Tuesday, June 30, 2009

No Blog Today

It caught up with me. Between moving and my friend there is no time to think let alone write.

I will share this though. If you haven't told your friends and family how much they mean to you - do it TODAY. You never know what tomorrow will bring. My friend is not doing very well again today and all we can do is pray. Please send good thougts to David and his family. Thanks for all the support.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Project Fringe 10 – Part 1 – 6.26.09

A good friend of mine is really sick today. So I just want to post it and let him and his family know I thinking about him. My friend's name is David and he was rushed to the hospital Friday night and they found out it was H1N1. I would appreciate all the thoughts and prayers you can give him as he has been in ICU all weekend. Thanks. . . its a good thing these are written in advance.

Okay, I announced earlier this week that I was going to dive into producing a Fringe Show. I got a lot of great ideas and a lot of people interested. I was actually surprised at the number of responses I received from all over the US, and some from people I didn’t even know. It was a huge boost.

Now to move forward. I am going to go over the ideas (few actually had a finished show) and move forward from there. There is a lot to consider when moving forward. First off, if you know anything about me, then you know I want to produce musicals more than plays. I am open to plays, but my passion lies in musical theatre; therefore, I am hoping to find a really good musical. Secondly, I want something that is going to be good. (Great Story and Great Music) I mean really good. I don’t want to put up a show that I am not proud of. The third thing I am looking at is people. Who will I want to work with over the next year to develop this show? They say producing is like marriage. You are together for a long time, so make sure it is someone you can really live with. I want the show to have a life beyond the festival, so the relationship could be for more than a year. Broadway producers of musicals that were written and closed 20 years ago still have to deal with the writers when it comes to subsidiary rights, so I will take picking the writers very seriously.

I am going to try and lay out all the ideas and writers and come up with the best options. Once I narrow down the choices, I will post my top three and move from there. Stay tuned to see what happens with Project Fringe.

Friday, June 26, 2009

A Great Performer has Passed

Yesterday one of the worlds greatest performers passed away. You can say what you will about Michael Jackson but he was a great performer. He will be missed by the world.

He did a lot of good in the world with charities and gave a lot personally.
We Are the World is the prime example of his generosity for humanity. I watched many of his videos and live performances yesterday and he was a true showman. People are saying that he was the Elvis of our generation. I think he was bigger than that.

His stage shows are some of the biggest ever seen. I got chills watching
Will You Be There from his Bucharest concert. I now more than ever want to go see Thriller, Live in the West End. Larry King said, “It was hard to love him, but hard not to.”

“In Our Darkest Hour

In My Deepest Despair
Will You Still Care?
Will You Be There?
In My Trials
And My Tripulations
Through Our Doubts
And Frustrations
In My Violence
In My Turbulence
Through My Fear
And My Confessions
In My Anguish And My Pain
Through My Joy And My Sorrow
In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow
I'll Never Let You Part
For You're Always In My Heart.”

-from Will You Be There


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Safe is Risky

Today I was watching TED, and Seth Godin, a marketing genius, said, "Safe is risky." One of his books, The Purple Cow, discusses how to make businesses stand out, how to do something different. We need to do this in theatre, too. We need to come up with some outside of the box ideas to market our shows (and maybe even to use to create our shows).

One of my crazy ideas is to do a show with monkeys. Yes, you read that correctly, a show with monkeys. You are thinking "WTF," right? Well, here is the idea. You take a straight play and train (or block) monkeys to walk around in costumes. Have people do the voice overs and watch a play performed. Now you are thinking, "How did he get here?" Well, I was thinking of some really untraditional casting. I thought, "How far could I go?" Then I went there. Monkeys.

Now you are starting to imagine plays being performed by monkeys. Yes, you are buying into the idea. Now for the title of the play . . . Inherit the Wind. Yes, I realize all the legal problems with doing this, but think of the potential. You get families that just want to see monkeys and some people who just want to see it for the sake of classical art.

I am sure there were a lot of people scared about the Muny in St. Louis using a real helicopter in Miss Saigon, but by doing that they did something risky and got a lot of attention, and I still talk about the performance of Miss Saigon I saw with a real helicopter.

