Extra Criticum

Can stripping away government funding actually erode patron loyalty?

It's that time of the year. When end-of-year appeals from all the non-profits come crashing into our mailboxes and INBoxes. I opened one such letter from Channel Thirteen, our locate PBS affiliate and my reaction was surprising.

I was annoyed. And I didn't feel remotely like pulling out my checkbook. Why?

Moral Quandary: Is it wrong to vote if you haven't seen everything?

It's awards season. And as a PGA member, for me specifically that means voting for the PGA Awards. Screeners are flooding my mailbox. And for the first time, family commitments leave me wondering if I'll find time to watch them all. So my question is this: Is it unethical to vote for such things if one hasn't seen absolutely every nominated title? What do you think? Do I have a moral obligation to sit this year out?

Process: Editing a Bit of A Life's Work

In case you don't know, I'm making a documentary called A Life's Work. It's about people engaged in projects they may not complete in their lifetimes.

Before I get to the clip, some background. My first meeting with Bob Darden of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project was in Chicago, August 2009. During our sit down interviews it became clear very quickly that I would have to go to Baylor University (Waco, TX) to shoot audio engineer Tony Tadey in action. And so I did. The footage with Bob and Tony was shot April 2010, the interview footage is from that Chicago meeting.

Here’s the clip.

Down for the Count

I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was THIS bad. A friend forwarded an email to me at the end of last week, announcing the closing of an Off-Off Broadway theatre space, the Manhattan Theatre Source. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Source because I’ve worked there in a variety of capacities (producer, writer, director, educator), consulted with the board, had a couple of small pieces produced there, know a lot of the people involved in its formation and growth and have watched it struggle year after year to stay afloat. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Board finally had to say, in essence, we just can’t make it happy any longer. We’re beat. We’re done. We’ve fought the good fight for twelve years.

I was curious why this is happening now; why, after its twelfth year? So I called someone I know on the Board and asked. The answer was simple, he said: rent.

Off-Broadway Promo or Porno DVD Box Cover Copy?

This arrived in my INBox today. First of all, I should just say up front that, I don't know playwright Thomas Higgins' work and I make no judgments about it 'til I see this play... which, by the way, I intend to. Nevertheless, this promotional copy did catch my eye for its vaguely pornographic hue. What do you think? Am I just an uptight prude? (It's okay. You won't hurt my feelings.)

Is NYC just a quagmire?

I can no longer count on two hands the number of close friends who are living hand-to-mouth in this city. Here are just a few of the coping mechanisms I've observed:

Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods

If you're going to be in Pittsburgh in the next few weeks, you absolutely must run and see Tammy Ryan's play, Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods. Below, I'm posting a little promotional video of the playwright being interviewed about her play. The odd thing about the video is, it's very calm and centered and rational, just as the play's writer, Tammy Ryan tends to be. The promotional video discusses themes in the play and the origins of its creation. What the video cannot capture is the velocity of the play, the energy and pathos and fear and terror and love and heart of this wonderful play. For that, you'd have to go see the play.

But it makes me wonder in general about this mode of promoting new plays online. Sit the playwright and/or director down for a sensible chat about the work and videotape it and post it on the web to sell tickets. But if the tone of these very reasoned measured videos is so completely at odds with the tone of the play, are these promos going to bring in the right audience? When I read Tammy's script, I wept, almost from beginning to end. And I also laughed quite a bit too. But the overall effect of the play is to rip your heart in two. Makes me wonder. What's the smartest way to promote a beautiful and painful new play? What do you think? Here's the video:

Getting Lost

Cross-posted on the Blue Coyote Commission Project Blog

It’s a little scary. At the very least it’s disorienting. You don’t know what time it is. You don’t know where you are.

It passes quickly, of course. The last time it happened to me, I found myself on NJ Transit. I was somewhere between Secaucus and Newark. It was around 5:30. I was on my way home.

Two hours is a long time to wait for one show-stopper

Saw Nabucco last night at the Met, thanks to a generous dear friend visiting from out of town. Now, it's not one of Verdi's best. But the chorus in Act III is a showstopper. It made me wonder though: isn't 2+ hours a long time to sit through just to hear one of the all-time great choral numbers? I'm not sure. Verdi was famous for being able to accurately take the measure of his own music's popularity. And the chorus sung by the Israelites in Act III is no different.

Here's some video from the current Met production. Notice that no one moves on stage during the entire number. And yet, with this particular number, it doesn't seem to matter. Not so with the rest of the opera, I'm afraid.

Does A Good Play Matter?

Recently, I saw a couple of plays that made me wonder: does a good play matter? Does it matter if a play is well written? Does it matter if a play is well acted? Are these TRULY important to a good theater going experience?

I’m beginning to think, no. They aren’t as important for most of the theater going audience.

The first play… (and I want to say I’m not going to mention names, as I didn’t really like the plays)… was a realistic comedy, set in an apartment, about a widow rediscovering life. Well, that’s what eventually it was about, the first 30 minutes are about something else. In fact, that was one of my major complaints about the play. It wasn’t sure what it was about sometimes. It wasn’t sure of it’s tone. It wasn’t sure of itself. And then wrapped the story up in two scenes… and the stuff of those two scenes could’ve been a whole act. Personally, it SHOULD have been a whole act, the time required to really unpack the story and to earn the ending.

"I wanted you to be the first to know." Seriously? That the best you could come up with?

An email solicitation from BAM came into my INBox today with the following subject hedder:

I wanted you to be the first to know...

What did you love most about Freddie Mercury?

Google is celebrating what would have been the 65th birthday of Freddie Mercury (Sept 5, 2011) with a fabulous tribute googlevideo. Seems everyone I know adores Freddie Mercury. But everyone has their own unique take on what it was that made him so intoxicating. What did you love most about him? Video below:

Why does this woman make so many people so angry?

Richard Marx and the Mythology of Romance

I had the chance to see Richard Marx in concert for free the other night in LA.

I can't say I'm a huge Richard Marx fan, but I grew up listening to his music and know all the words to all of his pop hits, so despite not being a huge fan, I still showed up first thing in the morning the day of the show to collect VIP credentials that would place me in the front row, put free vodka drinks into my gullet, and give me access to a meet and greet after the show.

I don't often want to meet celebrities. I don't want my bubble burst. But I found the idea of meeting Richard Marx appealing, if only to ask him one question: