AUDITIONS POSTPONED!

Please look for a StageSource posting and blog post about our rescheduled auditions for Dearly Beloved.

What to say?

Holy cats.

So here I am in the CoLab portion of the blogosphere thanks to Kenny, Mary-Liz, and Erika. But what to write about?

I guess, what inspires me and what do I want to explore is a good place to start.

Being new to Boston it might be interesting to make comparisons to Minneapolis -- my old stomping grounds. The Fringe Festival, the lack of theatre space, the plethora of small theatres, the relationship of a major theatre to equity and non-equity actors...

Or I've been busting at the seems to talk with someone about process these days. About transitions and cheap magic, and how every time a director makes an assumption a props master loses her wings. About how understanding and utilizing the space will only enhance the story.

Or the business and the life of the new American play. How are we writing it; what is the zeitgeist we're writing in or the muse we're writing for; where is it taking place; how is it being funded?

Or maybe I should just say "thanks." Because, being a part of a theatre such as CoLab, which is dedicated to ensuring that the process of creating theatre is done the right way, is important to me. Like I said, I'm new here, and I appreciate being invited along for the ride. I look forward to making future observations and discoveries alongside CoLab.

So for now, I'll say just that. Thanks. Thanks Boston for being so inviting. Thanks KMLE for considering my brain for consideration. And thanks to you for reading. I'm looking forward to writing!

Mary-Liz vs. The Monologue

Gosh do I hate finding new monologues.

Well I hate trying to find them.

When they magically happen upon me, because I hear them in a play or steal them from another actor (don't pretend you haven't done it) it's serendipity and usually works out pretty well. I find a printed version of said monologue, learn it, and put it in to action.

But as anyone proficient in auditioning knows, monologues get worn out after a while. You need to be refreshing your repertoire somewhat regularly to keep in audition material. Sometimes you outgrow a piece, or you've used it for every company in town and need to show them something different, or you just fall out of love with it. It happens.

But what happens when you find yourself in a monologue-less pit?

How do you recover?

Going on the search is a difficult thing. It requires you to think carefully about what type you are, what genre(s) you're looking for, how long it is, if you like it, if you see enough in the material to simultaneously be able to take risks and be super comfortable performing it. It's a difficult balancing act. And a lot of digging.

The thing that makes new monologues really hard for me though, is my innate tendency towards procrastination. Until I HAVE to have something new, I'm not working on anything new. It's a terrible terrible habit. In college we had to have new material fairly frequently so I was constantly updating my folder-o'-monologues. But at this point, most of those don't work for me, and it's time for some upgrading.

I'm not really sure where or how to begin. I have a stack of plays next to my bed. But I'm not really sure that any of them are there because they have monologue potential. They were more on my 'to read' list than anything. I haven't pinpointed what kinds of pieces I want to be working on. And honestly, it's been so long since I've been cast, I'm a little fuzzy on my type. Where I fit in. What I need to be working with. What I want to working with. From where I am now, I probably can't go wrong with much of anything, simply because it's new, and fresh, and different. Something to play with. But it can be hard to devote the time to all the reading and memorizing that goes in to a new audition piece.

But, I have an audition March 22. So I guess I'd better get on it...

Eyes on the Prize, Words in the Air: Erika on The BTC '11

Once upon a time, I was asked to blog for the Boston Theatre Conference 2011. I started writing the following statements:

“Why NOT Boston?”

“Boston theatre scene. Slow arts movement. Slow food movement. Progress. The next step.”

“I have this conversation at least one a month:

‘What do you do?’

‘I'm an actress.’

‘What are you doing here? Why aren't you in New York?’”

As you can see, I didn’t get very far. I didn’t have a really clear vision of what I wanted to write about because I didn’t have a clear vision of what the point of the conference was. Obviously, I knew that we were there to discuss the state of Boston Theatre and its future, but I didn’t know what I personally wanted to get out of the conference. As Kenny put it, “past [conferences] focused on our identity as a theatrical center, and this year I've noticed that we are at a turning point in that journey. We are a theatrical center.” After attending last Monday, however, I’m energized and stirred up about this “theatrical center” but I’m nervous. In her closing remarks, Julie Hennrikus reminded us that the conference is important, but continuing the conversation is more important.

