Networking Paying Off

There is a director in DC who is a good friend of mine and I have watched over the last couple of years make strategic moves in networking. He always reaches out to Artistic Directors and makes a point email them, take them to dinner and meet them when they attend shows he’s involved in.

I think he is a very talented director but I have no doubt that he has gotten as far as he did by the networking he has done with all the Artistic Directors. He is my age and about to direct a main stage production for one of the hottest theatres in Washington DC.

Just another example of how good networking pays off.

Project Fringe 10 – Moving Forward

I have been amazed recently by this one man show that is playing in one of my theaters. I guess it is technically not a one man show since there are two people on stage but really one person is carrying the show. I have been stopping by to see full houses and am truly amazed by the potential of a one man show. The script and story have to be spot on and the production must be first class. But with a cast of one the gross potential is much high and makes the production way less risky.

You only have a cast of one to pay and possibly a hundred less costumes. I am not ready to announce it yet but in looking at doing a Fringe I discovered two things. First the quality of production was less than I thought and second the chance of recoupment was also less than I had planned. The Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC charges a total of $825 to just get in the door when all is said and done. At Fringe the houses are relatively small so with a 100 percent attendance gross of a 50 seat house I would be looking of $2,250. That doesn’t leave a lot for actors, sets, costumes, directors, designers or marketing. Also remember that is 100 percent attendance. Try and think of Fringe like Broadway. There will be many shows playing at once. Sure a couple of them will be hits but that’s a couple out of many. And some of them could be flops.

Weighing all of those factors I have decided two things. I want a one man show for my first time and second I want to partner up with Producers who have done Fringe before.

Again because of no one signing anything yet and not even being excepted yet I will wait to announce what the show is and who the partners are but I have to say I am starting to get excited. More to come soon hopefully…

Winter Break

As you can tell I have been pretty busy lately and not posting as regular as I would like. For this reason I am deeming it “Winter Break.” I am going to take a break and return refreshed. I will return on DECEMBER 28, 2009.

Have a Happy Holiday!

Today I wanted to continue in Twitter and I came across a wonderful blog called problogger.net. In this blog post he talked about many ways your twitter account can work for you (or your blog) but I thought he made so many great points that I wanted to share a link to his blog.

"Learn that Every Tweet Counts
This is another thing that I speak about when it comes to blogging that also applies to Twitter. Every time you publish something on your Twitter account (or Blog) you can potentially improve or hurt your reputation, brand and profile. This is an important lesson to learn – particularly for Twitter where it’s so easy to post something out of anger, in a drunken moment or that could hurt your reputation in some way. Sure posting in this way can add ’spice’ to your Twittering – but it can also hurt your reputation."

To read the rest of the post click HERE

Twitter Week Part 2

Now that you have your account and can tweet there are a couple of simple things you should know to help you through the process.

First, this will seem very foreign at first and you will have trouble finding the right people to follow. It took me a well over a month to find the right mix of people to follow and I am constantly tweaking who I follow. I started following news organizations and found that to be too much. They tweet everything including much news I didn’t care about in an hour I would get over 20 tweets from some of them. That was just too much for me but maybe that’s just what you want. There is no right or wrong way to pick who to follow. I have a mix of friends, businesses, and celebrities.

The next thing you need to know is how to link in the Twitter world. You can put a # in front of a word or series of words and then anyone who sees that can click that word and it will show them everyone that used that same # and word combination. It would be like searching for a word.

The other is the @ sign. That will link you to other users. So if you wanted to talk about me you could say @JaredNeff and then someone could click on that and it would take them to me or people that write to me. Again the symbol makes that word that follows a link.

The last tip is with web links. Because you may only use 140 characters typing in a long ink will take up too much of your characters. So I recommend using a link shortening site like bit.ly. This site will shorten the link for you and let you know how many people click on it.

More tips to follow later in the week. Leave comments or your twitter tips in the comments section.

Twitter Week Begins

Over the last couple of months more than a few people have asked me about Twitter and how to use it, so I am going to dedicate, for the most part, this week to Twitter. Someone said to me recently that Twitter gets more hype than actual users. That may be true, but only time will tell. I think the same was said about Facebook in its first couple of years, and as a business person you would think being connected to your audience, whoever they are, will be important. Having another way of reaching them is also important.

First, you have to set up an actual account. It is easy and takes little to no time. Just go to Twitter.com and get started. They just ask for your name, a user name and email, and you are on your way. I always think being straightforward is the best approach. So you can follow me @JaredNeff and see a picture of me.

That goes to the next point. There a couple of design features that can make your Twitter page unique. The most important is your picture. This will be next to every comment you make. Because it is so small, make sure it easy to see. If you are small in the picture to begin with, you will be hard to see. I also recommend using the same photo for all your profiles, so if you have a good photo on Facebook, go ahead and use it. There are also background pictures and color changing options, but most people access their accounts from their phones and will just see your picture, so that is the most important.

Once you have your account set up you can start to follow people and have them follow you. I will get more into this tomorrow, but you have the basics, and tomorrow we will go into the details of tweeting.

Great Story

Ask My Frends - Inspiration for Design

Ask Your Friends Wednesdays is my favorite day because it reconnects me to my most talented friends. Today I pose the question to one of the most talented designers I have worked with. Not only is he a good designer but he is one of the most honest and caring people I know. We always have a blast when we hang out and I look forward to seeing where his designs take us. My question to Michael McClain was, “Where do you go for inspiration once you have been hired to design a show?”

"When Jared put forth this question, I thought it would come with an easy answer. However, that belief was quickly proven incorrect. Staring at the blank screen in front of me, the only text was the question provided. I attempted to write and rewrite my first paragraph. How do I find inspiration, what is my inspiration?

I imagine all designers, all artists, start with the same tools, the same resources. The written word. A key word you hear the director use over and over. Mountains of books on history, architecture, fashion and art. Random collections of images from magazines and Google searches. Music that relates to the piece. A day spent in the park. The magic is how one uses these tools, this collection of information to inspire a design.

