Community: Peal Out the Watchword.

I may not know just yet what the Pig in My Panties is, but I can see problems that we can fix without a messiah.

In small theatre communities the problems are cliche: capital and space. To avoid this as best we can we need to eliminate resource redundancies and maximize the talent pool.

That’s easy.

Well. Not easy easy.

It requires communication. Communication requires contact, and contact requires a meeting place.

In a more romantic time that central place would be a bar or coffeeshop. A real world place where a person newly washed up on this shore could head to take the temperature of the community.

I don’t know about your town, but I haven’t heard tell of that place here in Austin.

For a town like this with no central place to meet it makes a lot of sense to me to create on online space for that to happen. An always on place for people to ask questions, solve problems, and meet people.

This isn’t a perfect solution. Theatre folks aren’t early technological adopters. So you need to make it as user-friendly as possible and make it clear what the benefit to them is quickly.

A smaller town like Austin doesn’t need something as comprehensive as the Chicago Theatre Database (132 venues?!). It needs Facebook.

Rather, a specialized social networking application.

Take the Facebook model. It’s something that folks are familiar with. Now instead of a goofy picture of you and your cat your use a headshot, and your profile is a searchable resume - for actors, directors, technicians, designers and writers. Pages for companies and venues, and groups for casting calls, resource requests, and discussion.

---

I think people would use it.

It’s familiar. Are folks tired of signing up for things? Sure. but Again, the benefit will be evident to the users.

The problem of course is that I have no background in hosting, customizing and maintaining a social networking site.

There are open source and turnkey options like Mahara. But the technology is all a little beyond me. So I would need help from an as yet unknown person or entity getting it in motion.

It has legs

What am I missing?

EDITED 8:54 AM 7/8

It's important that a project like this not exist inside a walled garden like an umbrella arts organization would create. Membership in something like Austin Circle of Theatres has it's benefits, but shouldn't be the gate to entering the community or sharing it's existing resources.

It should be free, and open.

Technorati Tags: Theatre,Austin,Texas,Austin Green Room,networking,technology

Waiting for the Call

I mentioned before that I come from a religious background. My family is as unconventional a bunch of charismatic non-denominational Protestants (with a laissez faire evangelical streak) as you’re likely to come across. They have the proud distinction of being in that class of Christians who simply tries to live the book, rather than beat you with it.

That sort of beginning means that despite my current free agent status as regards religion all of my personal metaphors (the one’s not covered by sports) are religious ones.

For those of you in the know, you can imagine how bated my breath is as I sit and wait in my 33rd year for my ministry to begin. After my forty years in the wilderness of New Hampshire and San Francisco I will rise up out of Austin to begin my Great Work.
(My space, my mixed metaphors)

And not for nuthin? But I am the adopted son of a carpenter.

Naturally.

Well. Anyway. While I was waiting this week I read this post from Patti Digh’s blog on living intentionally. Take a moment to go read it (intentionally) then come back and talk to me.

<Waits>

Oh. I know you didn’t click over, but you’re missing out.

After relating a wonderful anecdote about her daughter Tess she asks:

What’s the pig in your panties?

(You know what? I could have lived an entire lifetime without ever having had the excuse to write that question. I feel oddly satisfied now that I’ve had the opportunity…)

What Pig is worth the risk? What Pig is not worth the risk? Distinguishing between the two is important.

And the short answer is?

I have no idea. It drives my wife crazy. It’s part of the reason I started this space to being with. To work it out (in fear and trembling).

What do you do without a focus? A Specialty? A Mission? A Calling?

If you’re me? You hone your skills, and make damn sure that when you do get knocked off your ass you’re ready to go.

So until I do find the pig in my panties? I’m going to help others with theirs. And when The Call comes I’ll be prepared, and there will be people there who will be ready to help.

What’s your Pig? Your Chicken?
What will you risk for them?

Technorati Tags: Patti Digh,Pig and Chicken,Religion,Messiah Complex

After these messages…

Back to rambling soon, Costa Rica – it’s good for what ails you…

Also? Marriage-

And a couple more great shots by Will Snider from “FourSquare” the recently closed HBMG Foundation production.

that’d be me, Jessica Robertson and Rommel Sulit.

Jessica Robertson, Martinique Duchene. Rommel Sulit, and Me.

Real Content soon. Bet on it.

