challenges” is the euphemism for “fewer young folks are attending the theater and the average age is rising faster than the federal deficit.”) First, I recommend CFR readers check the post out in full. But one aspect particularly intrigued me. The title is “The Truth About Attra...
- A quick guide to online publicityPublished: March 9, 2010I found this some time ago – it was a guest post on one of the finance blogs I follow – and I meant to write about it, but somehow forgot. So, here it is, better late than never. The author provides a great list of Do’s and Don’ts when trying to cultivate online press contacts and woo the blogosphere into covering your product/service/show/album/whatever. It is specifically written for people who work in PR publicity, but I think Lindsay outlines some great principles that independent a...
- Will Corporate Giving Ever Recover?Published: March 12, 2010When Americans for the Arts rolled out its National Arts Index in January, it presented a new way to measure the health and vitality of the arts and culture sector by examining various indicators and comparing them to a 2003 baseline. “Healthy” would not be a word used describe what the corporate giving figures will look like in 2009 and 2010, and there was some discussion as to whether business and corporate giving to the arts would ever again be vital. Arthur C. Brooks, an advisor to the...
- Reframing the idea of “The Arts”Published: March 8, 2010Sometimes I think the arts and business are — to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw — two constituencies divided by a common language. Both seek community health and vitality, both want to enable and encourage a better quality of life for citizens and neighbors but arts rhetoric centered on intrinsic arguments often crashes into the reality that the majority of our fellow citizens do not focus on the arts in their daily lives and our “soft sounding” arguments about the importance of art to...
- Investors versus ContributorsPublished: March 8, 2010Now is a time for Investment rather than Contribution. Looking across the arts landscape it is clear that now is the time for investors who care about their communities to look at the arts community as the solution to quality of life issues. I know many think of “need” when they “give.” But, the marketplace is changing. There aren’t enough dollars to solve all the social problems brought on by the current economic condition, so I’m seeing more donors become “investors.” Everyone...
- What really drives audiences to buy tickets: your purchase page or someone else’s site?Published: March 5, 2010David Loher caught a little tweet of mine today and @’d me asking if I’d join 2amtheatre and write a 140+ character post about my observation. Note how quickly that communication turned into an action. Here is my inaugural post: This morning I was putting together a training guide for the patron service representatives who work at the TKTS booth in Times Square. They are a rad bunch who need to know almost everything about every show running on Broadway (and off…). (Think of them as ambass...
- Come and Meet Those Who Tweet (at the Theater)Published: March 5, 2010For years now, a war has been raging in the theater between purists and realists. It isn’t related to the work, although it is not unusual for battles in that arena to flare up regularly. No, this war has to do with etiquette: what should and should not be acceptable comportment in places of public performance. Movie theaters fit into this discussion as well. As most New Yorkers know, a 2003 law made it illegal to use cell phones inside venues where public performances occur. So purists, you m...
- Q: What do Off-Broadway and Independent Film have in common?Published: March 4, 2010A: Almost everything.Here are some common (but admittedly general) characteristics that could be used to describe both Off-Broadway and Independent Film: Lower budgets Original works Emerging artists Risk-taking Artistic Celebrities Etc. So if they are so similar, then why oh why does Independent Film have such a better rep than Off-Broadway (besides the obvious "off"-in-the-title issue)? I guarantee if we had done a one-word survey on Independent Film, it would have a lot more posit...
- In defense of TwitterPublished: March 4, 2010After I finish writing this blog post I'll put a link to it on Twitter and that will be my 5,000th tweet.I know it's fashionable to knock Twitter as another example of social networking run amok, filled with people sharing the minutiae of their lives in 140-character spurts, like what they had for breakfast or lunch.In one of the most recent examples, George Packer wrote online for The New Yorker: "Every time I hear about Twitter I want to yell Stop. The notion of sending and getting brief updat...
- Playwright Writes for TV Show: What Else is New?Published: March 4, 2010Slate's Jack Shafer rightly calls for a moratorium on "playwrights migrating to tv" stories until there's something, you know, new to report. A quick Nexus search plays like a broken record: The New York Times noted the "steady flow of directors, producers, and playwrights out of the theater" and into TV in a 1996 piece that name-checks writers Rebeck and Matt Williams. In 1994, the Los Angeles Times made a big deal about playwright Lisa Loomer's work on sitcoms, and in 1993 the newspaper repor...
- A very informal survey...Published: March 3, 2010by Guest blogger cgeyeDue to local theatrical turbulence, its high time I ask these questions:For the theatres you follow, how visible are these theatres board members? Do you know their names? Do you know the chairmen or women? When big decisions are made, do you see them stand beside their ADs, or is quiet support the norm?Im asking because the situations at Denver Centers National Theatre Conservatory and at the Shadow Theatre tend to indicate quite a bit of off-stage drama, and Im wondering...
- A Bunch of Cobblers, Eh?Published: March 3, 2010Lord love producer Ken Davenport. He and his staff got into a discussion about what the words "Broadway" and "Off-Broadway" mean to his ticket buyers and, rather than indulge in long-distance mind-reading or repeat chatter from the lobby, they went out and, in extremely unscientific form, you know, asked. The results are here and they are...well...Broadway fares well. Congrats, Wicked, Chicago, and The Lion King. When people think "Broadway," they think of you. At the top of the list, though: "s...
- The Benefits of Hearing the Bad StuffPublished: March 3, 2010So, you’re opening a channel for your audience to talk to you about your company, your work and their experience of it. It’s pretty much a guarantee that as SOON as you start talking about doing this, somebody in your organization is going to say, “WAIT JUST A MINUTE.” “This is all well and good,” they say, “when everybody loves us. But what about when they HATE US?? Aren’t we just making it easier for them to poison the well and tell everyone in the world how awful we are?” T...
- "When I say Broadway, you say . . ." Survey Results revealed.Published: March 3, 2010My staffers and I got into a discussion last week about what the word 'Broadway' meant to our ticket buyers. What sort of images did it conjure? What did they associate with it? In other words . . . what did the brand of Broadway actually mean? We decided to find out.I sent a couple of my loyal staff members (and the ones with the warmest coats) to the TKTS booth to ask 100 female theatergoers the following question (we asked only females because they drive the majority of the ticket pur...
- Thanks Matt, Mac, Don, and BuckminsterPublished: March 3, 2010My last two posts, Formal Exclusion" and "Stories for the Folks Who Work the Cash Registers of Our Lives," perhaps predictably have caused a certain amount of agreement and consternation in various places around the theatre blogging world. The consternation outweighed the agreement. Perhaps the most direct attack came from Matt Freeman, who said his response to posts like mine and Tom Loughlin's is "write your own plays." He goes on: If you don't see something to enjoy in the plays being writ...
- The Five PercentPublished: March 2, 2010By Guest-Blogger Samuel D. HunterThis is a continuation of the Slate Breakfast Table style dialogue between myself and Jon Spector.Dear Jon, How’s the Bay Area? New York has been a bit unbearable weather-wise, but I’m off to Mexico next week for a playwrights’ conference and some much-needed sunshine. I haven’t started Outrageous Fortune yet—I went to the Drama Book Shop a few weeks ago to pick it up for John as a Valentines Day present (what could be more romantic?), but when I aske...
- Formal ExclusionPublished: March 1, 2010Yesterday, my department completed a run of Naomi Wallace's play The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek. For the most part, I like Wallace's play, which is set in 1936 and is the story of the effects of the Great Depression on the people of a small town: a father who has lost his job at the steel mill, and as a result doesn't know who he is anymore; a mother whose hands have turned a toxic florescent blue because of a change in chemicals at the factory where she works, and who is getting involved in a w...
- Regarding Formal ExclusionPublished: March 4, 2010Scott (who is just leaving now for Lexington and may not be available to spot this) wrote a great post on Monday entitled Formal Exclusion that argued that formal experimentation keeps away older, blue-collar audiences:I'm tired of inwardly blanching when one of the housekeeping staff in our building asks what the play is about and whether they would like it. I don't like seeing the expressions of bafflement and disappointment on the faces of so many who leave a performance. I don't like the way...
- Unbundling the arts organizationPublished: March 4, 2010My conversations at the Salzburg Global Seminar last week reinforced the inherent tensions in the business of arts and culture. Example 1: We build organizations to resolve cost and scale problems. Organizations, by their design, seek to reduce or mitigate risk. Art is risk. Tension ensues. Example 2: We require more capital or cash to do our creative work than the commercial market will bear. We add the public and philanthropic markets to bridge the gap. We believe we're escaping or abating mar...
- Info You Can Use: Employee or Independent ContractorPublished: March 4, 2010As usual, the folks at the Non-Profit Law Blog provide some useful links. I will quickly point out a short piece about the Senate has recently passing a jobs bill that will provide incentives to hire and keep employees. The measure would exempt private employers, including nonprofit groups, from paying their share of Social Security taxes for employees they hire through the end of 2010. The new hires must have been out of work for at least 60 days. They would get an additional $1,000 bonus if t...
- On Epic Theater Programming FailuresPublished: March 1, 2010The theater in my hometown recently announced their 2010-11 season and, to put it softly, I was disappointed. If this tells you anything, for those of you that didn’t click on the link, the most exciting shows are On Golden Pond and Boeing, Boeing. Now, this theater has had tough times; they lost several years worth of props after the Iowa floods in 2008. But my biggest problem was that I looked at the season and thought, “I don’t care to see any of these shows.” Which brings me to...
- Why Do We Do Theatre?Published: February 27, 2010The potential demise of the Pasadena Playhouse was announced just as Rogue Machine readied the first of its yearly fundraising appeals so I read both Mr. McNulty’s and Mr. Shirley’s response with considerable interest. We all agree that theatre is in crisis and has been for years. The reasons are complex, so complex that every assertion I’d like to make comes with inherent contradictions and many unanswered questions. I believe any serious consideration must begin at why we do theat...
- Off Bway & AEAPublished: March 1, 2010New contract agreement for Off Broadway negotiated with Actors Equity. Note what I call the Q Clause: Members of the Off-Broadway League may now produce shows in the Broadway Box in Off-Broadway-sized houses of 499 or less without paying a salary premium. This would not apply to any productions that have been on Broadway within six months of the Off Broadway opening. As in, Avenue Q, which swiftly reopened Off Broadway after shutting down their main stem run. AEA seems to be protecting it...
- Merch madness means you're mad if you don't have merch.Published: March 2, 2010I've worked on some stinkers of shows. And you know what? No matter how short the run, we've always sold some t-shirts. T-shirts and other pieces of merch are social proof badges that audience members can showcase in their own communities which elevate their status. How high that status goes depends on the show and the value of the brand (Wicked = high, In My Life = low). Thanks to the high price of theater tickets, getting a buyer to tack on a $20 t-shirt is easier than in ot...
- To, For and AboutPublished: March 1, 2010by guest blogger J. Holtham of 99 SeatsScott Walters, lovingly (at least by me) referred to as The Prof in these parts, has a couple of humdinger posts up on what he sees as a failure of plays to write to the older and working-class people of the country. Some key grafs:This, by the way, is the type of thing that youthful playwrights cannot write about empathically, having never experienced it. The young are still thrashing around with possibilities, while we are searching for meaning in what we...
- Make this your "business"Published: March 2, 2010While reading through Seth Godins newest brilliant book Linchpin, I found a very interesting point. Godin points out that the current world doesnt support the factory worker who does what they are told any more. He argues that the innovators are the ones who become indispensable to a business and that the goal is to become indispensable. In my personal opinion that is what we all should be telling ourselves as producers. We are not money raising machines dumping funds into a broken model. We ar...
- Pondering Theater as Netflix: Intrigue Meets RealityPublished: February 28, 2010On Feb. 16, Andrew Taylor, on his great blog, the Artful Manager, posted a short piece about the experiment underway at ACT Theater in Seattle, in which venue memberships are offered like gym memberships — or Netflix. Taylor quoted an article about ACT’s endeavor that was posted on the website of a local public radio station in Seattle. In essence, ACT Executive Director Carlo Scandiuzzi perceived well before many that the business model for nonprofit theater — multi-production seasons fin...
- Is the Public Theater Replying to Isherwood’s Shakespeare Slam?Published: February 28, 2010At the Clyde Fitch Report, we try whenever possible not to draw conclusions where conclusions cannot be drawn. So this post really could be filed under I for “Irony” more than anything else. You may recall Charles Isherwood, second-string theater critic of the New York Times, wrote several weeks ago about the upcoming residency of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Park Avenue Armory, and how he used the piece to slam the state of Shakespeare — both production level and quality — in Ne...
- Turning Waves Of Crisis Into Minor RipplesPublished: March 2, 2010You ever tried to get a large group of performers to the airport to catch their flight in the face of an impending tsunami? Well, I have. It is actually not as bad as you might think. Given the alternatives of a hurricane, earthquake or volcanic eruption, with the opportunity that either of the latter two will spawn a tsunami about which you will get at most 15 minutes warning, a half day’s notice is a luxury. Which is what I told the performer who remarked how calm I was in the face of it all...
- Some Creative Organizational Models...Published: February 27, 2010This posting describes 2 organizational variants. The first occurs often, but nonetheless needs highlighting. I believe the second is rare and worth examining.A number of standard NFPs own, or partially own a commercial entity. These range from real estate and parking garages, to catering facilities, ticketing operations, and licensed software, e.g. Tessitura software is owned by the Metropolitan Opera. From what I can glean, the percentage of annual budget that these entities provide rang...
- THE SAD STATE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ART SECTORPublished: February 28, 2010Hello everybody. “And the beat goes on................” HERE’S WHAT WRONG WITH OUR EFFORTS AT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: In the last two blogs I have recounted some of the complaints about the interpersonal relationships in the workplace in the nonprofit arts – which is, I think, emblematic of the far more serious and profound lack of professional development that we provide to all of our people. I have had several comments and emails echoing my lament that we spend precious littl...
- Music Videos Can Save BroadwayPublished: February 26, 2010There was a time when Broadway melodies would play on radio stations across the country, a time when showtunes were part of a crooner’s nightly set list at the club. Those were the days of musical heavyweights like Oscar Hammerstein II, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Irving Berlin. When one of these musical masterminds crafted a song, chances are, people around the country wanted to hear it. It was called the Golden Age of Broadway — a period of time between the 1940s and 1960s th...
- Goals, Accountability & Incentives: Why they matterPublished: February 25, 2010When I was a kid, my parents used to take us out to dinner when we brought home good report cards. Family dinner at Red Lobster or Outback Steakhouse was all the incentive my brother and I needed to try our very best everyday at school. Additionally, if we didnt do well, we had to bring our report cards home to be signed by mom and dad, and there would inevitably be consequences (no tv for a week!!!). We were held accountable for our poor performance. As I got older, my parents became le...
- Definitive Study On MillennialsPublished: February 25, 2010If you are trying to figure out Millennials (the 18-29 year old generation), here from Pew Research is the study you’ve been waiting for. The Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change looks at Millennials across all dimensions — lifestyle, technology use, social and political attitudes — often including comparisons to older generations. The study is too rich in information to summarize here. I’m afraid you’ll need to read it, if you can spare the time from meeting this year’s...
- The Creative Economy (from Arts Watch)Published: February 24, 2010Over the past few months, questions about the creative economy have lit up the phone lines at Americans for the Arts. Members are interested in learning of examples of communities where efforts are thriving; others want to build successful initiatives to engage their local community in the support and promotion of the creative economy; and some members are just wondering what the “creative economy” is all about. The discussion on the the topic has taken on a high profile around the country (...
- NYSCA Funding Headed Back to 1985 Level?Published: February 23, 2010Norma Munn, chairperson of the New York City Arts Coalition, has released another alert to the arts community regarding proposed cuts in funding for the New York State Council on the Arts. If Gov. Paterson’s proposed cuts are enacted, Munn says, NYSCA appropriations will return to a level not seen in 25 years. Not good when NYSCA itself is coming up on its 50th anniversary in 2011. Munn included a chart which we have endeavored to represent here. “This is truly a ‘back to the future’ bud...
- Obligatory Community PostPublished: February 23, 2010I was going to do an post about the Lydia Diamond article from the NYT a few weeks back and then tie it into some of the conversation bouncing around about community...but then, basically, I lost interest about a third of the way through.Here's what I think about community:A) You define it for yourself. If "community" for you has geographical limits, cool. if it has to do with lifestyle choices, background, race, fine by me. Whatever you feel connected to, whatever you want to connect to, whoeve...
- Broadway's 3rd Quarter results: The final furlong begins.Published: February 23, 2010We've rounded the last turn on this Broadway season. There are just thirteen weeks to go before we put another one in the books.But will this one go in the record books?It looks like the answer is yes . . . for two very different reasons.At the end of the third quarter, our grosses are still up a fractional .5% over last year's numbers. If we can hold on to that itsy-bitsy growth, Broadway will have another record-grossing year. To be honest, I thought we'd have dropped into negative terri...
- My Arts Management Hero: Babs MollerePublished: February 22, 2010It was a joy to go back to New Orleans on my "Arts in Crisis" tour and to meet the many dedicated arts professionals who work there. I have been a steady visitor to this beautiful city since a few months after Hurricane Katrina. We at the Kennedy Center adopted the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra immediately after the hurricane and devoted our efforts to saving this wonderful arts organization. Over the past four and a half years, I have developed my New Orleans family of arts managers and mu...
- Why So Many 501 (c)3's?Published: February 19, 2010I grew up professionally in the 501(c)3 world. It was the aspirational model. At the time, in the late 1960s/early 1970s, I dont think anyone foresaw the enormous growth of these NFPs in the arts, or the concomitant problems this growth would cause. To get to a place where arts entities can freely consider alternative organizational models, its essential to learn why the 501(c)3 model became the standard. For one, it had so much to offer: independence, identity, and tax-deductibility. Ad...
- Is the Not-for-Profit Structure Destructive?Published: January 28, 2010In my new job at Drexel as Professor of Arts Administration, Ive been able to research a question that has been of particular interest to me. Is the traditional not-for-profit, 501(c)3 (NFP) so cumbersome in its structure as to actually impede the very promise of its original intention? Ive recently had the luxury to delve into this question, and in the process of examining it, have found what I believe are some startling flaws, but also some promising alternate structures.So, is the NFP t...
- Supplying DemandPublished: February 15, 2010Isaac has an interesting and thoughtful post here on an essential problem of the theatre, one that is often elided in discussions like the one we had about Outrageous Fortune. Here's the money graf:In many areas, there is barely the audience to support the current amount of theater. I've sat in enough houses where the number of paying customers was quite low to know that in New York, we produce a lot more theatre than there is demand to justify it*. And there aren't enough production opportuniti...
- My Outrageous Fortune Wrap UpPublished: January 25, 2010A few thoughts about Outrageous Fortune.1. I am very happy to see this book bring these issues into a national conversation. Much (much, much) of what is in this book has been picked over on the theatrical blogosphere for some time now. It was great to read these things in a published edition. Hopefully it will spark useful conversation where it matters. Thanks to TDF for publishing this exceptional book. For all my tiny critiques, it's important that work like this is done, and done often.2. I...
- Picking Your ExtremePublished: January 26, 2010I was reading Mead Hunters take on Outrageous Fortune when I noticed a powerful line that I couldnt let go of: The powerful, numinous, affecting work is happening at the extremes Hes exactly right. The ability to do powerful, impactful work - in the arts or any other field - comes from your ability to pick an extreme. The first extreme is to be powerful and small. In this model you are doing work for a defined group of people, your tribe. Your career becomes all about producing work that...
- Why My Peers Are Angry With MePublished: February 16, 2010Many arts managers are angry with me. They do not appreciate my advice not to cut programming during this recession. I continue to say that creating large, important projects is central to creating fiscal health. Especially when there is less money for the arts (and there is less money for the arts today), arts organizations must compete harder. As donors decide which organizations to continue to support, the institutions that are doing vital, important work are the ones who will continue to...
- Outrageous TakeawaysPublished: January 31, 2010Hello, there. You might recall that I’ve been participating in a group blogging effort organized by Isaac Butler around Theatre Development Fund’s recent publication, Outrageous Fortune. I’m rather late in my final dispatch – you see, in the middle of all this a meme started going around the theatrosphere that it’s important to “RTWT” (read the whole thing, for you internet n00bs) before commenting, so of course I had to wait until I had finished lest I look like a fool for jumping...
- Outrageous Fortune 6.5: Createquity's TakePublished: January 31, 2010This is definitely a must-read, and a nice bit of validation for having a non-theatre arts-policy wonk on board for the group read-thru. Check out Ian David Moss take here. He strips down Outrageous Fortune to some of its core conflicts, and shows how basically the mess were in is a pretty clear result of market forces at work. He ends up the same place I am at right now: The way to reform the new play landscape is to reform the funding landscape. Well have more on that later, but in the mea...
- Can We Talk Seriously About Subsidiary Rights For A Moment?Published: January 27, 2010One thing that comes up in Outrageous Fortune is subsidiary rights, the practice of producers taking a share of a playwrights royalty income off a specific play for some controlled amount of time (generally 5-10 years). The amount that producers take changes, of course. The ceiling is currently 40% for a Broadway production. This practice, its worth noting, was actually pioneered by-- but not invented by-- everyones hero Joe Papp. Papps philosophy, as explained in Lewis Hydes The Gift, was...
- Outrageous Fortune 6.4: Gus' TakePublished: January 27, 2010August Schulenberg has some things to say about Outrageous Fortune that I have mixed feelings about, even though they are sentiments I myself have expressed in the past here on this blog. Heres his post. I agree with him that it is not a zero-sum game. I also agree with him that we can still engage with institutions, and that that system does some amazing work. Heck, theres still a project or two that Im pitching to larger theaters, because theyre too expensive for me to do on my own within t...
- Outrageous Fortune 6.3: Matt Freeman's TakePublished: January 25, 2010He even organizes his great thoughts into a convenient, handy-dandy list. Here's number 3: Our view of the value of creators in the US is upside down. We value distribution and middle-management over creation. We pay the gatekeepers; we pay the decision makers; we pay the marketers. But we shrug at the naivety of creative artists who want to make a living. The very people who produce the fuel that many institutions run on are paid less than the people who write grants on their behalf. This is n...
- Outrageous Fortune 6.2: 99Seats' TakeawaysPublished: January 25, 2010Can be found here. Heres a pull quote of another long, but well worth reading in its entirety, piece: A Great Play lives in that place between the big, universal truths and the specific language of a specific time and place. The language of Hamlet is specific to Shakespeare's world and times, but the story soars above it. The same holds for Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Or Death of A Saleman. We need them. We need great masterworks that elevate the heart and soul, that capture the human spirit i...
- Outrageous Fortune 6.1: Scott Walters With Some TakeawaysPublished: January 25, 2010Can be read here. Its a long post, and well worth digesting in full. Seriously, RTWT. Here's an excerpt:Throughout most of Outrageous Fortune, there has been expressed a longing for an artistic home (the title of another London study which was supposed to provoke discussion, but whose issues remain depressingly unresolved 17 years later). Conjuring up the images of Chekhov, Odets, and Brecht, who "became synonymous with the companies...to which they gave voice," London proposes we consider Jam...
