Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time:

Broadway Lacks Diversity, Parity Behind the Curtain

Variety: Just last week, “Allegiance,” a musical set during the Japanese-American internments of WWII, and starring a mostly Asian-American cast (including George Takei), opened hot on the heels of “On Your Feet!,” the biomusical of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, with a predominant-ly Latino cast. Already open is a production of chestnut “The Gin Game” starring Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones; and a new staging of “Spring Awakening” featuring deaf actors and, for the first time in Broadway history, an actor who uses a wheelchair.

Posted by David at 11/26/2015 04:34:00 PM

Le Bataclan, Past And Future

Pollstar: Le Bataclan has, in its 151-year history, hosted ballet, theatre, traveling acts including “Buffalo Bill” Cody, movies and, in its most recent incarnation, artists of any and all genres. On Nov. 13, it became a slaughterhouse for terrorists who burst in, held hostages for five hours and murdered 89 people.

Posted by David at 11/25/2015 04:11:00 PM

Gender Swapping Shakespeare Is Far More than a Reaction

Flavorwire: A lot of the discussion surrounding gender-swapped Shakespeare productions hinges on an idea of theatrical reparation. The idea isn’t just that these casting decisions make up for the Elizabethan refusal to let women play any part, but also that they address the dearth of substantial female roles in Shakespeare’s works (at least outside the comedies). People talk about revival/reboot culture in TV and film — but theater has functioned as a revival culture for centuries, and has proven both the innovations and the potential paralyses therein. In an art form predicated primarily on endless reconstitutions of the past, that not only cherishes its classics, but necessitates their constant rebirth, such changes have to be made if the theater wishes to explore and critique male-dominated pasts without perpetuating a male-dominated present.

Posted by David at 11/27/2015 05:07:00 PM

Seven Standards in Public Review

Stage Directions: PLASA North America isn’t letting the split from PLASA EU get in the way of their standards process. They’ve just posted seven standards for public review on their website. ​

Posted by David at 11/27/2015 05:03:00 PM

Dramatists Guild Blasts Directors Who Cast Characters "Outside His or Her Obvious Race, Gender"

Breaking Character: Recent controversy over casting non-white characters in stage productions has prompted the Dramatists Guild to issue a position paper opposing “casting a character outside his or her obvious race, gender or implicit characteristics. To do so without meaningful consultation with the writer is both a moral and a legal breach” of the DG contract.

Posted by David at 11/26/2015 04:31:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

What If I'm Attacked at Work? A Crew Primer, Part 1

JOL: In Paris last Friday, 13 November 2015, a few jihadi cowards stormed into Le Bataclan and murdered scores of people with AK-47’s. At FOH, the house lighting tech, Nathalie Jardin, took rounds and died form her injuries. Merchandiser Nick Alexander died from his gunshots onsite. They were just at work, doing what they loved, making the almighty dollar, but mostly digging the journey that we call Entertainment.

Posted by David at 11/20/2015 02:31:00 PM

Publisher Claims The Diary of Anne Frank Was Co-Written by Her Father

Flavorwire: The Anne Frank Fonds has announced it intends to re-file their copyright of Anne Frank’s famous diary, adding Anne’s father Otto Frank (who incidentally established the Anne Frank Fonds in 1963) as a co-author of the book.

Why is this happening? Because The Diary of Anne Frank was supposed to enter the public domain on January, 1, 2016.

Posted by David at 11/17/2015 04:31:00 PM

Color Conscious Directing: Three More Questions to Ask

HowlRound: Since I first wrote about color-conscious casting, I’ve learned—by directing my own productions as well as casting plays that I did not direct—that color-conscious casting doesn’t guarantee a color-conscious production. Diverse casting is a cause; a more challenging and/or inclusive conversation is not inherently an effect.

To recap, I believe that “color-conscious” casting means casting a production with a lens for how race factors into the story of the play. It’s treated as an additional given in the fabric of the production. For me, “color-blind” casting doesn’t work because audiences are not blind to how diverse casting changes their view of the story. I think sometimes, during casting, we put blinders on and then forget to take them off when we enter the rehearsal room.

