Worth a Look

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

Studies Show Big Impact of Small Theatres in NY, Chicago

AMERICAN THEATRE: Two new studies of two different metropolitan areas give hard numbers to what many suspect: that small theatres have an outsized influence not only on the theatre business but on local economies as well. A study published by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office of media and entertainment shows that the city’s theatres and their artistic output contribute $1.3 billion annually to the local economy. And in Chicago, Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune found that small theatres contributed $80 million, based on a study released by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. To give a sense of scale, New York’s commercial Broadway theatres are estimated to contribute $12.63 billion to the New York City economy, while Broadway in Chicago—a production company in the Windy City owned by the Nederlanders—brings in $635 million.

Posted by David at 11/21/2019 12:59:00 PM

Anita Hill’s Commission Launches Survey on Sexual Harassment

Variety: “Due to the heroic and brave work of many, we all now know there are serious problems of harassment, bias and mistreatment of others in Hollywood,” Hill said. “What we need to get our arms around, if we’re going to come up with effective solutions, is reliable data that reveals the specific nature and actual extent of those problems as well as the cultural environment that enables and hides them.”

Posted by David at 11/21/2019 01:07:00 PM

Behind the Scenes Announces Remarkable Response to Mental Health Survey

Stage Directions: Behind the Scenes announces that its recent Survey to Assist in the Development of a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative in the Entertainment Industry received an incredible response from the industry with over 3,300 people completing the survey. We are humbled by the amazing number of people who shared their stories with us about personal challenges and struggles or those of friends and family.

Posted by David at 11/19/2019 10:43:00 AM

Are we headed for a high-tech version of Hollywood's bad old days?

theweek.com: On Monday, the Department asked a court to jettison a series of decrees dating back nearly 70 years. These "Paramount decrees" arose from a Supreme Court case in 1948, in which Paramount Pictures was the main plaintiff. The decision forced the big Hollywood studios to give up anti-competitive practices that dictated terms to the theater chains, or owned them outright. A series of subsequent agreements with the Justice Department solidified the new rules for the film market.

Posted by David at 11/21/2019 01:09:00 PM

National Endowment for the Arts Announces Expansion of Creative Forces Healing Arts Network

NEA: Creative Forces is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs as well as state and local arts agencies to provide access to creative arts therapies—art, music, and dance/movement therapies, as well as creative writing instruction—for service members and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through telehealth, creative arts therapists connect with patients in rural and remote places via video conferencing platforms.

Posted by David at 11/20/2019 10:42:00 AM

Worth a Look

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

The TBA Awards, and why gender disparities in acting are everyone's problem

Datebook: The profession of acting hasn’t always treated women well: fewer roles, less interesting roles, less pay for similar work. But in the theater world, that might be changing. Take the 15 performers in ACT’s main-stage season thus far, in “Top Girls” and “Testmatch.” All the actors were women or nonbinary, and they all played female characters. It’s hard to imagine that, 10 or even five years ago, a major company would have opened its season with so many women.

Posted by David at 11/13/2019 12:25:00 PM

Opinion: What people of color experience at the theater

Broadway News: I’ve been working professionally as a theater critic since 2013; I’m a board member of the Drama Desk (where I also serve as part of the nominating committee), and I’ve written for every reputable publication in town. For as long as I’ve been attending theater in the city, my name and brown skin have made me the target of bullies and racists.

Posted by David at 11/12/2019 11:00:00 AM

Are dark tourism performances of gulag life educational – or voyeuristic?

theconversation.com: Dark tourism – involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy – is on the rise worldwide. Increasingly, this does not involve only visiting such places, but also witnessing certain performances of dark pasts.

Posted by David at 11/13/2019 12:24:00 PM

Chicago bar installs over 70 Big Mouth Billy Bass to sing popular songs in unison

WGN-TV: Remember the Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish that was so popular back in the 90s? Well, a bar in Chicago now has more than 70 of them hanging on a wall singing popular songs in unison.

Ashley Albert, a co-owner of the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, said coming up with the idea and finding the fish was one thing; choreographing the fish was another.

Posted by David at 11/15/2019 10:44:00 AM

What is ‘Devised Theatre’? 

At This Stage: There are so many different and new forms of artistic expression emerging from theatre. In traditional theatre, actors would show up on the first day of rehearsals expecting two very important resources at their service, a script and a director. Scripts and directors equip the actor with their lines and stage directions, which pretty much tell the actor much of what they should be doing on stage. But a new form of theatre-making is emerging, many are calling this method “devising”.