The point is to think outside the box. Don’t be afraid to go too far. Your friends and colleagues can always bring you back in. But push yourself and see where you land.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ask My Frends -Work / Life Balance

“Ask my friends” continues to be a huge success. Today we have Jennifer Foster who is the Audio / Video Engineer for the sound department at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Jenn is a good friend and a great sound engineer. We have worked together on several productions and I am always impressed with her professionalism and attitude. I throw lots of curve balls to her and she handles them all gracefully and always with a smile which goes along way with not only me but our clients. I asked Jen how working in theatre she balances a work / life balance and why it is important.

“The clock strikes midnight at Sidney Harman Hall. Another show done, and I’m heading home in hopes of engaging in sweet dreams about... that rental event that starts tomorrow at 8am?! And the five projectors that I have to hang from the ceiling in the Forum after that?! Am I going to make it to orchestra rehearsal on time? I don’t know who wants to start their event that early, or who wants projectors hung from the ceiling, but I do know that I continue to work quite a zany schedule while still being able to call that which I have outside the theatre a life all the while trying very hard to maintain my sanity! I’m sure all of us working in the theatre world can fully understand the state of a sleep-deprived prisoner, and while my own sanity comes and goes (as some of my fellow colleagues can confirm), I do somehow manage to keep my life away from the Shakespeare Theatre an actual life.

When I was considering joining the McLean Symphony Orchestra a while back, a fellow theatre friend of mine said to me, “Wow, you’re like a real person!" This made me laugh, of course, but strangely I knew what she meant. How do I do this, you say? How do I balance a crazy work schedule with my personal life without being the next to fly over the cuckoo’s nest? I do owe a lot of my ability to maintain my non-work activities to a great department at work. Without the mutual respect that the five of us in the sound department share, I might not be able to attend Alliance Française events, or run that 8k on St Patty’s Day, or film weddings on Saturdays. We all compromise a little bit to accommodate each others’ personal lives to a certain degree, and we have a boss who is more than happy to see that we are all getting enough time away from work to ensure a more productive group of sound folks. If I have a race I want to run, or a vacation I'd like to take, I can bring it to my boss and we work together to see who’s available to work in my place while I’m out. Similarly, if someone else in the sound department asks for time off, I will step up to take their place while they are out. We work as a team, and are therefore able to properly fulfill our own personal lives.

Now, this is not to say that I get to do everything I would like to do outside of work. There are times when the schedule gets quite hectic and I am not able to get a night off. There are times when events pop up, the schedule changes, and all of a sudden I’m canceling my own plans. It’s in these instances that I am ever grateful to have such considerate groups of individuals outside of my work environment. The people in my amazing young adult group at Messiah UMC are always understanding of group get-togethers or meetings that I have to miss. Likewise, the McLean Symphony conductor has always been accepting of times when I have either had to be late or miss a night of rehearsal. And so the story goes it’s a juggling act, in which I’ve had to become rather skillful.

But why do I do this, you say? Why do I continue such an outrageous balancing act? I suppose the short answer would be that I love it. Despite the craziness of my job, I love the variety of work that I do, the people with whom I work, the atmosphere of the theatre, and the challenge it all presents - hanging projectors and everything! I must admit that I am completely new to the theatre world in my career, and this is the first job that I’ve ever really enjoyed in my career, so I have been motivated to accept the responsibilities it has presented albeit I have to make sacrifices at times. As this is my first theatre job, I have tried hard to maintain my previously “normal” life by continuing the activities that I have enjoyed since the age before I started working crazy nights and early mornings. The good thing about this is that I don’t take my free time for granted. I try to make the most of it while I can. And so, life continues on... I can work in theatre and be a real person all at the same time!”

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

“They say there is a recession.”

Last night I was speaking with a big Broadway General Manager. We were talking about the economy and the arts and how it was affecting area theatres. I asked how the economy was affecting him. “They say there is a recession, but we don’t see it.”

He told the story of how he has a new show he wants to bring into Broadway in the fall and he was looking into theaters and the owners said that the fall will be a busy time and theatres are pretty full then. He went on to say the economy has not hurt them much if at all.