- INTERVIEW WITH NEA CHAIR ROCCO LANDESMANPublished: February 8, 2010Hello everyone. "And the beat goes on.................." INTERVIEW WITH ROCCO LANDESMAN: BARRY: What do you hope to accomplish in the next year; what will you use as the criteria to measure your agency’s success? ROCCO: Since I arrived at the NEA, you have heard me saying two words over and over again: “art works.” And as I have often explained, I use these two words to mean three things: 1) “art works” are the output of artists; the paintings, plays, dance, songs, operas, a...
- The Big ProjectPublished: February 8, 2010In these difficult economic times, many arts organizations are working hard to develop programs that do not require many resources. Board members are pressing for small operas, small plays, and small ballets. Many executive directors, understandably concerned about balancing the books at a time when contributed income is still in jeopardy, are concurring. Unfortunately, these smaller projects, while good for the annual budget, rarely do anything for the image of the organization or its long...
- Why I Hammer Landesman and KaiserPublished: February 15, 2010Every once in a while, I write an outraged post about something that someone like Rocco Landesman or Michael Kaiser has said, and inevitably I will receive a well-meaning comment that will suggest that my attacks are divisive. A recent example was Leonard Jacobs' response to my comments on a recent Michael Kaiser HuffPo commentary, which I responded to here. Jacobs lays out the argument succinctly, asking "why is Walters’ argument always “either/or” — either New York or the rest of the n...
- Trickle-Down Artistry: On Leonard Jacobs and Michael KaiserPublished: February 10, 2010Leonard Jacobs has written a lengthy rebuttal on the Clyde Fitch Report of my comments concerning Michael Kaiser's post on HuffPo "Where Are the Arts Important?", and Tom Loughlin has weighed on his blog "A Poor Player" in with a post entitled "Theatrical Wealth." (These literature reviews are getting longer and longer lately. I suspect it would be helpful for you to read these posts before continuing, if you can do so, but I will do my best to provide a fair representation of the arguments pres...
- More Landesman BSPublished: February 12, 2010So there is an article about Rocco Landesman in Newsweek (h/t Teresa Eyring on Twitter), which includes some discussion of the Peoria bash he made when he first came to office that few in the theatrosphere really even noticed, so well did it fit with their view of the arts world. So did Landesman, who made a trip to Peoria as the kickoff for his "Art Works" tour, where he acknowledged the important role that places like Peoria play in the arts ecosphere, comparing it to the relationship between...
- Too Big to Succeed?Published: February 3, 2010Many of us rail against the functionality of the nonprofit business model in the theatre, but seasoned arts administrator James Undercofler has a nice provocative post providing an actual reasoned argument: Is the traditional not-for-profit, 501(c)3 (NFP) so cumbersome in its structure as to actually impede the very promise of its original intention? [...] In the arts world, an odd personalization of the NFP has evolved that has accelerated their growth in numbers. Creative artists from all ar...
- B'way Outsourcing the Shop?Published: February 2, 2010Little nugget of interest buried in Patrick Healy's front page Times article yesterday on the downsizing of Broadway musicals: For another major revival of his this season, “Dreamgirls,” which played at the Apollo Theater in the fall and is now on a national tour, [director Robert] Longbottom said he had the financial advantage of collaborating with producers in South Korea, where the show was created at a fraction of the expense of a New York production, which he estimated would have neede...
- Do tourists like matinees perfs? Do city residents like Tuesday eves? Results of study revealed.Published: February 9, 2010Our friends at Telecharge, led by the Swami himself, recently completed a very detailed study of our audience and their favorite performance times. In the words of TCharge, the objective of the study was as follows:"We decided to see if there were significant differences in the geographical breakdown of customers by performance, using sales data from Telecharge.com Broadway shows for performances between August 31, 2009 and January 3, 2010."In other words, does a Manhattanite want to go to a s...
- A star above the title . . . but not how you think.Published: February 11, 2010Last week, in one of the biggest surprise announcements of the year, Elton John and partner David Furnish announced that they were joining the Broadway producing team of Next Fall. Before this announcement, many of us on the inside were wondering just how Next Fall, which lacks the marquee wattage of a Scarlett or a Denzel, would stand out in the year's busy Spring season. Nabbing one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry is one way, that's for sure. Celebrity producers...
- Noises off: Are audiences too old? | Chris WilkinsonPublished: January 28, 2010Theatres are convinced the only way to survive is to cram in youngsters, but are they guilty of ageism? Some bloggers reckon soIs your audience too old? It seems to be a recurring gripe among theatre-makers that far too many people sat in the stalls aren't as young as they might be. In any case, this seems to be the belief of a number of playwrights who were interviewed for Outrageous Fortune, a new book about the state of contemporary American theatre, blogged by Theresa Rebeck here yesterday.Y...
- Do playwrights moan? Damn right – and so we should | Theresa RebeckPublished: January 28, 2010As long as Broadway remains in thrall to movie-star revivals, contemporary American theatre will stay in the doldrumsThe big question in arts journalism was asked last week: Are American playwrights whiners? This is how it happened: TDF, an organisation whose initials stand for "Theater Development Fund" published a book, which has been ruthlessly researched and documented for seven years. It's called Outrageous Fortune: the Life and Times of the New American Play, and it presents a spectacularl...
- Softening the Ground for New WorkPublished: February 21, 2010Chad Bauman on the Arts Marketing blog first threw a gauntlet to the arts community with a controversial post called “How Marketing Directors Kill New Work.” After some heady response, he acknowledged that his initial post identified problems without proposing solutions. He proffered some GREAT solutions in a follow up post, which I highly recommend you check out here. There was one element that he didn’t get into, that I think is worth airing out, particularly in light of the recent Devis...
- Takeaways: Outrageous FortunePublished: January 24, 2010I honestly don't have much to add to Mead and Isaac's takes. This has been an incredible conversation in a lot of ways and it has really shown how complicated, delicate, frustrating and difficult these issues are.Having spent the better part of this month thinking about all of this stuff, I'm a bit full-up, to be honest. I see Scott's points in this post, and disagree with some, agree with others. Isaac's post covers a lot of the ground I would cover, so read that.As for me, Mead sums where I'm...
- The Perils of PasadenaPublished: January 30, 2010Here we go again… Pasadena Playhouse, more than any other L.A. institution, qualifies for the “fabulous invalid” nickname that’s often applied to Broadway or theater in general. The playhouse declined in the ’60s and was comatose in the ’70s. It revived in the ’80s, was briefly on the critical list in the ’90s, and since then had survived a couple relatively minor ailments, until the onslaught of the 2008 national economic crisis. And now? Well, you’ve probably read the stories...
- Homophobia in theatre reviewsPublished: February 19, 2010I could not believe what Bloomberg News theatre critic John Simon wrote in his review of The Pride, a production of off-Broadway's MCC Theater. In discussing his reaction to the play by Alexi Kaye Campbell, which examines gay relationships in 1958 and 2008, Simon writes "Another problem is men kissing each other ..." Then he quotes this bit of dialogue: Oliver: The blonde one’s had his tongue in the other one’s ear since we got here.Philip: Yummy.Oliver: They’re sweet.He ends the...
- My Outrageous Fortune Wrap UpPublished: January 25, 2010A few thoughts about Outrageous Fortune.1. I am very happy to see this book bring these issues into a national conversation. Much (much, much) of what is in this book has been picked over on the theatrical blogosphere for some time now. It was great to read these things in a published edition. Hopefully it will spark useful conversation where it matters. Thanks to TDF for publishing this exceptional book. For all my tiny critiques, it's important that work like this is done, and done often.2. I...
- Outrageous Fortune 6.0: Systemic ImpactsPublished: January 24, 2010Before you read this post, I would recommend you read Mead Hunters excellent take on Chapter Six, and Scott Walters take on Chapter Five. Youll be able to understand the points Im making in this post without reading them, but this post is in conversation with both so it may be a richer experience for you if you read both. Meads take, in fact, sums up exactly what I think about Chapter Six... the point you come away from at the end is that the institutional theater system is so fucked up that th...
- Nonprofit Follies: When You Can’t Afford to be Bored with Your BoardPublished: February 14, 2010Funding for arts nonprofits is not going to rise substantially any time soon. This is not a great insight. But it is a fact that seems reinforced each day as the Great Recession yields to the Great Uncertainty. That does not mean some arts nonprofits will not thrive. Some groups will land grants they hadn’t landed before, or come into local, state or federal funding they hadn’t come into before, or lure board members of sufficient wealth and mission devotion they hadn’t lured before. But i...
- Charles Isherwood to Off-Off-Broadway: Drop Dead? Berger Says Yes.Published: February 13, 2010The second-string theater critic of the New York Times, Charles Isherwood, had to know when he wrote “Envisioning Shakespeare at Home in New York” — examining how the Royal Shakespeare Company’s upcoming residence at the Park Avenue Armory inspires “gratitude and chagrin” — he would chasten and infuriate the Off-Off-Broadway community. And scores of comparatively well-financed Off-Broadway companies that also produce classical work. The chagrin “derives from the dispiriting refle...
- Michael Kaiser ÷ Scott Walters ≤ U.S. SenatePublished: February 6, 2010Yes, you read that equation correctly. Let me explain. I read blogger-slash-pedagogue Scott Walters’ response to a Huffington Post essay by Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center. And it led me to a conclusion: If most arts bloggers agree we have multiple crises in the arts — from advocacy to funding to infrastructure and beyond — our biggest issues is the community’s lack of unanimity, in general, regarding what to do about it. Everyone is possessed of ideas, philosophies, ap...
- Is It Art Because You Say So? Or Because Everyone Says So?Published: January 28, 2010When it comes to art and artistry, social media continues to act as the great leveler of our time. More and more it has rendered age-old symbols of authority — critics — not merely reduced in power but hungrily searching for relevance, like constitutional monarchs facing political impotence for the first time. Reading certain critics, sometimes you smell their anger and resentment; they were never trained to respond to the questioning of their influence beyond pointedly ignoring letters to t...
- How We Can Support New Work (an addendum)Published: February 21, 2010My latest blog post entitled How Marketing Directors Kill New Work caused quite the stir among my colleagues. For those that know me, I have never been one to shy away from controversial issues, especially if I have a strong position on the subject. With that being said, I stand by what I wrote, but decided that I should probably add an addendum as several good points were raised by my readers.I was challenged by some to address the steps that marketing directors can take to help support new wor...
- Rothko To Play Broadway: What Will The Drama Say About Art?Published: January 25, 2010Are the visual arts coming to Broadway again? And what picture will be drawn? Its not always good for art: Art was a winning play, more about friendship than painting, but it still reinforced some conventional antipathy toward art. Now there's word around New York that Red, a play by John Logan about Mark Rothko that opened on Dec. 8 at Donmar Warehouse in London, is likely to transfer to New York, probably this spring. The play is set in 1958-59, and involves the commission Rothko won for...
- Blending professional and amateurPublished: February 19, 2010I've had this Baltimore Symphony story simmering on the back burner for a few weeks, and continue to come back to it. The symphony hosted a special concert/performance event to allow amateur musicians to sit in with their professional counterparts. Called ''Rusty Musicians With the BSO,'' the event was a pet project of conductor Marin Alsop. Said the article:The Rusty Musicians event is conceived as an exercise in community-building. "Our vision for the orchestra is that it's a destination poi...
- The Audience is Always Right: Why Your Work Must Be MarketablePublished: February 17, 2010This one might make you upset, but it’s come to my attention that some of you need a swift kick in the ass, so grab your blankie and put your therapist on speed dial and keep reading. Chad M. Bauman of the venerable Arena Stage recently reported playwrights’ complaints that marketing directors “kill new work” because they can’t find new audiences. Chad makes some valid points about the mission of arts marketing being to support new work, but I fear playwrights, artistic directors, and...
- Where Are the Arts Important?Published: February 1, 2010As I was preparing for my "Arts in Crisis" tour stops in a series of southern states, I was reflecting on the claims of too many politicians that the arts are the province of the elite in big coastal cities like New York and Los Angeles. This is used as an excuse for denigrating public support for the arts, and by extension, the arts themselves. The argument goes that investing in the arts only affects a very small, very rich, and very concentrated segment of our population. While it is true...
- How Marketing Directors Kill New WorkPublished: January 31, 2010As I only post when something catches my attention, my posting habits are a little sporadic. Sometimes I will write a couple of posts in a week, and other times I will only post once a month. I have been feeling pretty guilty lately about not posting more, but nothing really jumped out at me until very recently.In the past couple of weeks, two things have impacted my work as a marketer--I was extraordinarily fortunate to attend a convening of Black playwrights as part of the American Voices New...
- Kinda like Netflix, only for live theaterPublished: February 16, 2010An increasing range of entertainment these days is available through a monthly all-access payment rather than a per-use or per-unit cost. Netflix offers unlimited on-line movies and DVDs for one monthly payment. Rhapsody offers access to a jukebox in the clouds for a monthly fee, as well. Now Seattle's ACT Theater is playing with the same idea for live theater, and it seems to be catching on.ACT's 'monthly membership' costs audiences $25 per month, but offers unlimited access to the theater's pe...
- Orchestra campaign unexpectedly strangePublished: February 16, 2010So. The Philly Orchestra's strange new campaign, Unexpect Yourself.First off, the tagline. As Karen Heller has already noted, it smacks of bodily functions. Phlegm, maybe. Blech. Unexpect myself? Never in polite company, I hope.Second, the goal: To get cultural consumers (whom Anodyne, the digital marketing firm behind the campaign, identifies in Heller's column as a fringe audience!) to choose the orchestra more often. Here’s the thing: the copy seems to be speaking to special-occasion orches...
- Twitter Is A Network Weaver's Best FriendPublished: January 29, 2010This past week, June Holley did a brown bag lunch at the Packard Foundation on network weaving and I was lucky enough to learn from her for a few hours! How would I describe June Holley? She's the guru of network weaving and walks on water. She gave a brilliant presentation that shared the story of footing binding in China and how using a networked approach and network weaving techniques, they were able to change the practice in a decade. She covered some techniques of network weaving,...
- Should CEOs and Executive Directors Use Social Media?Published: February 9, 2010The NASSCOM India Leadership Forum has multiple tracks based on theme. It also has a track that takes place in a large room with roundtables and a designated discussion topic and facilitator. These sessions are not for presentations, but for disscussion and sharing of ideas. I was asked to facilitate a session on the question, "Should CEOs and Executive Directors Use Social Media?" In preparation for this session, I asked colleagues here in the US to share their collective wisdom...
- If Hope Is Not A Business Plan, Neither Is PassionPublished: February 10, 2010Around the corner from my house is a lovely pre-Civil War era house, the Alexander Majors house. It’s a historic landmark in Kansas City. Alexander Majors helped open the west by leading the first wagon train from Westport (Kansas City) to Santa Fe and then made a fortune along the Santa Fe and California trails. He then lost a fortune by founding the Pony Express just as the telegraph became available. His great-granddaughter re-purchased the home to preserve her ancestor’s legacy. The hous...
- Real Leaders Don't Do Focus GroupsPublished: February 16, 2010Apple is famous for not engaging in the focus-grouping that defines most business product and marketing strategy. Which is partly why Apples products and advertising are so insanely great. They have the courage of their own convictions, instead of the opinions of everyone else's whims. On the subject, Steve Jobs loves to quote Henry Ford who once said that if he had asked people what they wanted they would have said "a faster horse." Focus groups are all about reference points. Make it more lik...
- Self-Producing: "Playwrights"Published: January 25, 2010Okay, okay, sorry David Dower. I didn't RTWT with regards to Outrageous Fortune. In my defense, when I began to read posts on the report, I saw things like "Aristotle Said There's Supposed To Be Catharsis... but there isn't. Not in this book," and I just had no taste for it. It doesn't sound like I missed much -- much as, when I read the reviews of Bye Bye Birdie, I can decide I don't want to see it. (Adam Feldman: "Bye Bye Birdie; hello, turkey. The featherbrained revival of this 1960 musical i...
- Rocco Landesman Interview on PBS NewsHourPublished: January 29, 2010Earlier this month, The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, was interviewed on PBS’s NewsHour by Jeff Brown. If you did not have a chance to hear this, it is a terrific interview and has much to inspire the ideas of artist as innovator/entrepreneur. Rocco Landesman Interview on PBS NewsHour. Below are questions Rocco answered folllowing the interview that PBS NewsHour compiled. JEFFREY BROWN: Rocco Landesman, nice to talk to you again. ROCCO LANDESMAN: Good to...
- Building Audience Diversity Through Social Networking – Part TwoPublished: February 14, 2010In part 1 of this 3-part entry, I left you with the burning question: What are arts groups doing to build audience diversity through social networking? I decided to ask arts organizations around the country two questions that are relevant to any arts organization with a social networking strategy (and not just during Black History Month): How is your org are selecting which social networking sites are worthwhile? Are you taking diversity into account when forming these strategies? ...
- Building Audience Diversity Through Social Networking – Part OnePublished: January 28, 2010When I was working in the trenches of a theatre company in the Midwest about a year and a half ago, the arts orgs in town got together to have a round-table discussion about social networking. At the time, I had grown my theatre’s social networking from mere presence to full-blown strategy and was seeing our friend numbers grow exponentially. I was proud of my Facebook page and our (at that time) fledgling Twitter site, but the MySpace page was the real shining star of the bunch, with almost t...
- Why We Use the Full OrchestraPublished: January 25, 2010There is a disturbing trend in the American musical theater. Producers are reducing the size of orchestras for most revivals and new musicals are being written with smaller ensembles versus the large scale orchestras that I grew up expecting to hear in the theater. I appreciate the pressure to reduce costs of production. Anyone working in the live performing arts appreciates that because we do not increase productivity year in and year out, as other industries do, the arts suffer from a highe...
- U.S. Dept. of Education Holds Ground-breaking “Stakeholders” Meeting on Arts Education PolicyPublished: January 25, 2010This past week I attended a U.S. Department of Education “stakeholders” meeting on the reauthorization of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The meeting was ground-breaking since it was the first time that the national arts education community had been invited to specifically address the reauthorization policy efforts. Since last June, the Department has been holding these meetings on various reform topics, typically broad and encompassing multiple sectors of the education unive...
- What do great Chefs and great Producers have in common?Published: January 22, 2010Successful chefs and successful Producers have one thing in common. In the old days, I'd say that they both wore big hats.Nowadays, it's as simple as this:They both have to have great taste. There are all different kinds of chefs in the world. Some chefs cook to their own taste, ignoring those that they're serving. They may not be very "successful," but they may be fulfilled nonetheless. Some chefs cook only the way their diners enjoy, at times serving dishes that they wouldn't eat the...
- How does a Broadway Producer get paid?Published: January 20, 2010I wrote a blog in November which stumped for the concept that Producers should receive a portion of Author's subsidiary rights on shows that have not recouped on Broadway, since it was the Producer's production that branded the show for subsidiary production in the first place.I got tremendous positive response from the industry from that blog, including several Producers who said they would be willing to take more risks on Broadway if they knew they would have a guaranteed revenue stream to hel...
- What we can learn from NBC's mistakes.Published: January 18, 2010You gotta give 'em some kind of credit, right? Moving Jay Leno to 10 PM was an unprecedented move that had a lot of people wondering what in the ratings all those executives at NBC were smoking. But it could've worked . . . and if it did, some executive would be smoking a big fat cigar as everyone called him or her brilliant.It was a big move, a-shake-the-very-foundation-of-everything-we-know-to-be-true move. And it failed.But I gotta give someone the credit for giving it a shot. It remi...
- Awww, looks like somebody's new play didn't get a production!Published: January 22, 2010I confess I haven't ordered a copy of Outrageous Fortune, the new book from TDF that purports to outline what's gone wrong with the new play development process - and I don't think I'm going to. Everything I've read about it - and bloggers have been working overtime in this regard - makes it sound just too obnoxious for words.Some chapters, it is said, bemoan how difficult it is to get a first production; others bemoan how hard it is to get a second production because theatres prefer to give fi...
- Outrageous Fortune: Chapter 5: It's About the AudiencePublished: January 21, 2010A GripeI'd like to start my comments about Outrageous Fortune's fifth chapter entitled "Whose Audience Is It, Anyway?" with something that is starting to gripe me more and more. On April 30, 2008 I turned 50 (no, that's not th epart that gripes me). My hair has been white since my early 40s; my skin has been white since I was born. Since getting a job as a university professor in 1998, I have been middle class. So if you look at my picture to the right, you will see a picture of the audience mem...
- Outrageous Fortune, Chapter 5Published: January 21, 2010Whose Audience Is It, Anyway?This question is the title of the 5th chapter of Outrageous Fortune, TDF's new book profiling the the life and times on the new American play. As part of Isaac's blogging group, I'm writing about Chapters 1, 5, and 6. My thoughts on Chapter 1 are here.I share my Chapter with Scott Walters of Theatre Ideas and CRADLE fame, and in some ways, he has been writing his eloquent response to the issues addressed in Chapter 5 for years. This frees me up to be more personal in...
- I guess we’re going to have to deal with this filmed theatre thingPublished: January 22, 2010It’s an inevitability, I suppose. When we’re all talking about how to save theatre, how to adapt theatre to the persistent technological climate change that all the kids are gettin’ down with, about how to reach new audiences and turn them on to that old thing we love…it comes up. Invariably. “We could film it and put it on the internet.” The crew over at the promising new Verb Theatre blog recently posted about a new British site called “Digital Theatre” (a term already in use i...
- THE NATIONAL ARTS INDEXPublished: January 20, 2010Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on..................” THE ARTS INDEX: Kicking off its’ 50th Anniversary, Americans for the Arts this morning released its long in preparation NATIONAL ARTS INDEX – an annual single number score that purports to measure the health and vitality of the arts in America (both for profit and nonprofit sectors). Think: Consumer Confidence Index. The measurement is distilled from a huge amount of data and based on 76 separate indicators - grouped in...
- Bill Ivey on the National Arts Index…Published: January 21, 2010Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, the National Arts Index is a real game changer. By widening the frame to look at music royalties, movie screens, and personal creative practice, Americans for the Arts has basically said to the nonprofit fine arts, “You’re now one of many; part of a sector but not the be-all and end-all.” This new reality, coming at us from the premier US cultural advocacy organization, will have profound implications for policy actors and community leaders all ove...
- Introducing the National Arts Index (from Arts Watch)Published: January 20, 2010Today, Americans for the Arts released our new National Arts Index at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. This report represents a major milestone for arts in America. Never before has there been a single and annually produced measure of the health and vitality of the arts in America. While new for the arts, we interact with indicators daily. If you want to know about the stock market, you check the Dow-Jones Index. Are we optimistic about the economy? Track the Conference Board’...
- Quick Questions: Love, Loss and Michele LeePublished: January 11, 2010The space under my byline usually contains my random musings on the theater industry. But I believe in mixing things up. I have long wanted to do fun interview features where the actor is asked not the same old questions, but ones very specifically geared towards a given show. I start this series today with Michele Lee. Best known for her work on the now-defunct nighttime soap Knots Landing, Lee is a two-time Tony nominee who always brings her own vivacious personality to her roles. Through...
- Outrageous Fortune, Chapter 4: Return on InvestmentPublished: January 19, 2010The great blog-thru continues!We got a little bit off-track due to the Arena Stage Black Playwrights' Convening this past weekend (more on that soon). But we're back, with one of the more frustrating, complicated and hard to sum up chapters in Outrageous Fortune. "Chapter Four: New Plays Onstage" covers a ton of ground, not all of which I'll get to in this post. If Chapter Two is the ribcage, as Isaac says here, this chapter is the large intestine: twisted, switchbacking, coiled up, dark, messy...