Posted by David at 11/16/2015 01:15:00 PM

Teaching, Learning, and Making Theatre in a Time of Crisis

OnStage: It’s been a difficult week. From terror in Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad to racial tensions at the University of Missouri and other college campuses nationwide…it’s been a difficult week. When things get this hard and this stressful, I think back to a question someone asked me once when I was an undergraduate. “Why,” they asked, “when there are people starving, and terrorists, and police brutality, and injustice, and racism, and political upheavals, and homeless people, and so many other terrible things, WHY would you think THEATRE is important?!?” My answer then is the same as my answer now. Theatre is important specifically BECAUSE of all of those things.

Posted by David at 11/16/2015 01:09:00 PM

Suspension Bridges of Disbelief

Hackaday: Suspension bridges are far and away the target of choice in America’s action blockbusters. In just the past three years, the Golden Gate Bridge has been destroyed by a Kaiju, Godzilla, a Skynet-initiated nuclear blast, and a tsunami. Americans don’t build real bridges anymore, or maintain the ones that we have, but we sure love to blow them up in movies.

Posted by David at 11/20/2015 02:45:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

The White Version of MLK in 'The Mountaintop'

The Root: “I remember he had the prettiest skin I had ever seen. Flawless. So chocolate you could see yourself reflected in it,” Carrie Hall, my mother, recounted wistfully. On March 28, 1968, she had caught a glimpse of Martin Luther King Jr. when he came to Memphis, Tenn., to lead a march for sanitation workers. It quickly descended into a police-provoked riot fueled by tear gas and bullets. My mother remembers fleeing for her life to the safety of her home, mere blocks from the Lorraine Motel. Seven days later, King would be murdered at that very motel, a sniper’s bullet piercing his flawless brown skin.

Posted by David at 11/10/2015 12:43:00 PM

Independent Contractors and the American Theatre

HowlRound: Very early in my career, I accepted a summer job with a large producing organization. Happy to be working, I didn’t mind that the compensation totaled less than $100 per week. I assumed it was the cost of “getting my foot in the door” and was still young and idealistic enough to not mind living on beans and rice. Several months later, navigating the world of income tax for the first time, I received a tax form from this organization unlike the W-2’s I had received from my other employers: IRS Form 1099-MISC. Mystified, I turned to tax preparation software and plugged in all of the endless data required.

Posted by David at 11/11/2015 01:07:00 PM

Everything I Love Is Problematic

The Mary Sue: Everything I love is problematic, I’m realizing. Star Wars and Harry Potter don’t have enough diversity. Every person in the comedy group Monty Python is a white man. Pitch Perfect 2, Mean Girls, and Family Guy have jokes that are offensive to many groups of people. Bill Cosby, H.P. Lovecraft, and Marion Zimmer Bradley were not good people. I can’t wear my Jayne hat without worrying a little hate will leak into my ears through that adorable pompon. In short, just like people, no media is perfect.

Posted by David at 11/09/2015 01:07:00 PM

The story behind NYC's only backlot

Business Insider: The Kaufman Astoria Studios are located in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, about a 20-minute subway ride from Times Square, and they're one of the biggest and most complex production centers along the East Coast.

Posted by David at 11/10/2015 12:29:00 PM

A new “Happy Birthday” boss? Charity claims it owns famous song’s copyright

Ars Technica: In September, a judge ruled that music licensor Warner-Chappell doesn't own the copyright to "Happy Birthday." The question now seems to have become who does?

A charity called the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) has now stepped forward to say that if Warner loses the copyright, it should become the rightful owner. Earlier this week, ACEI filed court papers (PDF) asking to intervene in the copyright dispute.

Posted by David at 11/13/2015 04:41:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few articles from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

Theatre Facts 2014 Shows Optimism for the American Theatre

AMERICAN THEATRE: As the Great Recession finally fades into memory, theatre leaders seem relieved to have other issues on their mind. The glass is looking more than half full these days, with a rise in funding from foundations and individuals driving an overall increase in income, and more than half of theatres experiencing a positive bottom line. Even so, rising costs and ongoing challenges in retaining and building audiences and managing cash flow are keeping managing and artistic directors wary.

Posted by David at 11/06/2015 03:30:00 PM

100 Women Directors Hollywood Should Be Hiring

Vulture: Enough.

Enough with the studios like 20th Century Fox, Sony, Paramount, and the Weinstein Company, none of which put out even a single film this year that was directed by a woman.

Enough with the executives who would rather hand a lucrative blockbuster to a man who’s never made a movie before (like Seth Grahame-Smith, the novice director recently picked by Warner Bros. to direct a big-budget adaptation of The Flash) than a woman who has.

Posted by David at 11/05/2015 01:35:00 PM

Next Gen 2015: Hollywood's Up-and-Coming Execs 35 and Under

Hollywood Reporter: A common thread among the 35 executives age 35 and under that comprise THR’s 22nd annual Next Generation list is a singular big break or a mentor who helped distinguish each person in a cutthroat business. It’s a path that leaders of previous generations — WME-IMG's Ari Emanuel, Fox film co-chair Stacey Snider and CAA's Richard Lovett, Kevin Huvane and Bryan Lourd, among them — have forged. And it’s one of the reasons that Hollywood continues to lure (and frustrate) some of the most ambitious and talented people in the world: Stardom can happen overnight.

Posted by David at 11/05/2015 01:30:00 PM

San Francisco Is Losing Its Artists

hyperallergic.com: One of this city’s most-discussed recent performances took place on the morning of April 1, 2014. A group of dancers, clad in acrobatic costumes, blocked a Google bus at the corner of 24th and Valencia Streets in the Mission District.

They passed out fake bus passes. (The shuttle buses, which ferry tech workers to their cushy campuses, are resented by many locals because they stop at public transit stops but don’t serve the larger public). They formed human pyramids, shouted slogans, and tossed around exercise balls printed with parodic Google logos. They stopped the bus from moving until the police came to break up the action.>

Posted by David at 11/04/2015 05:09:00 PM

Shows on the go: Some productions appearing on new platforms

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: As entertainment creators and presenters look to grow audiences through the marriage of product and technology, consumer choice is the winner. Every day, it seems, an event or announcement heralds a new option for the quickly evolving ways we view entertainment. This month has brought a wave of news to illustrate the point.

Posted by David at 11/02/2015 01:48:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

My trigger-warning disaster: “9 1/2 Weeks,” “The Wire” and how coddled young radicals got discomfort all wrong

Salon.com: At the time I was teaching the course, I was also figuring out a life outside of academia. I had been a wandering postdoc for a long time and was tired. A friend of mine had recently been violently sexually assaulted. I was a witness. The trauma she suffered, from the assault and the long, drawn-out trial of her assailants, led me to volunteer at my local rape crisis center. Working directly with folks who have experienced trauma, I entered the course believing in trigger warnings and gave them throughout the class, even though it seemed as though the title of the course was a trigger warning in and of itself. Regardless, I gave them for almost every film I showed. I even gave them for films that really shouldn’t have needed them (i.e., Psycho).

Posted by David at 10/30/2015 01:00:00 PM

The Hidden Dangers For Workers on Film and TV Sets

The Leonard Lopate Show - WNYC: Industrial hygienist Monona Rossol returns to the show to discuss health and safety on film and TV sets. She will address safety violations in the film and TV industry which have resulted in injuries and deaths, such as the death of a young crew member last February on the set of the upcoming Gregg Allman biopic.

Posted by David at 10/30/2015 12:57:00 PM

AEA Should Be Making Realistic Choices, and I Wonder If This LA Lawsuit Will Wake Them Up

Bitter Gertrude: There’s been an interesting development in the small theatre/AEA controversy in LA. Actors have banded together to sue their own union.

Part of the complaint is that the union ignored the will of its members when members voted down, by a 2-to-1 margin, AEA’s proposed changes to the 99-and-under code. To be fair, AEA signaled from the start they were going to do exactly that if the LA membership voted against them by telling them before the vote that it was “non-binding.” It doesn’t get clearer than that that a union has no interest in members’ opinions.

Posted by David at 10/25/2015 11:20:00 PM

Being a Woman in Film School…

Victoria Rozler: For the past two days I have been more than prepared to flex my feminist muscles; whether that be because I’ve been watching the Suffragette trailer 29 times a day to prepare for the premiere this Friday or what, but I have been on edge. And SO luckily for me, there have been many instances I’ve come across (mainly during classes) that I’ve been forced to witness and experience the idiocy of those bigoted minds around me. I’ve decided to share these moments to not only to bring awareness to the small, misogynistic situations I already have to deal with but to hopefully start a conversation on the matter.

