tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19577691539757358582024-03-13T09:02:37.048-07:00TheatReHabState of the theatre- without the bullshit or awards. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-8112470944518658012017-06-23T21:28:00.001-07:002017-06-23T21:30:29.689-07:00Orange Julius Caesar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The base ‘Orange’<i> Julius Caesar</i> shit is annoying the hell out of me.
Thankfully, it is closed and as a New Yorker, I hadn’t heard a peep
about it till the controversy started in its final week. God, the
Public does scandal/promotion as subtly as Madonna. In the end, the
production is just what the ignorant rednecks who want to kill the NEA
needed - more ammunition. People don’t read vital material; do you
really think they are going to read what the Public hoped the audienc<span class="text_exposed_show">e
would walk away with after seeing the production? The Public gets
$100,000 a yr from the NEA. That’s probably nothing to them, but it
could mean survival for literally dozens of other companies. As far as
the 'fall out' from the private sponsors, ALL of their grants say you
can't pull that kind of political stuff in their grant applications.
They Public knew what they were doing, but now they can play victim and
garner more money via their online fundraisers for their free plays. I
know, we all need to get attention, but you’d think they would be above
pandering. They have plenty of money. They have critics that will kiss
their ass no matter what they produce. I believe theatre should push
boundaries and occasionally upset people, but this example was as basic
and on the level of Trump himself. “Lame.” Yet, volunteer based and
professional theatres from Maine to Texas to California are receiving
death threats over this unrelated mildly imaginative staging. Our
actions have consequences. Trust me, I’ve faced my share but I’ve never
done anything that I knew might harm others. Fuckers.</span><br />
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Years ago, with the bazillions being spent on Spider-man the Musical, I
was afraid that show was the end of Broadway. If it were a smash, I
expected all shows to need 5 billion dollars to get mounted (instead of
the current 1 billion). As I’ve learned in so many ways in life, the
‘spider’ sneaks in where you’re not looking – in this case, another
Public Theatre Trojan horse. That show which will stay unnamed can
charge $900 a ticket and claim to bring diversity to Broadway, yet I’ve
stood outside the theatre on several occasions, and from my experience, I
would bet it has the richest, whitest, oldest audience of any show.
There is NOTHING wrong with that, but don’t spin it, as a
not-for-profit, to be anything other than it is. <br /> Half of the theatrical performance shouldn’t be in the marketing, but that seems to be the trend.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-11015425677030530892016-11-06T21:00:00.000-08:002016-11-09T14:23:17.668-08:00Despite what Equity Says: Fair Ain't Fare #FairWageOnstageThis is possibly my last post. The theatre trolls have attacked the few others defending our theatre, sending them death threats and what not. If only they had that passion toward making the theatre better! Having undergone brain surgery in the past year, to which some of you wrote to say you hoped I died - I'm still here! I've suffered pain you hopefully will never have to know - and I'm still here.<br />
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<b>AIN'T FARE</b></h2>
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</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">This whole #FairWageOnStage is a cute idea but a lot of it
seems to be a smoke screen for Equity’s many decades of neglect. Before, I get flamed
to death, YES, I absolutely think it would be amazing, and in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> dream world, people off and off-off
Broadway ALL got paid a fortune.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PLUS all actors <u>need </u>to learn the
difference between spelling ‘fair’ and ‘fare.’ #embarrassing</span>) I also believe most
people, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in most jobs</i>, nationwide,
deserve a major raise, not only those working on stage and in the wings, but it’s
not quite that black and white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though
we tend to isolate, living in New York isn’t only difficult for actors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admire any self-proclaimed “grass-root
effort” as the group’s domain is registered to Kellie Overbey. (Can’t Equity
start anything themselves?!!) but despite the attention it has garnered, this agenda
seems sadly misguided. Artists SHOULD be revered and rewarded, but unless you
are going to change the whole <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">culture</span>
and rewrite history, this isn’t going to happen. The decades our union has been asleep at the wheel haven't helped. (And a dozen will still scream, “But what
about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That One Show</i>?” – It’s an
anomaly. Congrats to all that are involved, but when you are produced by a
non-profit and charge $800+ a ticket – you’re hurting the larger theatre by
depleting the amount of money people have in their overall ‘theatrical budget’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While they’ve done amazingly, I wonder how
many other shows they have shuttered because of their price.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing </i>to
gain here besides more hateful emails from ignorant strangers – so I am doing
this out of love for the theatre as a whole – not for my own agenda, not for my
career, not for money, etc. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Theatre
is so much bigger than me, or you, but it needs caretakers. (I’m the
self-proclaimed toilet scrubber.) Back in the day, The Group Theatre-
repeatedly took pay cuts to keep their shows running – we are talking about legends
like Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Elia Kazan, Lee Strasberg, Lee J. Cobb,
John Garfield, Bobby Lewis and so many others. They’d skip meals, they lived
together, they’d do whatever it took to make the theatre work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>(And yes, things are much more expensive
now, but they managed to keep the American theatre afloat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">during</i> the Great Depression.) I’m woefully from that idealistic
school of work and thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Decades
later, Uta Hagen would gracefully sweep the stage nightly, even when she was a
star as that’s just what you did.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Yes, that was all before I was born. Most
of the greats were before my time. I guess I was born too late. I lamely ask what I can do for the theatre instead
of vice-versa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think back to the 1990’s
infomercials for courses in ‘VCR repair training’ and my opinions are not far
off from the state of the theatre. During their heyday, NO ONE thought VCRs would soon be obsolete. Like the theatre industry, which is becoming more useless per generation, no one
will get paid to act once their is no business. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Please, please </i>try
to produce, and you will appreciate the hats others wear in the theatre. (If I
ran a theatre education program, producing would be essential. It’s a million
times harder than you think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wonder
Broadway shows have 76 producers above the title, and no wonder the phrase too
many cooks in the kitchen constantly comes to mind.) The half-dozen people I
know whom have accepted that challenge have ALL said, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We had no idea how hard it was</span>...”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m no trust-fund baby and I have no savings account to sleep on, yet I hold no
grudge against those that do. I worked my way through NYU and will be paying
for it a long time yet. (Stupid mistake on my part, I will admit!) Until I
became ill last year, I worked from 1-5 jobs since I was 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took on extra work to help subsidize the
little stipend that ReGroup could pay its actors. No crying for me; I did it
all willingly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">The Fair Wage's lame “letter to the
management” itself seems to be from a powerless position by stating the theatre
is controlled by the producers (“your institution”). It smells of a teenager
telling their parents, “You just don’t understand.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Again</span></i>,
I urge you, in fact, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">beg</i> all the
actors to produce your own work, even if just for one night. The amount of
paperwork alone is stupefying, the COST, the limitations set by contracts with
the writer or estate and the union, the COST, hiring others, the COST, the
royalties, the COST etc, etc make it almost impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as it is becoming harder and harder to