Personally, I have a love of books, preferably with pictures. I tend to spread all my books and any additional library finds around me on the floor. Spines open to images I like, Post-It notes on countless pages to be photo copied. A mess of loose computer paper, which has been following me since my first read, intermixed. Most of my notes are one word scribbles, describing emotions, color, and texture. Some notes are questions I’ve asked myself; Things to research in more depth. Desires and concerns the director may have brought to the table. Doodles I’ve begun to play around with. Relatable music, hopefully a musical soundtrack, playing in the background adds to the creative nest. And then there is me sitting in the middle of all this talking to myself, the egg.

To avoid getting blocked by the pressure of turning this egg, my mind, into some magical, special, poetic master design…I talk to myself. By talking through different ideas out loud, I can then question and challenge whether or not they hold water. At times, working through the collection of chaos can clear a path to something tangible. I can start to see a pattern forming from this kaleidoscope of information. Perhaps I notice that I keep identifying with the color or shade of blue, or that there is a reoccurring use of a certain material. I then have to ask myself, why? Why are these elements speaking to me, and then how does it relate to the play? As I begin to isolate these clues, a world beings to develop. There is almost always an image that becomes the jumping off point. One source that is the catalyst for the rest of my imagination to build upon.

There’s nothing like the moment when things just start clicking and for the first time you have a solid foundation. After twelve years of designing I still recall almost every magic moment of a design. I can remember where I was, what it was that made a light bulb go off. There’s a rush of energy that charges through the body as you search for pen and paper to capture an idea. That moment of clarity is personal for the artist and his work. For better or worse, each design is with me and a part of my story as a designer.

Of course there are plenty of times when nothing seems to come to me. My mind is so blank I can hear the clock in the next room keeping time. That’s when it is time to put everything down and walk away. A forced design is never a good design. I’ll look for inspiration tomorrow.

Even now as I am looking for a solid way to wrap this up, I’m blank. Think I’ll leave this ending open. I’m going to take my advice and walk to the inter-coastal and watch the boats coming in and out of the docks as the sun sets for the day.

"

Repost; 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.

Christmas Cards

It is that time of year. Christmas cards (or now more likely holiday cards) will be flying around soon and probably landing in your mailbox. I actually think the idea is wonderful and a great way to remind people that you appreciate them and their business.

The expense is maybe just too great, though. Looking at all the budgets that are tightening, I wonder if emailing a personal note of some kind my have just as much affect. I have about 125 people in my small department alone that I want to receive cards, but I think the money could be put to better use.

I am going to think about this and poll a couple of people and get back to you. But please write a comment about what you think of Christmas cards. Not from Grandma, but from the business perspective.

Filling A Gap

Yesterday there was a piece in the Washington Post about the Washington Ballet. It was on the homepage so I clicked to see what it was about. The Washington Ballet lost an expected 1 million dollars which is about 1/8th of their budget.

In a stroke of geniuses and maybe luck, they came up with a unique collaboration with Design Army and photographer Cade Martin. They ended up producing a commemorative book with shots of dancers throughout Washington DC. The paper and printing were donated and the book looks to generate around $100,000 in additional income for the company. I have to say, from what I see I am interested in buying this book. It looks beautiful and knowing the money is going to a good arts organization really makes the $55 seem not so high.

Congratulations to the Ballet and their partners in coming up with a great way to begin to fill the gap and hopefully get some more buzz about their company. You can read the article at the Washington Post and go check out the Ballet if you get a chance.

"And I'm Telling You"

Ask My Friends - Developing Development

The other night, at the Opening Night of As You Like It, I was speaking with a good friend about his job in development and talked about building relationships and preparing for "the ask." The area I am most interested in these days is Development. I know little about it and think I might be somewhat good at it. So today in the “Ask My Friends” segment we have Chris Sewell. Chris and I met just a couple of months ago when I was looking for another person to play basketball with us. Chris has become a close friend after the last couple of months. He completed his undergrad at Xavier University and is pursuing his master's at Johns Hopkins University. Chris has no theatre background but has worked in development for the last four years.

“Let’s face it, whether you work for a small, environmental nonprofit like myself or a large organization for the arts, the show can’t go on if there’s no funding to keep the doors open. Development, or fundraising, is a core element to any group’s work.

There’s a skill required to successfully ask people to open their wallets, and we’ve all watched in awe at some of our colleagues as they bring in check after check. To win donations, donors have to trust your judgment, believe in your production, and be willing to invest in your organization. Maybe then they’ll open their wallets. But there’s more to worry about. What about connections, organization, timing, and making the big ask??? All of this detail is important, but it all is a second priority. Successful development starts with relationships.

You might have recently wrapped up another six figure donation for one production, or maybe you’re about to ask a friend for $25 for the first time. No matter what, you depend on relationships to help answer the questions above. Are you asking a poor college student for a million dollars? Do you know the person well enough to anticipate his interest in an issue or show? Can you meet him for coffee to give him an inside scoop? Development is successful when you know the potential donor enough to bring value to the relationship. If nine times out of ten you call or meet for interesting, organic reasons, you might be able to work with him as a potential donor later.

Development is the art of building good relationships. Get to know the people interested in your work enough to make the smart ask, and development can be as easy as your next meeting over a cup of coffee.”

Twitter / $25 Gift Card

How much if at all do you use Twitter? Help out a promising grad student and take a very short survey. Also there is a chance to win a $25 Best Buy Gift Card.

Take the two minutes and click the link below and thanks in advance.

twitter survey

Brief Yourself

In today’s age of the internet, it surprises me how little we know about people and companies, and even the day’s events, before we go into a meeting or social setting. You no longer need an assistant to debrief you of everything, although I love the thought of that. You can do it yourself. I am probably giving something away here and making myself seem less smart by admitting this, but I think it is better than not doing it all.