Posted by David at 10/27/2015 05:14:00 PM

Against Sameness in Theatre

HowlRound: This year is the 25th anniversary of the signing the Americans with Disabilities Act and if you had told me twenty-five years ago that upon this anniversary I would be not only a writer and director working with disabled artists, but also an advocate for and about them, I would not have believed you. My company, Nicu’s Spoon, is this very year celebrating fifteen years as the first fully inclusive theatre company in New York City history. A fact that I am proud of but one that I think the NYC theatre community should not be.

Posted by David at 10/29/2015 01:08:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

Jam Productions vs. stagehands

www.wbez.org: Local concert promoters Jam Productions, one of the few remaining major independent music bookers in the U.S., are in the midst of what’s shaping up to be a nasty fight with stagehands who are seeking to unionize.

A photo of a flier outlining the stagehands’ gripes has gone viral on the local music scene via social media. “When Jam Productions owner Jerry Mickelson heard his stagehands wanted an election so they could vote on whether to be represented by Stagehands Local 2, he fired each and every one of us at the Riviera,” it reads. “It’s not his choice—it’s ours! You have a choice, too—don’t patronize the Riviera, Vic, or Park West until Jam hires us back!”

Posted by David at 10/23/2015 02:04:00 PM  

Members of Actors’ Equity file lawsuit against their Union

Footlights: Actors and other members of the Los Angeles theatrical community (Ed Asner, Tom Bower, Gregg Daniel, John Flynn, Maria Gobetti, Gary Grossman, Ed Harris, Salome Jens, Veralyn Jones, Karen Kondazian, Simon Levy, Amy Madigan, Tom Ormeny, Lawrence Pressman, Michael Shepperd, Joseph Stern, French Stewart, and Vanessa Stewart) filed a lawsuit today against Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers and Mary McColl, AEA Executive Director. The lawsuit challenges the Union’s decision to eliminate its 25-year-old waiver of jurisdiction over small 99-seat theaters, a program popularly known as Equity Waiver. Plaintiffs claim that the Union’s decision to end Equity Waiver will unfairly destroy small theater in Los Angeles and deprive thousands of actors of opportunities to collaborate on creative theatrical projects.

Posted by David at 10/19/2015 02:20:00 PM

Actors' Equity Association Statement on the Minimum Wage Lawsuit

m.facebook.com/ActorsEquity: After dedicating months of staff time, conducting surveys and membership meetings--and considering the results of the advisory referendum, which prompted AEA's Council to carve out even more exemptions to its original proposals--the governing body created a system that would allow for some members to be paid minimum wage for rehearsals and performances, while those who chose to would still be able to volunteer their time to a) self-produce, b) perform with membership companies under the new internal membership rules, and c) appear in 50-seat showcases.

Posted by David at 10/21/2015 01:22:00 PM  

Ali Stroker Is Checking Off Her List, One Dream at a Time

AMERICAN THEATRE: Ali Stroker doesn’t let anything get in the way of her dreams. She has used a wheelchair since an accident left her paralyzed from the chest down when she was two years old. Her vibrant personality and singing voice led her to the stage, where she has been performing professionally since she was 11. Ali is a graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in drama. After attending an open casting call, Stroker became a finalist on the second season of “The Glee Project” and landed a role on the show. Now she is making her Broadway debut in Spring Awakening as the first person on record who uses a wheelchair to be cast on the Great White.

Posted by David at 10/21/2015 01:25:00 PM

The Carnegies get ready to rumble in a cultural clash

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Do you have a favorite item or exhibit in the Carnegie Museums? Dippy the dinosaur, perhaps? Or the Miniature Railroad & Village train exhibit?

Beginning Monday, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh will be celebrating its 120th anniversary with Clash of the Carnegies. This bloodless bout will pit the four Carnegie Museums — The Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Science Center, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Art — against each other.

Posted by David at 10/20/2015 02:01:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

This is supposed to be a Golden Age in Boston, but not for the theater business

The Boston Globe: As I sat in Emerson College’s Colonial Theatre on Sunday, it was hard for me to enjoy the hysterically funny musical “The Book of Mormon” without wondering whether this is the end of the Colonial as we know it.