Posted by David at 11/13/2019 12:20:00 PM

Worth a Look

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

Ivo Van Hove and Broadway's Secret Reliance on State Funding

The Atlantic: Ivo Van Hove is arguably the most sought-after theater director in the world. In February, his version of West Side Story—with new choreography—will open on Broadway. His adaptation of the film Network was nominated for five Tony Awards last year (winning one). Before that, he directed Gillian Anderson and Lily James in All About Eve, Ben Whishaw and Saoirse Ronan in The Crucible, and Mark Strong in A View From the Bridge.

Posted by David at 11/07/2019 10:46:00 AM

Designing Safer Social VR

Immerse: Imagine it’s your first time entering a social virtual reality experience. You quickly set up an avatar, choosing feminine characteristics because you identify as female. You choose an outfit that seems appropriate, and when you’re done, you spawn into a space. You have no idea where you are or who is around you. As you’re getting your sea legs in this new environment, all the other avatars look at you and notice that you’re different. Strange avatars quickly approach you, asking inappropriate questions about your real-life body; touching and kissing you without your consent. You try blocking them, but you don’t know how. You remove your headset fearing that you don’t belong in this community.

Posted by David at 11/05/2019 11:12:00 AM

Representing UK Inclusive Dance in the United States

Disability Arts Online: I first heard of Step Change Studios in 2018 through media coverage of their London show at Sadler’s Wells: ‘Fusion’. I knew this was something I’d like to be a part of, so I contacted Rashmi Becker, the founder, to ask about applying for their next production ‘Fairy Tales’ in 2019. We met in person a few weeks later to talk through the details of the project and what would be expected of me.

Posted by David at 11/05/2019 11:05:00 AM

A Hack At The Opera

Butts In the Seats: No, no, no, this isn’t a story about someone with little talent and unoriginal ideas, quite the contrary.

Recently my Arts Hacker colleague, Ceci Dadisman, had linked to an article about an Opera Hack-a-thon that happened at the end of July.

Posted by David at 11/07/2019 10:52:00 AM

DC's Director of Nightlife and Culture Reflects on First Year

On Tap Magazine: To embark on any new endeavor – creative, personal or professional – can be a daunting hill to climb for anyone, and DC government is no exception. Even with the support of Mayor Muriel Bowser and others, Shawn Townsend, who became the first-ever director of the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture (MONC) early this year, has a lot on his plate.

Posted by David at 11/05/2019 11:11:00 AM

Worth a Look

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

#PayUpHollywood: Why You Should Be Fed Up with Low Assistant Pay

Ms. In The Biz: It’s a Thursday at the end of the month, which can mean only one thing if you’re an assistant in entertainment: payday. After pulling a long 60-hour week plus overtime, you are counting on every penny of this check to pay your rent, your car payment, your student loan bill, and pray you have enough left to make a small dent on that credit card. You check your bank account for the deposit…

Posted by David at 10/31/2019 10:51:00 AM

Andy Grammer's Open Letter To The Males Of The Touring World

Pollstar: With my wife being recently pregnant (with a little girl) and watching her go through a super tough pregnancy, it’s been fresh on my mind how wildly different life in general can be for women. So, for the first time in my eight years of touring, there was a sit-down with the women on tour (there are five) and they were asked a super simple question: Is there anything we can do to make this tour better for you?

Posted by David at 10/30/2019 11:04:00 AM

Bathrooms at ‘Hamilton’: Can 200 women make it through 16 stalls in a 20-minute intermission?

www.inquirer.com: The house lights flash on, signaling the end of the first act of Hamilton, and women dart out of their seats.

They try not to trip as they rush down staircases and weave through crowds, leaving behind friends and family to fulfill nature’s call.

Posted by David at 10/30/2019 11:02:00 AM

Why you should see theater in languages you don't speak

Datebook: I had a feeling there would be jokes and references I wouldn’t get at Tagalog 2019, Bindlestiff Studio’s festival of one-act plays performed in Tagalog, which I don’t speak. The Filipino American performing arts company, now celebrating its 30th year, planned to project English supertitles during the show, but I was anticipating that some concepts would defy translation, and that my brain might not always be able to toggle quickly enough between reading text and watching performance.

Posted by David at 10/30/2019 10:56:00 AM

'Color Blind' Assessments of Grant Proposals Don’t Work. Here’s a Better Idea.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: My organization, Nonprofit Finance Fund, has for decades urged grant makers to take financial analysis seriously when figuring out which grantees to support and how to support them. We believe that is still an imperative. But we also now recognize that colorblind financial analysis too often unintentionally exacerbates racial inequality and ends up hurting the nonprofits who can do the most good in advancing justice.

Posted by David at 10/31/2019 10:59:00 AM