Before I meet with someone I “google” him and see what I can find out about him first. I do that for everyone who I know will be present whom I don’t know. If nothing else, I will at least be able to put a face with the name. This is really helpful for people who are as bad at remembering names as I am. Then I will “google” the company, project or related projects and read up on them. This will save you time and make them feel like you know enough about them to care. How impressive does it make them feel when you know the last show they did or the last project they worked on? It makes everyone feel good, and only takes a little bit of effort.

If you know me, you know I often get lost in classical plays. So before I go, I read a synopsis, and now that we have Wikipedia, I can not only read the synopsis, but I can also get background about performances, learn the origin of the play and read what scholars thought about the show. In 5 minutes of reading, I have enough information to talk to anyone about the play that I might have gotten from just watching.

Take the time and brief yourself before you go see these shows or go into these meetings. It will make a marginal difference in how your evening or day plays out.

Happy Turkey Day!

Ask My Frends - Producing at Fringe Follow Up

Incase you haven’t read Jamie’s first post please go back and do so. I asked Jamie Galhon to do a follow up post about what it was like after Capital Fringe. What she liked and learned from her time as a producer. Jamie is a Georgetown Grad and now works in the Artistic Department at Arena Stage. Don’t let the work artistic fool you though. She is very business savvy and will be producing huge hits all over town really soon.

Skywriter: The Fringe Redux

"Skywriter came and went. The Fringe madness peaked and subsided, and I and the rest of The Angry Young Theatre Company lived to tell the tale. Lessons learned, challenges overcome, and a little sweet success as well. So, here goes...

When I last blogged, we were heading into our one two-hour technical rehearsal, getting ready to open, and praying that the Zip Car pick-up truck we rented would be big enough to fit our set. Luckily, the set arrived in one piece (albeit not without some extensive rigging and one slightly terrifying and point-and-laugh inducing trip across town), and tech went as well as one could hope given the circumstances. We opened to a good sized house; our venue had 60 seats, and were pleased to see the seats continue to fill as the run went on. We ended up selling out 3 of our 5 total shows, thanks largely to our amazingly supportive friends, their word of mouth, and some good press. All told we ran at an average 94% capacity, not adjusting for the comps in each house. This totally met, if not exceeded, our initial goal of 60% capacity throughout the run. Then again, when we made that goal we didn't really know what to expect, or what we were doing for that matter.

Looking back, I wish I had found a way to get those first two shows sold out. Having full houses to kick off the run would have more or less ensured success the following weekend. After all, everyone wants to go see the shows that are selling out, even if they don't know the content. When the tickets were tallied and we got our check from Fringe (a pre-set % of the total box office), we were able to recoup all direct expenses. At the start of this endeavor, everyone in the company had agreed to give their time for free (this was a true labor of love, after all), and we focused on keeping costs down throughout the process, which meant finding free rehearsal space, re-furbing materials into our set, etc., and our actors knew from the get-go that this was not a paid gig. That said, we all had our fingers crossed that we would do well enough to a.) not run me into debt, and b) pay our artists and ourselves for our commitment and hard work on the project. Thankfully, even after reimbursing company members for their direct expenses, we had enough left over to pay all four of our actors, our writer, director, stage manager, and producer (me). The money was by no means indicative of the worth or value of the contribution everyone put in, but regardless, I was proud to be able to walk away knowing we did what we could in that regard.

But of course, in the end, it really wasn't about the money (though money is nice). It was about putting up a new play that I believed in, that had something important and relevant to say to THIS community, with a host of artists I respect. It was about creating something from nothing and sharing it with the world, about having the opportunity and challenge to do so; it was about pushing myself and growing in the process, with my friends and colleagues. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat."

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow we will have a great guest blog from Jamie, who is following up with her first guest posting about Capital Fringe. She will be doing a recap about things that did and didn’t work for her.

And since Thursday is Thanksgiving, there will be no postings on Thursday and Friday.

As for the things I am thankful for: I am thankful to all of you who read this blog and share it with your friends and colleagues. The traffic to the blog has really picked up and the thank you notes and emails I get are really motivating.

I want to thank my Dad for creating the “top ten” logo. I want to thank Dave Inman for all the great photos he took of me and how fabulous he made me look. I want to thank Brianna for helping out with editing every now and then, and I want to thank my guest bloggers for really helping make this blog special by bringing your expertise and opinions to the blog. And I want to thank Ken Davenport for posting on his blog a challenge to 'create your own blog,' which actually gave me the push to start writing.

Last but certainly not least I want to thank Clayton Smith, my brilliant editor. Clayton edits the blog everyday without pay and really guides me when I need help with anything to do with social media and websites. He is so smart and after he finishes grad school he will make a excellent manager in some arts organization.

Thank you and have a great Thanksgiving and wonderful weekend.

Plan Ahead and Save Time

Each Thursday or Friday I look ahead at the next week’s calendar and try to plan out the best use of my time for that week. With the holidays approaching, I thought it would be a good time to remind you how important calendar management is.

If you wait until Monday to plan your calendar, then you are already probably swamped with emails and phone calls to return by the time you walk in the door. If you plan ahead, it will give you a true chance to prioritize you needs. I have reoccurring appointments in my calendar that prompt me to set the calendar for the next week. I suggest looking at the projects ahead and actually schedule those projects into your calendar.

Top Ten List

Well, in case you missed it, I put together a list of the 10 Most Powerful People in DCTheatre . Which, by the way, has resulted in a lot of new readers to the blog. The day the list was released I got about 20 calls and emails with comments and questions, so I thought I would address them here. And next time, please leave the comments in the comments section. That’s what it's for, and it will start a discussion.

First off, I did not create the list. Well, I did, but I did through a fair amount of votes from many DC insiders. Secondly, I didn’t want to sway the votes. People thought the Helen Hayes Awards were over represented. Well, maybe they and the people behind them have more pull than we think. But in any case, I did not want to combine any of the names. No one did on their votes, and I didn’t see it as my job to sway them by making that decision.

I think the most interesting part of this list will come next year. Who will be named? Will the Helen Hayes be combined? Who will fill those gaps? Will there be more votes for people who weren’t named just because they weren’t? Will Eric still be in the top three?