live in NY, as an artist <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">or as any other
profession</span>, (We do not live in a bubble, as much as we often like to think
we do.) it is becoming even harder to produce with care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There seems to be some faux picture of this
Boss Fat producer who is making billions off of the sweat of actors’ back, and
if that is true, (It’s not!) then call them out. I’ve asked Equity repeatedly
for this info regarding who is making a profit off-off Broadway, and I’ve been
told it’s not known. (Producers have to give them extensive documentation for every
show, so it should take 20 seconds to run a report – if it were in their
favor.) Though my degree from NYU is in acting, having produced off and off-off
as a non-profit, I find that producing companies, especially the non-profits,
would LOVE to pay their actors better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though
the “Fair Wage” website recommends it, by earmarking funds “For payment to
actors and SMs” <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">doesn’t</span> mean they
will be paid <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i>. That merely helps
fill the non-profits previously set budget for creative talent. It’s entirely useless
as a tactic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as the sight
claiming the actors are “not part-time workers,” while I understand the plight
– technically, less than 40 hrs work on-site a week is ‘part-time’ to 99.9% of
the country. AND as far as polling a whopping “190 members” for their opinions,
even when the union somehow inflates their membership by 10,000 per the Dept of
Labor, 190 out of 40,000 is a negligible amount. I’d expect all 190 would want
more pay, but it’s embarrassing that you use such negligible numbers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">YES! Again, you do deserve a raise. All artists do. They
always did, but they always did. The term ‘starving artist’ isn’t a new one,
and though it isn’t ‘fair’, we ALL knew this going in to it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rules didn’t change after we got our
degrees. We weren’t forced to go to school to get paid slightly above poverty
wages; we chose this noble path. We weren’t forced to take meaningless, minimum
wage job burger-flipping jobs. Yes, I still remembering being an 18 college student
and thinking it wasn’t fair that every 3 hrs of classroom work only counted as
1 hr. (I knew then our work was not the norm and this business was far from “fair.”)
We have to consider what it means to ‘paid’. Nope – recognition from a role
off-Broadway won’t pay your rent – but it makes you an important part of
society. Do not lose sight of that. (No, that won’t fill your stomach, but read
on.)<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Many</span> of the artists or actors
who did taped interviews for the fair wage project mentioned how the off or
off-off <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">work was the most rewarding work of their career and they wouldn’t
trade it for anything</i>, etc, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
doesn’t pay for a MetroCard but that has true value – which for <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">me</span>, will mean more on my deathbed than
the money I made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I understand,
that doesn’t help in the here and now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
need our union to help turn the clock back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Look back 20-30 years, and most of the big actors you know, stage and
screen, got their start off-Broadway. The “exposure” that is so mocked in the
Fair Wage memes is how the majority of those actors got started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Casting directors, agents, etc actually <u>went</u>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to the theatre almost every night</i>. (This
is my area of expertise – even legendary actors like Maureen Stapleton, Eli
Wallach and Jessica Tandy would come back to do “showcases” with new talent –
and earn dirt wages as part of the Equity Library Theatre. It was their way of
passing the torch and getting others discovered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NOW, our unions have allowed ‘workshops’ to
take over. They ‘teach’ 3 minute workshops at Actors Connection, The Network,
etc, etc, etc by allowing you to audition for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are those <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NOT </span>paying gigs, they charge $40 per a 3 minute ‘class.’ I’ve been
in contact with AEA and SAG/AFTRA about this issue – and they’ve all claimed to
be helpless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I’ve been after the
Attorney General of NY to stop these scams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With prodding by myself, in addition to their own efforts, LA has been
very successful in getting <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">major</span>
attention (several articles in Variety, etc), and it seems very likely these
faux classes will soon be forbidden in CA as the ‘pay to play’ efforts that
they are. If we can get that unity in NY, the equity of being in a low paying
show can once again be a major benefit as a stepping stone to higher paid work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Who
the hell am I?</span> </b>Allie Damn Mulholland, founder and Artistic Director of the
501c3 ReGroup Theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will the future
bring? Who knows? Maybe actors will settle with being better paid laborers. Still,
like with politicians, union leaders are known to lie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(At my AEA orientation, when asked the ‘cons’
of being in Equity, I mentioned wanting to do work of my own, only to have the
leaders literally <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">provoke</i> the entire room
into laughing at me and wrote on the chalkboard (WITH quotes) “Artistic
Ventures.” I’ve met with Equity, they’ve given me their word as Fair Wage team claims
they have to them. Their word has been proven to be worthless to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m the shyest guy around, but one thing I
can do is stand on the last 2 President’s desk in their multi-million dollar
office overlooking Times Square and beat them in knowledge of our American
theatre history. I’m not talking trivia; I’m talking the process of passing the
baton. Maybe I’ll finally quit Equity for their constant ‘miscommunicating’ (which
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">some</i> would call lying), maybe I’ll
run for President or start a rival theatre artists union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For more than a year, I’ve been advocating
for the LA 99 SEAT Plan to help them keep the best plan for themselves, as
determined by the people who do the work. Even though their local AEA members
voted down a change to the plan by a 2/3 margin, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AEA overturned their member’s vote due to the amount of actors who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">didn’t vote</i>. By that philosophy, if 190
actors are against the current code, the other 40,000 are for it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note
to Mrs. Clinton – under this warped logic, anyone registered who didn’t vote meant
to vote for you! Yes, this was originally aimed as The Donald as it sounds like crap he'd use, but AEA used it
against its members.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>First off, it’s
sad and sick that our union would ignore their members but again, they also claim
to have 10,000 more members than the Dept of Labor is aware of. (Are the
counting dead members?) They are not “50,000 strong” just as they argued with
me their slogan wasn’t “Ask if it’s Broadway.” After I complained, they swore
it was ‘Ask if was Equity’ and I was making things up until I sent them the link
to their own website headed, “ASK IF IT’S BROADWAY!” (As<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> if</i> Broadway means <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">quality</span>
in the first place. hahahaha) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A week
later, it was changed, though I have copies of the original page. </span>
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Hoping they would help defend our theatre as their predecessors did, I’ve
reached out to many of our established young-ish playwrights and directors, who
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all </i>luckily have been fortunate to
have been trust fund babies. That’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> truly
</i>great for them, but it seemingly has taught them not to wager into anything
controversial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have countless emails
saying this – and even though some of our older playwrights were also from extremely
entitled backgrounds, Edward Albee to name the most obvious, were radicals when needed.