And I couldn’t agree more. But how? We’re all so busy – many of us little guys (the fringier theatres, the smaller companies) work many jobs: 40 hours a week at a paying gig, 15+ hours at rehearsals, PLUS any additional hours we spend in meetings planning and producing our individual shows. That’s a lot of time and effort. And we want to make sure we’ll sustain for an extended period of time and not burn out. So how do we continue to share these ideas and have conversations? What do we do? Apparently, it’s as easy as One. Two. Three… 4.5.6. and 7.

I've got a clearer vision of what I want to say than when I was originally asked to blog. Thanks to my mother, a first grade teacher with a propensity for exploring new ideas when its comes to literacy, I've discovered a technique called Six Traits Plus One. She may be using it get her first graders to become better writers, but this lost actress is using it to organize her thoughts on The BTC 2011. Here we go.

1. IDEAS: We've obviously got 'em. And they were flying everywhere at the conference. But we've got to start small as a way to dream big. The ideas that stuck out to me as the most immediate are: selling local/Boston as way of keeping/expanding local audiences, cross-promotion (we already do it between the smaller companies, why can't different sized companies help promote each other?), conversations between larger, established organizations and fringe organizations, demystifying the rehearsal process by letting the audience in, and rebranding

2. ORGANIZATION: We're all busy. We've already established this. It's hard to promote your show sometimes when 55 hours of your week are already taken up by other things. So let's use each other. In my lunch breakout, we spoke about creating a pass that could be used at multiple shows in a season so that patrons can purchase a pass and see both a show at The Huntington and at The Factory. How? Email me at colabtheatre@gmail.com. I've got some ideas.

3. VOICE: We have a BOSTONIAN voice. Let's keep singing it out. We talked about how people support The Red Sox as their home town team. Why can't we rebrand theatre in much the same way? In Vaquero Playground's Bear Patrol the Boston references kept me rolling last weekend. Mill 6's T-Plays connected us through one universal annoyance - public transportation. 11:11's Her Red Umbrella told us a story about Harvard Students. Later this season, The Great Heathersby Heist gets its inspiration from the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. Some companies are already selling Boston, it's definitely a good thing to keep working on.

4. WORD CHOICE: The idea that "going to theatre" scares people off as elitist, expensive, and boring kept coming up. Someone put it like this, "Shakespeare is hard and Our Town is boring." So let's change the language we use to market. One idea from the conference, non-theatre folk don't know what a staged/workshop reading is -- why not call it a tasting?

5. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Seriously, though, let's continue the conversation. I don't want to be talking about the same exact issues at the 2013 conference. You may have noticed that conversations between larger, established organizations and fringe organizations was in bold before. I believe so strongly that this is a MAJOR missing link. We have two different types of audiences. Let's talk about melding them.

6. CONVENTIONS: We all have ideas on traditional theatrical conventions, but if audience size is decreasing, we might have to shake it up a bit. Workshops, family involvement, open rehearsals, found spaces. These are all great ideas. Let's keep brainstorming.

PLUS 1. PRESENTATION: We all know about presentation. Putting on a show. From the sounds of things, we all want to keep doing this. I'm looking forward to seeing some changes, however small, in the next few months in Boston. I believe in this place as a cultural hub, and so do you. Let's keep cultivating.

These are my thoughts. Hopefully something here caught your eye. Let's talk. Email me at colabtheatre@gmail.com. We'll converse. And collaborate.

- Erika

...the kindness of strangers

Fund-raising is every theatre company's biggest dilemma. From a small fringe company to a multi-million dollar organization, soliciting donations and raising money is always a challenge. There are lots of reasons for this, to name just a few: a.) it can be uncomfortable to ask people for money, it takes a lot of time for the average person to warm up to simply asking for money from others b.) every fund-raiser has been done to death and c.) an unpredictable economy leads to unpredictable donors.

These are the things we've been coming up against in the last few months as we start our production plan for Dearly Beloved. But not only because we have a production budget that is currently 300% more than the small operating capital we currently have, but because our goal is to not only produce the show but also boost our capital. It's definitely a tough road.

But we're not in it alone!

Yesterday we began production on a new (and as of yet, super top secret...) fund-raising campaign and needed a little help. We enlisted a friend but were definitely in need of another person for support. So our friend enlisted his friend...who had no idea who we were, what we did, or what he was getting in to, but was just ready to help. And help he did. Honestly, the first phase of the project would have been impossible without him. How awesome is that?!