I remembered reading the
Broadway grosses earlier in the day and I was a little shocked by the numbers. Keeping in mind we had the Tonys and the Obama visit that boosted the numbers a little, but last week 8 shows were over 100% capacity. Amazing. 29% of the shows open are over 100%. Look at the rest of the numbers, the same percent (8 shows or 29%) are under 80% capacity. Not one show this week is under 50% and even then only one is under 60% capacity.

The other thing to keep in mind is after the Tonys we lost a couple of shows. But all in all I would love to be open on Broadway now. The summer is supposed to be a bad time for Broadway. I just don’t see it. Not this year.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Taking a Leap of Faith

Today tickets go on sale for the Capital Fringe Festival. I am going to buy a pass and check it out. I decided I need to produce something. The Fringe Festival is the perfect place for me to test the waters of producing. So I am going to commit to producing a show for the summer of 2010. I don’t know what it will be but I just need to do it. Sometimes you just need to take a leap. Time to put my skills to the test.

Working on
Pride and Prejudice has been great and I have learned a lot from our lead producer Lori but I need to do something on my own now. (Check out this video of P&P) So here goes…

I will start the process this week of finding a show or finding writers. If I start today I will have one year to put together a show. I will blog about the process of producing it on here as part of the blog.

So any writers out there have a short and cheap show they want to have produced? Write me at
jared@nefftheatricals.com.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Meetings

Okay, if you work in a large organization you have a lot of meetings right? Well, I do. This week I spent 9 hours in meetings. There were 7 meetings and only one started on time. One of them started almost 20 minutes late. And several people came in 30 minutes after the meeting was supposed to start. One the late people was holding a large fresh cup of coffee. I stress fresh because they were clearly running late and they had to stop and get a hot cup of Joe. If you are running late why not skip it. Your punishment is to get the coffee after the meeting. Why should we all wait on you?

From now on my meetings start on time. If you are late you will just miss the information and hopefully people will start to learn. The Signature Theatre starts ON TIME! I was late for one of there shows and I had to wait in to lobby for a seating break. I have (knock on wood) not been late again. I learned my lesson.

Some things to keep in mind about planning a meeting…

1) Make sure everyone knows what will be discussed and who will be attending. This will help everyone be more prepared and save time.
2) Make sure you need a meeting. If it can get settled without a meeting, skip it. We all have enough meetings.
3) Make sure a space is reserved. There is nothing worse than going to a meeting and not having a place to meet.
4) BE ON TIME. If you are leading a meeting and you are late it does not set a good precedent for future meetings and makes it look like you don’t take it seriously.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Work Together

In these economic times we have to wok together. There are a couple of exciting things happening here at the Harman Center. One is Velocity DC which is a 2 night event that will showcase several local dance companies. The launch party was last night and very successful. The performances will be very affordable and an easy way for those not sure to venture into seeing dance. They will have short pieces from several styles. By doing this they will hopefully build their audience and do at little cost since they are all working together.

Another thing that I am working on is a “Gay Arts Weekend.” We are still working on a name for it but it will hopefully include the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC’s Different Drummers (the local Gay Band) and the local Gay Film Festival. I briefly talked about on a May
posting in no detail. By putting all these groups together they will share in rental and labor cost and share in audience. In essence make their costs go down and income potentially rising by bringing three different yet similar audiences together.

In these times if we work with other groups and share resources and efforts I think we can make it through. I encourage other groups that don’t normally work together to find ways to do things together.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Ask My Friends - Where Would You Work

Again with the Wednesday series “Ask My Friends.” If you didn’t read the Tony Post please go back and read what Jackie wrote a week ago. This week I asked my friend Clayton Smith to write something. Clayton is a young and upcoming theatre professional. He received his Journalism degree from University of Missouri, Columbia and is currently getting his Masters in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management from Columbia College Chicago. He is a very bright and really talented writer and marketer. I asked, “If you could work for any theatre in the country after graduate school, what theatre would you choose, and why?”

"Let’s face it; there is a correct answer to this question, and it is “In this economy?! I’ll take what I can get!” But hey, I’m an optimist, and I like to think that in one year, when I strap on my new Master of Arts Management degree, the theatre world will be my oyster. My cautious, just-off-a-hiring-freeze, “please God don’t let that happen to us again” oyster.