Welcome to all the new readers, and I look forward to your comments as the year goes on.

People to Know - George Abbott

I first heard of Mr. Abbott when I watched Elaine Stritch at Liberty. She was talking about working for him on a revival of his show On Your Toes.

George Abbott was born in 1887 and was a great producer, director, playwright and actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1913 in The Misleading Lady. He went on to act in several Broadway shows, and in 1925 the first play he wrote made it to Broadway. From there his career really took off. He was the original director of Chicago, Room Service, The Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey, Sweet Charity, On the Town, A Funny Thing … Forum and many more. He also wrote On Your Toes, Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game, to name a few.

Abbott was known for being a show doctor. If a show was not working on its out of town try out or before opening on Broadway, many producers brought in Abbott to look at and help fix the work.

George Abbott died just days before his 108th birthday. In 1995 during the opening of the Damn Yankees revival on Broadway he was greeted by a standing ovation. As everyone was applauding he leaned over to someone he was with and said, “Someone really important must be here.”

Ask My Frends - Box Office

Today we have someone that I rely on for all my ticketing questions. If you haven’t heard me say it before, you need to make friends in the Box Office because they are the one choosing your seats and can really help you out in a pinch. Tammy Enright is currently working for the Washington Nationals where she is one of the ticketing managers and handles ticket operations. Before that she was at Arena Stage where they won INTIX’s Outstanding Box Office Award in 2009, which is only giving to one box office in the world. She now heads the Box Office Manager’s Roundtable which is a local group that is part of INTIX. Beyond all her experience there is no one more kind than Tammy. I always loved running into her at Arena and hearing her Christmas music way before it was “time.” Here are Tammy’s thoughts from the Box Office.

"A View from the Box Office
When you think of your theater’s box office, you may think of those nice folks who answer the phones, stuff envelopes, & (most importantly!) process your comps.

Like most who have sought to make a living in theater, I’m sure you’ve paid your dues and sold some tickets. But some of us get sucked in, choose to stay, and make ticketing our careers. For those of us in the industry, it’s more than just processing comps.

Below, I’ve listed some common conversations I’ve been involved with and which are fairly universal across the theater and ticketing worlds. So if you’ve ever wondered what that self-proclaimed “ticketing dork” in your organization does, read on. In just these 4 examples, you’ll see how ticketing professionals work with, and think through, situations involving production, communications, development, IT, finance, marketing, and (always) the audience.

1. “For Cabaret, we’re going to replace the front row with café tables!”
· How do you communicate this to all the patrons, in all of the front row seats, for all 42 performances?
· What do you do if the café table seats 2 and you have a group of 3?
· Is the seating raked enough that the folks in the 2nd row can see?
· Are these now “premium seats” that we should charge more for?
· And my favorite question EVERY patron asked...“Do the chairs have arms?”

2. “The run of the show has been shortened by 2 weeks.” You need to move people into earlier performances. Who gets moved 1st and claims the best/most comparable seats?
· The person who renewed earliest?
· The person who’s been subscribing the longest?
· The 7-person group? They’re harder to just squeeze in just anywhere, so move them first, then handle the couples and singles, right?
· But wait…what if those singles attend together?
· And has Devo checked to see if there’s a major donor affected because maybe THEY should be moved first…?

3. “Tonight’s performance has been cancelled due to weather/gas leak/car accident/Emmy nomination.”
· If it’s rescheduled (i.e. you still have 42 performance of Footloose), you can keep people in their same seats. Configure your ticket scanners to accept barcodes from the original date. Adjust your reporting so that when royalties data is pulled for a range of dates, you get info from when the event was held, not the original date.
· If it’s cancelled (i.e. you now have just 41 performances of Footloose) you’ll need to reschedule and reseat everyone in other performances. Adjust your reporting, your capacities, average attendance, and maximum possible income. Figure out how to absorb and report on the price difference when that weekday-only STUDENT-priced ticket can only reschedule for a Friday night. And deal with situations where patrons cannot make another date or are from out of town.

4. “We’re thinking of doing dynamic pricing.” Think airline pricing - the fuller a flight, the higher the price. Easy to say, “Once we’re at X% capacity, we raise our prices $X.” How do you implement it?
· Is it PAID capacity or do comps factor in? (Can I comp out the house to raise single ticket prices?)
· If I raise my FULL price, do I adjust the half-price, student, military, senior, etc?
· How does this affect my group pricing? What if a group cancels and our capacity percentage goes down?
· How long will it take to run the capacity report? (Think 8 shows a week over a full season…that’s a lot of numbers to crunch!)
· How long will it take to turn off & on the new prices?
· How long for the web prices to clear the cache & go live?
· There are programs that interface with ticketing software (www.Qcue.net). Are they worth your investment? Or should you do it manually?"

FELA

Remember The Color Purple on Broadway? It wasn’t the great reviews that kept that show alive but the lead producer behind it. Oprah. Need I say more? She has so much power and capital behind her that the reviews, which were good, didn’t really matter. The show was actually selling because her name was above the title. There were other producers, and I am sure she didn’t have a huge hands-on producing role, but her name was the only producer's name that was printed every time the title was printed. Stars can bring a lot to a show just by attaching their names.

Yesterday it happened again. The New York Times and Playbill both reported that Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have all joined the producing team of Fela! Now the show opens next week, so I would take a guess that their roles will be more in marketing and capital. When tourists who don’t normally go to theatre see Jay-Z and the Smiths' names on that poster, they may be inclined to attend.

I personally think this is a great way to get a new audience into the theatre. Maybe if they like the show they will become repeat costumers and start to build a new audience in a time when our core audience is maybe trying to save more money and see less theatre. My hat is off to the person that made that deal happen. Watch for all the publicity Broadway will get in other markets as we lead up to and after opening night of Fela!