- Noises off: Hands up for women in theatrePublished: January 20, 2010It's a fair cop: my list of 2009's best theatre blogs lacked a fair showing of women, so it's time to redress the balanceNoises Off has, in the past, spoken on several occasions about the under-representation of women in the theatre industry. It's an important issue and one that bears repeated examination – particularly when the person guilty of under-representing people is, erm, me. In response to my recent list of 2009's best theatre bloggers, George Hunka (one of those who had been honourab...
- Casting Your AudiencePublished: January 17, 2010If the audience is as important as the actors in making a play work, why don't we spend as much time casting an audience as we do casting a play?A backdrop for that question:This weekend, I was lucky enough to observe the American Voices New Play Insitute at Arena Stage's convening on black playwrights. I was there on behalf of my goodly employer TCG, live tweeting the event @tcg and hashtag #newplay. Also make sure to check out Parabasis, Mission Paradox, 99 Seats and the New Play Blog for some...
- "A Culture of Asking"Published: January 19, 2010"The history of arts organisations shows that success in fundraising often leads to the employment of more fundraisers, not more artists." -Lyn Gardner, The Guardian. If you don't believe her, look at the job listings in any issue of "ArtSearch" and count the number of entries under "Development," compared to "Artistic." Gardner is commenting upon the rising Tory partys proposed arts policy for the UK, should it win the next elections. (A high likelihood over there.) Not surprisingly for...
- NY Gov. Paterson Proposing $9.6M Decrease in Arts FundingPublished: January 19, 2010According to an email from Norma Munn, chairperson of the New York City Arts Coalition, Governor David Paterson of New York is recommending substantial decreases in arts appropriations — some $9.6 million — in his budget for the next fiscal year. Some $6.5 million of that decrease will come out of grants issued by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Munn noted that the Coalition will send out an “action” memo this Thursday. “It will not require you to go to Albany to deal...
- When You Talk About What You’ve No Business Talking About, People Will TalkPublished: January 19, 2010On her always excellent blog Critical Difference, Laura Collins-Hughes does a great job gently scolding WNYC on a story that ties the closing of the Broadway revival of Ragtime to the uphill fight Democrats face politically in 2010. This is especially true in ethics-challenged New York State, where all incumbents, regardless of party, should be booted from office and given rocks to hide under until the anger of the citizenry at last abates. As Collins-Hughes notes, the WNYC reporter, Bob Henne...
- The Importance of Midpoint CorrectionsPublished: January 19, 2010January represents the midpoint in the season for many United States arts organizations. By this point, many of us know whether the year is progressing as we had expected when we developed the budget for the year. For too many of us, the news this season isn't good. A major grant may have been lost, a production may have died at the box office, or a project went wildly over budget. For most organizations, at least one element of the fundraising campaign is not meeting target. At this rate,...
- On The Meaning Of What We DoPublished: January 17, 2010Scott Walters picks up on an important question -- the important question -- posed by Tom Loughlin:When you stack up the general public’s statistical disinterest in theatre against the general economic condition of the art and the artists themselves, the rational mind has to question why anyone would continue to pursue such a statistically trivial career. Or worse – why anyone would ever educate or train someone to pursue this career. You can choose to take the high road and produce aestheti...
- Should Literary Managers Be Developing Playwrights?Published: January 15, 2010Mead Hunter asks:Do playwrights really want unvarnished honesty? If I say to you, “We passed on your play because we felt your ending was lame,” what subtext do you hear? If you rewrite that ending under the impression that now Theater XYZ will gladly produce it, and that doesn’t happen, then you will really feel had. The danger of specific criticism is that will be received as advice -- or even as a promise.Isaac responds:I will respond to this by telling a story, a story of rejection! Re...
- Numbers GamePublished: January 13, 2010See here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Among others, I'm sure. And it's all fascinating reading. I was pretty busy today at my day job and dropped in whenever I could, but, by and large, I'm with David Cote's comment here:As a critic who believes that supporting good new playwrights, directors and companies is one of his duties, I find this hand-wringing over our neglected heritage dispiriting (if not insulting to artists who have taken a virtual oath of poverty for an art form they l...
- Outrage to ComePublished: January 11, 2010As Isaac announced, there will be some in depth reactions to Outrageous Fortune coming along and I'll be doing some of them. I'm really looking forward to it. This book is a tough, tough read, but it's really invaluable and worth checking out. I think the group of us tackling it will have some interesting perspectives and make for engaging reading. At least I'll aim for that.One thing, though, I think is important to note. Well, two things. These things have gotten a bit obscured in the prior di...
- Why Bother?Published: January 11, 2010Since I'm talking about critics, I suppose I should mention this from Chris Jones. I guess. To be honest...sigh. When I read it on Friday, I got really hot under the collar and started one of those obscenity-laced rants, overloaded with sarcasm and bitchiness. Halfway through, though, I kind of lost steam. A friend suggested a more thorough fisking (get your head out of the gutter) and I started one, but realized that there just isn't too much more to it than "STFU, Playwrights!" and really, how...
- The Myth About Star Casting on Broadway and BeyondPublished: January 7, 2010There have always been stars on Broadway. And stars that pump the theater full of energy. Until the growth of the nonprofit movement in the 1950s and 1960s, it was always a purely commercial proposition, and nothing moves tickets more effectively, typically, than the presence of a star (or two or three, if you’re lucky). One can achieve commercial success without a star. But the star-driven vehicle is an economic and cultural tradition of the Broadway theater. And theater people, being inside...
- Misguided AngerPublished: January 11, 2010Chicago Trib critic Chris Jones posted a review of Outrageous Fortune, the book about the state of the new American play. His review of the book - or at least of some of the views expressed in the book - are pretty blunt and some may disagree with them. But he does say something that struck me as particularly interesting: But at the point where the complainants in “Outrageous Fortunes” go after the paying customers, the book starts to become absurdly self-indulgent. --------------------...
- Early thoughts on "Outrageous Fortune"Published: January 9, 2010While watching CBS Sunday Morning, I read this. I myself am in the middle of reading Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play. I haven't been able to put it down frankly. I read over two hundred pages of it in 12 hours, but had to move to a Wallander book as a palette cleanser so that I would be drinking whiskey all weekend. I think I'm going to reserve my more substantive thoughts for later posts, but contrary to some of the posts I've been reading around the blogosphere...
- Is the “NEA-Rejected” Women’s Project Playing with Fire?Published: January 10, 2010Journalists know what journalists know, and what they know isn’t necessarily the same information, insight or wisdom that theater professionals possess, or, for that matter, the same information, insight or wisdom that press agents who represent those theater professionals possess. This post is therefore by definition a matter of “What if?” — but perhaps, an important “What if?” worth discussing. The Women’s Project, an Off-Broadway theater company founded in 1978 by Julia Miles an...
- What If We ARE All Wrong?Published: January 12, 2010After a day of thinking and stewing (and some dancing, but more on that later)...what if those of us who advocate for new plays and new voices and diversity are all wrong? What if we have fought a battle and won? What if, as some suggest, the field is crowded with too many new plays of little merit or strength? So what if the picture is far more complicated than it first appears?In Outrageous Fortune, the authors post this finding:While an average season at [theatres participating in the study]...
- Leading is not misleading.Published: January 12, 2010In late November, the London production of the stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption got busted for putting a quote on their marquee that said the following:"A superbly gripping, genuinely uplifting drama." - Charles Spencer, Daily TelegraphGood quote, right?Only one problem . . . the quote was referring to the FILM version of Shawshank, and the reviewer had gone on to say, "In almost every respect, the stage version is inferior to the movie."Ballsy move on behalf of the Producers, right?...
- Outrageous Fortune Blog-Thru Part IPublished: January 13, 2010Dear Everyone,Im excited to start this blog-thru through the Outrageous Fortune. Given the kind of summary feel of the first chapter, its hard to kind of avoid the rest of the book and drill down into specifics. So let me first say this: to echo Matt and J, Outrageous Fortune is in a way totally unsurprising and in another way kind of profound. Unsurprising because I dont think theres much in this book that will be any kind of shock to people who work in or write about this industry. Profo...
- Outrageous Fortune, Chapter 1Published: January 13, 2010So I'm going to be blogging about TDF's new publication, Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play, as part of Isaac Butler at Parabasis' posse of bloggers. Today, all of us will be addressing Chapter 1: Dialogue in the Dark, Playwrights Theatres. In the days to follow we'll be focusing on individual chapters, and I'm thrilled to say that I'll be joining with Scott Walters next Tuesday to talk about Chapter 5: Whose Audience Is It, Anyway?But for now...Chapter 1: Dialogue...
- "Four new plays and maybe one classic"Published: January 13, 2010I'm not as patient as my friend and colleague Art Hennessey, so I just did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation this morning against the current seasons of our major local theatre producers: the Huntington, the ART, the New Rep, SpeakEasy Stage, the Lyric, Merrimack Rep, Company One, the Central Square Theater, Zeitgeist Stage, and Boston Playwrights' Theatre.I decided to class plays into three categories - "Brand New," as in a premiere or written in the last year or two; "Newish," as in wri...
- Outrage and Fortune, Part 1: The Price of EverythingPublished: January 13, 2010The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.- Oscar WildeAnother favorite quote of mine, and one I've long wanted to use as a title or epigram. This post is as good as anything else.Re-reading the first chapter of Outrageous Fortune this morning on the subway to work, I realized how sad it made me. There is a pervasive sense of cynicism throughout it that dragged at my spirit. Maybe I'm an old softie underneath my gruff exterior, but it kind of hurts to read about the depth...
- Two More Outrageous Fortune ReactsPublished: January 14, 2010This is great stuff! If anyones written anything on the subject i havent seen, please drop a line in the comments somewhere! This blog/book club isnt mean to be exclusive, its meant to be a way to get a big conversation jumpstarted that everyone can feel involved in. So here are two reacts from other blogs. First from Travis Bedard: Everyone wants a comfortable job at a comfortable salary at a nurturing artistic home. And a unicorn. Too bad.That aside, the burrowing of our writers from hig...
- What the Hell Is Howard Kissel Talking About?Published: January 14, 2010Howard Kissels react to Terry Teachouts Top-10-of-10s article is namedroppy gibberish. Heres just one example:Terry started his career as a jazz bassist. He has also reviewed both jazz and classical music. He knows that instrumentalists are held to higher standards than actors. You cannot audition for any orchestra in this country without considerable conservatory training and a wide knowledge of repertory. That is not the case with actors. One of the reasons many of the above plays are attract...
- Biggest Plays of the Decade, ctd.Published: January 14, 2010Isaac at Parabasis has done a thorough job following up on the Terry Teachout list of Top 10 Produced Plays of the Decade--including mixing up the criteria more to create a perhaps more accurate picture of not just which plays, but playwrights are being produced.The question arose when Teachout noticed only one "classic" play made the top 10, "Glass Menagerie." (And even that was tied for #10 with Laramie Project, so arguable it's #11.) So he was concerned that American theatre companies were...
- Outrageous Fortune Chapter 2Published: January 14, 2010Today I had planned on blogging extensively about the second chapter of Outrageous Fortune. I'll be a bit behind, unfortunately. There is just a ton of ground to cover in this chapter, and I haven't really digested it properly. Either I'll write a full post later tonight or tomorrow.In short: theaters use the products playwrights create to write grants and pay salaries. Some of the most successful playwrights in the country earn less than $40,000 a year in this system, from a hodgepodge of sourc...
- Outrageous Fortune Chapter OnePublished: January 13, 2010Okay. First read this so you get what's up and then you can bother to read my response to Chapter One of Outrageous Fortune.Some disconnected and quickly written thoughts...The first chapter is entitled Dialogue in the Dark: Playwrights and Theatres. It is stark and familiar. It describes a landscape of not-for-profit theaters that operate on a tremendous scale (two produce on Broadway); that have replaced commercial producers as the arbiters of new work; and the playwrights who find themselves...
- Outrageous Fortune Chapter 2Published: January 14, 2010Today I had planned on blogging extensively about the second chapter of Outrageous Fortune. I'll be a bit behind, unfortunately. There is just a ton of ground to cover in this chapter, and I haven't really digested it properly. Either I'll write a full post later tonight or tomorrow.In short: theaters use the products playwrights create to write grants and pay salaries. Some of the most successful playwrights in the country earn less than $40,000 a year in this system, from a hodgepodge of sourc...
- Countries for Old Men (and Women)Published: January 14, 2010This has gotten a bit lost in the shuffle of Outrageous Fortune and the lists of productions bouncing around. The Innovative Theatre Foundation has released this survey of the demographics of the Off-Off-Broadway theatre community. Not the audience, but the participants. There's a lot of good info in here, a lot of things that sync up with the various conversations going on.Here's a bit about the methodology:A total of 4136 surveys were collected. Of those, 41 surveys were discarded (17 responde...
- Outrageous Fortune: Chapter 1: Build a Bridge, Don't Take Swimming LessonsPublished: January 13, 2010[A handful of bloggers have been called together by Isaac Butler to spend a week blogging about the recent book published by the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) entitled Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play by Todd London with Ben Pesner and Zannie Giraud Voss. Today, we will all blog about Chapter One, then break into groups to blog about succeeding chapters, and finish by all blogging about the final chapter. Isaac Butler at Parabasis will provide links to all.]First,...
- Move Your Money (Move Your Theatre)Published: January 14, 2010So recently, there has been a pretty strong movement to suggest that people move their money from the large banks to small, community banks. The arguments against that -- as spoken below by Stephen Colbert -- sounds an awful lot like the arguments against decentralization of the American theatre. Watch:The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cMove Your Money - Eugene Jareckiwww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorEconomyWhile the analogy between banking and theatre i...
- Outrageous Fortune: Changing the TimelinePublished: January 14, 2010Well, between peoples crazy schedules and having a lot to say about chapter one we didnt get to Chapter two today. Posts about Chapter two will be up tomorrow. And well figure out whats happening with chapter three. maybe itll happen on the same day! Maybe itll happens some other time! Watch this space and well keep you posted.
- Outrageous Fortune 2.0: Createquity's Take on the Playwrights' PlightPublished: January 14, 2010You can read Ian David Moss excellent and thoughtful summary of the chapter with reacts here. He also links his thoughts to three other posts of his that salient and quite worth reading on this subject. Check em all out! Heres a quote about the chapter to whet your appetite: The second chapter of Outrageous shines a light on the sadly pitiful economic status of most playwrights. Holy Moses, it’s depressing. The numbers as presented are pretty stark: more than 60 percent of surveyed playwr...
- Outrageous Fortune 3.1: Mead Hunter's Take (and Mine)Published: January 15, 2010I have not been able to write about Outrageous Fortune nearly enough because of other work obligations. And Mead Hunters post has an enormous amount worth responding to. As an ex-literary manager, he had both wide experience and no reason to keep his mouth shut about some bullshit hes seen. The results are interesting. Check it out here. Some thoughts on what Mead raises... first, it seems strange that Todd London et al didnt spend some more time talking to Literary Managers once there was...
- Outrageous Fortune - Let's Talk About New PlaysPublished: January 15, 2010The blogosphere is abuzz with discussion of TDF's new book Outrageous Fortune a serious, important, and fairly damning study about the state of new play development and the experience of being a playwright in America today. The study's authors are Todd London (of New Dramatists) and Ben Pesner, and they take a careful and complicated look at the new plays sector, basing his findings on surveys conducted with playwrights, producers and other "new play mavens" and conversations in many cities aro...
- "Outrageous Fortune"Published: January 15, 2010Lots of theatre folk are talking about this book, a meaty study on just what is going on with playwrights today. Written by a team headed by New Dramatists chief Todd London and published by Theatre Development Fund (TDF) it's called: Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play. Its thesis? "The relationship between playwrights and theaters is essentially broken." That's the way TDF head Victoria Bailey bluntly put it to the Times, at least. A theme familiar to blog read...
- Outrageous Fortune: a composer’s perspectivePublished: January 13, 2010Around a year ago, Createquity got discovered, if you will, by a certain Isaac Butler of the Parabasis blog. Isaac is a writer and director active in the theater field, and since Parabasis is one of the central pillars in the “theatrosphere,” as its participants call it, he ended up sending me a lot of traffic. From that point forward, I’ve started to have more and more members of that crew engaging with me in discussions about arts policy and so forth, a development that I’ve really e...
- Change I: Move Your Money, Move Your Theater?Published: January 15, 2010So, elsewhere, most of the internet is talking about Outrageous Fortune, which so far seems to be a wake-up call about how shitty our industry can be sometimes (see also: How Theater Failed America). Yet again, the refrain I hear is, "Yes, we know it's shitty, but how do we change it?"That's not to say that solutions haven't been proposed (I'm going to update my list of solutions-heard soon to take into account more things I've heard), but that when the conversation veers back to what's wrong in...
- Turning Theatres into NetworksPublished: January 13, 2010I read this marvelous post by Jon Stancato of the Stolen Chair Theatre yesterday. He had given a very provocative speech about the future of arts organizations. His post is actually called The Speech That Got Booed! The boos were for this courageous statement: But, I don’t want to be a charity, in large part [...]
- What I Learned From RagtimePublished: January 11, 2010Having the Kennedy Center production of Ragtime mounted on a Broadway stage has been both exciting and an honor. This was the first Kennedy Center musical that was transferred to Broadway. The chance to show our work to a larger audience was truly rewarding for all of us involved. It was also an educational experience for me. I have learned to appreciate how much easier it is to sell a show when it is produced by a not-for-profit institution than when it is a stand-alone, for-profit ventur...
- Why Ticket Prices Must ChangePublished: January 4, 2010The central challenge facing arts managers is to fill the ever-widening gap between rapidly increasing expenses and earned income, primarily from ticket sales. This gap continues to grow each year since the number of seats we have to sell does not increase but expenses do. Unfortunately, the favored technique used to fill budget gaps has been increasing ticket prices. When we increase prices, typically at budget time, we hope that a small increase will not be noticeable and we need the added...
- Broadway, the Ultimate Temp GigPublished: January 11, 2010Over dinner last night, a reporter I know, who covers real estate, was lamenting credulous reporting on his beat: articles that reflexively link individual homeowners' woes to the real estate crisis, when a closer look would disprove the assumption. This morning on WNYC, the closing of a Broadway show got similarly unexamined treatment.The story, by political reporter Bob Hennelly, is about what Democrats have to do about the economy if they want to win this fall's elections in New York state. B...
- The Top 10 (U.S.) Arts Policy Stories of 2009Published: January 9, 2010OK, so I know I’m a little late to the party with the year/decade-in-review lists, but since no one other than me apparently cares enough about arts policy to make a top 10 list about it, I’m happy to be the doofus who takes the plunge. 2009 featured no shortage of tumultuous and game-changing events in arts policy, and it was a pleasure (though sometimes an exhausting one) to cover them here on the blog. Here are my picks for the year’s top ten: 10. The L3C Gains, Loses Momentum Last year...
- Can arts and culture make waves with ‘Ripple Effect’?Published: January 12, 2010The U.S. arts-and-culture sector has been searching for a long time for the most effective way to tell its own story – the story that will finally and reliably convince Americans that arts and culture matter tremendously to our society, provide real benefits for everyone and deserve to be nurtured and taught, practiced and promoted and, above all, financially supported. How can the Joe Six-Packs and soccer moms of the 50 states be persuaded to care about cultural enrichment so much that the...
- 10 New Year's Resolutions for Your BoardPublished: January 11, 2010We will review the stated purpose statements in our articles of incorporation and bylaws to make sure they are consistent with our publicized mission statements. We will have our bylaws reviewed by a lawyer if they have not been legally reviewed in the past five years. We will meet as often as necessary to provide strong oversight of the organization and to meet our obligations as directors. We will each commit to attending a majority of the meetings or accept another, more appropriate role...
- Going Downhill – A Bit FasterPublished: January 11, 2010The direct mail slump continues. In fact, Target Analytics’ 2009 Index of National Fundraising Performance for the Third Quarter indicates the decline is speeding up. What strikes me as most worrisome is that now both donor acquisition and donor development (house file activity) are in trouble. For nearly five years we’ve watched the numbers of new donors decline, but whistled past the graveyard as those losses were made up by rising per donor net income from house files. No more. As t...
- The Lure of Star PowerPublished: January 1, 2010I just finished reading Playbill.com's Top Theatre Stories of the Year. The leading story discusses how stars sell tickets, and in a year with a down economy, it seems that the only thing that sells tickets are the stars. From this little story it seems clear that if you don't have an A-list star in your show, don't even try a Broadway transfer.Arena Stage in the past few seasons has been lucky enough to host a few stars, most notably Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking and Valerie Harper in Loop...
- LOOKING BACK ON FIVE YEARS OF PREDICTIONSPublished: January 1, 2010Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on............” NOTE: As we begin to transfer over the subscriber list for BARRY's BLOG to the new software platform in January, you will soon get a notice in your email box asking you if you want to subscribe to the new platform. If you don't you will be taken off the subscriber list and you won't get notices of new blog postings. I don't want that to happen, and so please spend the few moments it will take for you to stay a subscriber when you do...
- Diversity in TheatrePublished: December 7, 2009Dunkirk NY – Over the weekend bloggers Scott Walters, Isaac Butler and Adam Thurman attended a conference entitled Defining Diversity held at Arena Stage. None of them have given any full write-up yet, although Isaac has posted some quotes from the conference. Since I did not attend, I’ve nothing really to say about the conference itself. But I do have this observation on the subject of diversity: until we create a theatre curriculum that offers to theatre students other options for engagi...
- Changing LivesPublished: January 1, 2010Dunkirk NY – It is a steel-gray New Year’s Day morning here in the bowels of Western NY. I can’t tell if the sun has risen or not yet. Later this afternoon and into this even we expect some lake-effect snow. You have to be pretty hardy to live up in these parts. I think my hardiness is beginning to wear thin, though. I am sure I need to go outside later this morning and take a walk. Even 20 minutes outdoors can relieve the cabin fever a bit. I do not know how we ever got to the point in w...
- Diversity and suchPublished: January 1, 2010I don't agree with Scott's provocative idea because I prefer choice over chance. If we stop trusting people to make real decisions, we give up on their ability to make good choices and grapple with complexity.Also, I detect in the larger diversity discussion a lack of specificity. Gender diversity and racial diversity and class diversity are different issues and have to be addressed entirely differently. Just because a group shares "under-represented" status doesn't mean they are under-represen...
- Diverse CitiesPublished: December 7, 2009The Arena Stage convened their conference on Diversity in Theatre this weekend and, contra Adam at Mission Paradox, I wasn't there. I was supposed to be, but it fell through at the last minute. Which was quite a bummer and quite disappointing and one of the things that led me to shut down a bit last week. The chance to go to D.C. and mix it up with the big kids for a couple of days was worth exposing my identity and I didn't get to do it. So, yeah, I sulked for a while. But sulking doesn't move...
- Some Chewable Nuggets from Defining Diversity #newplayPublished: December 8, 2009by David Dower Thanks to everyone who participated in the Defining Diversity convening, first of all. And I do mean everyone. From the Arena Stage staff (very inspiring to see so many departments represented in the room!) to the thousands of people actively following on Twitter #newplay, it was a lot of people. There is so much to think about coming off of this intense 36 hours, including the discussions that happened over the cleaning up. I know others who have been involved will be chiming in...