Now is the time they are needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a
shame that most everyone cares about their own careers and their IMDB position
more than the theatre. The Group Theatre wanted to take over Equity, so this is
not a new problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">When I helped start the NY Actors Standing in Solidarity
with the LA Actors, I did it believing that NY was next to be targeted – not to
bring actors more money, but to limit productions and make Equity more money.
(Google how much the NY office of AEA is in debt, how they’ve made mind numbing
decision to keep it there, and you will too be surprised.) A few actors may
make more money if this ‘fair wage’ passes, but it will also cut the number of
shows produced. Though this is supposedly a grassroots effort now taken on by
AEA, I’ve said for years Equity was out to kill the Showcase code and likely
off-Bway as we know it. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After all, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">they’ve let it rot for over 30 years</span>.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I interviewed all 3 AEA Presidential
candidates in the last 2 year, and had long face to face meetings with 2 of the
3, and my main concern was modernizing the Showcase code – <u>the code that preceded
all our current major non-profits</u> and keeps our newer nonprofits from
paying a decent wage. As an upstart non-profit theatre, with ReGroup, try applying for a
grant to pay actors – when you often need to make $50,000 or $500,000 a year to
even qualify for the grant. It’s impossible under our union's current codes. With $18 per ticket limits, plus
<u>free </u>tickets to union members, press <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i>
industry, theatres can't do that anymore, and I don't believe it's a coincidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equity set the Showcase top ticket price at
$15 in 1982– so reportedly not to interfere with commercial
Broadway/Off-Broadway tickets. For the dozens who care about American theatre
history, this was a huge turning point. Yes, in the 80’s, AIDS took an
unmeasurable hit on the American theatre – but off-off/off-Broadway, has seemingly
remained stuck in an amber state of stagnation because of Equity not wanting competition with
Broadway. Again, while people can youtube #fairwageonstage, if decades too late. And if you listen to
most of the posts, the people speak of how they would not trade their off-Broadway
credits for anything. These people are now sitcom and Broadway stars and actual
millionaires. Yes. 95% of the US population deserves more pay for what they do
– including the theatre world. Sadly, that’s life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Few have a chance of riding their early career to fortune. </span>The theatre is part of that world it imitates,
as much as it often doesn’t want to admit it. Theatre is a slowly dying art
form. It has been for centuries, but currently, as seen by the videos of the Fair Wage crew, you can go from meaningful, low paying stage work to wealth. That doesn't happen to most of the characters we play.</span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
Again, according to Equity, their most used code is the Showcase, by a huge,
HUGE margin. Yet, almost all of their income comes from Broadway. Therefore,
it’s clear where their allegiance lies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While off-Broadway actors continue to slobber over how little they make
on union shows, those <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are minimum prices
– not maximum</i>. Again, while I believe they should be paid as much as
possible, larger salaries are often NOT possible. When ReGroup first started
and could pay nearly nothing, we’d get an average of 2,000 submissions <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per</i> role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The good producers are doing the best they
can. (ReGroup alone has provided housing, groceries, loaned emergency money,
held birthday parties, etc, etc for our staff whenever humanly possible. WE
WANT TO DO AS MUCH AS WE CAN!) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MANY
PRODUCERS DO SO</i>. They are not the enemy and they are not God, and the theatre is not
“their institution.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">YES! You want to argue. I’ve said all I have to say. You
want a fair wage – well, fuck Van Gogh for only selling 1 painting in his life.