Think About It

I often see things in the day to day routine of my job that make think, “Why do we do it that way?” Then I go on to think that it is not my responsibility, and I let it go instead of taking any kind of action. There was a lady at my old theatre who was infamous for calling facility operations about every light bulb that was out in the lobby or theatre. Everyone would make fun of her because she was so such a busybody. Looking back on it I wondered why no one ever asked why there were so many lights out in the lobby. They should also be asking whose job is it to check those, or maybe why we didn’t have a better system in place.

The fact of the matter is people often do enough to get by and don’t want to interfere with other peoples' jobs when sometimes maybe they should.

For instance, look at this sign. Someone had to hang these signs up. I have no doubt they were told to do it, and instead of questioning whoever hired them to put this up, they just did it. Surely they were smart enough to say, “This doesn’t make sense,” but instead they just hung them and walked away. It wasn’t their job to fix it, but just to hang them.

Think about where you work and what things are not working. We should be asking what is working and what is not and how can we fix the stuff that isn’t. Instead of making fun of the lady calling about the out lights everywhere, maybe look at why there are so many lights out and figure out how to fix that problem. Just saying "It isn’t my job to do that" leads to more and more problems. If you make things easier for customers you improve their experience. What are some problems you see every day that you just walk by because it is someone else’s responsibility?

10 Most Powerful People in DC Theatre

So you might have seen the “Broadway's 50 Most Powerful People” on Broadwayspace.com that was compiled by industry insiders. They wrote, “Who are Broadway’s most powerful people? We put the question to a handful of industry insiders who, on condition of anonymity, ranked Broadway’s movers and shakers for a final and decidedly unscientific list of 50. Is power the ability to get a show up with the scratch of a pen? Is it the person at the very top of the game, or the person you wouldn’t dare put on hold? We let everyone define 'power'" for themselves and let the chips fall as they may.”

So I set out to do the same thing, but with the people inside the Beltway. I asked 50 people to participate from over 10 theatres, giving no one theatre more than 5 potential votes. I gave the recipients the task of naming whom they thought were the most powerful people with no definition of what "power" meant. Half of the people replied, and no one theatre outweighed another, so I feel it is a good list. I should mention that other than local theatre employees, donors, actors, designers and directors who are not affiliated with a particular theatre were also asked to participate. There were exactly 40 different people named as the “most powerful,” but I felt that only the top should be on the list so that we have a list of 10. As it was stated in the Broadway.com version, the insiders have complete anonymity.

10. Helen Hayes Awards honors excellence with one of the most prestigious theatrical honors in the country and also has a mission of outreach and building audiences. It gives awards annually in the DC region with categories in direction, design, acting and more.

9. Victor Shargai serves on the Kennedy Center Community Board, the Studio Theater, The Washington Ballet, and the Laurel Fund for the Performing Arts, and he is the Chairman of the Board for the Helen Hayes Awards. Before he got involved in interior design (Victor Shargai and Associates Inc.) he designed sets and costumes on and off Broadway. Mr. Shargai earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater and English from Queens College.

8. Mark Shugoll is CEO of Shugoll Research. In addition, he is a devoted patron of the arts, serving as a Board Chair of Arena Stage, and the national arts scene as a Board member of the Business Committee for the Arts and TCG. He is the founder of various award-winning arts education programs in Fairfax County, including ArtSpeak! and TheaterTrips!

7. Linda Levy Grossman is the Executive Director of the Helen Hayes Awards Society, the premiere professional theatre recognition program. She has also worked with area theatres and resides in Baltimore.

6. Molly Smith is the Artistic Director of Arena Stage and also serves as a member of the Board of the Theatre Communications Group, as well as the Center for International Theatre Development. Arena Stage has helped develop three shows that moved to Broadway in the last year.

5. Michael M. Kaiser has been President of the Kennedy Center since January 2001. Mr. Kaiser created the Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute to provide advanced training for arts administrators at varying stages of development and has created a series of programs to help train others in the field. Mr. Kaiser previously served as the Executive Director of the Royal Opera House. Kaiser launched Arts In Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative in early February 2009, which provides free arts management consultation to arts organizations across the United States.

4. Michael Kahn is the Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company. From 1992-2006, he was the Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division of the Juilliard School, where he has been a leading member of the faculty since its founding in 1968. He has worked all over the country and run many of the nation's leading theatres, as well as directed on and off Broadway.

3. Eric Schaeffer is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA which won the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award. He has directed many shows at the Kennedy Center, and he served as the Artistic Director of their Sondheim Celebration. He is currently directing his third Broadway show. He has directed across the country and in the UK.

2. Peter Marks is the lead theatre critic at the Washington Post.

1. Jaylee Mead and the late Gilbert Mead are huge donors to many area arts organizations. They have been noted as giving the largest individual gift to a theatre in United States when they pledged $35 million to Arena Stage to help build their new building, properly titled The Mead Center for American Theatre. Their interest in theatre stemmed from Gil and Jaylee's involvement since 1970 in an employee theater group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where both were employed as research scientists. Jaylee produced many of the shows and performed onstage, and Gil was often the musical director. Beyond their money, they have been said to be the nicest and most caring individuals. Gilbert passed away in 2007.

People to Know - Mary Martin

Mary Martin was born in 1913 and was a singer and actress who struggled for many years, as do many actresses. She sang in many clubs and on the radio and landed her first show in 1938 in Leave It to Me! She was lucky in originating the roles of many famous musicals. She was Ensign Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. Martin is probably most known for her title role in Peter Pan, which she played on Broadway and later on TV. Mary toured the country in Annie Get Your Gun and won the special Tony Award for “spreading Broadway to the rest of the Country.” She also won Tony Awards for Peter Pan, The Sound of Music and South Pacific. Martin often turned down the roles for the movie adaptations of musicals because she didn’t like the disconnect of the audience that movies had.

Ask My Friends - Living in NYC

Today we meet yet another fellow Nixian, Jessica Palmer. Jessica and I not only went to the same high school but we also both went to Webster University. She is such a sweet person and her talent and passion make her rise above many others. I asked Jessica to talk about living in NYC and what its like when you are just getting started.