- Shorter Broadway League SurveyPublished: January 1, 2010Detailed summaries of the '08-'09 season survey here and here. Info on full report here.-63% of the Broadway audience is now comprised of tourists, pretty evenly split between half domestic and half international. (Combination of foreigners on the rise and US economy dampening Americans travel leisure habits.)-That makes the tourist/New Yorkers audience split about 60/40, with the latter split sort of evenly between almost 20% NYC metro folk and almost 20% suburbanites.-Average number of sho...
- Is the Falling Trend in Arts Attendance Surprising or Alarming?Published: January 1, 2010It may be best for bloggers with a finer facility for statistical analysis — top of my list would be Ian David Moss at Createquity – to fashion a more comprehensive analysis of the NEA’s 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, which was released last week. It’s the first report of its kind since 2002. But it seems to me that after all the public fretting and strutting over the last few years with regard to, among other chronic ills, public participation, funding, access and af...
- The Flaw I See in the NEA ReportPublished: December 15, 2009So like everyone else in the arts blogosphere, Ive been reading the NEAs fascinating 2008 Survey on Public Participation in the Arts. You can check it here. Interesting stuff, and scary too.But theres just one little problem with it, and that is that its quite restrictive in what it defines as art in some old-school totally snobby ways that render it less useful.So for example, theres lots of charts about audience attendance... but only in certain arts! Those are limited to:Jazz, classical, op...
- Broadway League Confirms Great White Way Whiter Than EverPublished: December 16, 2009Hot on the spiky heels of the dispiriting National Endowment for the Arts’ report on public participation comes a new set of audience demographics from the Broadway League. To summarize the New York Times’ surprisingly sarcastic coverage of the document, during the 2008-09 season the Great White Way was a very apt name. Specifically, reported the Times’ Patrick Healy, 2.4 percent of Broadway theatergoers were African-American last season, “down from 6.3 percent in the 2007-08 Broadway se...
- Big DPublished: January 1, 2010So when were talking about intracompany diversity, and specifically about institutions, its worth making sure were all talking about the same thing. Diversity is a huge subject, and theres so many sub-categories that we could both be using the word and mean different things.On one level, there's simply diversity of work. A phrase that came up a lot in the convening was "follow the work" the idea being that if you dedicate yourself to doing a diverse body of work, many of the other diversity i...
- Developing an edgePublished: January 1, 2010Yesterday we talked about the importance of creating clear, tangible differences within your company. Heres an example of that. While in a hotel this week I noticed this article from USA Today about how Southwest Airline's "Bags Fly Free" campaign has led to the airline receiving a 1% increase in market share. There's two marketing lessons in that for us. 1. Sometimes great marketing comes from what you dont do. When the airline industry was implementing fees on checked bags, Im sure th...
- Who came to Broadway this year?Published: January 1, 2010It seems like just yesterday we posted The Broadway League's summary of "Who Came To Broadway" in the 2007-2008 season.Well, it's that time again!Just in time for the holidays, its the Demographics of the Broadway Audience Report for 2008-2009! As I did last year, Ill give you the Cliffs Notes version of the document here, but try and get your hands on a copy of the complete report if you can. Because despite what we all thought in high school, the Cliffs Notes version aint as educational as...
- No, really, we must start thinking about diversity!Published: December 17, 2009I feel like I've been going on forever about how white populations are precipitously heading toward the minority in the Bay Area, since I saw this presentation from the San Francisco Foundation that said, well, that white populations would in fact be the minority in all five Bay Area counties SFF serves by 2050. In fact, there will be no majority population much more quickly than that, and certain counties like Contra Costa and Alameda will reach a Hispanic majority within the next 20 years. An...
- Social EnhancerPublished: January 1, 2010Social media is not really a creative tool. Its an enhancement tool. If you have an idea worth spreading, social media can help it go all over the world. If you have art that is remarkable, social media can help tons of people know about it. But if your ideas are self serving . . . If your art is too boring, or too predictable, or too much like what else is out there . . . Then social media is pretty much useless to you. Social media isnt a magic wand. It doesnt create magic. But if you...
- Diversity, Education, and the Arts: One ApproachPublished: January 1, 2010Several people are getting impatient. "Don't just complain about the problem" they protest, "tell us the solution. If all you can do is point at the problem, it is better to just keep it to yourself!" Or "Sure, this isn't right, but that's just the way it is and always will be!" But as I have said in the previous posts about class, the first step to a solution is for people to admit that there is a problem. A look at the comments on the posts below in relation to the "Big 7" MFA programs indica...
- New Leaf launches a new financial planPublished: January 1, 2010From the moment we saw this post from Chris Ashworth in October, New Leaf buckled down to create a vision of what sustainable theater could look like in the 21st century. It was a clarion call for an idea that had been churning and developing in the company for years. I cannot tell you how excited I am to begin to roll out the results today. Our theater must move away from a patronage model of funding and towards a partnership model. I don’t think any of our patrons would argue that art a...
- 12 Holiday Wishes for the TheatrePublished: December 20, 2009Here are my 12 wishes for theatre in the new year:1. An Online Audience/Artist Community: This is #1 because it makes almost every aspect of #2-12 more possible.Whether it is the Audience Engagement Platform or something out of Project Audience, the goal is to connect audience, artist and institution in a robust arts-centric online platform that allows a diverse, vibrant field to find allies, collaborate on mutual opportunities and challenges, share best practices, develop increased audience own...
- Diversity and suchPublished: December 21, 2009I don't agree with Scott's provocative idea because I prefer choice over chance. If we stop trusting people to make real decisions, we give up on their ability to make good choices and grapple with complexity.Also, I detect in the larger diversity discussion a lack of specificity. Gender diversity and racial diversity and class diversity are different issues and have to be addressed entirely differently. Just because a group shares "under-represented" status doesn't mean they are under-represent...
- The Lottery, Part 1: A Dollar and a DreamPublished: January 1, 2010Well, now that we've put one controversy to bed, I might as well try to stir up another one. For funsies.No, seriously, I think there's still some merit in talking about paths to diversity and the nature of our business. A while back, silentnic@knight posted this comment over at Freeman's place:Statistics show that the Lotto sells best in poor neighborhoods. Tom and Scott are trying to sell the exact same as a viable option for the disenfranchised in theatre. Both are theatre educators. They wo...
- Being accessiblePublished: January 1, 2010An arts organization, particularly a nonprofit one, needs to be accessible.If people can't see your work because they can't afford the tickets, then what exactly is the point of having the 501(c)3 status?There are a lot of ways to ensure your work is accessible. The way I use at my job is to have as many different price points as possible.Depending on a lot of different factors a person could pay as little as $10 for a ticket or as much as $56.Yes, that's a wide range of possible prices, but...
- 10 Simple Steps To Start Internet Marketing Your Show.Published: January 1, 2010You're probably smart enough to know that the internet is where you're supposed to be if you're trying to market your show.But are you smart enough to have started?If you are one of those Producers or Playwrights who always meant to get around to understanding the internet but havent quite got around to it, dont worry, youre not alone. I know a bunch of players in the Broadway arena who still havent picked up the ball yet. To help you get into the game, I consulted with my web-guru, Jamie L...
- Creating DemandPublished: January 1, 2010Consider the following facts: 1. The number of nonprofit arts organizations have increased significantly over the last few decades. The NEA Survey on Arts Participation gives us the following: 2. The majority of participants for the arts they surveyed are white, well educated and have incomes between 50K and 150K or over. 3. Participation in the arts are in decline across the field. There are a few exceptions, like musical theatre, but mostly decline. ------------------------...
- Diversity III: Actually Everyone Talks About DiversityPublished: January 1, 2010Having just hit "publish" on my somewhat irritated rebuttal to 99Seats I do want to mention that his posting on the subject of diversity has been pretty stellar, as well as the posting by Isaac, and Scott, and Matthew. It's been really challenging to read. As of yet, I don't feel like I see an answer I like.Scott put out a great piece on how fear of change holds us back from action on diversity--which, even though I rejected his one idea, doesn't mean I don't agree with that wholeheartedly. As...
- Scott Walters Talks Diversity II: Don't Give Up On Quality.Published: January 1, 201099 Seats has a post up tackling the question of "Quality" as defended by those people who are against Scott's idea.I wrote a much longer post as a response to Scott Walters' original post because, although I objected to his idea, I get nervous talking at length about diversity largely because I'm half North African, but because that North African heritage is Jewish I still usually count as Caucasian, and it's hard not to sound like a status quo apologist when you're arguing against a measure pu...
- Staying Married To The Artistic ProcessPublished: January 1, 2010I came across an interesting article in The New Republic, by way of Arts and Letters Daily that suggested that a shift in business school orientation partially contributed to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States. At one time universities focused on training graduates to manage manufacturing businesses and often had mini-factories on campus to give students practical experiences. The focus since about 1965 has shifted to finance and consulting. While this has been largely benefi...
- Avoiding the “Begging Cup”Published: January 1, 2010Following my last posting on the fiscal health of theatres, my fellow ETA blogger Jim Hart contacted me with some provocative questions. I thought I’d address two of them – and forgive me, Jim, for paraphrasing slightly: 1. Can we teach our aspiring theatre artists to avoid the traditional path of the begging cup? 2. Would it be so bad to have a slew of privately-owned for-profit theatres (to avoid the begging cup that comes with 501c3 status)? How many times have we gone to a performance a...
- My New Year's ResolutionsPublished: January 1, 2010This is the time of year when we look within ourselves and make commitments for improving ourselves and our lives in the coming year. I, like millions of others, have made New Year's resolutions. Here they are: 1. I will finish my new book. I have been working for well over a year on a book for and about boards of directors of arts organizations. It is called Fifty Questions Every Board Member Should Ask. It asks and answers many of the most important questions all board members sh...
- Diversity IV: Ways That WorkPublished: January 1, 2010Those who support Isaac Butler's "sue the theaters" idea (which I don't think he was honestly advocating) or Scott Walters' "numbers out of a hat" idea (which was serious, if ill-received), do have one sharp retort to those of us who criticize: If not these ideas, which ideas?Well, I certainly don't want to sit around sniping all day, so... some ideas that work.Firstly, Thomas Garvey (who I stopped reading the same day I stopped reading Clyde Fitch) reacted last Monday to the Butler/Walters pro...
- "Fuerza Bruta": The TwittercastPublished: December 23, 2009Last night was an official Twitter Night at Fuerza Bruta, and unlike Hugh Jackman and Patti LuPone, the producers encouraged the audience to tweet and take pictures (minus flash) throughout the entire performance. Stage Rush was there, tweeting away like a maniac and stepping on many people's feet. It was a really unique experience to report during a show, but it was a ton of fun and, for me, brought out a completely different and new angle of theatergoing.In case you missed it, here is my Twi...
- "Fela!"'s Missed, Genius Rush OpportunityPublished: December 23, 2009Fela! is a wildly unique and outside-the-box-thinking Broadway production. I thought so and so does just about every major theater critic. And with 86 percent of its tickets sold last week, it's a fair hit. But I just read a fantastic gem of an idea New York Magazine delivered in it's final paragraph of their review for Fela! that would have been a ridiculously exciting and original rush concept. Here's the block quote from reviewer Dan Kois:Given the concert conceit of Fela!, and the audience...
- In which I am pardoned for stealing electricityPublished: December 23, 2009Last week, I was told I was not allowed to plug in my MacBook Pro at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall cafe. Read the whole sordid tale here, and about Nico Muhly's similar indignity here. And both of us have bought SO MUCH CAMPARI there. The waitress could not give me an explanation, though I received several e mails (none from Lincoln Center) suggesting that Alice Tully is a union house and those rules probably extend into the cafe area, so while they wouldn't technically mind if I used their...
- The 10 Rules to Creating a Win-Win-Winning Partnership.Published: December 23, 2009Winning in life, or at whatever you want most to achieve, is easier to accomplish if everyone involved has the same opportunity and motivation to do the same. I am always looking for ways to create these kinds of winning partnerships in everything I do because I love to see if we all can win doing the things we love to do, together. While some of my partnerships have been more successful than others, over the years, I have certainly learned a lot about what to look for to try and create a winni...
- Everything I Need to Know About Organizational Change I Learned by Watching BravoPublished: December 23, 2009Bravo has been running a lot of this show lately, and since I’ve been laid up (or, more accurately, laid out, like a cadaver) with a wrenched back, I’ve watched a bunch of episodes. And I’m kind of hooked. I was initially sort of reproachful about the show’s premise–über-wench Tabatha Coffey (formerly of the first round of Shear Genius) goes into a failing/miserable/grody hair salon, knocks everyone around, makes a lot of noise, and teaches them but good. But you know what? The arts...
- Wry KaiserPublished: December 23, 2009Michael Kaiser was in town as part of his Arts In Crisis tour. The session was videoed. I don’t know if it will be placed on the internet, but the content was pretty much the same as when he spoke in Madison, WI. I had watched that video back when Andrew Taylor discussed Kaiser’s visit to Madison. If the video of our local session becomes available, I will post it. I am not going to give a synopsis of his talk here as I am wont to do. His thoughts are pretty widely disseminated through vi...
- Noises off: Noises off: Playwrights v directors? It's a matter of interpretationPublished: December 23, 2009Blogger Laura Parker has opened a theatrical can of worms by calling Edward Albee an 'old fogey' for expressing disdain for directors who want to reinterpret his workIs Edward Albee an "old fogey"? Laura Parker came to the conclusion that he is, after seeing the great playwright give a rare on-stage interview at the Sydney Theatre Company. During this discussion, Albee was apparently "vocal about his distaste for those who neglect his strict stage directions", describing them as "nothing but in...
- Hugh Grant: the trouble with theatrePublished: December 23, 2009Watching a play is enjoyable 'about one time in 20', claims the Bridget Jones and Four Weddings star. He might be on to somethingAaahh, Hugh Grant. Champion of posh stutterers, king of past-it bachelors everywhere. When he's not perfecting his surprised, wide-eyed bumbling on screen or buying Warhols while drunk, it seems that Grant can be found offering insights into the tortured state of the average theatregoer."I personally find going to the theatre is enjoyable about one time in 20", he tol...
- New Leaf launches a new financial planPublished: December 19, 2009From the moment we saw this post from Chris Ashworth in October, New Leaf buckled down to create a vision of what sustainable theater could look like in the 21st century. It was a clarion call for an idea that had been churning and developing in the company for years. I cannot tell you how excited I am to begin to roll out the results today. Our theater must move away from a patronage model of funding and towards a partnership model. I don’t think any of our patrons would...
- "His Feet Are Where?"Published: December 12, 2009Opened up this months issue of American Theatre, and Jenn and I both had a Letter to the Editor catch our attention:"His Feet Are Where?"I found the cover photo on your Sept. '09 issue most disturbing: The man has his feet on the stats--on the theatre seats! What kind of message are you sending? What kind of audience behavior are you encouraging?There's an implied symbiotic relationship between actor and audience, where by one performs before the other, who "attends" (and all that that word imp...
- Some (Theater) Critics Drink. So What?Published: December 12, 2009In very much the same way that some of my Republicans friends will stretch any truth, propound any lie, contort any point and swallow boiling hemlock before giving Barack Obama credit for anything but a total national apocalypse, theater artists are more apt to blame critics for their shortcomings than blame themselves. In the years that I’ve been a theater critic, the brickbats have run the gamut of credulity: “He didn’t understand/like the play because he didn’t read it first” or ...
- Storytelling for Business — The Campfire PrinciplePublished: December 12, 2009Did you ever go on a campout? Do you remember telling stories around the campfire? Could you tell one of those stories today? Believe it or not, most people can. That story that you heard once or twice as a child is a vivid memory that can be recalled and retold. That’s pretty powerful. So, how do you make that process useful for your business? How do you create a campfire for telling your company’s story? Well, let’s look at what was happening when you heard the story. At camp you sat...
- Is it too late to catch up?Published: December 12, 2009What if your organization or your client has done nothing? What if they've just watched the last fourteen years go by? No real website, no social media, no permission assets. What if now they're ready and they ask your advice? And, by the way, they have no real cash to spend... Here's a list of my top ten things to consider doing: Use gmail to give every person in the organization that can read English an email address. Use a free website creating tool or even Squidoo to build a page a...
- The day Twitter broke down (failure of the hive mind)Published: December 12, 2009Legend has it that Dorothy Parker of the celebrated Algonquin Round Table was asked to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence. Without missing a beat she responded, "you can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."Sharp wit requires fast response, and yesterday Twitter failed miserably at that task. It all began when Edward Boches, creative chief of the ad agency Mullen, suggested four of us test the limits of Twitter as a debate forum. The structure was simple: We'd wrestle with...
- In which I am accused of stealing electricityPublished: December 12, 2009Dear Alice Tully Hall, I hope this blog post finds you well. I often work at the cafe in your beautifully redesigned space, as blogged about here. I enjoy the glass walls, the proximity to that BCBG that always has good sales, and having Campari at my disposal at all hours of the day. This is all why I was saddened a few months back when I realized that the only outlets in the cafe area had been mysteriously turned off. Too bad, I thought: I look so hip and awesome with my MacBook Pro; dont you...
- The magic of dynamic pricingPublished: December 12, 2009Status quo seekers in publishing are now talking about delaying Kindle and other ebook editions of their new books. The idea would be to come out with a hardcover, then a few months later an ebook, then a year later a paperback. This is lame-brained thinking on many levels, one involving teaching the market a lesson. Leaving that aside, it ignores the magic of dynamic pricing. When you produce a physical good like a book, it's really hard to change the price over time, especially if there are...
- Discover the truth about a site's online trafficPublished: December 12, 2009You can find the traffic of a popular website (and compare it to another site) by entering the URL into compete.com. Or quantcast. This data is far more accurate than the charts Alexa offers, because most of the sites being measured cooperate. I'm pretty proud of Squidoo hitting the top 100 sites in the US. You can see the referrals and traffic to an individual bitly twitter URL by copying the URL and adding + sign to it. For example, if you see something like this in a tweet: http://bit.ly/...
- Hair: AbridgedPublished: December 1, 2009Are you in a bad mood because you're looking for that special someone at the end of that always-dreary month of November? HAIR will cheer you right up! You'll get to see someone naked, a man with strong hands will rub your scalp lovingly, and a cute stranger will touch you in confusing ways as you hear droning on about moving to Canada for political reasons. Why, it's like being in a relationship and in the year 2007 all at once!Click to read HAIR: ABRIDGEDDon't forget, tomorrow's the last d...
- What Tiger Woods needs to learn about press.Published: December 1, 2009El Tigre may know how to swing a club, but he's pretty handicapped when it comes to knowing how to spin a story.By now, the world is abuzz with what really caused the Tiger Woods 2:25 AM car crash outside his Floridian mansion. Was he drunk? Was he on drugs? Was he on his way to meet another woman? Did his wife beat the sand trap out of him for a prior affair?Why all these questions? Because he didnt come out in front of the story. Whether we like it or not, refusing to talk, pleadi...
- 3 Things We Can Learn From Tiger WoodsPublished: December 1, 2009I hate to say I told you so, but… Several weeks ago I wrote a blog post about transparency — telling your constituents what is going on, no matter how horrible you think the consequences may be, because they will invent something far worse on their own if you don’t tell them the truth. So, why am I saying I told you so? Tiger Woods. For those of you who have just been rescued from a desert isle, Tiger Woods was in an auto accident over the weekend. The press and public have picked up on...
- WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THE RESEARCH DATA?Published: December 1, 2009Hello everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. “And the beat goes on..............” RESEARCH DATA: Last week the NEA held an online Cultural Workforce Forum, “a convening of researchers reporting on current studies in measuring and understanding the work habits and the economic condition of working artists in America.” A really excellent summary of the findings on that Forum can be found on Ian David Moss’ Createquity website. The data reinforces many of the...
- My Visit To Kansas CityPublished: November 30, 2009One of the stops on my Arts in Crisis tour that I looked forward to most was the visit to Kansas City, Missouri. Twenty four years ago I started my arts management career in Kansas City, running the Kansas City Ballet. Going back to the Lyric Theatre, where the Ballet gave many memorable performances, was a true homecoming. The visit did not disappoint. Approximately 750 people showed up for my session, far more than in any other city. The session began with the entire Kansas City Symphony p...
- Boundary makersPublished: November 28, 2009Some artists continually seek to tear down boundaries, to find new powder, new territory, new worlds to explore. They're the ones that hop the fence to get to places no one has ever been.Other artists understand that they need to see the edges of the box if they're going to create work that lasts. No fence, no art.Can't do both at the same time. My guess is that you're already one kind of person or the other. When people present you with an opportunity/problem, what's your first reaction? Some...
- Broadway's 2nd Quarter results: The season is half over. How we doin'?Published: November 26, 2009Its that time already, can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday we were BBQing in our backyards and taking Summer Fridays. And now look . . .The temp has dropped, it gets dark at 4:30, and the Radio City Christmas Show is kicking again. You know what that means?We've reached the end of the 2nd Quarter of our Broadway Fiscal Year.Week #26 of the Broadway season ended on Sunday, so let's check and see how we're doing!Total gross sales for Quarter #2 were $242,217,564, which is UP (!)...
- The Ups And Downs Of BroadwayPublished: November 26, 2009The Ups And Downs Of BroadwayAs those of you who follow my tweets on Twitter know, I follow Broadway box office totals the way sports fans follow the scores. I like knowing what's up and what's down, the shows that are making the most gains, as well as those teetering on the edge of closing notices.Fortunately, I supplement watching those box office totals by reading some exceptional blogs, including theatre impresario Ken Davenport's The Producer's Perspective.Yesterday, like the professional...
- NEA Cultural Workforce Forum wrapPublished: November 26, 2009On Friday, I had the privilege to attend the NEA’s Cultural Workforce Forum, a convening of researchers who have recently led efforts to measure and understand the work habits and economic condition of individual artists in the United States. The event, though not open to the public, was simulcast on the Internet so that anyone could view it (the broadcast will be archived on arts.gov this week). Both the convening itself and the public broadcast of it are, I believe, firsts for the NEA. The...
- Who is Indispensable?Published: November 26, 2009So Brecht has a quote I have been thinking about since reading a steady stream of Los Angeles Times‘ articles about how LA theaters are coping with these difficult economic times. Loosely translated the quote says people who fight a day are good. People who fight a year are better. But people who fight a lifetime are indispensable. Now Brecht never really delves into who or what these people are fighting exactly but that’s not the point. If we substitute the word “Theaters” for ...
- The Question Of New ModelsPublished: November 26, 2009The idea for new models of theatre is as old as Thespis stepping out of the Chorus. Lately, there has been some interesting ideas in adapting existing social models from other fields: examples theatre as church, and theatre as community supported agriculture.This got me thinking about what other potential models are out there, and how they might be adapted to the field. Here's what I can think of off the top of my early morning head:1. Sports (minor and amateur leagues probably being especially...
- Rent, buy, build, or borrowPublished: November 26, 2009When a for-profit enterprise wants to build its capacity to do something (manufacture a product, launch a new service, provide a new option for their clients, or the like), they face a classic business question -- should we rent the capacity, buy the capacity, or build the capacity? If they need a new manufacturing process, for example, they can either outsource the manufacturing to a third party (rent), purchase a fully operational plant or a competitor that already does the work (buy), or con...