(Optimism ain’t what it used to be.)

If I could work anywhere in the world after graduation, it would be…are you ready for this?…St. Louis. Not theatre capital New York, not arts-heavy Chicago, not beautiful, brilliant, captor of my heart Vegas…St. Louis. And not only that, but I’d work for the St. Louis Rep.
The REP, for God’s sake, when I could choose any theatre in the country.

Before you decide that life dreams also aren’t what they used to be, bear with me a second.

If you’re not familiar with St. Louis, you’re at least familiar with a city like it…a sizeable metro area with a lot to offer, but still struggling to find a solid identity. The city has been through a lot of changes in the last decade, and one of the most significant is the push for more arts. Independent theatres have sprung up like mushrooms, but they’re struggling. Like so many independent theatres, they produce art for art’s sake, and the would-be patrons, the ones who want to see quality shows selected for them as part of a target market, are being left behind.

On the other hand, St. Louis has the Fabulous Fox Theatre, an enormous, gorgeous Broadway touring house, the theatre that understands the commercial nature of the arts business and attracts crowds because its offerings are safe and familiar.

Then, in the middle, we have the St. Louis Repertory Theatre. Under the direction of artistic genius
Steven Woolf, the Rep has managed to bridge the gap between the listless indies and the commercial monolith, offering line-ups that are just this side of mainstream, but doing so with so much talent and solid focus that even the art-wary citizens of the St. Louis area pack the house time and time again. In a city still trying to boost its artistic reputation, the St. Louis Rep is a bright red flag that screams, “Yes, by God, we are here, and we are quality!” It’s an accomplishment you gotta respect.

And that’s what’s important for me. I’m sure I could get a job at other theatres that would pay much better, and who knows, maybe I will…but nothing can replace the idea of working in a theatre that does high quality work to a public that is sometimes ungrateful or, at best, not understanding, a theatre that works diligently and tirelessly because the people there know that there is value in the work they are doing and believe that, with their help, the entire city can be so much more.

Great work with high ideals; sounds like quite the pearl to me."

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Summer of Festivals


There are so many theatre festivals this summer. In DC there is the DC Fringe Festival and Signature is doing a cabaret series. In NYC there is a lot including the NY Fringe and the NYMF or New York Theatre Musical Theatre Festival.

If you are not stuck in a Summer Stock somewhere you should get out and see a festival. Passes are usually cheap and a great way to see a lot of theatre in a little bit of time.

Sorry for the short posts. A super busy day!

Tomorrow we have another great “Ask My Friends ..” Check back.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Resumes

The other day, I got a resume that was 3 pages long. So I thought I would run through the basics of resumes. First of all, resumes should be just one page long. Make the font a bit smaller if you have to, but the best way to shorten a long resume is to cut things.  I think you'll find that by taking out the fluff, it will probably make you look more professional and efficient. Whatever you do, make sure you get it down to one page. I used to throw away resumes with staples in them. 

Secondly, make sure your resume is neatly formatted into sections. Usually, the header includes your name (in very large font size) and contact information. Then, under separate sub-headers, list your Professional Experience, Educational Experience, Skills, Education and References. 

Make sure the font is readable.  Don't use frilly, hard to read fonts, even for your name. Using a unique font to express your personality is fine, but don't go overboard.  Try to fill the page so that there are not huge blank spaces. Again, the easiest way to achieve a balanced-looking resume is to adjust font size.  Lastly, don't lie about anything on your resumes. 

What are some of your pet peeves about resumes?

Friday, June 12, 2009

Just Read

I met with a graduate student yesterday from Julliard. She asked if I had a moment to talk, and of course I made time. She was very smart, and in the conversation she asked if there were any books I would recommend. Well, of course there are. Some of them are even listed just a little way down on the right side of this blog. So I thought I would cover some of them.

For beginning producers, I recommend CTI’s Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals. It is easy to read and understand, and they have a great index of terms. Many of the great producers and managers of our time write about their specialties. Fast and easy read.

For more advanced people, there is Donald Farber’s Producing Theatre. It is full of legal information, but everything you will have to know. It is not the easiest read, but push through and read it all. You will learn a lot. I had the pleasure of meeting Donald in his fabulous NY apartment, and I have to say I was so impressed.