Wherein I stump for a friend

I am always on the hunt for more reading material to keep me from accidentally reading (and subsequently producing) the Next Great Play. So I have more feeds than God has overzealous adherents.

Alright, not that many, but I have more feeds than there are Spartan soldiers, and that’s plenty.

To make YOUR search for reading material easier I will hereby recommend that you commence reading Sooper Delishus.

Sooper Delishus is the brain child of the egregiously overtalented Chris Keating, and is more than worth your time.

From the most recent entry “Rise of the Monkeybots”:

“Because let us be frank, the road to simian hell is paved with good intentions. A pleasant scientist in a white lab coat runs tests in a lab with a monkey at his side, endeavoring to build a better tomorrow for people everywhere. I guess I’d feel better about things if that weren’t Mojo Jojo’s back-story in precise detail.

The article itself does little to allay my fears. “The animals were apparently freelancing, discovering new uses for the arm,” the author cheerfully reports. Such as … ? Breaking free from from their cages? Hacking into the lab’s security system? Venting tanks of poisonous gas onto unsuspecting guards? You know what, we should make sure the robot arms have thumbs, so that they’ll have an easier time building their island fortress.”

So to keep the dry wit tank topped up: read Sooper Delishus today!

Through Different Eyes

Isaac Butler pointed out a great rumination on writers’ ambition by noted theatreospehere whipping boy Charles Isherwood.

The money quotes:

“A true artist, some might argue, can never let canny considerations of production influence his vision. Art must be its own imperative. A high-minded thought, but artists also hunger for their work to be known. A play that is never staged may be a work of genius, sure, but its genius is likely to leave no footprint on the world unless it is produced.”

and

“I’m not suggesting that size alone matters, obviously. But if the American theater is to remain an aesthetically robust enterprise, a vital step may be removing the invisible shackles from the imaginations of playwrights, making it natural — making it possible — for them to dream huge once again.”

Isherwood and Butler ask after the chicken, so I’ll ask after the egg.

How do producers and literary agents shunt off practical consideration of production in favor of simply reading the submitted work on its merits? If the playwrights of Today (and Tomorrow) create these brave new works for a Greater American Stage how do we get them past the gatekeepers?

Alright, let’s cut out the capitals for a moment and bring it home. I am a sometime producer with an eye to new work. I have a limited budget and no home space. How do I go about reviewing a submitted work without considering those things that are a bar to me producing it?

Once upon a time, in a different life, I was reviewing scripts and came upon a really nice character piece that I was loving until the middle of act two when the unit set (with a ceiling) began literally crumbling around the performers.

When this happens I have two options as a producer looking at the script, I can decide that there’s no way I can possibly do the script as written and put it aside, or I can tell the author to change what he’s written to make it feasible for me to put up.

You see how I would be pilloried on that writers blog either way? I’m either the guy who won’t take risks on Brave New Work, or I’m the guy telling the playwright how to wright.

I suppose the only recourse is dialog. But dialog doesn’t make plays. Maybe more resources would do it, but that’s a whole separate war.

So Mr. Isherwood… The playwrights of tomorrow dream big and give us two story turntable dreams with a cast of 15 – how many folks can actually put that up?

Or maybe I’m simply being myopic - Ian Hill dreams big and gets it done…

What am I missing?

[This leaves aside the fact that of the 45 scripts that were submitted for that call 2/3s of them were really screenplays that were simply labeled plays – that’s a fight for another day]

Technorati Tags: Isaac Butler,Ian Hill,Theatre,Austin,Texas,process,Charles Isherwood

Kudos and the Report Card

James Comtois opened up a blog post for comments on the recently completed Colorful World. I love the idea, and I commend his bravery in doing it. I’m sure no one is going to hop in and brow beat him (especially for what was by all accounts a hell of a show) but the act of doing it takes courage regardless of the consequences.

I offer the same for Foursquare.

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Now. Seeing as none of you saw FourSquare I offer my own assessment of my work. I leave an overall assessment of the show to folks who have seen it, as I never have.

FourSquare was (as I have repeated ad nauseam to those around me for the last four months) my first opportunity in a long time to simply be an actor on a show, so I think that this serves as an excellent time to sound the depths and see where I am as a performer, and how well it served me on this show.