Posted by David at 10/15/2015 01:31:00 PM  

Appeals Court: No You Can't Copyright Yoga

Techdirt: We first wrote about this issue more than a decade ago, but there's been a ridiculous attempt by some yoga instructors to use intellectual property to lock up certain yoga poses. While most of the focus has been on copyright, other attempts have used other forms of intellectual property as well. But the most watched legal dispute was the one brought by Bikram Yoga and Bikram Choudhury against Evolution Yoga... and the 9th Circuit appeals court has now made it abundantly clear: you can't copyright yoga.

Posted by David at 10/13/2015 02:24:00 PM

Hollywood Accused of “White-Washing” Roles Meant for Asian-Americans

Deadline: Hollywood again is being accused of “white-washing” roles originally written as Asian characters. The latest incident is on Ridley Scott’s The Martian, in which white actress Mackenzie Davis stars as Mindy Park, who’s identified as a Korean-American scientist in the book the film was based on.

Posted by David at 10/14/2015 02:41:00 PM  

Working Behind-the-Scenes to Support Behind The Scenes

Rosco Spectrum: We were thrilled to present Behind The Scenes UK with our annual royalty check representing the year’s proceeds from sales of Rosco 313 Light Relief Yellow at the PLASA trade show in London this year. Behind the Scenes, formerly known as Light Relief, provides financial support to entertainment technology professionals who experience hardship when they become ill or injured, or to their surviving family members.

Posted by David at 10/13/2015 02:33:00 PM

Oregon Ballet Theatre partners with Pabst Blue Ribbon (yep, PBR) to draw more millennials

OregonLive.com: Oregon Ballet Theatre's latest marketing campaign features a bare-chested, on-pointe ballet dancer sharing the stage with a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in full efface derriere.

The sales pitch: "Come watch ballet. We'll give you a beer."

Too obvious?

Posted by David at 10/14/2015 02:39:00 PM

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

“It’s like if ‘When Harry Met Sally’ ended with everybody getting hit by a truck”: Inside the “Year of Lear” and the terrorist plot that changed Shakespeare

Salon.com: Terrorist attacks are not unique to our age. Near the end of 1605, a group of radical, disenchanted Catholics plotted to overthrow the British government by blowing up the House of Lords, killing King James I, and wiping out the nation’s religious leadership, which had in recent generations become Protestant.

Posted by David at 10/09/2015 02:34:00 PM  

The Unsung Gender-Parity Warriors

AMERICAN THEATRE: In 2002, a New York State Council on the Arts study by Susan Jonas and Suzanne Bennett showed that 17 percent of all works produced on the city’s stages were written by women. There were no more reliable statistics until this August, when the Lilly Awards and the Dramatists Guild released “The Count,” a report on the gender of playwrights programmed in major nonprofits across the country over the past three seasons, which showed that the number of works by women was 22 percent. Our own American Theatre tally, culled from upcoming seasons at Theatre Communications Group member theatres, puts the figure at 21 percent, meaning we’re at least holding steady for the next year.

Posted by David at 10/06/2015 02:49:00 PM

This Ain’t No Quick Change

Breaking Character: Theatre is always in flux because our world is always in flux and theatre is just an expression of the culture—or reflection, if you want to go cliché about theatre holding up a mirror to society, but then I get fixated on why doesn’t theatre spell all words backwards and show the sun setting in the East like when you take a selfie with an iPhone. But while theatre is always fluidly changing, albeit is slowly, much about it stays the same and some of our most traditional forms of theatre are still enjoyed the world over. If this wasn’t true, we would have tossed Shakespeare to the curb next to Pseudodilotitus many centuries ago.

Posted by David at 10/05/2015 02:48:00 PM  

Argentina Proposes a 100-Year-Plus Copyright Extension on Photography

Electronic Frontier Foundation: A new front has opened in publishers' global war on the public domain. Lawmakers of Argentina's ruling party are proposing a vast extension of copyright terms on photography—from 20 years after publication to 70 years after the photographer's death. That means that the term of restriction of photographic works would be extended by an average 120 years.