For the marketers out there; you should read Purple Cow by Seth Godin. It talks about how to make your product or company different and stand out. Easy read and full of “out of the box” thinking, which I love.

The last book is What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. Brilliant. My best friend told me he makes all his employees read it. If you are into social media and want to hear some of the ideas that Google used to rise to the top, you should read this.

Call me a nerd, but I love books about theatre, business and marketing. I say read them as much as possible and you will have an edge on your competition. What other books do you like? Leave other books in the comments section.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Yes, You Are A Brand

Everyone here is a brand. We may think of social media as a way to kill time at work, but with this new form of connection moving in all around us, we are actually building brands of ourselves for our peers. Ever since I started accepting my Missouri Thespian students as friends on Facebook, I started to edit my wall. I keep the sexual stuff and profanity off my Facebook. I don’t want that representing me. I am more careful about the pictures posted and things I post, too. My Facebook, Twitter and Blog all represent me.

Some people ask, "Why not just set the privacy to high?" Because that is not me. I want to be open and honest with the people that want to “follow” me. You may not know it, but you are building a brand of yourself with every post. People learn more and more about you. Their opinion is shaped by what they read and the information they can gather online.


I am not trying to scare you into not posting, but just trying to make you think about every post and making sure you represent yourself to the public. Everything you put online could end up on the front page of the NY Times. So just be more careful about what you are representing.


Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Ask My Friends - Tony Night

So I have decided to make Wednesdays an “Ask my friends” segment of my blog. I have the best friends all over and they are so smart and have so much to share. So why not have them share on my blog. I have lined up a couple of people but how fitting is this first post. It is from my friend Jackie Carl at the Tony winning Signature Theatre. I asked Jackie to tell me all about being at the Awards. Jackie wears many hats at Signature including Special Events and Rentals. I met her a couple of months ago and was very impressed and LOVED her sense of humor. Here is what she said about the Tony night …

“Ever since Eric [Schaeffer, Signature’s Artistic Director] announced to us that we were receiving the Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature’s offices have been completely abuzz with excitement. We have been super busy with press and praises – we even were sent an entire chocolate leg (yes you read that right!) which we gnawed on in the office for about a week! Like Jared mentioned, a bunch of our board members chipped in and bought about 20 tickets for staff members. Eric just took names of people who wanted to go and pulled from a hat about every hour during the day and announced over email who was the proud winner! I was one of the first ones picked! And not to have anyone left out, our company manager, again with funds donated by our board, planned a great Tony Party at Capital City Brewing Company down the street for staff and other theater friends here. They even had a red carpet laid out!

Now I know just being in NYC is an ongoing party, and Signature wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Saturday Night we all got together at INC Lounge at The Time Hotel. Staff, Board Members and other friends from the Industry were there. I don’t know if I got to see everyone, but know that Mark Kudish, Flo Lacey and some of the cast of our last show, Giant were there. The next day, after a morning Bloody Mary and lox and some shopping on the lower east side, it was time to start primping! Doors were closing at 7 and I was NOT going to be late.

I WAS GOING TO THE TONYS! I could write for pages about my excitement, disbelief and pride that were beaming from every inch of my soul… but I won’t. I will just tell you that I cried like a baby through the entire performance. Cried. Thank God my purse was big enough for some emergency make-up.

Despite my emotional upheaval, the show went on. Our tickets were in a block in the orchestra left around rows L-R- not too far back. It was pretty cool seeing the celebrities getting in and out of their seats to announce/accept the awards. At one point, I just turned to my co-worker to say something and saw Liza Minelli walking up the far aisle! Again, I had to pinch myself. Our award was the first to be given out. They played a little film tribute to Signature then Eric and Maggie went up to receive it. Eric’s speech was short and very sweet.

I have to brag a bit for Maggie [Boland, Signature’s Managing Director]. She is old friends with Clinton Kelly from What Not To Wear, and he had a team of people dress her for the night! I sat next to her husband and he said there was about 10 dressers, make up artists, and hairstylists in her room! Every woman’s dream! Of course she is lovely and doesn’t need all of that attention – but she looked fantastic!