But wait, it gets better.

He's not the only one. Most people who bought our cupcakes or sodas didn't know who we were, people we met at the Boston Theatre Conference and offered help and ideas, and even members of our social network community, helping to spread the word about us are strangers or near strangers. People we don't know on a personal level. And they are willing to pitch in, and give us a little bit of their time, or their ideas, and in some cases their cold hard cash, just to help us succeed.

So yeah, fund-raising is hard. It can feel like a pressure cooker, trying to make money for your company. But most people like the idea that they've helped or contributed to something they find interesting or valuable. So for us, the best thing to do is stay true to our mission, pitch our passion to anyone willing to listen, and rely on the kindness of strangers.

Cupcakes and snacks and drinks, OH MY!

The CoLab is having a Bake-Sale!

Come Support the CoLab by buying concessions and home baked goods at this Friday's performances of Vaquero Playground' s Bear Patrol!

Support two companies at one performance. Come see Bear Patrol at the Boston Playwrights Theatre at 7:30pm & 10:00pm and support the CoLab by buying drinks, snacks, and home baked-goods before and after the show!

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About the show!

Bear Patrol
By: John J. King
Directed by: Barlow Adamson

Huggy Bear wants to be the first post-apocalyptic rock star. Can she make it Somewhere Over the Rainbow, thru the Purple Rain, Purple Rain, to defeat theWretched Rex of the Rox and set Crimson City free? Watch and dance on down the road with her as Monkey Bear supplies the beats,Emphysema Bear bleats, and Huggy Bear Tweets her way to rock legend status in BEAR PATROL, a Boston-set, pop-culture mash-up adaptation of the Wizard of Oz. A fairy tale about a truly Nuclear family.

Forget Lions and Tigers...You're on Bear Patrol!

CLICK HERE for TICKETS!

March 3 - 20, 2011

March 4, 2011 7:30pm & 10:00pm CoLab Bake-Sale!

$8 or Less
General Admission

Boston Playwright's Theatre
949 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA

The Boston Theatre Conference From Kenny's Perspective

The CoLab was out in force this past weekend at The Boston Theatre Conference. There was much on the table, and the report will spell out the summary for all of us to read in the coming months. But I wanted to check in and talk about my expectations and what I got out of this event.

I've read the previous BTC reports in detail and must admit that I wasn't entirely sure what this particular conference would address. Past events focused on our identity as a theatrical center, and this year I've noticed that we are at a turning point in that journey. We are a theatrical center. There is no longer any doubt about that. The question is, how will we define ourselves? These are critical years that we won't get back. The time to act is now.

I said I would discuss the topic of actor pay this week, but I'm going to have to put that topic on the burner until my next post. Instead, let's talk about the economics of growth and sustainability. I met many different artists and producers, and one of the common themes was that of cooperation. Some might think it strange that in a time when people are hurting economically, that we'd try work with each other instead of against each other. But let's take an economists look at this.

Remember Mercantilism? It's okay, I graduated with a history degree and even I had to look it up. Mercantilism is the term used to describe the economic theories that dominated the western world before the rise of classical liberalism and modern economics. It was believed that the acquisition and spending of capital was a zero sum game. IE, when you spend, you lose. When you sell, you win. Therefore, you have to export more than you import. If someone else is better at something than you, you're screwed.

Classical Liberalism determined economics is not a zero sum game and that the gains by another do not necessarily turn into one's loss. Without getting into complicated terminology, exchange and cooperation can generate capital that would otherwise never exist. We can increase the size of the pie, rather than eat the whole thing.

I spoil the ending for you, but technology and culture sped the hell up as liberalism and liberty spread throughout the world. To this day, we still celebrate these ideals, whether liberal, moderate or conservative (or Libertarian Socialist...)

So why the history lesson? Because while I'm no cheerleader, I do believe that artists must be economists. We must be historians. We must be entrepreneurs. We have to stop being perpetual freelancers, and work in tandem with each other and create networks and INVEST capital of all kinds into our own future. Especially at a time when our opportunities for funding (government and private charities are in trouble these days) are shrinking, it's about damned time we start thinking about creating new business ventures and partnerships.

The Boston Theatre Conference gave me a great deal of hope that we're not the only ones who think this way.

K