Fuck all the actors who inspired you to walk the boards. That’s old timey stuff for people
in their 30’s like me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, Dwayne,
“the Rock”, Johnson is the United States’ highest paid actor. Be like him! That’s
something to aim for! And, after you completely digest that sickening fact,
which you hopefully cannot, I ask all actors to review their ‘worth’. I,
personally, made good money on the soaps right before they closed shop a decade
ago, but I’d trade it for the unpaid 80 hr weeks, casting, re-casting, directing,
acting, understudying,set designing, stage managing, sewing costumes, typing
the script for publication, giving interviews, mopping the stage floor, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I’ve stood with my union. Despite sickness and crippling
pain, I’ve never withdrawn my will advocating for the theatre– even when I had
nothing to benefit from it. I want to leave our theatre a better place. While
AEA may be about protecting the actors, I am about protecting the theatre. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, the theatre has <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>always been ‘dying,’ – in this age, where kids
are growing up with gadgets like even the youngest amongst us can’t relate to,
it’s only going to become more difficult to get asses in seats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">So I’m sure many of you are pissed, and honestly, I’m fine
with that. Focus it at the right target – not at me or the others for uncovering it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focus it on those who have kept things status quo for decades. Having volunteered regularly since I was 8 years
old at nursing homes– <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>having published
12 of the Group plays, for the first time in 80 years <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when no one else could get the rights</i>, having had my ideas stolen repeatedly
from rich theatres – and having never made a <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">cent </span>off of any of it – I’m not romanticizing being poor. It sucks. I needed
brain surgery last fall and have been mostly unable to work this year. Did this
give me a new found sense of self or of the theatre? Not a freaking chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only reaffirmed the work was always the
most rewarding thing. When you can’t do it, you really see that.</span></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Our theatre will survive – with or without you or little old
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s combine our knowledge and
skills to make it the best it can be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So, what’s it all
about, Allie?</span> </b>While I believe the non-Broadway contracts should have been
updated long ago and not neglected as they have been, changing them isn’t black
or white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were left to rot for a reason. It’s not all an actor issue, and raising actor’s pay
isn’t possible by the snap of the fingers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The producers, unless they are one-dimensional douchebags, aren’t holding out on
you. They are largely doing the best they can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Without Equity allowing for producers of off and off-off Broadway to
make major changes to compensate for nearly 40 years of stagnation, which I doubt they
ever will, nothing will change noticeably. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Sadly, I believe we need a new union. Others have been around to help me fight this battle, but have been driven off by the negativity. In the end, you are only hanging yourself.</span></div>
<b>
</b></h2>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-34105100471584801382016-04-25T16:45:00.002-07:002016-04-25T20:08:09.718-07:00Teetering on the Proscenium’s Edge<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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In our last show, we built a proscenium in a black box. Our ‘just
out of school’ SM insisted we build a rail around the front of the stage, as ‘if
an actor fell off, it would ruin <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her
future career’</i>. (Stupid comment number 4216 in my book.) She threatened to
quit if we didn’t build a railing across the proscenium. We didn’t, and she
didn’t quit – unfortunately.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the past 6 years, I’ve made myself an advocate, near
martyr for the theatre as a whole. No one wants to give a shit about the
theatre, just their career. (Maybe as I've given up on having a 'career,' I'm free to be the janitor.) What I’ve done, I’ve done willingly and never
asked for a single thank you – though I gotten 2 or 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did it freely, at huge risk to my mental
and physical health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last week, in the ICU,
it didn’t look like I would make it, and I was OK with that. It made me take
note of the things I have and haven’t accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among those were changes to the 34 year old
Equity Showcase code or the pay-to-play audition scams that pervade our
industry. Yet, I cannot do these things alone, and actors, who feel themselves
minions and not artists, are mostly too afraid to step forward and defend
themselves for fear of repercussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
a theatre, we’re worse off than we were 100 years ago. But I cannot fight for
people unwilling to stand up for themselves. We’ve been trained to be talented,
agreeable drones. There’s no art there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(See the previous column.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ReGroup is in its 6<sup>th</sup> year. We’ve never made a single
cent. At this point, it’s understandable, but every time we announce a show, it
gets poached from us by one of 2 theatre companies. HOW RIDICULOUS?! I can
understand this shit happening in Hollywood, where there’s MONEY being made,
but poaching 80 year old forgotten scripts that don’t make money, is just ridiculous.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And Equity doesn’t care. I criticized Madame President, whom
I campaigned heavily for, for being a jock sniff for Hamilton in a multi-page
Variety essay. When there are so many pressing issues ready to tear Equity
apart, she writes a fluff piece promoting Hamilton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just what the 50,0000 members need!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And as far as Equity protecting its members, a union member
who saw our last production for free – with his union card - interrupted the show, then posted all
kinds of nasty shit about us and me – including he hopes I need more brain surgery,
I’m so fat, etc – online, while blocking us from responding – Equity can’t do
anything about that? (Even though there are whole websites where he’s done the
same to other theatres, yet has NO credits himself.) I wrote Equity about the problem, to which they replied, I need to put my complaint in writing. ?????????????????????</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, maybe, when I’m feeling better, I’ll take the one foot
off the proscenium. Maybe not. I can’t fight battles for drones too weak to
stand up for themselves, even when that means fighting their own union.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We get the theatre we deserve.<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60x5x6eIWUeMJ3yuyyR1f5ZU9ZIcjLPWmE8cWIicWh_pNDOPnhFqn_r6PsWar5nx8XATBihzEkqKPx5CjxxCgbHuWWSaJpMvcSvfiLZpQmupuWUu5hm0uGYRkEtv39xMmcM7G7ZzS43Q/s1600/temp.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Until we breed a braver class; I think I am done.<br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-9790767221547585192016-04-06T16:39:00.000-07:002016-04-06T16:39:11.982-07:00The Most Important Word for an Actor Is...........<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eIukb2BHxBi9yHeczfiA7UIOoryHBVDGkAy2bpS8IppPHAca8R9cOWgeix6NCPLrEdA6xFhKedEKZF42SMLgYTWi1AXp7BNlhRpDesCrj4OG3dQZEYpq2STpegQjKx_rwnaDh_e0p3c/s1600/lets-dunce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eIukb2BHxBi9yHeczfiA7UIOoryHBVDGkAy2bpS8IppPHAca8R9cOWgeix6NCPLrEdA6xFhKedEKZF42SMLgYTWi1AXp7BNlhRpDesCrj4OG3dQZEYpq2STpegQjKx_rwnaDh_e0p3c/s320/lets-dunce.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Names or gender may have been changed to protect the
guilty.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this business – in New York City, just when you think you’ve
heard and seen it all, someone stoops even lower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That brings me to the main lesson taught in most schools now
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the most important thing about acting</i>
– it’s a single word… Can you guess?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where it once was ‘objective’ or ‘spine’ or something
active, it is now ‘TYPE’. The character doesn’t matter, the play doesn’t
matter, all that matters is knowing your ‘type’ and sticking to it. What 'type' are you most likely to play? The first
time I heard it was in a ‘Business of Acting’ class at NYU my freshman year. We
were told we’d<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> never</i> make it in the business
if we didn’t know whether we were a ‘Pacey’ or a ‘Dawson’. (Hell, I’d been studying
with ‘Joey’ for years before, and I'm certain she didn't know she was a ‘Joey.’ She
just knew she had a rich daddy.) Sure, it’s good to know what you’re best for,
but dear God, it’s called acting. (And even at NYU, the money factory that it is, the 1 hr business class was a supplement to 28 hrs a week of actual training.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During a recent production, 2/3 of the way through the run, I
had an actress tell me she wasn’t going to play the character as written or as
I’d directed – as it wasn’t “behooving” her career. She was a bombshell, and
would never get cast as a dork, so she was going to disregard the play and
everything else, as casting people need to see her playing her ‘type’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, Lady Brilliance got no laughs that
night, which were crucial to <i>her</i>, as she was not playing the role. She changed back – unless she knew there was a Casting Director in the audience –
then damn the play and the other actors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
‘Type’ is what they teach today, especially in these $50 for
4 minute workshops that are all the rage and that I am fighting tooth and nail.