“A few things I have learned since moving to NYC (2 years ago).
Time is of the essence, it reveals itself to you as an enemy or a best friend. Through prosperous and difficult times in the city I have learned that for myself I have to create my own every day STRUCTURE. Structure may come from a day job, a writing group you participate in, or a yoga class you take a few nights a week.You must create a life for yourself in the city in which you feel connected to the community that includes not only the theatre community but also communities such as those bozo yuppie types perusing used bookstores on the Upper West Side. There's plenty of room for you and your 5 roommates to join their book clubs!
Someone once spoke to my college acting class and said, "Be a TONKA truck." I interpreted that as "Do not limit yourself and your talent to any 'agreements.' “Yes, you have to absorb what you've read in college theatre textbooks, in books you've read about getting agents and so forth. However, absorb it, then stuff that information in the back of your closet with your poncho and break the rules, run people over. Who says you have to work "there" before working "here"?
Meet new people (then record their contact information in a database!), read lots of plays by getting a FREE library card, and go ahead... splurge on an AC unit for your apt. Augusts in NYC are brutal!
You may go through times where you lose a sense of your purpose, forget why you moved to the city in the first place. You have to put yourself first and take the time to regain your passion and ravenous need to be in the theatre. It's a holy place. But, it does not need tender loving care. It needs to have the door busted open by some hungry, crazed artist demanding to take it to the heavy side layer."

Musicians have been “Locked Out”

It has been reported by the New York Times blog and Playbill.com that the Off-Broadway production of Tony ‘N Tina’s Wedding has stopped using live musicians and moved to recorded music while breaking the musicians' union’s contract with the company. This will be something to watch. So far only local 802, the musicians' union, is making statements. The production has recently changed producers. The agreement with the musicians' union, however, says that they will employee union musicians until 2011, even if the production changes producers. When the musicians returned to work, they were locked out and replaced by recorded music.

The unions have constantly increased their costs and have won some major battles in work rules. This led to the Broadway stage hands strike in 2007 and the 2003 Broadway musicians' union strike.

I am all for paying equal wages and having fair work rules, but it is really out of hand and makes it hard to put up good productions by the shear cost of having union stage hands and union musicians. I won’t go into great detail just yet about the strikes, but I think it is something I will discuss later. On this incident I think the producers should have not locked out the musicians because of the standing contract, but right now we are only hearing the side of the union.

Spider-Man Saga Continues

Yes. It looks like Spider-Man the musical will make it after all. Or at least that is what we know right now. Again, I think this musical is going to be watched so closely be the industry, and I for one hope it does well.

On Friday it was announced that Jeremiah Harris, the lead producer of the new musical, would step down to be the second producer while investor Michael Cohl would step into the lead producing role. Cohl is a known rock concert promoter and I think could save this struggling show.

I have to say I tip my hats to everyone involved in the process. When you start a huge show like this as lead producer you are up against huge odds before you even step out of the gate. In this show you have a high profile writing team and director, huge budgets, people in the press commenting on your every move. You have to keep fighting to just do the job. And I applaud that fight, but more so I applaud the fact that you can step into the number two spot as producer. That’s not easy, but if it is ultimately good for the production, and I think in this case it was, it must be done.

Giving up is never good, but asking for help and charting a new course is better than good. It takes true leadership and a lot of courage. I wish this show the best and can't wait to share more thoughts about this production as it moves closer to opening, which is now to be in 2010.

Twitter Lives On

This week if you “tweet” you have probably seen the LORT Twitter list that was posted by Yale MFA Student Devon Smith. Theatres that did well on the list are tweeting about how they did and I am sure the lower ranking ones are waking up and taking a real hard look at how they are doing not only with Twitter but social media in general. In the past month, four very smart people from the leaderships of various companies have come to me and said show me how to use twitter. I am not the best tweeter but I understand the basics and frankly once you practice it just isn’t that hard.

Number four on the “LORT Twitter Index” was Arena Stage. I think they are probably the best in the DC area about social media. They have a blog that is constantly updated and contains exciting stuff. They have YouTube channel that has great videos and is very well branded. They have a great Twitter account according to the list and most importantly they interact with their audience through these forms of media.

In a week they will be having a scavenger hunt that will be organized through Twitter and Facebook. It will take people on a journey through DC and I would imagine to the Lincoln Theatre where their production of The Fantasticks will be playing. The prize is actually a great one too, four tickets to opening night of The Fantasticks and a restaurant gift certificate for four.

Social media is more than just having a Twitter account and Facebook page but knowing how to take those tools and use them to interact with your audience.

People to Know - Joseph Papp

Here is a producer after my own heart. Joseph Papp was born in 1921 in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrants. He went on to be one of the most well known and respected producers in history. Papp had a true passion for Shakespeare and tried promoting his idea that there should be free Shakespeare in New York for years when he finally produced and directed Taming of the Shew on the Lower East Side in 1956. He was praised by Brooks Atkinson with a great review in the New York Times, and then his idea took off. And so the New York Shakespeare Festival began. He later moved the festival to Central Park at the Delacorte Theatre, where they still perform today.

After his success with the Shakespeare Festival he wanted to find a home where he could produce year round. In 1967 he created the Public Theatre to produce new and lesser know plays. His first big Broadway transfer was Hair, and because he did stay on as producer of Hair he received no financial benefits. This lesson learned, he went on to produce A Chorus Line and used the money to help fund his other theatres and even help start and run some Off-Broadway Theatres. He also helped produce The Pirates of Penzance, which I discovered has been produced on Broadway 26 times.

He also lead the way in non-traditional casting by using people of all colors in his plays and got involved in gay rights when Congress imposed conservative provisions on the National Endowment for the Arts and produced The Normal Heart, which discussed homophobia and the neglect of the AIDS crisis.

As a producer he brought so much talent, both directorial and in casting, that the lists could go on and on. I wish more producers would take interest in non-profits they way he did. He was able to accomplish so much with the funds from his few Broadway hits, it makes me wonder who will be the next producer to not only produce hits on Broadway, but get really involved in producing lots of theatre and lots of affordable theatre. Someone said Merrick was probably my hero, but I think so far I would have to say Joseph Papp is my hero.