- CASTING THE WIDER NET - ADVERTISING MYTHS; WORD OF MOUTH WORKS.Published: November 26, 2009Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on.......” DISPELLING COMMON HELD MYTHS ABOUT ADVERTISING: A paper: The dangers of common sense in the June 2009 issue of Market Leader, authored by Les Binet (as reported on the eggblogg website) dispels common basic advertising assumptions. This from the Eggblogg site. The stated comments below each bullet point are the blogger’s on that site, not mine: “ The crux of the piece is not that advertising doesn't work, just that the way...
- Stock and Amateur is the way to a "living" . . . but for whom?Published: November 26, 2009There was a great article on the front page (!) of Variety this week (its rare that a theater story gets the cover) about the life after Broadway for musicals that may not have been so well received by The White Way. (To be honest, the article seemed like a byline from a Dreamworks exec, because the article began by stating how DWorks was set to recover a chunk of their $26 million capitalization through national tours and high schools, therefore not making the past year and a half a total lo...
- The Shubert stimulus package.Published: November 26, 2009Earlier this week, the theatrical royal family known as The Shuberts announced an unprecedented three year development deal with two commercial producers, Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole. Zollo and Cole (has a nice ring, doesnt it?) have been responsible for a bunch of shows between them including Angels in America, Chitty2 Bang2, and, this season, they teamed up like the Wonder Twins to produce a little event known as A Steady Rain.The deal seems pretty simple. Zollo and Cole get three ye...
- What if they are just tired?Published: November 26, 2009In the last few weeks, I have been doing quite a bit of traveling. I have gotten the opportunity to speak with many of my colleagues from around the nation, and they are all saying the same thing -- ticket sales are down this year. Last year, I kept hearing that well branded products were doing very well, while less known fare was struggling. Now I am hearing that even annual cash cows (think A Christmas Carol and Nutcracker) aren't doing well. When a classic theater has problems selling Romeo...
- What I Am Giving Thanks For This YearPublished: November 23, 2009The current economic downturn has indeed created a crisis for virtually every sector of the economy, especially those of us in the not-for-profit arena. Yet during this Thanksgiving week, I believe we in the arts have a great deal to be thankful for even in this troubled time. First, we must be grateful that our arts organizations have proven to be so resilient. At the beginning of this year, there were predictions that as many as 10,000 American not-for-profit arts organizations would go bank...
- Dear Foundations: Help us help them!Published: November 14, 2009Early this week, the Wall St. Journal’s Personal Finance section had an interesting article written about how to fix some of the most common problems that plague the philanthropic and non-profit sectors with regard to charitable giving. For anyone who has worked in the sector for a substantial length of time, these suggestions are kind of a no-brainer, but it is good to see them in print in the WSJ nonetheless. The article also includes an interview with the author (in which he digs into the...
- A NEW GIA FOR THE FUTURE?Published: November 14, 2009Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on.............” GIA FOR THE NEXT DECADE: The GIA (Grantmakers in the Arts) gathering in Brooklyn last week captured my attention for several reasons. The obvious reason is that anytime most of the major funders in the nonprofit arts sector gather, what they talk about is of keen interest to the rest of the field. After all, they control the money. But what really captured my interest was a feeling that this conference heralded, I think, a different G...
- TokenismPublished: November 14, 2009I stayed out of the diversity stuff because...well, I've been down that road a ton lately and didn't really come to any new conclusions or have new thoughts. But...then I did. And oddly, it was Saved by the Bell that did it. Work with me on this one.I've been going to the gym early in the mornings, hopping on the stationary bike and trying to work off my gut. Usually, by the time I hit the gym, TBS has started in on what seems like a full morning of Saved by the Bell re-runs. I bring my own MP3...
- Rocco Does Peoria; Congress Does a Number on the NEAPublished: November 10, 2009Rocco Landesman with the cast of "Rent" from Peoria's Eastlight Theatre; Kathy Chitwood, the company's executive director, shoulders Rocco.Photo by Adam GerikIt must have been quite a scene in Peoria last Friday, as important arts critics, including Bloomberg's Jeremy Gerard...
- Is our fundraising writing wrong?Published: November 14, 2009Many arts organizations work really hard to craft the perfect fundraising message in their letters, their brochures, and their online communications. They strive for strong evidence that what they do makes a difference, they anguish over the specific words they should use to convey that evidence, and they hope to close the deal by making the rational case for financial support. But somewhere in there, many of us forget to tell a compelling story.So discovered Frank C. Dickerson in his dissertat...
- State Arts Funding: late 2009 wrap-upPublished: November 14, 2009Back in August, I posted a round-up of the struggles that various state arts councils were going through this year. The upshot is that a large number of agencies have experienced shocking declines in their state appropriations, in some cases totaling 50% or more of the previous year’s budget. (More information can be found at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies’s most recent report, dating from July 1.) At that time, most of the damage was already done–this is the quiet season fo...
- "Brighton Beach" DebriefingPublished: November 14, 2009One week later, here's a roundup of what we've learned about the surprise shuttering of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and its aborted rep companion "Broadway Bound."(Has anyone used the headline "Broadway Unbound" yet? Maybe that has the wrong connotations.)First, we must remember that just because a show doesn't sell a lot of tickets doesn't necessarily mean people don't like it. Those who don't buy a ticket don't know if they like the show or not, right?Unless the problem was word of mouth. Buzz a...
- Azenberg SpeaksPublished: November 14, 2009Last weekend's NY1 "On Stage" program (local cable TV for you non-New Yorkers) got Brighton Beach producer Manny Azenberg to sit down for what seems like his only post-debacle interview. Unfortunately, it's not archived on their site, but here's a transcript of the highlights. We got a hint early on. We sold no groups, no theatre parties. There was no interest. And then you assume that the word of mouth will improve it, it didn’t. Then you assume that the reviews will improve it, and the r...
- What Could Rocco Landesman Be Up To?Published: November 14, 2009The arts community had every right — still has every right — to celebrate the appointment of Broadway producer and theater owner Rocco Landesman to the chairmanship of the National Endowment for the Arts. From the moment he was announced for the job to one of the first interviews he gave after assuming his post, Landesman has been about as visionary and forthright, if not downright swaggering a chair, as the NEA has seen in a generation. Still, Landesman’s accession to the NEA chairman...
- Back From Peoria: Rocco Landesman at TCGPublished: November 14, 2009Rocco Landesman Rocco Landesman had just gotten off the plane from Peoria on Saturday when he arrived at the Theatre Communications Group Fall Forum. We were a group of about 120 TCG theatre members and board chairs, gathered at the Desmond Tutu Center in Chelsea. (Full disclosure: I am neither a theatre member nor a board chair; I had received special permission to attend.*) Everyone in the room was honored that Rocco had carved out the time to meet with us so early in his tenure at N...
- Time Out becomes a tabloid.Published: November 14, 2009In his Time Out New York theater blog, Editor and Reviewer David Cote wrote the following in an article about New World Stages: Something strange is happening at New World Stages, the five-year-old theater complex on West 50th Street: you can actually see worthwhile shows there. Not so long ago, wed associate the former Hells Kitchen cineplex with gimmicky tourist trash (Naked Boys Singing, My First Time, etc.). I know what youre thinking. Youre thinking Im ticked off that Cote cal...
- Could the Real Web Around Spider-Man Be Ego?Published: November 14, 2009Broadway dines on creative carrion. Critics and fans love success stories too, of course: No season on the Great White Way seems complete without bona fide hits and near-hits, all to satiate the theater’s need to triumph occasionally over other forms of popular culture. Yet flops, especially in musical theater, are a succulent dessert. Broadway gorges on that. Which is why the story behind the story of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is so juicy. Of all the recent coverage of the saga — the...
- It’s Davenport vs. Cote — While I Use My Foreman GrillPublished: November 14, 2009Off-Broadway impresario Ken Davenport decided to take Time Out New York theater editor David Cote to task for a comment he made on the TONY blog. Cote, who ostensibly revels in his perch as aesthetic arbiter, did something nice, giving the five-venue New World Stages some major props: “You can actually see worthwhile shows there,” he wrote. Engaging in a classic then-and-now comparison, he first took a swipe at two of the long-running shows there, including one of Davenport’s: Not so...
- Now Email Is Dead TooPublished: November 14, 2009First, direct mail was dead. Now email is dead. Apparently the only channel that’s alive is social media. At least that’s the POV presented by Jessica Vascellaro in a Wall Street Journal article, Why Email No Longer Rules, published last month. She begins: "Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over." The article has kicked up a storm of controversy in marketing circles, with most commentators saying Ms Vascellaro is simply flat wrong (see Fast Company, Tech...
- Why Today’s NYTimes Giving Section Isn’t Good EnoughPublished: November 14, 2009The New York Times published its ‘Giving’ section in today’s paper. I was totally underwhelmed. Here are my comments, in the form of a series of Tweets that I fired off during my commute into work this morning: It’s refreshing to see the NYTimes Giving Section cover new philanthropy stories with different and refreshing angles (note sarcasm). Thanks NYTimes - I wasn’t aware Target gave away 5% to charity. Causes let’s people tap social networks to raise money? Fascinating....
- A Tale of Two Nonprofit and Social Media Adoption SurveysPublished: November 14, 2009Social Impact Nonprofit Social Media Survey View more presentations from Weber Shandwick Social Impact. The results of two new research studies about nonprofits and adoption of social media were released this week. One focuses on telling nonprofits not to bother with social media, the other provides some strategic ways to move forward. Weber Shandwick released the results of a survey of 200 nonprofit and foundation executives to explore how their organizations (range of budgets) are usin...
- NEA Chief Landesman Lands In Peoria -- And Avoids ControversyPublished: November 14, 2009Rocco Landesman didnt take Peoria, but he did seem to refrain from dismissing the city and its arts community again. The new National Endowment for the Arts chairman yesterday started the whistle-stop tour of U.S. arts communities that he promised a few weeks ago. The first stop was a must because he'd insulted Peorians back in August. On his visit, Landesman avoided another direct hit, saying he would not compare the production of "Rent" that he saw at the Eastlight Theatre Friday Night...
- Choose your customers, choose your futurePublished: November 14, 2009Marketers rarely think about choosing customers... like a sailor on shore leave, we're not so picky. Huge mistake. Your customers define what you make, how you make it, where you sell it, what you charge, who you hire and even how you fund your business. If your customer base changes over time but you fail to make changes in the rest of your organization, stress and failure will follow. Sell to angry cheapskates and your business will reflect that. On the other hand, when you find great custo...
- W(h)ither The "Broadway Audience"?Published: November 6, 2009I have to agree with my main man 99Seats against my ole friend Playgoer: This Howard Kissel column on the closing of Brighton Beach Memoirs really is garbage. But its garbage because it completely ignores the business part of show business over and over again. Lets go to the tape: I was saddened to learn that Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs," which opened last Sunday, will close this Sunday. "Broadway Bound," with which it was supposed to run in repertory, will not even open. This news...
- Broadway 's Star System Now Looks WestPublished: November 6, 2009Where is the star system on Broadway?I mean, Broadway's own star system.It used to be that Broadway created it own stars that lit up marquees and attracted audiences. Sure, these performers worked in film and TV but it was clear that these actors were Broadway actors who didn't need TV or film credits to sell out a theater.With the demise of "The Neil Simon Plays: Brighton Beach Memories" folks are saying shows like that need stars to make it a go. What they mean is that these shows need film a...
- Rocco Goes on the OffensivePublished: November 6, 2009Well, if the Wall Street Journal is admonishing NEA chair Rocco Landesman...he must be doing something right.Culture Grrl blogger Lee Rosenbaum's critical interview with Rocco just made me like him more!Unruffled by the kerfuffles, Mr. Landesman, near the beginning of his Brooklyn speech, baited congressional critics by invoking what he called a "litany" of recent criticism of federal arts support: "The NEA is funding porn in California, the agency has become a propagandist for the Obama admini...
- The Evolution of BoardsPublished: November 6, 2009As I travel around the country talking about the problems facing arts organizations during this recession, there is one topic that gets consistent and passionate attention: the role of the board. Most board members I meet are scared and frustrated and most staff members believe their board members are not being as generous or as helpful as they should be during this crisis. I believe there is a common mistaken notion that board members are responsible for generating the contributed revenue...
- It’s Been an Interesting WeekPublished: November 6, 2009October 30, 2009 Washington, DC I thought it might help further the conversation to reply to some of these replies to my speech at Grantmakers in the Arts. I’m not going to argue with those who think the NEA shouldn’t exist, but would like – in the spirit of provocative give and take – to engage a couple of the topics. First, my comments about the President as author and the references to Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, et al. I’m vulnerable here and probably just wrong. Barack Obama wro...
- What’s In A Message?Published: November 6, 2009I believe 90% of the funding challenges organizations have are a function of 1. Not asking 2. Not being with the right prospects 3. Not having the right message (which usually makes number 1 much easier and makes number 2 much more apparent). Message should be simple, fit on a napkin, clear, concise, compelling. That being said, I’m not sure I (Nick) have my own crystal clear napkin definition of MESSAGE is. In fact, when someone says they need help with their message I first ask them t...
- The Green Stuff of LifePublished: November 6, 2009Money. Money. Money. We simply can’t live with out it, and we wouldn’t want to either. Money is simply in every fiber and fabric of our lives. It is that basic and deep to us as human beings. It’s something we need to survive. Think about the things that only money can buy—a better education for you or someone in your family; medicine to bring health of comfort to a parent who is gravely ill, or maybe a beautiful ring for the girl you want to marry. Are these things possible without m...
- Broadway's 'Spider-Man' caught in its own financial webPublished: November 6, 2009It was on again and then off again and then it was on again, again. And now, by the looks of things, it could be off again for good. Has there been a Broadway production that has suffered so many problems on its journey from concept to reality as "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" -- the long-awaited mega-musical based on the Marvel Entertainment comic book hero? Production on the Julie Taymor project has been a roller-coaster ride of budget collapses and quasi-resurrections. Of course, its hardl...
- Circles of InfluencePublished: November 6, 2009At Politico, Pia Catton has a fun look at the social links between the members of the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. As she writes, these 26 private-sector appointees are intricately connected through years of leadership in the overlap of politics, arts and culture. Studying their resumes, some clear patterns and paths emerge. An accompanying chart by Sarah Lauren Bell maps the circles of influence.Articles and charts being limited by nature -- they can't, after all, go o...
- Diversifying the Big NonProfits: Lost Cause?Published: November 1, 2009A curious proposal by Michael Kaiser regarding the ever-struggling efforts of big arts institutions (that is, big white arts institutions) to diversify programming and audiences. What's surprising is he suggests throwing in the towel.What's even more surprising is the fact that Michael Kaiser is the chief of a little nonprofit arts org known as the Kennedy Center. And that's he's posting this very visibly on Huffington Post.Over the past 30 years, we were encouraged, primarily by foundation a...
- Diversity in the ArtsPublished: November 1, 2009Playgoer and Mission Paradox both have highlighted this piece by Michael Kaiser raising some interesting questions about diversity in arts orgs. I'm not part of the cult of Kaiser quite yet, I found his much-lauded piece on arts management, for example, to be a bit overrated. (I don't think the lack of good managers is the single biggest problem facing the arts, nor do I think that getting more and better managers and paying them better is necessarily the best way to take care of all the other...
- Stamford Arts Center Out of Bankruptcy ProtectionPublished: November 1, 2009Stamford Center for the Arts has emerged from bankruptcy protection after a year with a new business structure. Now it's ready to move forward -- with one less stage. But what is that new business model? "In it's simplest form we are more risk adverse," says Elissa Getto, co-executive director of the SCA.with Jenny Lake. The SCA will be a booking house and not be involved in producing. It has also curtailed its other education and outreach programming. The number of bookings at the center's 1,...
- What Broadway Producers and Publicists can learn from The Balloon Boy.Published: October 31, 2009What a big balloon bozo.Ill admit it. Im a huge fan of creative stunts designed to get your product attention. In a cluttered marketing environment (like, I dont know, Broadway?) the right story can get you more attention than you could ever afford.I've done a few in my day, from allowing virgins to get in free, to being the first musical to endorse a political candidate, and so on. Some worked. Some didnt. And with some, we were betrayed by hypocritical politicians who claimed they were...
- What happens when two competitors combine forces.Published: October 31, 2009There are few industries like ours where our greatest friends can be our fiercest competitors. It makes for some awkward opening night parties.But look at what's happening just a train ride away!Where else but in the City of Brotherly Love have two competitors found a way to work together and help each other get through these tricky economic times.The Philadelphia Theatre Company and The Wilma Theater activated their wonder-twin powers yesterday when they announced a Best Of Broad Street sub...
- Netflix for theater. It's here.Published: October 31, 2009Ok. Its not here here. Its over there here. Like in the UK. The Brits beat us to the screen this week when www.DigitalTheatre.com went online with a few titles of taped theatrical productions that can be viewed in the privacy of your own home.DigitalTheatres plan is to create a library of diverse and acclaimed productions from some of the finest theatre talent around. They've got a production of Far From The Madding Crowd up right now available for 8.99 GBP (or about $15 bucks) and ar...
- Abigail Breslin and the Celebrity Casting DebaclePublished: October 31, 2009The casting of Abigail Breslin as Helen Keller in the upcoming Broadway production of The Miracle Worker has ruffled feathers far beyond the expected anti-celeb theater gossips. An advocacy group called Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts has strongly opposed the casting choice, on the grounds of "human and artistic issues" that trump the economic realities of needing a star to succeed on Broadway. Meanwhile, lead producer David Richenthal says it would be "financially irresponsible to approac...
- On theatre in society: porosityPublished: October 31, 2009I’ve been following, with great interest, the ongoing North American discussions (largely catalyzed by Mike Daisey’s How Theatre Failed America) about economic models for theatre, and how the current system is broken. Although no system for anything is ever perfect, my firm belief is that the demand for ‘economic stability’ in art is just a symptom of a society whose definition of ‘value’ is corrupt. But I digress. The real reason I’m chiming in right now is because there ar...
- Keep It SimplePublished: October 31, 2009Yesterday, proffering a core principle of fundraising, I cited trust is the new black, a phrase coined by Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. How does a nonprofit build trust amongst its constituents? Here a suggestion drawn from what appears to be the hottest trend in marketing these days, as reported by USA Today: "Simple is better. This could be 2010’s most powerful marketing mantra." According to USA Today, marketers from Starbucks to Haagen-Dazs are discovering (or re-discovering) th...
- Questions on DiversityPublished: October 31, 2009I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about the issue of diversity in the arts, specifically, the drive to diversify the programming and constituents of all arts organizations. The more I consider this thorny issue, the less I am convinced that the arts world has worked hard enough to dissect the true costs, benefits and implications of recent diversity efforts. Over the past 30 years, we were encouraged, primarily by foundation and government agencies, to become more diverse in...
- An Open-Source Arts FieldPublished: October 31, 2009(crossposted from the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Salon) I want to express my appreciation to my fellow Salon bloggers last week and everyone who has commented—you’ve given me a lot to think about. Before I go, though, I want to make what seems to me like an essential point. We’ve spent a lot of time in this salon so far talking about problems, but solutions have been somewhat elusive. I think part of the reason is contained within a comment I wrote earlier last week on my Gen...
- 20UNDER40 Blog Wrap-UpPublished: October 31, 2009Over the past week, I have received a ton of feedback about the 20UNDER40/Emerging Leader Salon that took place October 19-23. I even heard from Emerging Leaders who guiltily told me how much they enjoyed reading the blog during their downtime at work. It’s okay, I’m not giving names! A few people wrote me asking for stats on how many visitors went to the blog. They are listed below. Some serious ARTSblog records were broken. It’s clear there was a huge amount of energy in thi...
- Chairman Rocco Landesman Releases the Schedule for His Visit to Peoria, Illinois, on Friday, November 6, 2009Published: October 31, 2009Last week, Rocco Landesman announced that he will visit Peoria, Illinois, at the invitation of Suzette Boulais, executive director of Arts Partners of Central Illinois, and Kathy Chitwood, executive director of the Eastlight Theatre, as the first stop on an "art works" tour across America. See the schedule of events for the November 6th visit.
- Statement from NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman on Congressional Approval of the NEA's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget of $167.5 MillionPublished: October 31, 2009See full statement
- Art Works blogPublished: October 31, 2009New post by NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman.
- Thoughts on the Voodoo Art that is BrandingPublished: October 25, 2009Many established arts organizations are finding themselves in the position of having to reinvent tried and true business models to adapt to the ever changing economic landscape. Diane Ragsdale, Associate Program Officer for the Mellon Foundation, offers a well thought out paper on this subject entitled Recreating Fine Arts Institutions. Although I don't agree with all of her arguments, I believe she outlines the overall dilemma very well.So, what do most organizations do in this situation? They...
- Live from GIA: Day IV – Brunch with RoccoPublished: October 25, 2009(crossposted at the Grantmakers in the Arts Conference Blog) Wednesday morning, a crush of arts funders, news media, and video crew crowded along with your friendly blogger host for the final GIA Conference event: a speech by Rocco Landesman, the recently appointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Other than a talk at Symphony Space the previous night, this was to be Landesman’s first public appearance since starting his new job, and there was buzz that there was going to be a...
- "An Olympic Village for Actors" to Come to GoodspeedPublished: October 23, 2009Check out my story on Sundays Arts Cover in The Courant about the new $5.5 million actor housing planned for Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam. It's going to dramatically change things for the organization that produces shows for the Goodspeed Opera House and Chester's Norma Terris Theater. And for the town of East Haddam as well.
- The Politics of NEA Chair Rocco Landesman’s “Art Works” Tour?Published: October 23, 2009Every so often, the mainstream news media likes to analyze the president’s level and diversity of domestic travel in an effort to divine a sense of his current politics. When President Obama went to New Orleans, for example, much was made of the fact that he hadn’t visited Louisiana since his inauguration. I agree that he probably waited a little too long — yet another unforced Administration error. That said, I also agree that the steady stream of officials to the area, including cabine...
- NEA Chief Gives A Speech And Raises A Few QuestionsPublished: October 23, 2009Before sitting down to comment on Rocco Landesmans plan to take a whistle-stop tour of arts places and arts spaces across the U.S., I thought Id better read the whole speech he gave to Grantmakers in the Arts on Wednesday. Im glad I did -- his buoyant tone was obvious even to readers, not just listeners, and I was glad to hear it. More important, there was lots more in the NEA chiefs first big speech demanding comment than the tour itself. A few observations: 1) Landesman lived up to his...
- What Google Wave means for arts organizationsPublished: October 23, 2009Wave, the latest Google creation, was released October 1 to much excitement amongst early-adopter techies. What is Google Wave? As Google puts it: “We set out to answer the question: What would e-mail look like if we set out to invent it today?” Three words jump to mind when describing the experience promised: real-time, collaborative communication. [...]
- No-Brainer Secrets Revealed Part Two: The InternetsPublished: October 23, 2009So let's say you're a theater company or producer and you're interested in having more of an online presence.And let me reiterate... you want to do this to reach your audience not to change your audience. I mean, it could gradually be used for to shift your audience demos (provided you are also changing your work), but you have to start with where you are, ya know? Youre not an idiot. Everyone and their mother has a blog. Your grandma just added you as a friend on Facebook. Neil Gaimans tw...
