Both in real life and in the virtual world.
I am revamping my website: jasonbruffy.com and I am moving this blog over to wordpress... under the same name...
http://www.lowherethestage.wordpress.com/
See you there!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Fun when friends make waves...
Sarah Stephens, a graduate of Cincinnati's School for Performing Arts and Univ Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music's Drama Program hits the front of the LA Times this week.
Theater project holds a mirror up to the recession
Adam Rapp, Will Eno, and a host of solid writers, working with some of NY's most promising talent. Sounds perfect, if you ask me.
Theater project holds a mirror up to the recession
Adam Rapp, Will Eno, and a host of solid writers, working with some of NY's most promising talent. Sounds perfect, if you ask me.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Finally a decent PSA for the arts...
of course they are Canadian... It is much better the then US bumper stickers "Arts Matter"!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Preach it Brother!
From the Guardian:*
“We've got to get away from the idea that it's good to go to the theatre," says young playwright Mike Bartlett over lunch at London's Royal Court theatre, where his new play is about to open. "It isn't church. There's nothing innately good about it. Most theatre is still really bad."
“We've got to get away from the idea that it's good to go to the theatre," says young playwright Mike Bartlett over lunch at London's Royal Court theatre, where his new play is about to open. "It isn't church. There's nothing innately good about it. Most theatre is still really bad."
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Weathering the Storm
I hear a lot of my colleagues using that phrase “weathering the storm” or “buckling down” or any myriad of analogies for what they consider to be a “passing phase”. But what if it is not a passing phase, what if after the economy recovers we (non-profits, and theatre specifically) are left in this same place we are in now? You can only hide your head under a rock for so long.
I do not believe that things are going to bounce back to the way they were. I am also one who believes those companies that have closed their doors in the past year, should have. The field is cluttered and crowded and wasting too much money. We have commercialized an art form (even in the non-profit theatre), and I do not mean in terms of commercial success, but corporate modeling. But I digress here.
I am not alone in this thinking, this morning I found two places that point to the same hypothesis. The Foundation Center reported: Giving to drop by more than 10%*. That is not this season which a year ago we were all claiming would be the worst of it, but that is in reference to 2010 and foreseeable future. They are quoted as saying "many (foundations) are rethinking their grantmaking so that fewer dollars will not necessarily mean less impact." Translation: “fewer dollars” will mean fewer recipients.
And here is my favorite quote from the site posted above:
“Some foundation executives who were surveyed said nonprofits need to pursue more creative fundraising strategies such as revenue-generating activities and collaboration, and rely less on traditional sources of support.”
Or in other words, for theatres, more earned revenue, ie ticket sales. They are calling on us to move beyond the traditional 50/50 split of earned and unearned revenues and act more like small business. Is that possible, however? Can theatre really operate based on more earned revenue? Could the new model be more of a 75/25 split? To poll the field, it actually seems to me the healthier the theatre company the less reliant they are on contributed income error-ing to a 60/40 split.
I will not side-track down the path of commission based arts groups for they are their own type of non-traditional model.
What if the days of the flourishing regional theatre is changing. Which leads me to this post: What if the 'new normal' is really the original normal?* The suggestion that the regional theatre movement was an aberration of the past 50 years of financial wealth and stability is something to ponder. What cultures and time periods have embraced the theatre so thoroughly as to pay them living salaries and create business models?
I do not believe that things are going to bounce back to the way they were. I am also one who believes those companies that have closed their doors in the past year, should have. The field is cluttered and crowded and wasting too much money. We have commercialized an art form (even in the non-profit theatre), and I do not mean in terms of commercial success, but corporate modeling. But I digress here.
I am not alone in this thinking, this morning I found two places that point to the same hypothesis. The Foundation Center reported: Giving to drop by more than 10%*. That is not this season which a year ago we were all claiming would be the worst of it, but that is in reference to 2010 and foreseeable future. They are quoted as saying "many (foundations) are rethinking their grantmaking so that fewer dollars will not necessarily mean less impact." Translation: “fewer dollars” will mean fewer recipients.
And here is my favorite quote from the site posted above:
“Some foundation executives who were surveyed said nonprofits need to pursue more creative fundraising strategies such as revenue-generating activities and collaboration, and rely less on traditional sources of support.”
Or in other words, for theatres, more earned revenue, ie ticket sales. They are calling on us to move beyond the traditional 50/50 split of earned and unearned revenues and act more like small business. Is that possible, however? Can theatre really operate based on more earned revenue? Could the new model be more of a 75/25 split? To poll the field, it actually seems to me the healthier the theatre company the less reliant they are on contributed income error-ing to a 60/40 split.
I will not side-track down the path of commission based arts groups for they are their own type of non-traditional model.
What if the days of the flourishing regional theatre is changing. Which leads me to this post: What if the 'new normal' is really the original normal?* The suggestion that the regional theatre movement was an aberration of the past 50 years of financial wealth and stability is something to ponder. What cultures and time periods have embraced the theatre so thoroughly as to pay them living salaries and create business models?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Where websites go to die...
I was looking up an old favorite theatre company in chicago. I geuss they are not really that old as they had only produced a handful of work. The work, however, was amazingly done and compelling.
Big Picture Group
As I visited the site i realized I could not tell if they were still functioning or not. There are no years attached to the dates on thier "up coming" performance. I know that some of the faces on their staff page have moved on since then. So where do websites go when companies fade out. Do they linger in cyberspace as they linger in our minds?
Another company this brings to mind is Blue Forms Theatre Group. I could not find their website but I did find this article in American Theatre. Now this company is gone, however the genius behind their evolution is still kicking it in Columbus Ohio. His newest company Availible Light Theatre is making huge waves as well.
Maybe its in the name. Companies ending with the name "Group". Actually that is it exactly. This "Groups" are formed by collaborative artists work together, and as time moves forward and life gets in the way, partners fade out and the group shortly follows. Unless your Wooster.
Big Picture Group
As I visited the site i realized I could not tell if they were still functioning or not. There are no years attached to the dates on thier "up coming" performance. I know that some of the faces on their staff page have moved on since then. So where do websites go when companies fade out. Do they linger in cyberspace as they linger in our minds?
Another company this brings to mind is Blue Forms Theatre Group. I could not find their website but I did find this article in American Theatre. Now this company is gone, however the genius behind their evolution is still kicking it in Columbus Ohio. His newest company Availible Light Theatre is making huge waves as well.
Maybe its in the name. Companies ending with the name "Group". Actually that is it exactly. This "Groups" are formed by collaborative artists work together, and as time moves forward and life gets in the way, partners fade out and the group shortly follows. Unless your Wooster.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Comedy as it changes
There was another interesting read today about the Brighton Beach... production that closed after only one week of performances.
Neil Simon Flop May Be a Case of the Missing ‘Wow’
There is a lot of talk in this article about 'star-power' and hype, but then there is the interesting conversation about the changing comedy spectrum. How does comedy exist today and does classic american comedy such as Simon plays or even "slap-stick" still play.
On a side-note, I love how New Yorkers think that only people living in NY and LA are trend-setters and seekers.
Neil Simon Flop May Be a Case of the Missing ‘Wow’
There is a lot of talk in this article about 'star-power' and hype, but then there is the interesting conversation about the changing comedy spectrum. How does comedy exist today and does classic american comedy such as Simon plays or even "slap-stick" still play.
On a side-note, I love how New Yorkers think that only people living in NY and LA are trend-setters and seekers.
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