From Each According To His Ability…

What is my current ability level as a performer? We can’t very well judge me according to an objective standard… there isn’t one. So let’s do a quick and dirty blog-style Pros and Cons list shall we?

as of May 2008:

Strengths

1. Smart.
2. Experienced – in that I don’t flummox easily in the room or on stage.
3. Comfortable with language. Idioms sound like idioms and I’m not afraid to simply stand and deliver (it’s theatre not film)
4. Consistent. I’m not going to try to throw something drastically new on stage, and I’m not going to fuck around.
5. Very focused on stage.

Not Strengths

1. Smart. Acting professor Nancy Saklad once accused me of letting technique hamper my talent. She’s probably right. Brain will out over instinct far too often.
2. Poor physicality – I’ve never been a movement human. Combine that with weight gain and my propensity towards the cerebral and characters too often get locked in at the shoulders.
3. My knowledge of how things Should Be and Should Sound sometimes win over how it should be or sound for this character in this moment.
4. I too often take the safe choice. <Ice Skating Metaphor>I’ll throw the triple I know I can land rather than the quad I may fall on</Ice Skating Metaphor> This is by no means a lack of risk taking, rather a tendency towards risk management.
5. As an addendum to #1: I worry too much about the production at any given time. I don’t lock myself into the Work, I worry about the design or the marketing or whatever, and distract myself from the task at hand, even when they are not my responsibility.
6. I lack the ease that your  best performers have (hey there Doug Taylor). I’m just working too hard out there.

Overall I’m your B performer. I won’t steal your show, but neither will I ever sink it. And as I am a great clubhouse guy, I tend to make those around me better (read: more comfortable), so a net positive in your cast even if I’m not a glove fit for a character.

How’d that serve you?

Really well actually. The character and I really got along.

Bill Singer is a character in search of a story for himself. Socially deficient he loses himself in movies, specifically Woody Allen’s movies, trying to find a narrative for his no-point life.

When his wife leaves him he tries to recreate the story of her leaving in multiple scenes with varying levels of culpability for himself. He does the same with his attempted (and eventually successful) pick up of the wounded Beverly. He’s the one man nebbish Rashomon.

When life doesn’t match cinematic ease he reacts… poorly. He disconnects from the real and pulls entirely into his own fantasy.

Oh? A neurotic vulgar nebbishy wannabe Id on the verge of breakdown? I gotcha covered.

I succeeded with Bill in that audiences loved and hated him. I was able to keep the inherent danger of a man going off the rails without making him Evil. His need to be taken care of, and to have the movie of his life turn out okay outweighed the fact that he was utterly incapable of making that happen.

I failed Bill in that it was all a bit too jittery. The stops and stutters of Manuel Zarate’s language became too over the stop. There are also some quick shifts in tone and emotion that I never earned fairly.

Bill also exists structurally in counterpoint to the relationship taking place between his “Best Friend”, Rodolpho, and his “Conquest” Beverly. Beverly and Rodolpho are the Blue Danube, and Bill is the frenetic Flight of the Bumblebee on top of that. I had problems pushing the pace out of the two longer scenes that Beverly and Rodolpho share (I um… I couldn’t feel my legs) and so let the rising pace droop at two critical moments.

On the whole I feel that I handled Bill very well. Given a longer run I think things would have evened out and I would have worn him a bit more lightly. The language would have been even more natural and the more subtle humor throughout could have come through.

B+

“When I see your movies
it’s all there
right there
my life
all up there
Which is why I thought you Woody
You would understand”

Technorati Tags: Love Sonatas,Doug Taylor,theatre,Austin,Texas,FourSquare,self flagellation

Much Ado about?

Click through. It's nicer bigger

THAT is magic.

That is a crowd of people sitting in a park waiting to hear some Shakespeare. 400-450 I reckon, though that is a gross estimate.

They chose to be in the park.

Why?

1. Shakespeare.
2. Park
3. Price (Free)
4. Weather (Very nice)
5. Show Selection (Comedy)

Its own little world.
You can't even take this show inside and sell it the same way.

It also has a really likeable and charismatic Artistic Director who gave the curtain speech pitch for cash on Sunday (closing night).

I hate the pitch for cash. The pitch for cash is the same to me as any other pan handling, it feels icky.

But Ann Ciccollela made a very warm and self-deprecating go of it. She included the total cost of the show, what they needed to make per show, and highlighted the fact that they paid every actor. (though not of course how MUCH they paid each actor) They then sent the cast around the grounds with a bucket during intermission. (It's very different having Benedick ask for a donation than a crotchety ol' usher).