After an hour of awards, we were going into the telecast. That’s where the real fun began. I’m sure if you’re reading this blog, you probably watched it live or at least YouTubed it by now. I re-watched the opening number on YouTube yesterday to see the treacherous Bret Michaels setFAIL.org. I didn’t catch it live because I was enraptured by the great Stockard Channing. However my phone blew up with texts from friends and family watching concerned over his collision. I heard he fractured his nose and cut his chin, but I’m sure he’s still “smoking hot.”

Other things missed by viewers at home were NPH doing some hilarious magic tricks during the TV breaks. He’s totally converted me to watching his sitcom. Million Dollar Quartet also performed… and talk about “smoking hot!” The one actor was the spitting image of Jerry Lee Lewis. They had an amazing energy and had everyone dancing in their seats. One “take away” we got from the performance were plastic Rock of Ages lights that were shaped like lighters. That’s what they had us wave during Constantine’s number. Also there was a great advertisement for The Addams Family coming to Broadway in spring of 2010 with Nathan Lane and Bebe Newerth!

Like I said I could go on, but it’s been about 20 minutes since I last looked at my pictures. All in all, it was probably one of the best nights of my life – seeing so many inspiring and talented artists. And indeed what a proud moment for the DC Theater community! Next to Normal looked great and Alice was well-deserving! We are so lucky to live and work in a community that understands the importance of theater. And it’s obviously paying off. The actual award will sit on everyone’s desk here in the office and then end up as a permanent fixture in our lobby. Stop by and see it!”

In the photo John Hance, Sarah Valente, Maggie Boland, Jayson Raitt, Karma Camp, Eric Schaeffer

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tonys Part II

Okay, I have now gotten over the sound issues. Now I move on to my other issue. It is not with the Tonys but with theatres around the country. I think we should not have performances on Tony night. It is a time to celebrate the art. Why not say we are closed Sunday night because of the Tony Awards. Move the schedule around and have a student matinee. Imagine how the viewership would grow if they did that. So if you have the power to adjust the schedule, remember to move your schedule next year to accommodate the Tonys.

The second part of today is about Washington DC. What a night to shine. Several shows on the Awards had ties to DC. And after Glory Days we needed that.
Next to Normal made a stop in DC at Arena Stage which is also where 33 Variations started. West Side Story had its out of town try outs in DC. And if you have been reading my blog you know Signature Theatre won the regional Tony Award.

Stay tuned for tomorrows blog. I have decided to have guest bloggers on Wednesdays. Just to shake it up a little. We will call it “Ask My Friends.” So don’t miss it.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Recap of the Tonys

Hear are my thoughts on the Awards. First off, we had another great party this year. People from three different local theatres were represented and there were even four non-theatre people present.

The
sound! I twittered it last night and I will say it again. If you work in sound you should send you resume to the Tony Awards NOW! It was awful. I realize this it can’t be easy with 100 plus live performers especially in the opening number . But it was bad from the very beginning. The camera shots were not that great either. It is time to take a serious look at the Awards. This is as close as most of America ever gets to Broadway and is suppose to help boost sales. Is this really what you want everyone to think of when they think of Broadway? All I could think of was sound problems.

Moving on; Shrek. What a shame. Okay I didn’t like the show when I saw it in NYC, but there are some good numbers, but from the song they picked last night you couldn’t tell. And the number they choose didn’t even have Shrek in it. If I was watching that show I wouldn’t go see it and with 65% attendance last week one would think they would want a better song.

Next to Normal was great. They did their best number and it came off really well.

Billy was okay. Most people didn’t like the number they choose but I thought it was okay. There are no great numbers from the CD that I thought would be better.

My last thought about the show for today. Cut the large screen behind them. It doesn’t look good on camera and didn’t feel the stage. Take the money spent on that and put it toward sound.

More to come on the Tonys tomorrow.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

HAPPY TONY DAY


I just wanted to write a little bit about the Tony Awards. I have a Tony Party every year and I gather with great friends and watch the Awards. I hope you all do the same. Gather with your colleagues and friends and enjoy the show that celebrates what we all do.

I wish Next to Normal the best of luck! And send out good wishes to the Signature folks. Maybe I can get one of them to write a special blog about the Awards.

Who do you think will win tonight????