‘Know your type. Play your type. Be yourself. ONLY.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How boring! And yes, this actor, errr... actress is a regular at these things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 48.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s called
acting!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A production is about honoring the playwright. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry to shatter some notions, but it’s not
about your career. You’re not acting in a vacuum. If you want to do a one
person show all about you, than do it yourself. Don’t fuck with someone else’s
show. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re part of an ensemble, do
not change your character to fit your ‘type.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If playing against your ‘type’ is detrimental
to your career, then you need to find another career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, a lot of this goes back to teaching – aka these
commercial 4 minute ‘classes’ that don’t give a damn about talent or craft as
many of them wouldn’t recognize talent if it bit them in the ass. They want you
to ‘play’ yourself; it simplifies things for them – but real talent and real
casting directors can see you become something other than you are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(To me, that’s the exciting, fun part of
being an actor.) </div>
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So yes, while there is a point of knowing the business side
of acting, when that becomes the primary focus, you are fucked. You may get
cast once but never again. And as big as NY seems, it’s a small world after all.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-15948160397931317862016-02-20T01:04:00.002-08:002016-02-20T01:14:21.449-08:00We Don't Give A Shit About the Theatre - (as Long as our checks clear)<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dZIjcZ1h4it8vBWd-cjfF4EiUAIw07hmjEPa949IK1GAG-OnDZRftftj7UXAEKhlXoj2Yv21Ybwdy1CfiEBte9qO-z5OJjsa9JUfxd27w7eaKSmjOe62GeDOU4_jyLW_pMR04b89Fm4/s1600/img_3211.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dZIjcZ1h4it8vBWd-cjfF4EiUAIw07hmjEPa949IK1GAG-OnDZRftftj7UXAEKhlXoj2Yv21Ybwdy1CfiEBte9qO-z5OJjsa9JUfxd27w7eaKSmjOe62GeDOU4_jyLW_pMR04b89Fm4/s400/img_3211.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, there's lots of things wrong with our theatre and no one seems to care. Well... many DO care, but they are terrified of being blacklisted. We've encountered this repeatedly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Up first, our beef with Equity's 34 yr old outdated code. The price was set at a max price of $15 in 1982, and eventually raised to $18. A movie ticket now costs more than a Showcase in Manhattan. (IF raised just for the most standard inflation, the price would now be at least $37.) While EVERY theatre company I've spoken to, including theatre advocacy groups who raise $ to do just this sort of thing, agree- they are afraid to make any moves against AEA in fears they'll be blacklisted. If you are afraid of your union, there are BIGGER problems at stake. After 5 years of pleading our case, Equity has allowed us to charge the requested max of $35. We'll see how that turns out as we open in 2 weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The other 'YUGE' problem we have with the current theatre is that in order to audition, you have to lay down $$$$ to get seen. Even when I briefly had a manager, she pushed me to 'pay to audition' for a casting director, who was younger than me, and told me how to do Odets'. 'Do it casually'. Sure, I could do it, "If only music shot bullets (shrug, ho hum)" - I came to learn how stupid many CD's are. Especially those that charge to meet with you. In my early 20's, I spent a fortune on classes at Actors Connection, The Network, One on One (which was once a reputable casting house) and others. Since then, I have actors in ReGroup who are at that similar age (and some twice the age - just trying to keep up) telling me they spent $75 for a 5 min audition (and often MUCH more) and it makes me angry! I am overly protective of my actors. Showcases pay little, if anything, <u>but </u>they were a way to be<b><i> seen </i></b>and they don't CHARGE you anything. How can you compare paying to do a 2 minute monologue to being seen in an acclaimed full play? You Can't! (Though, certain agents offer to come to your shows if EVERYONE in the cast pays them. HELL NO!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While the leaders of these so called '3 minute classes' used to be Junior Agents at best, they now include Lincoln Center and other seemingly reputable places. It's become the new normal. NO OTHER INDUSTRY WOULD ALLOW SUCH A 'PAY TO PLAY' SCHEME EXISTS. The leaders would be in jail! So why don't our unions do anything about it? I've asked them both, and they say "Their hands are tied." Are they getting kickbacks? I really don't think so, but who knows. They claim as these paid auditions are called 'classes' or 'seminars', they can't stop them. The Attorney General can. It's false advertising. It's illegal. If the unions can't stop it, then it's up to us to do it. Again, I've gotten so many encouraging replies from actors who are afraid to be blacklisted if they say anything.<br /><br />I can understand that, but as adults, we all need to take a stand - if not to protect ourselves, to protect the younger versions of us that arrive everyday. As an actor, you have to put a lot of power in other people's hands. It's time to take it back from the crooks. ANY ONE who is doing these constant workshops clearly has little power to cast you. (I once traced a CD whom I'd never heard of outside of her 'classes' only to find out she taught at least 8 a week. When does she do her REAL job? She doesn't.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By ridding the world of these fake classes, not only will be getting rid of those in the business who are ONLY here to make a buck, we will drive real Casting Directors and Agents to plays to find new talent - as it used to be. The Showcase in NY and the 99 Seat Plan in LA will get its power back. But only if we demand it! It's damn sorry our unions can't/won't do this, but here we go. Sign our petition against these pay to audition sites: https://www.change.org/p/prevent-pay-to-play-auditions-in-the-arts-community</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've reached out to almost every young playwright, asking for their support, and they've ALL been too are too afraid of being unlikable. It's sad. No wonder their plays premiere at an off-off-bway house and never get another production. Teachers - please, please teach your students that the theatre is not about them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">-For those somehow confused, I, Allie Mulholland, am 'Lefty' - writer of these post. We once had guest writers, but as of now, those remaining are all attributed to me. It's time someone gave thought to the theatre as a whole and not just for their career. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-24258222625387254612016-01-29T23:16:00.002-08:002016-01-29T23:17:12.815-08:00UNION DUES AND DON'TS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As strongly
