Arizona Theatre Company Closing?

For this blog post I wanted to take a step back and address an issue that is currently happening in the theatre world. Arizona Theatre Company, the state of Arizona’s official theatre, announced on Monday June 27^th, that they may have to suspend their 2016-2017 season and the company might have to shut down temporarily or even permanently. This is due to the over two million dollar debt that the theatre has accumulated over the past several years. This is saddening to several theatregoers because this season would have completed the theatre’s 50^th anniversary of show runs. However, there may be some light at the end of this company’s tunnel.

The theatre announced early this morning (June 30, 2016) that there might be a sizable donation made by board member Mike Kasser. Kasser guarantees that he will be putting down a $1 million donation towards the company’s fundraiser, cutting their debt in half. This guarantee brings some hope towards the 2016-2017 season, since the company has made a statement that if the debt can be erased, the season will not be suspended. On top of that, a private donor has committed $100,000 to assure that the company’s day-to-day activities still continue. The main question on many thespians’ minds is how did their debt become this large?

According to David Goldstein, artistic director of the Arizona Theatre Company, the debt has been an accumulation of the Great Recession. It started in 2008, and built all the way up to $1 million by 2013. In an interview with AZ Central, Goldstein stated that the company “can’t contain it any longer” (Goldstein, 2016). This fundraiser, if they can manage to complete it, will put the company at break even. They would be starting from the ground up, and it will allow them to build a fresh start.

The Fundraising deadline has been extended from July 1^st to July 15^th,  for more information or if anyone would like to make a contribution please visit the company’s website, or email at support@arizonatheatre.org.

Digital Age Digital Page

For this month’s blog post I wanted to focus on publishing in the theatre industry. As far as this matter goes, most individual books published in the theatre industry are sold as perusal scripts. Perusal scripts are full in length but have not yet been licensed for a production. While the end goal of these scripts are to be sold into performance productions, licensing fees are taken for every single individual performance. At the end of the day, however, most of scripts written are made in a performance-centered type of mind-set. A new type of publishing for the theatre industry that has come about in the past couple of years is the idea of publishing scripts on a digital platform.

In Kimberly Lew’s article From Stage to Screen: Theatre Publishers Going Digital, she discusses a new trend that has been coming about where publishers are offering their scripts in an eBook format. Lew claims that the first theatrical publishing company to do this was Original Works Publishing (OWP), where they offered many of their titles on Kindle’s platform, as well as some acting editions. OWP explained that in doing this, they cut down on production and distribution costs and were able to put the scripts in their reader’s hands almost immediately after an online purchase. Since the success of OWP’s eBook launch, other theatre publishers have hopped on the bandwagon. 

The idea of scripts being published digitally kind of goes hand in hand with some of my previous posts about how the theatre industry is slowly but surely progressing into this digital age. With the online streaming of performances, and now scripts available by eBook, these are new ways for the theatre world to stay relevant in an age where it seems to be falling behind. It’s a great stepping-stone for the theatre world and it will hopefully help create exposure for several playwrights that want to put their works out there.

Interview DSM

For my interview blog I chose to contact an individual in my age range, who is already fairly successful in the field that I am currently trying to break ground in. Kayla (she preferred for her last name to be left off of the transcript) is a 25 year-old event coordinator for Dallas Summer Musicals. Her main job is to coordinate/produce Musicals and various theatrical productions that DSM puts on throughout the year. The only difference between what she does and what I want to do is that she works for a theatrical company, whereas I want to actually own my own business.

For her job, it is a requirement that she makes negotiations with script holders for the rights to actually produce the show. When I asked her how she separates people from the problem when negotiating, her response was to remain calm, listen, and to really have solid back up information for any argument that could come up when making a deal. She explained that more often then not, she has to bring in objective criteria when negotiating the price for which the company can acquire the rights of the play. She used examples of deals that were made with other theatre companies to back up her claims. Kayla also discussed that she always has a BATNA ready in case she cannot get the rights for a play, and that is having a back up play in case the first choice falls through.

I really feel like I learned a lot about how not to be so shy when going into a deal. Kayla explained that she used to be that way, but she grew out of it when she started this job. She explained the importance of being confident and doing your homework before going into meeting. Those two things really helped her and I think that they are valuable lessons that I can definitely take away from this interview.

The Importance of Theatre

For this particular blog post, I wanted to change up the pace a little bit because of a TED Talk that I recently viewed. The talk is titled Why I do Theatre, and I feel like it is important because it’s an answer to a question that I get all of the time from a lot of different people. Constantly people seem to look down on the fact that I got an undergraduate degree in theatre, assuming that I spent all this money on a dead degree that will get me nowhere. I couldn’t disagree with that notion more, and I really need to work on translating that to those who oppose more; especially with the fact that I am working so hard towards starting my own theatre. Patsy Rodenburg is a very well known voice and acting coach in the theatre community, and in this talk I feel like she hits the nail on the head as to why theatre is absolutely essential to society.