Ask My Friends – Directing

Edward Coffield was one of the first people at Webster I really looked up to. He was funny, nice and very smart. He was a professor of mine at Webster University and the Production Manager at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. At the time I knew little about his ambitions to direct, although he had been directing around town a fair amount. Since then he has gone on to direct many more shows in St. Louis and even nominated for a Kevin Kline Award for his outstanding direction of Door to Door. He has worked as the La Jolla Playhouse, the Alley Theatre and many other theatres across the country. It is an honor for me to have someone I respect so much writing a guest posting. I asked Edward to write about directing and how he got into it.

“But what I really want to do is direct.”

This expression has of course taken on a slight wink with people who work in the theatre, but I never intended to direct, I swear I didn’t.

I always wanted to produce. Like many of us in the theatre I have a small, delicate, fragile ego, so when at the age of seven I suddenly understood billing and realized the producer’s name goes at the top of the marquee – well, my sights were set on producing.

Over the years, I have done a lot of things in the biz. I was a stage manger for a long time and then moved into production management. Along the way I have produced various things. Most recently I had the great pleasure of producing The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. I have loved all these jobs, and they have served me well.

So how did I become a director?

Originally, I started out getting hired to re-mount shows that I had been the PSM for. Technically, I suppose, that was not directing, but it was a foot in the door. At some point someone hired me to direct a show that I had not been attached to before. I cannot say I didn’t know what I was doing -- but I will say that I have learned a great deal since then. I was lucky enough to direct in theatres with big hearts but low profiles, where I could fall on my face and the theatre world at large would never know.

At this point, I have been fortunate to direct many shows for numerous theatre companies. With no formal training as a director, I have learned a great deal by absorption – learning by doing. I also have spent thousands of hours in rehearsal watching some amazing director’s work. That has been a wonderful gift.

My successes have been great, and the failures have provided even greater lessons. I used to panic about the fact that I simply don’t understand how actors do their craft. I admire them, I adore them and I am in awe of them, but I cannot make them better actors. I am honest about that and recommend that if they need help with acting, they go get a coach. My job is to tell the story.

I seem to have a good sense for casting, and that is another gift I do not take for granted. Like many of us, I had a brief stint in front of the footlights. As I recall, I was on stage in a bunny costume, and even at the age of six, I knew the other bunny was a better actor!

I have spent a great deal of my directing career helming musicals and comedies, two genres I adore. I have already discovered that directors can be pigeon-holed, just like actors. If a producer knows you understand comedy, you are not going to get an offer to direct The Normal Heart. I seem to intellectually and emotionally understand comedy. I don’t take that skill for granted -- ever. I am a funny person, but I am not convinced that makes me able to direct comedies.

As for musicals, I was raised on them, and I believe -- as Mr. Laurents espouses -- it has to be in your bones. When most children were playing cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians, I was playing Hello, Dolly and South Pacific!

Last summer, I directed my first drama for a wonderful theatre company in St. Louis called The Orange Girls. They had invited me to direct Donald Margulies’ play Collected Stories, an intense two-hander with great roles for two actresses. I found it challenging in a totally different way. There are about three laughs in the script, and I knew how to handle those. But riding to “the dark side” was tremendous and scary and gratifying. I found that all those comedies I had directed had taught me a lot about drama -- drama is about timing in the same way that comedy is.

I have learned so much from other directors (thank you to Mr. Woolf, Mr. Barnes, Ms. Gregg, Mr. Mason), but the utmost surprise is what I have learned from the directing students who have assisted me (Shelley, Nick, Kaitlyn et al). They have been superior guides. I was always a very good storyteller, and as my friends and colleagues will tell you, I am not afraid to embellish. But I have learned from these student directors how to be a student of directing.

Now I have learned how to read a play. More importantly, I have learned how to research a play. I also have learned at what point to set all the research aside and tell the story. The director’s job is simply to tell the story with gusto, heart and tempo.

In the last year, directing for me has clicked, and I have become comfortable with it. This of course has made me understand that I have only just begun. Directing is a skill that builds over time and a craft that always offers new lessons. I am very lucky.”

My 23 Hour Day

I have done many exciting shows in my life. The most exciting are actually not theatre but more in the concert or speaking category. I have worked on concerts like Maria Carey, Pearl Jam, and even David Copperfield (oh, the stories there). Last week I worked on my biggest event here at the Harman Center with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I worked for two jam-packed days to get ready for their speech on Global Health. If you have the time you should watch the speech.

The first day I ended up working 23 hours in a day. I had many questions about why, and I thought I would share the insight to why I made that decision. Looking back I don’t know that there is anything that I would have done differently.

The day was scheduled to start at 3:30am with the arrival of catering. At about 4:30am the Technical Director for the event company arrived. I felt that it was extremely important that I be there in the beginning of the day to meet the senior staff from the Gates Foundation and make sure things were off to a good start. Luckily for me, they were. The plan was that my assistant would come in to work part of the day with me and then go and run the other event in our second theatre. We would both be ending about the same time (midnight), and he would take the morning shift the second day so I could be well rested for the actual event, which we would both work. Then I could stay for the strike, as I was coming in at noon. Sounded like a great plan, right? Well it was, but no one counted on the video not being ready. With 6 high powered projectors, overlapping the alignment of the projectors was crucial. The projection team had to stay to get everything ready so that we did not cut into the tech / rehearsal time of day two. So I decided to stay with them, knowing I could sleep in the second day.

Would I have done anything different to not work a 23 hour day? Maybe not booked the second event at the other theatre so my assistant could have been in my place. The show must go on, as they say, and the projectors had to get aligned to not take up the second day tech time. There's not much that could have been done. When you are managing things, you sometimes have to work extra to get the project done. All good managers will work until the job is done. And to balance my work life schedule, I will be taking this Friday off to make up for all the extra hours.