as I support the 99 seat plan and those bravely fighting to defend it, I've
been contemplating making a donation myself out of solidarity, but I just
cannot do it. I think our LA peers are getting a raw deal all around, and for
them to have to raise $75k to have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">discussions</i>
with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">their </b>union, which they keep
afloat through dues - it just seems so terribly wrong - especially when the
union already held a vote on the matter and then threw out the decision of
their members. Equity should be covering the cost of these discussions,
especially when they can pay their Exec Director a quarter of a million dollars
a year. They seem to have more money than they let on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Though, ironically, the President is a
voluntary position – yet… actors can’t volunteer for shows?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Last summer,
when people were at their justified angriest, they filed a suit against the appointed
Exec Director, only to drop it in hopes of non-hostile discussion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(As you
may or may not know, NY has been fighting against the 34 year old Showcase code
for ages now. Every one, including generations before me, went in like choir
boys asking for a holy favor, using the utmost respect, and we got years of “sure,
we’ll look into it.” (A movie ticket costs more now than the set Showcase ticket!) Change never happened, and only when we/I were at the end of
our rope and fed up with the hypocrisy, and were to fight back with facts, a
social media backing and without the constraint of pleasantries, did we make
any progress. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully, the progress
ReGroup has made in this year will be the start of major change on this coast.<br />
<br />
While it’s clearly smart not to operate solely out of anger, those feelings
were repeatedly provoked by Ms. McColl's refusal to listen, and as far as I’ve seen, nothing has
changed. You too have tried the high road so many times, maybe it’s time to
tell your union what YOU need. I’m not advocating disrespectful conduct, but
for us, it came to the point Equity would lose a lot of members, and we’d do it
in a high profile matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>EVERY single
member needs to write their own personal letter to the powers that currently
be.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The money
(and stress!) to fight for the LA 99 Seat should not be coming off the artists'
back. AS MUCH AS I SUPPORT THE CAUSE, AND AS MUCH RESPECT FOR MANY OF THE
PEOPLE FIGHTING FOR IT, AS THE OUTSIDER, I THINK THE CURRENT PLAN IS A BUM DEAL
FOR THE TALENT. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the least, there needs
to be a 501(c)(4) advocacy group formed so that artists donations can be tax
deductible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Surely, we
all want to believe Equity will play fair, but especially in the 99 Seat fiasco,
they’ve proven repeatedly that they cannot be trusted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After 5 years of persistently ignoring our
requests, they finally listened to ReGroup and gave us what little we needed. I
was one of those proud Equity members when I got the email, but I don’t believe it ever would have
happened if we hired lawyers and sat with our hands in our laps. Rally the
numbers you have. Without your dues, they can’t afford to pay Ms McColl her
yearly ¼ million dollars. Then, maybe she will listen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m 110% certain to
get more hate mail for this, but I don't have time to read it, so save your time. Thoughtful comments will be read when I get time. Whatever you, as the 99 seat community
decide, we will have your back. Please take an outsider’s POV for what it is
worth and consider saving your money for your art.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">#1Theatre </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-76580415804212203392016-01-09T23:56:00.000-08:002016-01-10T00:07:20.838-08:00Keeping the Theatre in the Past<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Below is my current letter to the Powers that Be at Actors Equity asking them to let artists be artists. We should not have to beg and grovel for basic rights, but we have... Several other groups have worked on this same project longer than we have, and though they've gotten no progress, they hold out on the hopes that it's still "Under review." The union that was to protects us now represses its poorest and largest number of people.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />NO Public Theatre, NO Manhattan Theatre Club, NO Roundabout, NO Playwrights Horizon, etc, etc, etc, can ever grow in this current environment- and I'm scared that may be intentional. This isn't about ReGroup, we'll go on somehow. It's about the theatre as a whole - the organism that supports us all. Who is tending <u>IT</u>? If we don't keep it as strong as can be, everyone will be jobless. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This ALL is much larger than ALL of us.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: red;">THE SHOWCASE CODE IS 34 YEARS OUT OF DATE!! <br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">(It's older than most of our members!)</span></span></span></b></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2476">
<div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_51367">
<span style="font-size: large;">To The Equity Powers That Be:</span></div>
</div>
<div id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2519">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2547">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2549">The Showcase price,
set in 1982, if <i class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2551"><u class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2553">ONLY adjusted for
typical inflation (not even 'crazy, overpriced NY/ loss of tons of theatres' inflation)</u><span class="yiv4628405438"> </span></i>should now be $37.<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2555"> Fact.
