Category
Uncategorized
-
Uncategorized
Artistic goals at Woolly
In the spring of 2011, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company was a finalist for an award recognizing excellence in non-profit management administered by the Washington Post and the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. It wasn’t big dollars, but we hoped it would help us connect with some corporate contacts. We didn’t expect that we’d learn something about [...]
-
arts service organizations, audiences, charity, community, Uncategorized
The Conversation After The Show
01.25.12 | Permalink | 4 CommentsWhen a theater is only open to the public for 15 minutes before and after a performance—and is otherwise closed and locked, with the public let in and, if necessary, kicked out—the question arises of how to make the performing arts a conversation, a participatory activity more articulated than active listening. Here’s a simple story of [...]
-
Uncategorized
Audience Overtures
The murmuring from Canada was startling, and grew louder. First Toronto Globe and Mail theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck tweeted about the cognitive dissonance of the Canadian national anthem being sung prior to a performance of the musical American Idiot. Various tweets followed, regarding both surprise at the practice and the evident irony of hearing “O Canada” before [...]
-
Uncategorized
Decoder
I have opined in the past about the dark arts of theatrical billing, marketing and publicity in such posts as This Blog is Prior to Broadway and Blurb. Now, as the holidays approach, I have decided to give you a special gift. You no longer need to try to parse that brochure, that post card, that press item [...]
-
Uncategorized
Streaming
Marketing. Advertising. Community Outreach. Audience engagement. Audience Development. Social Networking. Targeted Pitches. And so on. This litany of phrases are among the buzzwords common to anyone who spends their time focused on attracting audiences to the theatre. They appear in the fire hose spray of blogs and tweets that consume my days and those of [...]
-
development, devised work, directors, dramaturgy, marketing, p.r., presenting, producers, Uncategorized
Play on the beach…
Here in Vancouver, as a theatre producer, one of your greatest challenges is simply finding space. We have two major theatre companies, The Vancouver Playhouse and the Arts Club, that own their own theatres, but other than that, the 100-or-so independent theatre companies in the city all are fighting for a piece of the half-dozen [...]
-
audiences, conversation starter, Uncategorized
Do you really want to be like Apple?
08.30.11 | Permalink | 7 CommentsI promise, this is not another premature eulogy for Steve Jobs. I saw this on Google+ this morning. This is an old video of Steve Jobs responding to a critic at the World Wide Developers Conference in 1997, shortly after Jobs returned to Apple. One thing immediately jumped out at me… In the context of [...]
-
Uncategorized
Let’s Talk About Meme
All of meme. Meme, myself and I. Auntie Meme. Do, re, meme, fa, so, la, ti do. I meme of Jeannie. I could go on. And on. For hours. I won’t. One of the more interesting entertainments to arise from the spread of social media is the propagation of memes, perhaps more commonly known as [...]
-
Uncategorized
Have I Said Too Much?
“You’re gonna have to learn your clichés. You’re gonna have to study them, you’re gonna have to know them. They’re your friends.” Though I rarely seek it out, I frequently find myself watching the television sports report during the 11 pm news, typically after Jon Stewart completes his guest interview and before Letterman begins. Not [...]
-
Uncategorized
Famous Last Words
Among the entertainments and distractions wrought by Twitter are the propagation of memes or hashtag games, in which a topic is tossed out for the masses, from which to wring endless variations, almost always humorous. For example, yesterday, in honor of the weekend’s number one film, folks were spinning comedy on #FailedApePitches, to which I [...]
-
conversation starter, directors, q & a, spotlight, Uncategorized
Spotlight: Suzanne Westfall, Director
Here’s this week’s installment of the director-to-director interview series. To date, the directors I have interviewed have been either freelance directors or directors affiliated with a particular company; this week’s spotlight marks a departure and an avenue I’d like to explore more in this series. Suzanne Westfall is a professor of drama at Lafayette College [...]
-
audiences, collaboration, conversation starter, development, devised work, ideas, new plays, playwrights, rabble rousing, social media, the process, Uncategorized
John Lahr is not a dumbass.
06.22.11 | Permalink | 5 CommentsJohn Lahr, New Yorker theater critic, wrote a piece on Julie Taymor’s frustration with the process of creating a new theatrical work in the era of instant feedback, Twitter, and focus groups. It’s a great piece, full of historical perspective on the role of audience (that is to say, amateur) criticisms of theater. He rubbed [...]