Entertainment Review: This Is It

This is the first review I have done because it can get a little touchy reviewing local theatre when I have the job I have. However, there is something I think you should see, and so I will share my thoughts.

This Is It, the new Michael Jackson concert documentary, is great. I have overheard people say it is not really him or that it is bad. Both are false. Because this footage was not meant to be seen by the public, director Kenny Ortega has to piece together several days to get different shots. There are no great camera shots by movie standards, but it gives you an up close and personal look at the brilliance that Michael Jackson has as a performer. Whatever you may think about his personal life, after seeing this movie you will have no doubt about the artistic genius and leadership he takes on in his concerts. You can see him work over and over until he gets everything right. He settles for nothing but perfection.

There are some cheesy moments where I think Ortega wanted you to see all his hard pre-filming work for the concert that was not necessary. But overall, this is a must-see movie.

There is only a little over a week of this film left, and I have to recommend that you go and see this in theatres where the sound and size of the show are as close as we will ever get to see the concert.

If you have seen the movie please leave your comments below because I am interested in what others have thought.

Be Proud

Yesterday I had an great dinner with one of the smartest people I know. She was a professor of mine at Webster University. In such a ego driven and competitive business it is often that we as students fill like failures if we don’t win the Tony or if we God-forbid get out of theatre and do something else with our lives.

Even I am guilty of constantly worrying about what people think of me. I have gotten better but it still plays a role in my life. When I was laid off last year I felt like a huge failure. It took me a week to get the nerve to call my mentor and tell him what had happened. I don’t why but I thought he would be disappointed or whatever but instead he was encouraging and supportive. We often build up these things in our heads that simply are not true.

At dinner last night Dottie said we just want you to be healthy and happy. We don’t care if you stay in theatre as long as you’re happy and a productive citizen. I just wanted to share that nugget of wisdom to everyone who worries as much as I do. Be proud of who you are and what you are doing.

People to Know - Federal Theatre Project

Today’s is not realty a person but a Project. During the last economic downturn President Franklin Roosevelt created the New Deal which was meant to create lots of jobs as quick as possible. The Great Depression devastated America and Roosevelt wanted to make sure artists, actors, directors and writers. And so we have the Federal Theatre Project which was created in 1935.

The Federal Theatre Project was also intended to bring arts all over the country and to poorer families. The biggest part of the project was Living Newspapers which took current events from newspaper clippings and turned them into plays. Most of the topics focused around farm policy and were know to be very liberal. This is what made them so controversial in congress and ultimately killed the project.

There were many notable people like Arthur Miller and Orson Welles who got there start in the Project. The Federal Theatre Project came to an end in 1939 when congress stopped funding because of the left-wing spin that most of the projects had.

Ask My Friends - Organizing Your Tax Portfolio

It is Ask My Friends again, and today is a great post. Something we should ALL pay attention too. I am the worst about this, and I think I could be missing out on saving money. Gary Castaneda and I worked together at Cedar Point several years ago, and he is one of the sweetest guys I know. He was asked back to teach workshops at Cedar Point, and one of his workshops when I was there was about Taxes. Gary has performed on cruise lines and toured the country with several productions (one of them Miss Saigon). With the year coming to an end soon, it is almost tax time and I thought it would be great to get tips on taxes so we as artist could save money. So I simply asked Gary to give us some tax tips.

"Doing taxes every year is about as much fun as having a colonoscopy. You can put it off as long as you can - but in the end you just have suck it up and get it where the sun doesn’t shine and move on to bigger and better things. Procrastination is a serious disease that can lead to the destruction of your economic health. I encourage you to face these tax fears & phobias head-on and get organized little by little. This is the key to make your April 15th Tax Day Deadline less painful so you can get out there and have more fun (or actually get a colonoscopy).

1. Invest in an Accordion File: This is a Tax-Time office supply staple. You can make fun decorative tabs where you can separate your receipts by category and include: Travel, Food, Make-up/Hair, Promotional Materials, Classes/Lessons, Equipment, Office Supplies, and Postage to name a few tab headings. Don’t go super-detailed or crazy. At the end of the year, add up the total, write it on an envelope and throw the receipts inside. This will prepare your line-item deductions for your tax preparer and they won’t kill you for handing them a shoebox full of random receipts.

2. Keep a Date Book/Journal: This is where you can list auditions attended, meetings with agents, casting directors, etc. You should be able to recall the circumstances for all your appointments to justify why you spent $40.00 to take out your vocal coach for drinks to get the inside scoop on an upcoming audition. You can also keep track of your mileage, out-of-town auditions & miscellaneous business expenses in this space as well. Furthermore, this “mini-scrapbook” is a great way to look back on your year to see your progress within your craft or to find out where you need more work.

3. Keep a File of Pay Stubs & Tax Forms from Employers: Most performers have several jobs within a year and keeping track of them is a task in itself. Hold on to all your Pay Stubs and use this as a checklist to ensure you have every tax form (W-2, 1099, etc.) from all your employers at the end of the year.

4. Find a Tax Preparer Experienced with the Arts: Theatre performers have special needs and it is essential to have a tax preparer you can trust and who can answer your questions in plain English. Asking friends for referrals or inquiring whom they employ to process their taxes is a great way to find a good candidate.

5. Safeguard your Information: Keep filed tax returns in a safe place for several years. It will help to have your last year’s tax return on hand to help with filing the following year’s paperwork (why invent the wheel twice). However, when you do decide to purge your mountain of paperwork (after the tax people say its okay) you should opt to shred the materials utilizing a paper shredder to safeguard your identity. It would really suck to find an identity bandit living it up in Mexico City on your dime.

Money is the easiest way to obtain the essential things in life: like food, shelter and tickets to see Patty Lupone in concert. Keeping it all straight and organized is one way to continue on the path of making it in a business where skins are tough, competition is high and the odds are never in your favor. However, keeping your eyes on some of the business essentials of money and finances will help extend your long and healthy performing arts careers. I wish you many “broken-legs” in your future!"