Posted by David at 10/06/2015 02:45:00 PM

The Other Canon: 10 Centuries of Plays by Women

AMERICAN THEATRE: In 2002, I was working as an arts analyst in the theatre program at the New York State Council on the Arts, where, in partnership with Suzanne Bennett, I had recently completed a three-year study on the status of women in theatre which generated a widely read report. Encouraged by my interest in the subject, two visionary directors, Gwynn MacDonald and Mallory Catlett, approached me to fund “The First Hundred Years: The Professional Female Playwright,” a remarkable yearlong citywide staged readings series directed by an eclectic group of directors, complemented by symposia involving a slate of distinguished scholars. I heard for the first time the names Elizabeth Cary, Margaret Cavendish, Joanna Baillie, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hannah Cowley, and many others. This was the beginning of my education about the Other Canon: some good, some great, some successful in their time, some way ahead of their time, all almost erased from history and the repertory.

Posted by David at 10/08/2015 03:04:00 PM

Vote for Comment of the Week

Votes in the comments.  Voting closes Friday lunchish.

Student #1 has left a new comment on your post "Is Theater Too Ideologically Exclusive?":

This article really struck home with me. I am an extremely liberal person who came from a very conservative upbringing. Whenever my family, parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, come to see my shows they're always confused and have a lot of questions after. There's also always a lot of comments such as "of course you're a little more liberal than we are...you're in theatre." And it's hard to invite them to my shows, especially the ones who are going to bring up hard topics to bring up at the dinner table over Thanksgiving because I know the show is going to make them uncomfortable. This is what really bothers me about Broadway. Nobody ever wants to go to New York and see the really and truly great work because they can just go see fun and happy Mama Mia and nobody will have to see anything that makes them uncomfortable. I think that we as artists who strive to understand all humans on this planet and give something that will mean something should aim to make ourselves as uncomfortable as possible as often as possible and if that means doing plays that oppose our own beliefs, that could be alright. I think it's also worth noting that often conservative theater-goers or theatre artists hide their conservative nature while in the theatre world because they know that their opinion will not be popular.

Student #2 has left a new comment on your post "Is Theater Too Ideologically Exclusive?":

This article was difficult for me to read, because I had to re-evaluate my own feelings and positions. Like many theatre people, I tend to lean more liberal (ok, very liberal, but I try and keep an open mind) and I also feel strongly about the diversity of the theatrical experience. Yet, if I saw a show which went against one of my core moral beliefs, I’m not sure I could be objective enough to appreciate it. Sure, right now I could tell you that inciting anger is another way of causing emotional change, and that is a valuable theatrical tool. But I’m not sure that in the moment I could condone the performance. And I don’t know for sure what I would think in that moment because I’ve not really had that experience yet. Sure, there have been a few shows where I’ve disagreed with the way things are portrayed, but I’ve never found myself in extreme moral opposition to what’s happening. I think this trend of morally complicit theatre is also very interesting, because while the majority of those who work in theatre are liberal, those who watch theatre are heavily divided. The majority of theatrical audiences are either other theatre people (typically liberal) or the Broadway stereotype of an old white couple (where there is a higher chance of non-liberal viewpoints). So then the question is, did theatre become liberal because at some point it’s audience wasn’t? Or has it been liberal all along, it’s just that the idea of liberal has changed. It’s a question I can’t answer, since I’m not well versed enough in historical social conventions, but it is an interesting point. This article has really made me evaluate my views, and I actually hope I can see a play where I’m morally offended at some point in my lifetime, if only for the personal experience. 

Student #3 has left a new comment on your post "Is Theater Too Ideologically Exclusive?":

I haven’t ever really thought about theater in a conservative vs. liberal view like this before, but now that I am, as the writer states, I can’t really think of a well- known show that outwardly shows and supports politically conservative viewpoints. However, I can’t help but think that this might just be because theater isn’t necessarily the first place people look to when they are trying to incite political change. Most of the plays I can think of don’t have some kind of end game of convincing the audience to choose one side on some kind of political issue, but rather, are trying to convey a kind of more personal, heartfelt message about how we live our lives and how we relate to one another. While there are definitely plays that are vehemently liberal in their subject matter, I feel like that’s different from promoting a liberally- minded perspective. For example, I wouldn’t say that RENT was trying to convince people of the viability of the New York City bohemian lifestyle, but rather, to appreciate the value of friendships and relationships and to appreciate one another’s differences and see others complexly, an idea which I don’t feel is explicitly on one side of the political spectrum. On the same note, I don’t think that the orgy scene in Pippin promotes promiscuity. but, rather, is used as a plot point to show Pippin’s ascent into adulthood. Also, I feel like this article could be misleading in that it makes it seem that nothing is problematic in theatrical productions. Of course, there are definitely still plays being produced and written which, for one example, don’t feature women or people of color in a good light; should this be okay if the end game of the show is considered to be liberal? And to be honest, I’m okay with theater being, for the most part, a liberally minded and accepting place, because it’s an art form that is so inherently vulnerable and personal. If extreme conservatives complain that they feel as if they don’t have their place in theater, there are plenty of other places they could go to that would be more “accepting” of their perspectives.