- Thoughts on Critics (4)Published: October 23, 20094. Who Owes What To Whom? Kris Vire of TOC wrote a great post awhile back on his personal blog titled Critics Arent Obligated To Support Theater We Dont Like. You can read it here, basically Kris takes to task people a reader who claims that critics are supposed to support and encourage theatre in this town. Calling this viewpoint bullshit, Kris writes:Part of what a Chicago theater critic is charged to do is to support and encourage good theater in this town. It does no one any good to enc...
- SHREK ABRIDGEDPublished: October 23, 2009Shrek just announced that it's closing.And we're not ones to kick someone when we're down, are we?Oh... we are. Right.Click to read SHREK ABRIDGED.
- $400,000Published: October 23, 2009That's how much the Pearl Theatre Co. has budgeted for each production this year. (A factoid buried in last weekend's NYT profile of the group.)I cite it as probably a good measuring stick of just how much it costs to mount a modest full production in an Off Broadway nonprofit theatre these days. Keep in mind that Pearl is working on the lower end of the LORT contract scale, with no "name" stars and modest publicity. They produce classics--which often demand period costumes and what by today'...
- $66.50Published: October 23, 2009"Tickets as low as $65.50"So boasts a print ad for the new Off Broadway Avenue Q.Ponder that pitch for a second.As low as $66.50??? Talk about power of suggestion. (As if I'm supposed to go into a hypnotic trance and nod, "Wow. That's a bargain.") Are they aware what's been going on in the news the last year, something about the economy? Well I guess they are since that's why they moved. Maybe they feel it only affected them.Also notice: as low as $66.50. That's the lowest price. Which s...
- Prioritizing ValuesPublished: October 23, 2009One of the most useful exercises we did at our annual retreat was creating individual lists of core values in order of importance, and then comparing and quantitatively analyzing those lists. Why the italics for in order of importance?Because the results were truly eye-opening. Previously, when we had talked about our values, we had done so in a way that assumed they were of equal importance. I didn't ask if developing multi-faceted theatre artists was a more important value than long term coll...
- Six Ways to Know If It's Time to LeavePublished: October 23, 2009Are you tired, a bit listless? Maybe the demands of the job seem ever more burdensome, or the board seems increasingly dissatisfied, or the retirement clock is ticking. Do you need more than a megavitamin? Even better is this advice from Tim Wolfred, a pioneer and leader in the field of nonprofit executive transitions, as he helps executives weigh both the organizations needs, and the needs of their own heart: Executive directors don't have term limits. Although some executives are fired o...
- Social Media and the Performing Arts: Engagement First, Ticket Sales SecondPublished: October 23, 2009Arts and Social MediaView more presentations from kanter. This morning I gave a presentation for a group of senior marketing people from performing arts centers around the country on social media. Ive done a number of presentations and workshops for arts organizations over the years and have even created a wiki Social Media for Arts People with stories, links, and other resources, but havent spoken to arts organizations recently. It was a good opportunity to see how things have ch...
- "Avenue Q" Rises AgainPublished: October 21, 2009This may come as a surprise to many of you, but the final preview of the current Off-Broadway transfer of the Tony-winning smash hit Avenue Q was my first time ever seeing the show. There was really no excuse for my not having seen it before, as its been around for six and a half years. But sometimes even the good ones fall through the cracks - I didn't see Hairspray until its penultimate performance. Anyway, this little musical that could, which famously upset juggernaut blockbuster Wicked for...
- Love, Loss, And What I Wore (The SOB Review)Published: October 21, 2009Love, Loss, And What I Wore (The SOB Review) - The Westside Theatre, New York, New York*** (out of ****)I'll readily admit that I'm most certainly not in the target audience for Love, Loss, And What I Wore.You don't even have to enter Off-Broadway's Westside Theatre to grasp that this is an intimate evening aimed first and foremost at females of all ages.But like every guy, I have a mother. I even grew up with an older sister. And fortunately for me, I'm blessed with a host of very special rela...
- NEA's Rocco Landesman: no more culture warsPublished: October 21, 2009The first eight weeks of Rocco Landesmans tenure as head of the National Endowment for the Arts have not been easy. Conservative politicians and pundits have launched vigorous attacks on the organizations activities. In September, a high-ranking NEA communications official resigned following accusations that he was involved in recruiting artists to create works in support of President Obamas policies.In an interview with The Times today, Landesman downplayed the recent partisan fighting that ha...
- Noises off: Can America's black theatre escape from its past?Published: October 21, 2009Bloggers are embroiled in a heated debate about whether American theatre reflects the realities of a multiracial nation What is the state of black theatre in America? Is the question even valid? The debate was sparked a little while back when the anonymous blogger at 99 Seats was inspired by this Roy Williams article discussing the state of black theatre here in the UK. It led 99 to ask why there was no similar conversation going on in the US, and to argue that sites like Time Out New York (...
- No-Brainer Secrets Revealed!Published: October 21, 2009Went to a panel yesterday about theatre.Want to guess what the discussion eventually focused on at length?I'll give you a hint... its the thing that all public conversations about theatre eventually gravitate to.Still dont know? Why, it's how to attract younger audiences, of course! With the sub-conversation how do we use the twitters and the facebooks and the internets to do it?So I'm going to reveal, right now, the secret to getting young people to come to your theatre and see shows. Beca...
- Rethinking arts economies and arts exchangePublished: October 21, 2009A breadcrumb trail of conversation (from Twitter to Flux Theatre to Stolen Chair) led me to Stolen Chair Theatre's new initiative to support new works. Instead of grants and traditional subscriptions, they propose a community support system modeled on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Says Stolen Chair:Like the CSA model, Stolen Chair hopes to build a membership community, a "CST", which would provide 'seed' money for the company's development process and then reap a year's worth of theatri...
- All work and no play -- but plenty of pay -- for Carnegie Hall's backstage toilersPublished: October 21, 2009Go East, young man -- if your ambitions run toward making a bundle overseeing behind-the-scenes setups for the performing arts, and you dont mind not having a life outside of work.As noted Monday by Bloomberg News, the top five stagehands at Carnegie Hall earned an average of $431,000 in salary and benefits during the 2007-08 fiscal year -- which ended 2 1/2 months before a bucket of economic ice water awakened many in the arts and elsewhere to a new reality.Some 3,000 miles west, at our own...
- Substitution BluesPublished: October 21, 2009Ken Davenport posted some interesting information about the impact of absenteeism in Broadway shows on Producer’s Perspective. He was curious to learn if the need to have an understudy stand in was having an impact on audiences so he commissioned someone to study the question. The impetus for this was the increasing rate of absenteeism in Broadway shows, particularly West Side Story. I had read the NY Post article Ken links to back in August and I couldn’t believe there was such a high rat...
- Is the live theatre experience dying? | Matt TruemanPublished: October 19, 2009Attendance numbers at the theatre are up. But with recorded media creeping into plays everywhere, it's increasingly hard to find a pure live experienceAsk any theatremaker what draws them to the medium, and the conversation will eventually turn to the subject of liveness. We've all heard actors talk about the thrill, challenge and immediacy that keeps them returning to the stage in spite of rat-ridden dressing rooms and comparatively small wages. We speak of the magic of live theatre, that stran...
- Cell Phone Announcements: Too Subtle?Published: October 19, 2009One could devote a whole blog to funny stories posted on All That Chat, of course, but in light of increased cell-phone consciousness these days I could not resist this one, from chatter "rainbow carnage":My new favourite switch-off-your-phone announcement It was at Terror 2009 at the Southwark Playhouse in London. As the lights went down, a phone rang. A man in the audience answered and proceeded to have a conversation. An usher pulled him from his seat onto the stage and pretended to be...
- The Love of ControversyPublished: October 19, 2009In the arts we often talk about the need to make more controversial and risky artistic choices. The common wisdom is that if we keep giving our audience boring, or repetitive, choices then we run the risk of losing that audience for good. Theres a lot of truth in that. But there is another side to consider. I want to talk a bit about controversy and context. To do that, I need to tell you a story ---------------------------------- Ive been the marketing director for my day job for a little les...
- She's back. And she doesn't like what you've been saying about her.Published: October 19, 2009The subject of this post was a tagline that I wrote 17 years ago, when I dreamed about doing a concert version of a show.Which show?Read the subject/tagline again . . . and guess?Get it yet?Yep . . .Carrie. I'll admit it. I was bloody obsessed.I had gotten a hold of some "killer" bootlegs from London and Broadway from a guy online (serendipitous side note: that guy turned out to be Jeff Marx, author of Avenue Q!) and was intrigued by quotes calling half of it brilliant and half of it camp. ...
- Where Is the Arts Programming on PBS?Published: October 19, 2009One of the questions I am always asked when I teach abroad is why there are not more performances by American arts organizations available on television. In other developed nations, the great arts organizations are seen regularly on television. There are two answers to this question. The first is the expense of filming, especially the extra wages demanded by performers and stage hands. The cost for filming one opera or ballet can exceed one million dollars, an amount that simply cannot be re...
- Art and Social Change Mapping InitiativePublished: October 20, 2009From the Americans for the Arts website/newsletter: Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, has launched an initiative to map and highlight the spectrum of ways the arts are being activated to engage and make change. A centralized online resource will make this important work visible and serve to link change agents, artists and the arts, funders, and an interested public. By mapping this arena of practice the initiative seeks to enhance understanding of: 1) the growing spectrum...
- Generation Y and the Problem of “Entitlement”: A Bullet-Point ManifestoPublished: October 19, 2009(cross-posted on ARTSBlog for this week’s 20UNDER40 discussion on emerging leaders and intergenerational dialogue) (Note: I was inspired to experiment with this form by a guest post on Sean Stannard-Stockton’s Tactical Philanthropy blog by Nonprofit Finance Fund Capital Partners founder George Overholser. I hope you enjoy it.) An oft-heard complaint about Generation Y (and other “emerging leaders”) is that they have a sense of entitlement—that they think they are smarter than everyone...
- A Message to All Leaders in the ArtsPublished: October 19, 2009Veteran Leaders – You were once just as we are now: in the early stages of your career, eager to make a difference, and to build our professional standing while improving the landscape of the American arts. You may have been afraid to say “no” to mounting tasks and projects, but persevered till each and every project was accomplished. You learned on the job by doing your job, and you were inspired by supervisors who were often older than you. You were motivated to prove yourself. W...
- Inside Scoop on 20UNDER40Published: October 20, 2009From my fortunate position of being an inside helper with the 20UNDER40 project, let me leak a little scoop. Edward has been so scrupulous in his processes, he will probably be annoyed at me. Too bad, that is one of the perks of age, you have a thicker skin. In reviewing the overwhelming number of submitted chapter proposals (304–when I had placed what I thought was a safe bet of $10 with Edward that he wouldn’t get more than 75, based on past experience), Edward and his kitchen cabinet of u...
- Steven Spielberg Voices Support for Arts FundingPublished: October 20, 2009In his recent acceptance speech for the 2009 Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, Steven Spielberg described the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the writings of leaders like Jefferson and Lincoln as not only the eloquent expression of incredible ideas, but great works of art. With this in mind, Speilberg emphasized the importance of the arts and arts funding in America: “The commercial success of some of my films have made it possible for me to create foundations, build organizations, to tr...
- Audience development is about valuing yourself!Published: October 19, 2009Just a quick thought today. I’ve been thinking about how artists and arts organizations undervalue themselves each time they feel funny about asking for support from their patrons. “I don’t want to bother people,” said one of my clients. “I feel strange asking for money,” said another. Asking for support may not be your forte, but there may be a block for doing so simply based on not valuing yourself and your art. This could mean that you never stopped to think about the serv...
- Your supporters is a participant, not an audiencePublished: October 16, 2009As a nonprofit marketing person, I often talk to nonprofit groups about their “audience,” but it’s a bad word. An audience brings to mind a group of people quietly listening while you deliver a message. And in this day and age, there is no such thing as a passive group of people content to simply lesson. Everyone from your funders to your donors to your volunteers to your constituents expects participation. They want to talk. They want to act. And they want you to listen and en...
- 5 Tips To Producing A ReadingPublished: October 15, 2009Readings of new plays and musicals are one of the hardest things to do. It takes a truly imaginative audience to be able to see what "could be" from a reading under fluorescent lights, in the middle of a weekday afternoon, with actors in front of music stands, and no costumes, etc. Because this industry is so hard, producers are just looking for reasons to say "no," and we give them plenty at these "backer auditions." They are important, though, for raising money and for developing materia...
- Casting catcall: Bye Bye BirdiePublished: October 16, 2009The Roundabout shoots for the stars, and misses
- The difference between Broadway and Off-Broadway: An analogy.Published: October 13, 2009A reader recently asked me the simple but not so simple question about the difference between Broadway and Off-Broadway shows I started to compose a textbook-like response about how Broadway shows were in theaters that have more than 499 seats, yadda yadda yadda... Then I deleted it and decided to come up with some modern comparison . . . and here's what I've got: Broadway shows are like the major networks: NBC, ABC, and yep, even funky Fox. Mainstream, easy to find, commercially minded....
- A Board Member "Contract"Published: October 9, 2009One way to be sure that everyone on the board is clear on his or her responsibilities is to adopt a board member contract. Not intended to be legally enforced, the contract outlines explicitly what is expected of individual board members, and how the organization will in turn be responsible to them. This contract differs from similar documents in some important ways. While most board agreements describe board member responsibilities, this one also outlines the responsibilities of the organiza...
- Make a decisionPublished: October 13, 2009It doesn't have to be a wise decision or a perfect one. Just make one.In fact, make several. Make more decisions could be your three word mantra.No decision is a decision as well, the decision not to decide. Not deciding is usually the wrong decision. If you are the go-to person, the one who can decide, you'll make more of a difference. It doesn't matter so much that you're right, it matters that you decided.Of course it's risky and painful. That's why it's a rare and valuable skill.
- What does new arts engagement research mean for you?Published: October 13, 2009Research!The Cultural Alliance has it.They’ve just published a report titled Research into Action: Pathways to New Opportunities. The report gathers up information and recommendations from five studies that are part of an ambitious effort to double cultural participation in the Philadelphia region by 2020, fittingly called Engage 2020.A benchmark study, The Cultural Engagement Index, looked at arts participation in an innovative way. Not content to count butts in seats, the study used a broad...
- Is it time for the arts to become a partisan issue?Published: October 14, 2009(photo courtesy Flickr user victoriabernal, Creative Commons license) So, in case you haven’t noticed, the arts have become a bit of a hot topic in the political arena lately. Though the brouhaha regarding the NEA’s involvement in the United We Serve conference calls seems to have died down a bit since Yosi Sergant fell on his sword, conservatives have been trying to expand the fight to other arenas, like the meeting with arts community activists in May and now, the Obamas’ choice of art t...
- Visiting Grand RapidsPublished: October 13, 2009At first blush, my Arts in Crisis tour stop in Grand Rapids seemed ill-timed. After all, I am touring all 50 states to discuss approaches for dealing with the current economic crisis; to discuss the mistakes arts organizations make when they reduce programming or play it safe in this environment. Yet I arrived at the first week of ArtPrize, an innovative new arts project that has electrified the city and the region. For those few who have not heard of ArtPrize, any artist was invited to creat...
- Why your marketing has to be on and off.Published: September 16, 2009As much as I'm a big believer in online marketing, I'm an even bigger believer in all online marketing initiatives being followed up with an offline event.It's important to remember that all relationships, including those between customers and products, are solidified when there is some sort of in-person connection. Think about the first time you met someone that you had a long "email only" interaction with. The relationship went to a different level as soon as you shared a handshake, right?...
- Does the NEA still matter?Published: September 14, 2009Rocco Landesman, the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, has little patience for the disdain with which some politicians still seem to view the organization. In a recent New York Times profile Landesman, the new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), generated controversy by declaring that it was the responsiblity of the NEA to reward excellence and that the recent history of the Endowment to democratize the arts needed to be tempered by a discrimination and recogni...
- Avenue Q gets AEA DispensationPublished: September 15, 2009Well those clever Avenue Q bastards...NYT's Dave Itzkoff today reveals that the producers will indeed be able to lower actor salaries for their unusual reverse-transfer of the show from Broadway to "Off":Salaries for the performers could come down too. Mr. McCollum said the minimum weekly salary for an Off Broadway performer was about $1,100, compared with $1,600 for a Broadway performer. A spokeswoman for Actors’ Equity Association said that the producers had been given permission to close th...
- Nonprofit Debt CrisisPublished: September 24, 2009No theatre companies mentioned in this NYT article today about how so many nonprofit institutions gambled and lost on the market before the crash last fall. And such gambles included taking advantage of unusual loan practices that has now left many in super, super debt.Much of the nonprofits’ debt is in the form of tax-exempt bonds. The number of charities issuing such bonds more than doubled from 1993 to 2006, according to figures compiled by the Internal Revenue Service, and the amount of d...
- Better Then AveragePublished: September 18, 2009You hear it all the time. Nonprofit arts organizations would run better if they thought more like a business. What people forget is that there are a range of businesses that you can think like. You can think like a business that is innovative and values the people they work with. Or you can think like a business that is trying to squeeze every dollar, sees people as a commodity, etc. Let me give you an example of how the type of business you think like makes a huge difference. ---------------...
- Savings SoulsPublished: September 30, 200999 has done another great post talking about how sports have been able to make themselves part of the fabric of mainstream American culture in a way that the arts have not. (h/t to Thomas Cott for bringing it to peoples attention.) In many ways I love the sports comparison, but there is a vital difference between the two that we should discuss. So lets do that and then Ill offer a different industry that I think the arts could learn from. Part of what sports offer to us is a clear outcome. I...
- Theatre and ChurchPublished: October 5, 2009The Mission Paradox blog gets it absolutely right, comparing theatre not to sports, but to church — and the attitude of service that leads to success. Well said. Posted in Uncategorized
- Arts, Fear, Ego, Status Quo & Audience Development oh my…Published: October 7, 2009I had a great discussion yesterday with a local grant writer. We were discussing the nature of the arts in today’s world. We both came to the same conclusion that a majority of artists and arts organizations these days might actually be getting in their own way for success. “Why is that? I don’t get it,” we both exclaimed. We figured that one of the reasons was fear. Some artists and arts organizations are afraid to try something new in order to succeed. Maybe there is a lear...
- The Problem of SilosPublished: September 20, 2009I have just returned from a National Arts Strategies seminar entitled Managing People. One of the many things I love about their seminars is that they force you to take a hard look at strategic planning, and how strategic planning influences everything from marketing strategies to, in this case, human resources.Upon my return from the seminar, I started to think about a common structural problem that many organizations encounter -- the problem of silos, particularly silos between the marketing a...
- Collaboration is a musclePublished: October 7, 2009I often participate in working groups or task teams of arts and cultural organizations -- collections of managers gathering to address a collective problem, or consider a collaborative solution. And I'm often frustrated that more than half of the conversation is inevitably spent framing the problem in narrow terms, with the rest of the time conceiving a solution to that narrow frame. The problem, it strikes me, is generally bigger than the tactical issues being discussed. And any solution must b...
- The challenge (and opportunity) of nonprofit debtPublished: September 30, 2009The for-profit world used to complain that the nonprofit world (especially in the arts) needed to behave more like businesses. Now that nonprofits are suffering the same wrenching impacts as every other industry, the complaint is that we were behaving too much like businesses. The current such complaint relates to nonprofit use of debt.One of the things for-profit businesses do is use debt to advance their profits. If it's cheaper to get capital by borrowing the money, they borrow. If it's cheap...
- What Letterman Can Teach NonprofitsPublished: October 6, 2009I'm not going to name names -- not of the artistic director, not of his theater. But a post on the Salon blog Broadsheet brought him to mind with this line: "Bosses who are hound-dogs taint the reputation of their women subordinates who don't sleep with them."Broadsheet is talking about the David Letterman scandal, but the issue that quote raises applies to all bosses (male and female, gay and straight) and all workplaces. And although Letterman's production company is very much a for-profit ent...
- What If They DO End Up Loving The Arts?Published: October 8, 2009Barry Hessenius is conducting a massive six week conversation about the future of the National Endowment over at Barry’s Art Blog. When I say massive, I mean it. This week’s entry is so large (and won’t be complete until tomorrow’s QA) that I feel guilty about addressing such a comparatively small section of it. Truthfully, it may be too large an entry for its own good. Few that could benefit from it may take the time to read it. There were many people whose thoughts I value contributing...
- Michelle Obama on Arts EducationPublished: October 7, 2009When world leaders recently gathered in Pittsburgh for the G-20 Summit, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a concert at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School for students and spouses of international leaders. In her introductory speech, she affirmed the importance of arts education: “We believe strongly that the arts aren't somehow an 'extra’ part of our national life, but instead we feel that the arts are at the heart of our national life. It is through our music, our literatu...
- NEA Chair Landesman Tells 10 GOP Senators, Nicely, to Shut the Hell UpPublished: October 7, 2009The scandal over the conference call(s) at the National Endowment for the Arts has become the Gregory Rasputin of the Obama era: every time the Democrats think the matter is dead and buried or floating in the river, the Republicans keep hope alive. The latest news came when NEA chair Rocco Landesman (whose served tenure, measured in days, has yet to exceed two digits) sent a letter to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), ranking Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. Accor...
- Internet And Civic EngagementPublished: September 13, 2009OK, summer is over, you’ve had a week to get back into work mode, and so The Agitator is ready to offer some heavy lifting this week. We’ve been saving up some important stuff on social media. First up is a new report from the Pew internet Project, called The Internet Civic Engagement. As usual with Pew’s core research efforts, this one is packed with useful data and insights on how social nets are playing an increasing role in issue advocacy, discourse and donating. I put it on the Must...
- Should Board Members Be Required to Give?Published: September 12, 2009Are board giving requirements a best practice or a bad idea? We report on trends and explore the real questions: Few debates can rile up board members more than the question, Should our board have a giving requirement? Many of us know from firsthand experience that responses to this question are often characterized by frustration, bewilderment, sarcasm, absolute certainty, or even anger. Unfortunately, there's no definitive answer to the question, because having a requirement for giving doe...
- Letting Non-Profits Act Like Businesses: One Foundation's Brave Act of LeadershipPublished: September 18, 2009Yesterday the Boston Foundation unveiled major changes in its grantmaking strategy and announced that "the most dramatic change is a shift of emphasis to unrestricted operating support." You're not hallucinating, and it's not a typo. As if the emphasis on operating support were not jaw-dropping enough, it's going to be unrestricted. This is not a narrow experiment. It involves the "majority of the Boston Foundation's competitive grants." And this is not a bunch of well-intentioned, innovative MB...
- Meet The New York Times's New Culture EditorPublished: September 15, 2009The New York Times has just named a new culture editor, and it's Jon Landman. It's a great choice. Jon, currently a deputy managing editor, has spent the last four years or so overseeing the the integration of the print and Internet newsrooms at the Times. But before that he spent a "transitional year" -- as Executive Editor Bill Keller wrote in his email to staff -- "presiding over the [Culture] department, implementing a sweeping overhaul of the department and grooming new leadership" for it,...