</span> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2549">It’s $18. <span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2557"> </span>- Less even than a NYC movie
ticket. Fact.</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2606">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2549"><br /></b></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2559">
<div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_7467">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2561">Of the 1,049 NY producing companies listed on AEA’s site, the Showcase is the most listed code. Fact.</b></span></div>
<div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_7467">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_7467">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2561">So why doesn’t
it receive any attention? If it is to be of real purpose, it must keep up with the times. I’ve<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2563"> </span>said this for too many<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_6377"> years</i>, and I’ve
offered so many olive branches to help – it’s time to demand change. You're likely sick of hearing from me, so if no one is willing to make a change, I need to know to turn in my Equity card now and only cast non-union. </b><span class="yiv4628405438" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_11878">(A dozen eggs cost 87 cents in 1982.)</span><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2561"> I DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT!</b></span></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2559">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_7470">
<span class="yiv4628405438" style="font-size: large;">(Now instead of doing a Showcase, you pay $40 for a 2 minute 'audition' with a casting director at an acting 'school.' While all AEA and SAG-AFTRA bemoan this change and say they wish they could change it, the neutering of the Showcase has surely lead to this type of 'legal' pay to audition situation.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_7470">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2561"><br /></b></span></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2565">
<div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_41574">
<span style="font-size: large;">Our
company (The ReGroup) members, the ½ whom are AEA, WILLINGLY
volunteer their time to our cause as they gain a lot of benefits from it
and we
believe we are doing something priceless. History, in such a short time,
has been on our side. Our artists may not get paid much, but our
members get written about in numerous books, and with our March show,
they have the
chance to be listed as the first NY Cast of a lost Inge play – a truly
PRICELESS accolade - but unless Equity can make some concessions to
bring the code from
the 1980’s, there’s no way we can work with these dedicated, volunteer
company
members. We will be forced to go non-union.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2652">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2567">
<span style="font-size: large;">I met with former President Wyman who was shocked by the
above statement about the code frozen in 1982 (postage stamps were 20 cents) <span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2569"> </span>–
and said he’d look into changing it. During
the election cycle last summer, I was fortunate enough to interview all 3
great Presidential candidates and speak to them extensively about the
matter. They all showed concern for such a neglected code (one that
doesn't even take in the invention of the internet - because it wasn't
invented in 1982!) President Shindle was very receptive to my pleas to
at least make it current, if not reinventing entirely.</span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_3901">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2571">
<span style="font-size: large;">ReGroup has had a traumatically, successful 5 years. With
the current limitations, there’s no way a company can rise up as the Public
Theatre, MTC, Roundabout, or Playwrights when we <span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2573"> </span>are forced to start at a budget of zero or
less <b id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2673">every</b> time.<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2575"> </span>Just because we are a
non-profit – like a school, nursing home, or library, we can’t keep asking to
burn people’s money. <b><i class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2577"><u class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2579">We are here to
serve our community, and the current code does not allow us to do that.</u></i></b><span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2581"><b> </b> (Bread was 60 cents a loaf when the code was set.) </span>As a non-profit, we deserve the right to grow
stronger and better – and Equity is preventing us from this.<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2583"> </span>No one is ever going to get rich by
producing a Showcase- I’d doubt anyone has ever broken even. As AEA<u id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_48098"> has</u> these
financial details, if I am incorrect, please share the statistics that prove me
wrong.</span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2686">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2585">
<span style="font-size: large;">I am proud to be a member of Equity – <b id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2699">and if I <i class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2587">didn’t </i>care so damned much</b> – we would
have just gone non-union from the start. Our mentors, the Group Theatre, had a similarly contentious
relationship with Equity, but were always able to work out agreements to keep the work at the forefront.<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2589"> </span>The plays we do are so pro-union, it would be
embarrassing for everyone if we had to do them non-union – but right now, we
have no choice.<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2591"> </span>The
code is just slightly
younger than me, and we can’t wait any longer for it to change to the
times. We can't stick 75 cents in the turnstile and expect to ride the
subway - as actors did in 1982.</span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2704">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2593">
<span style="font-size: large;">ALL WE WANT IS A BETTER THEATRE. WE TAKE GOLDEN CARE OF OUR
MEMBERS AND WE ARE ALL COMMITTED TO THE ART OF CARRYING THEATRE HISTORY FORWARD
– NOT AS A DUSTY RELIC BUT AS A PULSING PIECE OF LIFE. </span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2714">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2595">
<span style="font-size: large;">WE ARE WILLING TO BE GUINEA PIGS, OR WHATEVER IT TAKES.<span class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2597"> </span>NO ONE IS LOOKING TO MAKE MONEY HERE, WE JUST WANT
TO MAKE GROUNDBREAKING THEATRE AND HAVE THE <i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452408073406_51365">CHANCE </i>TO CONTINUE.</span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2716">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv4628405438" dir="ltr" id="yiv4628405438yui_3_16_0_1_1452244119721_2717">
<span style="font-size: large;">Allie Mulholland</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Accidental Rebel With A Cause<br />Founder: TheReGroup</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Actors are too scared to petition fearing union retribution. (Some trust in their supporters!) What can you do? Email as a patron demanding this 1/3 of a century code be updated!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>President Kate Shindle - president@actorsequity.org<br />Head of Showcase Dept, Toni Stanton - tstanton@actorsequity.org</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Councilman, Larry Cahn -larrycahn@gmail.com</b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-65902341502727449712015-07-12T21:54:00.002-07:002015-07-13T14:02:46.805-07:00Inge - Off the Main Road - and in to the Ditch<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h2 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Off the Main Road – and Into the Ditch</b></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhseKafKUUxBJoPzh2YGfGJT-H7uDT0LBy1y5ObgqED-ukl2XXLko1nWhkS2IrQdSPPOzi9jEUJdG35xthe_JfnXKbCXsiXnn_v92z5VZuWkjioQuDB8vMFxTDd5_6klnVEzjSm0sJUqGQ/s1600/wtf-mainroad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhseKafKUUxBJoPzh2YGfGJT-H7uDT0LBy1y5ObgqED-ukl2XXLko1nWhkS2IrQdSPPOzi9jEUJdG35xthe_JfnXKbCXsiXnn_v92z5VZuWkjioQuDB8vMFxTDd5_6klnVEzjSm0sJUqGQ/s320/wtf-mainroad.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Why has Inge become the impossible playwright? His lauded
writing is mostly from a certain time period and mostly from a specific region,
though the same can be largely said of his peers Williams and Miller. Yet, it
seems no one can direct or rarely perform Inge. The allegedly ‘newly’
discovered Inge 3 Act play <i>Off the Main
Road</i>, makes its first and possibly last full production at Williamstown
Theatre Festival. As most, if not all,
reviewers will never have had the chance to read this play, they will take this
production as the gospel. Shame on the director Evan Cabnet and to Williamstown
for hiring him. First off, the production is a dramatic comedy directed as
Greek tragedy/ melodrama where most of the laughs come at the fault of the
production. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve seen sloppy direction before, and I can understand why a
director wanted to have his name attached to the ‘first ever produced
production’ of a legendary playwright, but when you have no fucking
understanding of the material, it’s really disgusting for someone to take such
an important job when they are so incapable. Cabnet has made a career off of chit-chatty,
text driven drivel, but when it comes to something where directing muscle is
involved, his lack of talent becomes apparent.