Friday, June 5, 2009

Tony Time!

It is time for the Tony’s. Last night I was having dinner with a good friend and he reminded me of one of my goals when I was in college. It was to have a Tony by now or be working for a producer that would be up for a Tony. Sadly, I haven’t done either. But that is okay. I set high goals for myself. My goals sometime seem unreachable but I say why not try.

By setting high goals I was managing the backstage of the Fabulous Fox Theatre before I graduated college. I got into the 14 week Commercial Theatre Institute and learned from some of the best Producers on Broadway and I even have a very small part in a future Broadway show. Not too bad for only being 27. Yes, I would like to have accomplished more but I feel good about where I have been and where I am going. I am very happy at the Shakespeare Theatre and hope to further my career more there in the next couple of years.

My new goal is to have a Tony by 2017. Seems so far away. Wish me luck!

P.S. Watch the Tony Awards Sunday Night!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Shout Out!

I have to give a Shout Out to the Board of Directors of Signature Theatre in Arlington. As many of you know Signature won the Regional Theatre Tony Award this year and they will be presented the Award on Sunday. I am not sure where it started but one Board Member bought a couple of extra tickets to Tony Awards to be given away to the staff and then more Board Members started to follow suit. I believe that most of the staff now has tickets to the 2009 Tony Award Ceremony in NYC.

I think that is great! What a way to build morale and support the staff. I think Signature is well deserving of the Tony and the Staff is well deserving of those tickets. Congratulations to all my friends at Signature! And bring me back a Playbill.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Open Up

I have been doing a lot of reading and recently came up with what I thought was a great marketing idea. I had even done some small sample tests to see what would happen. I have never worked in marketing but being somewhat of an “out of the box” thinker I do have some ideas every now and then.

How often do you have a great idea for another department? Do you think they really will listen?

I wasn’t sure how to make a pitch of my idea so I sat on it until I had a marketing meeting, which was suppose to be about my department and how to improve the marketing. Well, I made the pitch toward the beginning and by the end of the meeting we had gone over by one and a half hours and I had pitched the idea 4 times as they kept bringing more people into the room.

I couldn’t believe how open our Marketing Department was to a new idea from someone outside their department. I don’t know if the idea will end up happening or not but it was exciting to see how open they were. It made me wonder what people outside my department thought about Bookings. Maybe someone in our company had a brilliant idea on who I should book or a different idea to generate more money. I encourage you all to ask people outside your department or company what they think. They may not have anything great to impart on you but maybe they do. I would give up an entire day of meetings to have one new and great idea.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Improving Sales

You won’t hear me talk about sports much, in fact my Dad gives me a hard time because I don’t know anything about them, but I do think we can learn a thing or two from them. Recently, I was having lunch with a good friend who went from managing a Theater Box Office to managing a Ticket Sales for Baseball. She clearly is very happy where she is but had a little bit of a learning curve going from having to deal with an audience to dealing with fans among other name differences among the two. But I asked if she were to come back to theatre today what has she learned that she would bring back with her. She listed several things but I think the biggest one was about group sales.

Instead of having groups come to them they go to the groups. They come up with special nights for groups. For instance “Ladies Night” where all the ladies can come to a game together. They have many of them and sell about 500 to 1,000 tickets for each event. They do mass emails to the people they need to target and create a
webpage. Then they give a discount for buying into the group.

One event we do like that is “Young Professionals Night” where we invite local professionals to network and see a show. We target them through Facebook and email and get a fair turn out. What if we did the same for other groups. I could see us doing a “College Professor Night” or a “Drama Teacher Night.” Baseball doesn’t wait for large groups to approach them. They go out and approach and form there own large groups.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Get Info Out

The other day I was meeting with the Development Staff of my theatre. One of the issues they have had in the past is getting information from our department. They never knew what rentals where coming in and who was organizing them until it happened. So I have decided that we will now send out that information to all staff on a monthly basis. It never hurts to get more information out. Those that don’t need or are uninterested in the information can delete the email with ease.

As Obama has pledged to do, we should all be more transparent. Think of ways your department or company can be more transparent and get the information out to those who need it. After talking about this it turns out there are several departments that will benefit from this extra bit of information.