- Dallas Performing Arts Center Goes Corporate: Let's Hear The DetailsPublished: September 15, 20091962: Lincoln Center, New York. 2003: Disney Hall, Los Angeles. 2009: ATT Performing Arts Center, Dallas. What a progression, from a president to an entertainment executive to a phone company. Yesterday, the countrys newest and self-described most significant new performing arts complex to be built since Lincoln Center, nee the Dallas Performing Arts Center, announced that it would henceforth bear the name of ATT. It will open on schedule on October 12, and the website URL has already bee...
- Why Nonprofit Boards Fail, Plus More: Wednesday's Roundup [1]Published: September 16, 2009Micromanaging, not resolving conflicts, and ignorance of nonprofit law are some of the most common governance mistakes at charities, writes Ellis McGehee Carter, a lawyer in Phoenix, on her blog. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity Worldwide, a new book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, offers “perspective, insight, and clear-eyed optimism” for how to fight global poverty by helping women, says Bill Gates Sr., one of the leaders of the Gates foundation, in the Hu...
- Sexism Watch: Steinberg Playwright AwardsPublished: September 18, 2009It’s not enough to have clear statistics about how women are discriminated in theatre, but now a new award — The Steinberg Playwright Awards — given to “emerging” playwrights has decided that there is no woman good enough to qualify as emerging. Bollocks. This is a brand spanking new award and while the committee (which included several women) couldn’t decide the definition of “emerging” (is it a person right out of school, or a person who is mid-career) they easily decided that...
- LAUNCH OF NATIONAL FORUM ON THE NEA AND ARTS POLICY IN AMERICAPublished: September 14, 2009Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on..........” WELCOME TO THE ONLINE FORUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE NEA AND ARTS POLICY FORUMULATION IN AMERICA. Today we launch this ambitious six week national dialogue on the National Endowment for the Arts, and indirectly, on a national arts culture policy. Scroll down to the last two blog entries for a complete description of this project, all the participants, and some of topics and subject areas that we hope will be covered. I am pleased to intr...
- How the Recession is Hurting Young Nonprofit LeadersPublished: September 16, 2009I’ve been thinking lately about how grateful I am that the recession has not really hit me personally in my pocket. I am blessed to a have a decent-paying, flexible nonprofit job with benefits that I work part-time. Along with other projects and teaching, my lifestyle has pretty much remained constant, a much different reality than the millions of young people that are struggling right now. If I did not have advanced education, my outlook would probably be a lot different right now, but that...
- Do We Still Have a 'Civil' Society?Published: September 14, 2009The accepted bounds of decorum and civility have seemed to disintegrate around us. Living in Washington, D.C., I always admired the way American legislators could disagree violently on political issues during the day and yet have a friendly dinner together at night. This mature form of disagreement was certainly not in evidence in England during my tenure there running the Royal Opera House. Every week, the Prime Minister and other members of the cabinet are subjected to "Question Time," when...
- 'American Idiot' at Berkeley Repertory: What did the critics think?Published: September 18, 2009With the opening of American Idiot this week in Berkeley, the rock band Green Day makes its first official leap into the world of musical theater. It also means that the band is venturing for the first time into the bloodied lair of drama critics.Not known to welcome crossover talent with undiluted warmth or affection, theater reviewers tend to take a special pleasure in eviscerating inaugural efforts by pop theatrical neophytes. Berkeley Repertory has, for the time being, asked the national p...
- 20UNDER40 receives 304 chapter proposalsPublished: September 17, 2009Edward Clapp’s 20UNDER40 anthology, a publication that will feature twenty chapters from emerging leaders in the arts under 40 years of age, has received an eye-opening 304 responses to its recent call for proposals from 343 authors on five continents. This is, frankly, a pretty astounding yield for a project with no history, financial reward, or major institutional backing. (Note: one of those submissions was prepared by yours truly in collaboration with Chicago-based management consultant an...
- 99Seats Has His Howard Beale MomentPublished: September 12, 2009And you can read it here. Im pretty steamed about the Yosi move, the Glenn Beck assault on the arts (and on administration Czars in general) and the people who purport to support the arts who fell for it. Ive been pretty preoccupied with MilkMilkLemonade over the past two weeks and its been hard for me to focus on this, but I guess my thought is this: On some level, its never going to be worth it to an American administration to stick up for the arts. Theres always going to be something more...
- Everything In Life Is Only For NowPublished: September 11, 2009After I graduated college in 2004, I did what so many English majors have done before me and will continue to do after me, I moved to New York City. I figured my degree from a well-known university would be enough to get me a decent job, though I had no contacts and not even a place to live. I crashed with a friend while I looked for an apartment and a job, and ended up working at Starbucks and the Virgin Megastore in Times Square while I looked for something better. I could only afford to see s...
- Ensemble Structure II: Towers, Clouds, and Exponential GrowthPublished: September 13, 2009(This is a continuation of thoughts on Ensemble structure - read the first post here.)I just read Rob Cross' post on ONA, aka Organizational Network Analysis, via Beth's Blog on nonprofits and Social Media (just the way to start a Sunday). ONA looks like a wonderful tool for analyzing how a company/Ensemble actually works. Instead of looking at the traditional hierarchy of decision making power, it looks at who is connected in an essential way to the work of his/her colleagues.The result looks m...
- Donation Appeal or Ransom Note?Published: September 9, 2009The Willows Theatre, which announced last week it must raise $350,000 by November or it will close its doors forever, has been called out by Backstage at BackstageJobs.com, which was picked up by You've Cott Mail, as a ransom demand that must stop.The only difference between Willows' appeal and, say, the Magic's, Foothill Theatre Company's and Shakespeare Santa Cruz's (and many other companies across the nation) is that Willows is late to the party, and so suffers from donor fatigue. While no on...
- The NEA Non-ScandalPublished: September 12, 2009I was going to write a big long post about how nothing that was going on at the NEA was scandalous, how it was all manufactured bullshit and how people need to stop falling for this crap. Then Ian David Moss did for it me. Phew! The always amazing Createquitys take on the matter can be found here.
- What Jordan Roth’s Ascension Could Mean for Independent Theater in New YorkPublished: September 9, 2009There is near-jubilation among the Broadway chatterati with Jordan Roth to succeed Rocco Landesman, the newly installed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, as president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which may own and run a mere five Broadway houses but which exerts a powerful influence over the artistic and financial structuring of the Great White Way. The near-jubilation is very much earned. Like his mother, producer Daryl Roth, whose nose for superlative new work remains virtually uncha...
- Glenn Beck Stirs Pot; Sen. Cornyn Warns Obama Over Misusing NEAPublished: September 11, 2009Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has sent a letter to President Obama warning against misusing the National Endowment for the Arts for political or propagandistic purposes. As reported last week at the Clyde Fitch Report, sometime filmmaker/marketer and possible right-wing shill Patrick Courrielche, writing on the website Big Hollywood, suggests that recent conference calls involving the NEA and arts advocates and activists were part of a plot by the Obama Administration to hijack the agenc...
- Jordan Roth Gets Top Broadway Gig at Jujamcyn TheatersPublished: September 8, 2009He’s awfully young for a mogul. Jordan Roth, a 33-year-old theater lover with a Princeton degree, is the newly named president of Jujamcyn Theaters, one of the three major theater owners on Broadway. Roth, a strikingly young player in the gray-haired world of Broadway theater ownership, also purchased a stake in the company. The company announced on Tuesday that Roth will succeed Rocco Landesman, who recently left the top job after 22 years to head the National Endowment for the Arts. Ro...
- Texas senator warns Obama against 'politicization of the NEA'*Published: September 10, 2009Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) issued an open letter Wednesday asking President Obama to take the necessary steps to ensure that the NEA and the American arts community it supports remain independent from political manipulation by the White House. Cornyns letter followed a bloggers critical report about a telephone conference last month in which the National Endowment for the Arts combined with the White House Office of Public Engagement to enlist artists on behalf of the administrations United We...
- NEA's communications director reportedly resigns in wake of Glenn Beck attacksPublished: September 11, 2009Yosi Sergant, who had recently assumed the post of communications director at the National Endowment for the Arts, reportedly has resigned his position following accusations by a conservative commentator of a conflict of interest. As of Friday afternoon, reports said that Sergant -- a former L.A. resident who once worked with artist Shepard Fairey -- had left his post at the NEA. Some reports said that Sergant will be reassigned to a different job within the organization. A page on the NEAs we...
- A team of risk-takers bet on a Green Day musicalPublished: September 12, 2009When Michael Mayer reworked Frank Wedekind’s play “Spring Awakening” into a pounding, rock-infused musical, he didn’t have to worry about what the German author would think of the overhaul — Wedekind died in 1918. The situation was very different when Mayer went to work on his musical reimagining of Green Day’s 2004 punk rock album “American Idiot”: the band would be looking over Mayer’s shoulders at every turn. So when Mayer and producing partner Tom Hulse showed the band a...
- Fox at it againPublished: September 10, 2009I get letters:From: Miller, JoshSent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 3:38 PMTo: Moss, IanSubject: RE: Media InquiryImportance: HighMr. Moss,Greetings – I hope this message finds you well.I’m a reporter who is working on a story about two NEA-supported conference calls that purportedly asked artists to create art within major areas of President Obama’s administration, such as health care and the environment.Have you participated in either one of these calls?Please contact me at your earliest...
- I feel there's something between us. Oh wait. It's a wall.Published: September 8, 2009A lot of customers I talk to are scared to buy tickets at box offices. I wonder why . . .Could it be the bullet proof glass and the creepy sounding microphones?Broadway used to be a cash and hard-ticket business. Barriers of bullet proof glass were necessary to protect potential smash-and-grabs. But is this customer-service obstacle necessary in 2009, when the majority of tickets are purchased with credit cards, when we have e-tickets, when box offices don't have to rack-and-stack as many...
- Where do you stand?Published: September 8, 2009First a quote: We are primarily a company of creative people, whose art we are helping to bring to the world. At the same time, we recognize that business enables art to happen and that business plays an essential role in communication art to a broad audience. As both artists and businesspersons, we understand the value of both worlds, and so we bring them together in a way that facilitates the realization of that vision. - Jim Henson, Creator of the Muppets --------------------- Heres the e...
- So Glenn Beck and Michael Kimmelman Walk Into a Bar…Published: September 8, 2009…and Michael Kimmelman, the New York Times’ chief art critic, would probably ask the bartender to play this clip, below, on the overhead TV, and would turn to Beck’s preening face and laugh his head off: And this, dear reader, bring me to a great post by Tyler Green on his blog, Modern Art Notes. The title of the post is Glenn Beck debuts as Fox News art critic, and clearly we now have more evidence why a few dozen companies have insisted their advertising be removed from this imbecile...
- Mind-mappingPublished: September 7, 2009I’ve had the opportunity to work on a few website re-designs over the past year. Several of my clients have allowed me to be a part of the process. I’ve been really happy with the results, especially http://www.itsazoo.org. Designing or re-designing websites is tougher than you might think. One tool that is often used for designing websites is mind-mapping. Basically, it’s a brainstorming exercise that starts with one, central idea, then branches out into sub-categories, then sub-sub-categ...
- Art as business as artPublished: September 8, 2009As I've worked and talked with arts professionals, funders, artists, and boards over the years, I've been continually struck by a nagging question: Why isn't this work more fun? After all, many of these people are doing the very thing they longed to do -- connecting audiences to art, creating or enabling new work, performing or presenting masterworks of human expression. While certainly the pay can be low and the resources skimpy, the work can be compelling, meaningful, and transformative.So why...
- The Biggest Problem Facing the ArtsPublished: September 8, 2009This week we will welcome ten new arts management fellows to the Kennedy Center. These talented young people will spend an academic year with us studying the many elements of arts management including planning, marketing, programming, and fundraising. They will work on major projects in our numerous departments and participate in high level meetings with senior staff, donors and board members. This Fellowship program, now in its ninth year, is but one project of the Kennedy Center Arts Managem...
- The Aversion to RiskPublished: September 8, 2009To have a successful career in the arts you have to understand risk aversion. Here’s the best definition of risk aversion I have ever heard and it is particular to the performing arts: Most people, when given the option to attend a performing arts event are more scared that the performance is going to be disappointing then they are excited that the performance is going to be good. When we approach the public with our work, they immediately ask themselves, “is this worth my time and money?”...
- The Not-So-Invisible Hand...of the GovernmentPublished: September 3, 2009Starting here, a few folks have been looking at this article about a conference call co-hosted by the NEA and United We Serve, a nationwide service initiative sponsored by the Obama Administration. As you can see, a lot of folks (and some others, too) have chimed in, so I'm a bit late to the party, but I had a couple of cents I wanted to chuck into the pile.First off, I mainly agree with Isaac (little surprise there). When reading these kinds of things, you have to consider the source and Big Ho...
- The Metabolism Of TheatrePublished: September 3, 2009One of the exciting things about engaging with the blogosphere is finding moments of common ground amidst separate discussions. Like the physicists of string theory before Witten's M-theory, we are all unknowingly using different languages to describe the same underlying thing. And like the different arms of M-theory, each language can unravel problems impossible in one of the others (truly one of the most amazing parts of the theory, which I will leave now before falling completely into amateur...
- National v. RegionalPublished: September 1, 2009Dunkirk NY – The discussion continues to rage in the regional scene about the use of local talent. In Buffalo we have settled that argument to some degree with the loss of Studio Arena Theatre, our former LORT B house. Without a LORT theatre in the area, the local talent pool has nothing anymore to say about their in-city regional theatre not casting local talent. It ain’t there no more. Not so in Seattle. An interesting story in the Seattle Times this past Sunday point to the same situation...
- A Good ChoicePublished: September 3, 2009Giving money away is hard. The need always is bigger then the resources and there are so many people battling for that donated dollar. When donors are overwhelmed by a lot of choices they do what most of us do when we are overwhelmed. They go for the safe choice. The big organization, the group they have heard of. Its just human nature. Can you overcome this and get some of that money flowing your way? Of course. The key is clarity. Because when you arent big, you have to precise. Let d...
- The downside of strugglePublished: September 2, 2009Often we talk about our lives in the arts in terms of struggle and challenge. The struggle to keep the live arts alive in an electronic world. The challenge of fundraising in a tough environment. You get the idea. I think this is generally a good thing. It reminds us that our lives in the arts arent easy and that it is going to take hard work to make it. But theres a flip side to consider. ------------------------- People need to feel successful. They need to feel like what they do matters in...
- Look out licensing houses, here comes Seth!Published: September 4, 2009One of the most popular business bloggers in the world took a swing at the theatrical licensing agents yesterday, with this blog about a non-pro production of Grease that cost the theater company $3k in royalties to put on.It seems like an awful lot, Seth argues, for a show with 3 jokes and 4 chords. He actually calls Grease an "old, not particularly wonderful musical script."I don't know many people that would disagree with him, yet those 3 jokes and 4 chords have made a lot of audiences ver...
- Hard Times Even Harder For Local ActorsPublished: September 2, 2009This Seatlle Times story is getting a lot of theatrosphere play. Basically, the issue is that as budgets decrease, the larger LORT houses are shrinking the cast sizes of their shows, and the lower the cast size, the fewer opportunities for actors. This gets compounded by the use of out of town talent.. the few roles that are available are generally cast out of town or, in the case of touring one-and-two-hander shows like Wishful Drinking or The 39 Steps, already have casts. I imagine that- gi...
- Open Letter to Rocco LandesmanPublished: September 6, 2009September 6, 2009 Mr. Rocco Landesman Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20506 Dear Mr. Landesman: First of all, allow me to congratulate you on being confirmed as the new Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Over the past 18 months, I have had the pleasure of working closely with Mr. Bill O’Brien and Ms. Carol Lanoux Lee in the Theatre Program, both of who have been encouraging, helpful, and inspirational. Please indulge me while I...
- The State of the Matthew Shepard Act and “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later”Published: September 3, 2009Let’s establish some lines of demarcation. If you oppose the Matthew Shepard Act (the bill’s official name is the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act), you’re most likely Republican. You believe hate-crimes laws are unnecessary, that the 1969 federal legislation establishing such laws was scurrilous, needless. You believe we don’t need hate-crimes laws for criminal acts driven by someone’s gender, sexual orientation or disability. You believe such laws ruin...
- Direct Mail Just Keeps Truckin!Published: September 2, 2009Here are the stats on direct mail volumes from the latest USPS Household Diary Study (2008). As reported by the Center for Media Research, key factoids include: U.S. Households received 148.6 billion mail pieces in 2008, of which 63% was advertising. Income, education and age of head of household are the major drivers of mail received. For example: A HH earning less than $35K whose head of HH has a high school education receives 10.2 pieces of mail per week, compared to 20.6 pieces for a HH ear...
- The Corporate Funding Drought WorsensPublished: September 4, 2009The sample is small, so use the salt, but a new report about corporate giving does not bode well for arts organizations. As Donna Devaul, executive director of LBG Research Institute, wrote when I asked, Im afraid the news is not great for the arts--many corporations that have supported the arts have cut their funding." Well, we knew that, but LBG has put some new numbers on it, based on a survey of 440 corporations, of which 79 responded -- about the same rate as LBG's similar survey last No...
- First Letter to the Field: What's working, what's not working, recommendationsPublished: August 26, 2009Dear Contemporary Performance Stakeholder, What is written below comes out of two meetings that have included presenters, a critic, artists, service organizations and grant-makers. Individually and sometimes together, we have served on panels and town meetings. We came together this year out of a shared set of concerns about what we see as systemic problems facing the field of contemporary live performance. We plan to keep meeting regularly. We hope our observations and recommendations w...
- SIX WEEK ONLINE FORUM DISCUSSION OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS and FEDERAL ARTS POLICYPublished: September 1, 2009Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on.................“ LAUNCHING A MAJOR ONLINE FORUM DISCUSSION OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS Dear Readers: Never before has the National Endowment for the Arts been more important to the health and vibrancy of art culture in America, and not for some time has the Endowment been poised to expand to its fuller potential. Yet at the same time, deeply entrenched partisan politics and contentiousness on issues large and small may again make t...
- BACK TO THE FUTURE - FIGHTING THE CULTURAL WARS OF THE 1990s ALL OVER AGAINPublished: August 9, 2009Hello everyone. “And the beat goes on................“ NEW CULTURAL WARS LOOMING? Ian Moss recounts Fox News’ misstatement of facts in its “report” on the recent NEA Stimulus money grants wherein (echoes of Maplethorpe) “Fox News identifies three instances of supposedly objectionable programming, all of them in San Francisco: a $25,000 grant to counterPULSE, which has a "pansexual performance series" called Perverts Put Out; another $25,000 to the Symmetry Project, whose dance...
- Guest post: Matthew DiMera responds to “Is bigger, better?”Published: September 2, 2009Yesterday, I wrote a guest post for Musicals in Vancouver entitled Some Shows are Better, Bigger. Today, Musicals in Vancouver writer, Matthew DiMera, returns the favor, and responds. I’m a true-blue theatre-goer and there’s a special place in my heart for musicals. I’ve seen most of the local musical theatre productions this year, and this summer Vancouver has definitely had a bumper crop. Local theatre publicist, Art of the Business blogger, and all-around social media maven Rebecca Col...
- Tracy Letts, dark and lightPublished: September 5, 2009When playwright Tracy Letts walked into New York rehearsals for the touring production of his “August: Osage County” earlier this summer, he did not find the fellow Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble members who blew away brittle New York aesthetes with their gale-force, Chicago-style acting in Letts’ devastating Broadway play. Although a few of the touring cast members — mostly notably, the widely acclaimed Estelle Parson— had done the show as Broadway replacements during the long...
- Presumed DisappointingPublished: September 2, 2009Adam Thurman at The Mission Paradox made a great blog post yesterday pointing out that, unfortunately, when it comes to the question of whether they will enjoy an opportunity to interact with the arts, the default assumption many audience members hold is “no” until convinced otherwise. “Most people, when given the option to attend a performing arts event, are more scared that the performance is going to be disappointing then they are excited that the performance is going to be good.” He...
- Tips for Parents to Fill Arts Ed GapsPublished: September 2, 2009With schools back in session around the country, shortfalls in many state budgets have forced school systems to cut back art and music programs. This article offers parents some ideas to fill in the gaps in arts education their kids may face this coming year. What are some other ideas parents can use to fill these gaps and encourage participation in the arts outside of school in the coming months?
- Raising the Curtain on Emily Glassberg Sands, Part IV: Questions for Julia JordanPublished: September 1, 2009Playwright Adam Szymkowicz has an interesting interview with playwright Julia Jordan (at left), the true begetter of the Emily Glassberg Sands study, up at his blog. The "interview" is all softballs - and essentially an impromptu soapbox - so I couldn't resist leaving the following comment: This isn't so much an interview as it is an advertisement. Here are some follow-up's you might have asked Julia, Adam:Q: Given that the Sands study found no evidence for your claims of male sexism in theatr...
- Anne Frank In Theatrical Air in ConnecticutPublished: September 1, 2009There are two major productions scheduled in Connecticut in 2010 that center on the story of Anne Frank and her famous diary. One, of course, is the familiar The Diary of Anne Frank" by Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett (and newly revised by Wendy Kesselman) which is slated to be revived at the Westport Counrtry Playhoue on Sept. 28 to Oct. 16, 2010. But more intriguing is the world premiere of "Compulsion" by Rinne Groff (The Ruby Sunrise), directed by Oskar Eustis, artistic director at N...
- NEA Hijacked for Political Expedience? No! Yes? Yes! No? Er…Maybe?Published: September 1, 2009Debate topic: Resolved: Something in the water at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue causes whoever runs the executive branch to slip with regard to developing and disseminating messages shortly after assuming office. Indeed, despite the supreme communicative prowess and salesmanship abilities required in modern America to gain the White House, somehow the well-oiled machine of the campaign trail inevitably yields to the vagaries of governing. Looking back, while he was obviously appointed to the preside...
- ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ Mystery: The Case of the Fez FizzlePublished: September 1, 2009As Chris Caggiano notes on his blog, Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals (to which I still ask, “Everything, dear?”), Bye Bye Birdie was the number one tuner in the Tams-Witmark catalog for decades. Count me in as part of the statistics: I acquitted myself admirably as Mr. Macafee during junior year of high school. (Senior year got real edgy: I played Mr. Biggley in How to Succeed…) So when I came across the mention, in the New York Daily News, that the Shriner’s Ballet is being c...
- London Critics: “I’m Mad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore”Published: September 1, 2009There’s a story out of London that is both interesting and provocative. It is also a story that New York’s woebegone theater critics (heck, all critics of artistic disciplines, including blogger-critics) ought to be paying attention to. According to The Stage: Four leading critics have quit a recently launched theatre website, claiming they are owed thousands of pounds in back-pay and accusing the organisation of a lack of professionalism. Journalists Mark Shenton, chairman of the Critics...
- What are your arts patrons doing online?Published: September 1, 2009Ever wonder what your patrons are doing online?Last Friday, I mentioned a new report by Forrester Research. “The Broad Reach of Social Technologies” is the firm’s third annual report that paints profiles of online technology users. Revisiting the research annually allows Forrester to compare the most current data to the benchmark data collected in 2007. According to the report, more than four out of five Americans are active in social media at least once per month. Participation in soci...