I can't say how much they gathered. But I can tell you that their approach changed how I personally felt about them asking and collecting.

There was no ick at all.

[The show was good, it's still just Much Ado - B and B were great, I disagreed with their Dogberry choice, but it was functional. A "B" mostly because I'm tired of the show. The production was quite good]

Technorati Tags: texas,austin,theatre,Austin Shakespeare Festival,Much Ado About Nothing,fundraising

Recording History

As I may have mentioned, I am currently playing Bill in FourSquare, part of Manuel Zarate's Love Sonatas (good seats still available!).

Bill is (as only a performer playing him or his Mom would say) socially stunted. He is also a touch narcissistic and other-blind. He may or may not also narrate his life to Woody Allen.

His performer is nervous about having these damn lines in his head.

His performer may nor may not wander (via that time honored verb - pace) outside the rehearsal space in not-the-best-neighborhood muttering lines to himself.

His performer may or may not be kinda scruffy looking at this point.

Last night?

Last night we had a pick-up rehearsal after most of a week off to refresh these lines o' ours. I arrived early (as is my wont) and may or may not have returned to the alleged pacing and muttering.

And the daytime inhabitants of our rehearsal space called the cops on me.

F'reals tho.

And Mr. Officer showed up to question my presence (after I had spoken to a member of the staff who had warned me very gently that they were on their way) and I had provided my government issued ID, I started giggling a bit, both due to nervousness and as I explained to Mr. Officer:

I had the cops called on me essentially for being my character in public.

I of course handed him a postcard for the show and invited him down.

I am left with one question:
Hey Austin PD? Do I really only rate one officer?

Hit me Baby

Matt and Isaac take up arms in the review/critique slog that jumped off of Don Hall lobbing rocks.

Let's not be surprised that I fall slightly toward the Isaac side of things. I am an actor/producer primarily. I am not (most times) the generative artist, so I have less skin in the game than Matt does.

If you are a friend on the inside of the game I will most likely greet you with a "what didn't work?" after a show. I know what didn't work for me, I want to know what a semi-interested third party has to say about it. I want to be better than I am right now. I can't do that without more eyes, and different experiences.
(This in no way a promise to TAKE your notes...)

If you are a friend from outside the game I won't ask what didn't work, but I'm pumping you for different information. What only reads to those in the know? What was too subtle a treatment for a non-theatre human to get behind?

I am in a great position for that because the folks at my day job (engineers) support my night walking so ardently.

After they all attended Cambiare Productions' last show it was the topic of discussion at work for a week. Transformations was a design driven mosaic of dance, movement, video and monologues based on Anne Sexton's poetry. Or as my boss put it: feminist hippie crap.

And they didn't all love it. But they were talking about it. They were able to access it, and we were able to have a discussion about what read to them. So going forward I know better what works for people who aren't me.

Which is I guess where I diverge from Matt's opinion. The process is personal, the product is public. The process is me, the product is a third thing: Ours. They were part of it.

The woman who gasped "Oh" at Sunday's performance of FourSquare (tickets on sale Now!) when Amelia dropped the first reveal is forever part of THAT show. And that has nothing to do with my creation.

But I'm not the writer... Mr. Zarate may (and probably does) feel differently.

Let me say this though. Anyone who tries to weasel their way out of being an asshole by claiming that blogging a review is different than Isherwood or Robert Faires publishing on paper is a weasely asshole. Own your words. Don't let a medium change your idea of what you're doing. Paper is not the deciding factor in your culpability.

I will never publish something here that I wouldn't tell you to your face. And if you are reading this and you take issue with something I'm saying? I have made myself available to you by the means of your choosing including phone. Use them.

Simple Truth

Speaking as a long time asshole?

Acknowledging that you are an asshole in no way mitigates the fact that you are, in truth, an asshole.

Speaking as a long time human:

Never assume anyone else's experience.

Also?

It's not "just the internet".

You're not "just kidding"

You're not "Keepin' It Real(TM)"

It's not your job to "Toughen Them Up"

They do not need to learn it sometime.

 

That's all just bully speak and rationalization.

 

There's a way to be a person about a thing. Do it.

Civility isn't about the PCing of America. It's not about being a candy-ass, it's about remembering before you let your bile escape that the person on the other end of the send button is a person. Nothing more.