Student #4 has left a new comment on your post "Is Theater Too Ideologically Exclusive?":

This is something that I’ve thought a lot about, not necessarily as a perspective practitioner of theatre, but just as someone in society. At what point are we actually open to values other than our own, not just dismissing them as the thought of another person. When do we actually watch something that we strongly disagree with and break down why we disagree with it? And what impact do we have by being creative forces in the world?

I don’t know if there are any universal answers to these questions, in fact I believe there likely aren’t any, but that doesn’t mean an attempt isn’t worth while. In fact, the pursuit of these answers is a motivating force in my life, as I believe it is in many artists’ lives. To me, just the process of trying to keep an open mind, to try and view things in a different light, that is enough to justify holding an opinion and advocating for it. I’ve found that if you actively try to prove yourself wrong, than the only two paths that can play out are that you reinforce your values, or you drop values that were flawed. Because of this, I try and surround my self with a diverse group of people, with diverse opinions, and I have conversations.

I guess all art is is an attempt at a larger conversation. Yeah, it is true that the majority of the people who attend/create theatre are likely to have some biased to liberal values, but that doesn’t mean that their contribution to the conversation is invalid. If anything, it validates their contribution through the fact that they hold beliefs that are different than others, which means that someone who disagrees with their beliefs can state why, creating a new conversation.

Student #5 has left a new comment on your post "Is Theater Too Ideologically Exclusive?":

Although I always knew theater was heavily skewed towards the liberal side of politics I never knew how far that extent went. To find out there are virtual no conservative playwrights writing today is crazy to me . As someone who was raised by fairly conservative parents, my politics have often fallen on the slightly more conservative end of the spectrum, although I agree with many socially liberal ideas. Perhaps I'm similar to the conservatives mentioned at the bottom of the article, ones who are able to understand liberal perspectives well, but don't necessarily embody them. While I'm definitely not as conservative as my parents, and pretty much only agree with them on fiscal issues, I've often felt that I should never get involved in politics while at work in the theater. In fact when I first started pursuing theater I remember my dad explicitly telling me to never talk politics in fear that I'd be boxed out for having a more conservative perspective. While I think that assumption was a bit extreme I can't say I always feel open about sharing my politics even here at school. I personally enjoy the ideologies present in modern theater and think they stimulate important conversations, but I do see a lack of diversity when it comes to more conservative ideas being presented, which is a shortcoming to the community as only half of a conversation is ever often being adequately represented. I personally have no problem existing in a predominantly liberal field, because the liberal focused principles of fairness, and protection from harm are crucial to creating a safe environment for new work to shape and take form, but I'd love to see a more conservative perspective enter theater as well to not only help stimulate an enriching conversation across political philosophies, but also help other more reserved conservatives in the field not feel like they have to hide part of their political agenda as they go to work everyday. 

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Ruth Pace has left a new comment on your post "Papal equipment takedown could take days, Stagehan...":

The pope once came to Philly
The city went rather silly.
With massive reverent crowds
Prayers most loud,
at least the weather wasn't too chilly.
But wait! Local 8 cries,
"We put on quite the show for you guys!"
With stages and equipment abounding,
Our tech's cries are resounding,
work lasts longer than you imply.
For you see, strike will take a bit.
On our asses, we do not sit.
For this task we have multiple crews,
(such good planning surely is not news)
We'll go with the night oil lit.
Now the workers of dear local 8,
they will be working 3-5 days straight.
And when they finish with the city,
All will praise IATSE,
For the wonders they work are great.
So great it was as "seen on TV."
(Said Michael Barnes, not me)
The pope I'm sure, is most glad.
If he weren't, t'would be bad,
Such a wonderful guy, you see.
Now this concludes my epic,
a tale of tech most poetic.
I hope to god that this counts,
if not, a war cry I'll sound, and the rest of my comments will be linguistically eclectic.