Ms. Rodenburg spends this short talk telling stories and personal testimonies that discuss how actors and playwrights are present, in the moment, and in the truth. She compares these thespians to every one else in society, claiming that it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, if you aren’t present you will not be successful. I completely agree with this notion. If you love something and are serious about it, you will be engaged and present within whatever it is. It will completely engulf your life and will be the source that drives your passion. There are no people out that that I think better fit this description than actors and playwrights. If serious, these people are constantly open, available, and living within the truth; even though they are writing and acting within imaginary circumstances.

The second point that Ms. Rodenburg stresses on is the idea of how theatre presents the truth. That actors and playwrights are inescapably good at presenting the truth up on stage, even if the audience hasn’t grown up enough to see it. It’s the main reason behind why I love theatre, and why I want to open up my own space. Theatre allows people to look into a mirror without even realizing it. Theatre can inspire change within so many people and in an amazing outlet for artistic creativity. It is not a dead end degree and I think it is something that society really does need.

Looking at Arts Festivals in a New Way

I had the opportunity to view a very inspiring TED Talk by theatre producer and four-time Tony nominee David Binder. The talk, titled TheArts Festival Revolution, began with his personal testimony about a site specific performance piece that he viewed in the Australian suburb of Minto. The really unique element about this performance piece is that the performers were actually the residents of this particular suburb. The audience walked from house to house throughout the neighborhood, and each performer did different cultural dances out on their front lawns. Binder described this unique piece of art as something incredible that created a sense of ownership and community within the people of that town.  He described it as a stepping-stone in this revolutionization of performance arts festivals.

Binder explained that when arts festivals were first brought about, most of the art within the festival were considered “high art,” a term used to describe art of a more significant caliber. As the decades have passed, the art has transformed and changed from highs into lows, and then back into highs. Recently, however, newer art festivals have emerged and started to take a slightly different approach. Binder discusses that there are many performance festivals that are immersing their audience into the actual performance; that there are no walls to contain or limit the imagination of those participating. It creates this sort of strong communal bond with any one who attends these shows.

Looking at this revolution from a much larger scale than the suburb of Minto, there was a festival put on by Royal Deluxe that was held in the heart of the city of London. For several days, thousands of people gathered around to be apart of this particular performance. Binder discusses how much of an impact a festival like this had on the city of London. He even goes so far as to say that this performance transformed a massive city into a tight nit community.  Which really goes to show the power that can come from live performances of any kind. No matter how big or small, they can be done anywhere, at any moment, on any day. They allow cities as a whole to decompress and express themselves; which in turn makes them better places to live.

This short, nine minute talk really just solidified my love for theatre. Binder does a great job captivating the audience with pictures and personal testimonies about how these performances have transformed so many cities, and brought together so many people. This type of impact is exactly why I want to open up my own theatre. I feel like, even if I inspire just a small group of people, I will have fulfilled my purpose in this world.  

Musical Theatre: Business and The Digital Age

Kind of continuing off of my previous blog about digital theatre, musical theatre producer David Ian has a different view on live performances and how they should not be streamed through a computer. In an interview for The Economist, Ian discusses how this is a great new time for theatre, especially musicals, because of the fact that they are something that aren’t normally streamed live. That simple little detail makes theatre completely different from television or film. Watching a live performance is a unique attractive treat that people don’t normally get to enjoy every day.

The unfortunate thing about this, however, is the fact that this appeals more to big Broadway productions, not small community theaters. These large productions cost a pretty penny to attend to, especially for musicals like The Lion King or Mamma Mia. Front row seats to shows like these can cost two people over a thousand dollars to attend. This does absolutely nothing for people who can’t afford to view their favorite musical live, and at the end of the day, it makes the idea of streaming live theatre at a reasonable price more appealing.

According to IBISWorld, Musicals bring in almost two billion dollars worth of revenue to the US in a year. When a musical has been branded, that production can go on tour all over the world, bringing in the big bucks. Musicals, like The Lion King, have been around since the 1980’s and are still thriving in 2015. So what about non-musical theatre productions?

There is a younger crowd that is starting to become more attracted to musicals, which in turn will hopefully turn them onto full-fledged plays, but I don’t necessarily see that happening. Many of these well-recognized musicals have already been or are being turned into films. Which gives this new generation absolutely nothing unique or attractive to look forward to about musicals. Once again this brings us back to pushing theatre into a technologically advanced age. No offense to Mr. Ian, but as student in the theatre world, I am seeing less and less people getting involved in theatre. The idea of allowing people to stream these branded musicals live might give us the leverage we need in the theatre community to bring it back to life, at a price that the common man can afford.