- Disney to Acquire MarvelPublished: August 31, 2009Its a rare day that my interest in theatre and comix combines (outside of the latest sturm und drang over Spider-Man: Turn Off Your Audience) but today its been announced that Disney is buying Marvel. Heres the press release (Ive eliminated the second half of it which is all about stock sale regulations and the meaning of Forward-looking statements): Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world,...
- The Aversion of RiskPublished: August 31, 2009To have a successful career in the arts you have to understand risk aversion. Heres the best definition of risk aversion I have ever heard, it is particular to the performing arts: Most people, when given the option to attend a performing arts event, are more scared that the performance is going to be disappointing then they are excited that the performance is going to be good. When we approach the public with our work, they immediately ask themselves is this worth my time and money? And the def...
- Parity for women theater artists: Report from the working group eventPublished: August 31, 2009Report from a panel on women in theater
- Signature’s Orphans’ Home Cycle in the newsPublished: August 31, 2009HORTON FOOTE’S THE ORPHANS’ HOME CYCLE IN THE NEWS HARTFORD STAGE AND SIGNATURE THEATRE COMPANY CO-PRODUCTION BEGINS PERFORMANCES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 IN HARTFORD UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MICHAEL WILSON Note: Hartford Stage and Signature Theatre Company’s co-production of Horton Foote’s three part theatrical epic, THE ORPHANS’ HOME CYCLE, begins performances this Thursday, September 3 in Hartford under the direction of [...]
- Who says a Broadway Show can't be at the top of pop culture?Published: August 31, 2009In today's world, it sure is hard for a Broadway show to compete with the likes of Paris Hilton, MTV, Anderson Cooper, Lindsay Lohan, and the like.But on Twitter, one show has not only competed with them, it has crushed them.Next To Normal is now up to 618,703 followers (and growing), besting so many other seemingly more "popular" people. It's ranked as the 205th most popular tweeter on the web!How'd they do it? N2N used this new technology the old-fashioned way, with tried and true unique...
- The Art of InnovationPublished: August 31, 2009This post from Guy Kawasaki is a few years old, but I figured it was worth re-sharing. I think all of them hold true for our ilk as well as the tech industry: . . . the truths of innovation. I hold these truths to not be self-evident; hence we see so little innovation. Jump to the next curve. Too many companies duke it out on the same curve. If they were daisy wheel printer companies, they think innovation means adding Helvetica in 24 points. Instead, they should invent laser printing. True in...
- Who gets to decide what you want?Published: August 31, 2009When George Washington was a teenager, did he really, really, really want a car?Unlikely.In order to want something, you probably need to know it exists. But my guess is that it surely helps if you've been marketed to.One definition of happiness is wanting the things you're likely to get (or, conversely, not wanting the unattainable). One definition of marketing is persuading the world it wants what you have, regardless of whether they can afford it or not.We don't hesitate to motivate employees...
- Want to get into trouble? Concentrate on new audiencesPublished: August 30, 2009If I had a quarter for every time I have been asked in my career how I planned on attracting new audiences to an organization, I would be a rich man. On the flip side, I am almost never asked about customer loyalty or retention. The quickest way for an organization to get in trouble from a marketing perspective is to ignore audience retention problems in favor of attracting new audiences.Some common misconceptions:1. In order to grow, you must attract new audiences. This statement is only true i...
- Geffen Playhouse counts -- and discounts -- on its starsPublished: August 31, 2009Unabashedly Irresistible Theater is the slogan on the Geffen Playhouses 2009-10 season brochure, but for a lucky, bargain-hunting few the motto could be Big Names for Little Money. Coming off a season of economic hardships in which it was forced to put out an emergency $1-million fund-raising plea and rent out its second stage instead of producing self-generated shows there, the Geffen has lined up at least three star vehicles in a five-show season, starting next week with Matthew Modine Saves t...
- “Spider-Man” Musical Still A-Swinging Following Disney/Marvel DealPublished: August 31, 2009Getty Word that Disney will buy Marvel raised one obvious question on Broadway: what does this mean for “Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark”? The Broadway mega-musical, built around one of Marvel’s biggest brand names, suspended construction in the Hilton Theatre earlier this August after running into what one of the show’s producers, Hello Entertainment, called “an unexpected cash flow problem.” The production company said the show — whose budget is estimated to be among the...
- Riding the Arc of the Story: Inciting ObstaclesPublished: August 31, 2009All of a sudden, you have it: a beautiful idea! It comes to you full blown and shimmery. Perhaps something brand new you’ve never before conceived, or perhaps the result of pondering long and hard. Regardless, there it is: exciting, and full of energy. Your idea can do no wrong. The world is its oyster. It is your helium balloon. Ideation. What a great place to be. You, and perhaps a happy gang of fellow-ideators, begin to bring this effervescent, brilliant idea into being. Plans are drawn,...
- Recovery Versus DiscoveryPublished: August 29, 2009nuPOLIS partner William Shutkin sees innovation rising from the nation's adversity.Th[e] journey may take us through suffering, difficulties, and doubts of all kinds, but they will become our greatest teachers. Through them we will . . . discover the inner strength and fearlessness we need to emerge from our old habits and set patterns. Sogyal Rinpoche, Buddhist TeacherWith construction spending and housing prices up, foreclosure rates starting to level off and supersized bonuses returning to Wa...
- 200-Pound GorillaPublished: August 29, 2009I love me some Isaac Butler. I think that's more than apparent. He was one of my inspirations for starting this blog and, even when my output is slow, I make it a point to read his stuff and hang out at his place. He's written a doozy of a post on the strengths and weakness of the "indie" theatre scene. (I guess Off-Off-Broadway is old hat now?) It really is good stuff, thorough and well-thought-out as usual (despite some funky formatting problems - did you write it originally in Word 2007? I've...
- The UpsidePublished: August 29, 2009So, a while back, I went off on theatres as banana republics as, generally a bad thing. But then, there's this. (I know it's a casting notice, but it has the key information.) Rattlestick is producing a play they produced eight years ago. It's not a remount, it's a new production. This is the upside of the banana republic model.I'm not fully sure of the reasons for the re-production, but I'm sure it has something to do with the play, with the theatre liking the play and maybe feeling like it did...
- Some Summer ReadingPublished: August 29, 2009by David Dower There are a number of interesting conversations going on around the blogosphere as the summer winds down. So, slather on the sunscreen, settle in with a cold beverage, and lose yourself in the drama surrounding the drama. Theres the stir caused by Theresa Rebecks observations on story structure and contemporary playwrighting. You can find your way into it here, here, and here. Theres the inquiring minds of the Collective Arts Think Tank on generative artists, the enablers, and the...
- Brainstorm: Name ChangePublished: August 29, 2009Alright, folks, it is time for me to get off the schneid and get this project going. I have lots of stuff to write about as a result of my travels in Illinois and Wisconsin, and also as a result of some of the research I have been doing. So that will be coming. However, I think we first need to rename this project. The reasons to leave 100K Project behind are many: it is difficult to know how to pronounce the name if you are just reading it; it doesn’t search well on Google; many people think...
- One after anotherPublished: August 28, 2009Imagine a boxing match. During the first few rounds, a boxer is peppering his opponent with punches. Right hooks, left hooks, jabs. Some punches hit. Some miss. The opponent is still standing. Then, in the eight round, an uppercut land and *BAM* the opponent goes down for the count. Did the uppercut knock him out? Yes and no. What really won the fight was the cumulative impact of all the punches, wearing the person down until finally something connected just right. -----------------------...
- The Special Relationship Between Michael Wilson and Horton FootePublished: August 28, 2009The following is an interview with Horton Foote and Michael Wilson in 1999, in advance of Hartford Stage's "The Death of Papa." It is among my favorite interviews. In Sundays Arts section of the Hartford Courant, I write about the theaters production of the late playwrights epic The Orphans Home Cycle. This interview centers on the special relationship between Foote and Wilson. By FRANK RIZZO 'It was the spring of 1987, and 22-year-old Michael Wilson wasn't sure what he was going to do w...
- If You're Selling itPublished: August 28, 2009It's a product. If you're marketing it, it's a product. There's a huge contradiction inherent in most of what we do. I know we don't like to think of art as a product. Lots of folks get downright angry if you call art a product. "It's ART!" I know a lot of folks scoffed at the Driehaus's money back guarantee experiment, thinking it cheapened the art. (Note the use of the word "cheapened." As in less valuable.) But if art is not a product, why do we so easily attach prices to it? If we're se...
- Social Networking as art? Or the rantings of a 40something and technology...Published: August 28, 2009A NYT article published 8/16/09 details the Twitter success story of Broadway's Next to Normal. Apparently this past spring the show's creator, Brian Yorkey, began sending single tweets that were more than just marketing quips or lines from the show. He adapted the script for a Twitter audience, sending character lines that were intended to happen when that character wasn't speaking on stage. By the Sunday morning of the Tony Awards in June, when the tweets stopped, a complete shadow script was...
- iSondheim with Barbara Cook?Published: August 28, 2009Weve been hearing off and on about a new revue of Stephen Sondheims work with the unbearably precious name iSondheim. The show is being compiled and directed by James Lapine, longtime Sondheim collaborator. The show was originally supposed to run at Atlantas Alliance Theater this past April and May, but that production was canceled because of the projected production costs and the weak economy. As the awful title implies, iSondheim was to have included a great deal of technology -- multimedia,...
- Conference Call with Kalpen Modi, Americans for the Arts, and Corporation for National and Community ServicePublished: August 27, 2009Sat in on a conference call between Kalpen Modi (previously Kal Penn), Americans for the Arts, and the Corporation for National and Community Service.Some notes/reactions:Although the arts are important to the Obama Administration in and of themselves (which I got from Arne Duncan in a conference call last week), Kalpen Modi underlined the instrumental benefits of the arts to the economy, to education, and to tie together economy (you can tell from how they speak that they've internalized the Ob...
- Women Rule (2009 Iteration)Published: August 27, 2009It’s official! HBR (Harvard Business Review) for September 2009 has ‘confirmed’ that women really do rule. The article was titled Understanding the “Female Economy”. Here’s why I find this both funny and sad. In 2003, Tom Peters was somehow turned onto to this whole ‘WOMEN’ thing. He wrote about it. Spoke about it. And I picked up on it. I tried to apply this WOMEN RULE thing to the Third Sector and the For Impact World. In 2003, I wrote Women Rule. In 2005, I added Wom...
- Should Broadway be banking on West End transfers? | Alexis SoloskiPublished: August 27, 2009With lower production costs and proven success, loyalists of the Great White Way should celebrate British theatre imports – not be anxiousThese days, when the British arrive on American shores they come without horse, musket or red coat. (This is a shame: I think Jude Law or Johnny Lee Miller would look very dashing in scarlet.) But do they come armed with the same ambitions? That's the anxious subtext of a recent New York Times article examining the ease with which so many London productions...
- Is now the best time for this?Published: August 27, 2009According to this New York Times article, Local 1 made a move on The Joyce Theater this week, in an attempt to organize and unionize the stagehands at the 472 seat theater in Chelsea.Huh.Now, I'm not a Press Agent, but . . . in 2009, in the midst of the current economic crisis, with non profits closing their doors almost as fast as car dealerships, and with staff members all over the world making sacrifices to keep their jobs (including the employees of the NY Times), and with the NEA reporting...
- "The Addams Family" and the Bushnell's Investment, Snap SnapPublished: August 27, 2009You might be wondering why there is a promotion for "The Addams Family' is on the Bushnell's web page. Is the show going to try out here in Hartford before it goes to Broadway? Is the Broadway show off in favor of a tour? Has the tour been announced even before it has its first performance? Well, there's a reason the Bushnell is so keen on the show, based on the works of cartoonist Charles Addams, and starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, with music by Andrew Lippa. The more dough the show...
- Box Office Open But What's Playing at Westport?Published: August 27, 2009The Westport Country Playhouse announced its 2010 season last week. But the question remaining is what will it present this fall for its final main stage show? With rehearsals due to start any day now, there is still no word what the theater will present for its slot which will begin performances Sept. 29 and play through Oct. 17. We suspect there are not long lines ar the box office with theater-goers saying ,"I've just got to have tickets to that show I don't know anything about!" Sounds like...
- Christopher Plummer to Star in "The Tempest."Published: August 27, 2009Variety report's that Westport's Christopher Plummer will return to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival -- the one in Canada, not the woe-begotten one in Stratford, Conn. -- next season to play Prospero in "The Tempest," staged by artistic director Des McAnuff. Plummer was the theater in 2008s "Caesar and Cleopatra," In 2004, Plummer's "King Lear" at the theater transferred to Broadway. In 1997 he won a Tony for "Barrymore," which also originated at the Canadian theater.
- Like FamilyPublished: August 26, 2009While I’ve always known the acting at Steppenwolf was marvelous, I’ve never worked on a project with any of the ensemble members. As I wrote in my last blog entry, I’m working as production dramaturg on Eric Simonson’s play, Fake, and it’s been such a pleasure. Today I want to write about one aspect of it that has surprised me, which is what it’s like to be in the rehearsal room with people who’ve logged a lot of hours there together over the years. I’ve worked with ensemble com...
- Mary-Mitchell Campbell's coming back to BroadwayPublished: August 26, 2009I’m so excited to learn that Mary-Mitchell Campbell will be the music director for the new Broadway musical version of The Addams Family, coming to the Great White Way next spring. Mary-Mitchell is one of my favorite people in show business, and certainly one of the most impressive because she’s not just gifted, but she’s an extraordinary humanitarian. I met her a couple of years ago when I interviewed her for NCR (click here to read that feature) and by the end of our time together...
- Rocco Landesman, from the Great White Way to the White HousePublished: August 25, 2009The new chief of the National Endowment for the Arts, Broadway producer Rocco Landesman, told The Times today that his big topics include arts education, bringing more artists into the nations cities and communities, and beefing up the federal arts agencys support of more relevant artistic activities, the more active and engaged forms of art, as well as those more traditional art forms. That list includes new media as well as music, dance and theater forms that have engaged younger performers...
- MORE ROCCO STORIESPublished: August 26, 2009“I think the worst thing in the world would be going around with the message, ‘I’m going to shake things up.’ That would be a huge mistake,” he said yesterday in the NEA conference room, even as his office was being painted and spruced up for a new era, one that arts supporters have eagerly anticipated for years. And while Landesman is treading lightly for the moment, he is an unabashed hawk on the issue of money; increased funding, he said, is one of the barriers the NEA needs to ove...
- Ten Steps to Finding your Artistic Voice.Published: August 26, 2009Ten Steps to Finding your Voice. “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves”. – Carl Jung. This is such a wonderful quote and is one of the keys towards finding ones voice as an artist. Many artists fall into the trap of either imitating their favorite artists (attempting to serve as a cheap imitation of greatness) or by sticking too fast to their technique...
- Neither Carrot Nor Stick Does Creativity MakePublished: August 25, 2009A couple links as complement to my entry yesterday on motivation, customer service and volunteers. First, Americans for the Arts, hearing President Obama’s call for Americans to volunteer more has created a website at which people can share their stories, pictures and videos – United We Serve. A newly posted video on TED.com has Dan Pink talking about motivation. He provides some interesting findings about motivation, namely that when it comes to performing creative tasks conditional rewards...
- Youth Without YouthPublished: August 26, 2009As often happens to me, I see something I wrote somewhere else and it hits my eye in a weird way. So when I saw yesterday's post quoted over at The Mirror Up to Nature, it made me think that the line about "not knowing what they're doing" needed some unraveling. Not walking back or anything, but explanation.Back in the midst of the latest Rebeck flap, Matt Freeman posted this list of the last 10 years of Pulitzer Prize winners. (He also had some very good observations, so RTWT.) When I read it,...
- Theatre critics and artists: friends or foes? | Chris WilkinsonPublished: August 26, 2009Blogging has brought theatre practioners closer to the critics than ever before – raising knotty ethical questionsA question that comes up time and again in the theatre world is how critics and practitioners should relate to one another. The rise of theatre blogging has done a great deal to blur the lines between these two camps, due to the fact that more directors, actors and designers are taking to their keyboards to air their opinions, and that the internet allows artists and reviewers to t...
- In Search of Bill Rauch’s GutsPublished: August 26, 2009Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times has penned a particularly superlative example of critical reporting. He recently spent some time at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, located in what everyone tells me is the visually breathtakingly town of Ashland. It is there that Bill Rauch, co-founder of the Cornerstone Theatre Company in L.A., now heads up a dynamic, brimming theatrical enterprise with a $24 million budget and “the largest resident company in the country,” with “82 actors and...
- Michael Kaiser want you to do some planning, and I want to be inspiredPublished: August 25, 2009You must believe me when I say, "I adore what Michael Kaiser has to say."That said, I can't quite put my finger on why after hearing him speak at The Overture Center in Madison yesterday that the overwhelming feeling I have now is one of frustration.I heard many of my colleagues talk of how inspired they are by the gospel that Michael Kaiser is preaching as he does a 50 state tour to talk about Arts in Crisis in the good old U.S. of A. I think Michael Kaiser is doing the world of arts producers...
- Monster Mash: NEA's Rocco Landesman discusses plans; 'Louis & Keely' aiming for Broadway; Gagosian sues over damaged artPublished: August 26, 2009-- Looking ahead: Rocco Landesman, the new head of the NEA, talks about his plans for the coming years.-- Thinking big: Louis Keely, currently at the Geffen Playouse, is planning a national tour with an eye toward Broadway in 2010.-- Still a work in progress: The team behind the bilingual revival of West Side Story on Broadway has revised some of the songs from Spanish back to English.-- Napalm not included: The Bayreuth Festival will release DVDs of its Wagnerian productions in partnership...
- Need More TimePublished: August 26, 2009Issac over at Parabasis listed some of the biggest problems in Indie Theatre. One of the biggest problems he highlights applies to almost every performing art (not just theatre): (2) Lack of adequate rehearsal time. An off-broadway show rehearses for roughly 30-40 hours a week and rehearses during the day while previewing. The show Im directing right now will have 80 hours of rehearsal total. I cant agree with this more. ----------------------- I was talking with the Executive Director of...
- Michael Kaiser in Madison...Published: August 24, 2009Was fairly cool. But I'm itching a little from it all. And it's not just because I didn't get to eat any of my favorite Madison custard (Michael's, if you are curious) on the way home. It's really because I'm not sure I heard anything more than common sense for an hour and a half today. The fact that we've gotten to the point in the arts world where a 50 state tour is warranted for common sense talk is alternately frustrating and hopeful Frustrating because we in the arts producing world ha...
- On being alone at the theatrePublished: August 26, 2009We may go to a performance en masse – but each of us responds in our own wayTwo quotations that have long stayed with me are "Only the immature reader identifies with a book's protagonist. Discuss" and "We read to know we are not alone". The latter quotation is CS Lewis, the former is from an exam I once sat (and failed). Granted, both are concerned primarily with English literature rather than theatre, but both positions seem central to my experience of the Edinburgh fringe this year.On one l...
- Young Actors Among Hartford Stage's "Orphans"Published: August 25, 2009Though the epic work was written by a 92-year-old playwright about the youth, courtship, marriage of his parents at the turn of the last century, Horton Foote's "The Orphans' Home Cycle" is filled with a posse of fresh faces. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the old guy here,' says Michael Wilson, 44, who is staging the three-part, nine-play epic for Hartford Stage, with performaces beginning Sept. 3. The principal character for the 9 plays is Horace Robedaux represented from age 12 to his late 30s....
- More Cuts to the Arts Likely From Albany, Says NYS ArtsPublished: August 25, 2009NYS Arts has put out an email red-alert to arts advocates across New York State: When the state legislature returns to what it pretends is work come September, in addition to embarrassing themselves as the most catastrophically dumb, dysfunctional goons in the entire history of Western democracy, the perilous state of the state’s finances will be upon them, requiring immediate action. According to NYS Arts, state arts appropriations are going to be on the chopping block. Welcome to that dread...
- Now on Twitter, bet your followersPublished: August 22, 2009One of Twitter's brilliant design moves was putting a psychological device on every page: a "following/followers" count that clicks upward like the high score on a game as you meet more people. It's an addictive bit of feedback, creating the illusion of growing popularity no matter if 80% of the people who connect with you are selling get-rich-quick schemes or porn. More people love you today than yesterday. Your status is rising. You are loved.Techies John Manoogian, Erick Michaels-Ober and Kev...
- Early StartPublished: August 24, 2009When my day job starts their next production, 70% of the tickets will be sold during the actual run of the show. So why did I start marketing the play several weeks ago if people arent going to make the decision to buy until the day before, maybe the day of, their selected performance? Its because there is a huge difference between the act of buying, which only takes a few minutes . . . and the process which leads to that decision. That process, of giving people the information they need to buy...
- When is Broadway's birthday?Published: August 24, 2009I had a bday over the weekend, and it got me thinking . . . just when is Broadway's birthday?My History of American Musical Theatre Professor at NYU, Jack Lee (the guy who gave me my start by recommending me for a production assistant position on My Fair Lady), would say that the birth of the Broadway musical was on September 12, 1866 when the curtain went up on the infamous, designed-by-fire, Black Crook.This WikiAnswer says that the "first-known professional musical production was a five...
- Rewriting OurselvesPublished: August 24, 2009One of the things that became clear at our New Leaf Brunch Launch this week was that, while our friends and audience clearly love the approach of a season question (yay, score!), it wasn’t yet clear to them exactly how New Leaf chooses each question, each year. The answer: For us, the season question is always the question of everything. Now. Last year was a year of new beginnings for us. “How do we build a future from a present we didn’t expect?” New Leaf was finding itself switchin...
- In London starting Sept 17 – Ben Hur Live with 400 actors, 100 live animals, Gladiators, Chariot Races and more gives new meaning to spectacle in live theatre.Published: August 24, 2009I have been following updates on Facebook about what seemed like an insane and crazy adventure in theatre – no I am not talking about Spiderman and whether or not it will happen. One of my absolute favorite people in the world is the amazing and talented fight director Rick Sordelet. There are very few people in the theatre industry who can hold a candle to Rick in terms of kindness, generosity, good nature and talent. For months Rick has been sending out Facebook updates like –...
- Profit vs. Growth: Why So Many Community Benefit Organizations StrugglePublished: August 24, 2009There isn’t any one reason that so many community benefit organizations struggle to make ends meet, but there is one reason that I see most frequently. It has to do with the balance or imbalance of profit and growth within the business. What’s that you say? Profit? Business? Aren’t we talking about community benefit organizations — the nonprofit sector? Yes. Many of you, working in either sector, will be surprised to learn that the word nonprofit is a misnomer. Businesses with tax-exempt...
- The massive attention surplusPublished: August 24, 2009There was an attention drought for the longest time. Marketers paid a fortune for TV ads (and in fact, network ads sold out months in advance) because it was so difficult to find enough attention. Ads worked, so the more ads you bought, the more money you made, thus marketers took all they could get.This attention shortage drove our economy.The internet has done something wacky to this situation. It has created a surplus of attention. Ads go unsold. People are spending hours on YouTube or Twitte...
- Studio Films Are Directed By White MenPublished: August 24, 2009In a no shit sherlock moment, The NY Times took a look at who has been in the director’s seat for the major studio releases this year. Of the 85 or so live action films to be released by the big studios in 2009 — Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers –93% are directed by white men with an average age of 45 years. Though Hollywood’s power structure remains heavily white, it has opened the ranks to far...