Once again, yes, <i>once again</i>,
Inge will be the one who suffers because someone is too much of a hack to
understand his play and its humor. In
years of theatre going, from kindergarten to Broadway and far beyond, I’ve
never seen a play produced where no one did anything but talk. Zip. They might as well have had music stands as
other than an occasional sitting on a chair or sipping from the same booze
bottle, out of an entire liquor layout, they essentially stood chorus line style
and talked. Yes, they just talked. There
was NO behavior at all. Inge without behavior is deadly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Inge needs someone to fill in the action (Partially why his first hits were legendary - they were directed by Kazan, Clurman and Logan)– namely, a great director,
and in this case, there was none. A gorgeous set, which looks like it would
better fit <i>The Desperate Hours</i>, had
tons of vintage of appliances, cupboards, etc.
Only once, did someone open a cupboard to get a mug, and in a strange
cottage, they immediately knew which cupboard the mug was in. Through the
course of the play’s several months’ setting, no one brought in a new item: a
tablecloth, a flower, etc. Again, the
booze assortment grew between one Act, though everyone still preferred the one
bottle. (Were the others empty? Filled with poison in case Ms. Parsons had
enough of this mediocrity?)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The story features loosey-goosey thrill seeker Faye Bennet
Conroy Garrit, her aristocratic mother, and her 17-year old, overly-religious
daughter. We hear Faye’s mother talk about
how rumors of her further sexual escapades will only add to the ruin of her
already ‘falsely’ soiled reputation – exception, as we know, in this instance,
the implication isn’t false. In order for her character to work, the past dalliances can’t be either. (The
productions reliance on every line as fact is one of its huge downfalls. People
lie – a lot!) This promiscuity gives her parents just cause to have her married
off as a youth to a wealthy man “old enough to be her grandfather.” He soon
dies, leaving her with a fortune and a young daughter. As portrayed by Ms. Sedgwick, a theatre
novice, it seems apparent she’s wanted to play a likable character instead of
fully giving in to the seediness and ignorance of the character Inge created.
(Either this or she is just truly horrid at scrip analysis.) By ignoring this
huge character trait, it results in Sedgwick portraying a rather sophisticated character
who constantly and earnestly says really stupid, out of character things, which
get laughs, but for all the wrong reasons.
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Faye says her parents were always kind and gave her
everything she ever wanted as a child. She has the same upbringing as Teena,
the young woman in Inge’s <i>Where’s Daddy? </i>who
wishes her parents hadn’t always been so kind and had maybe roughed her up once
and a while for some excitement and so she could have felt loved. Faye fell in
love with excitement which she found in her famous baseball player Manny
Garrit. They were soon married much to the chagrin of her society family, and
she was the talk of the town – being photographed with Manny, movie stars and the Governor.
After Manny’s career fizzled, he turned to drink and frequently caused public
scenes with his wife. The scene starts with a beaten Faye, 1<sup>st</sup> time ‘victim’
of the play. The night before the play
starts, Faye dragged him to a nightclub, where he is not welcome, makes him
jealous and stays out all night without him. When she gets home, he gives her a
terrible black eye (barely visible from mid-Orchestra) and she escapes to a
cabin on the outskirts of town. Two tiny
dabs of greasepaint and the ‘huge’ bruise vanishes forever, and with a
well-placed break-of-dawn call to her mother, drawing her out of bed, the play
is off. Five minutes later, her mother
arrives, having driven from home - drawn from bed, dressed to the nines, hair
perfectly coiffed, jeweled and in her fur coat – the first of dozens of head
scratching nonsensical moments - the grandmother,
daughter and granddaughter stand in a line, have lots of exposition, and the
grandmother storms out. Moments later,
Manny the abusive husband shows up to Faye’s supposed horror. Faye the victim #2! Yet, a closer reading of the
script if that she called her mother over to the cabin, not to fight and
certainly not for comfort, but so that Manny could find her! (The fatal flaw of
this production is playing Faye as a victim – she’s the antagonist. Not the
smartest instigator, but she gets what she wants.) Instead of damning Manny for
finding her always saying let him in, which makes her seem moronic, if she were
damning him while fixing her makeup, we’d get a much clearer sense as to who
she was. A more committed or better actress, such as Carla Gugino or an older
Nina Arianda, could have knocked this complicated role out of the park.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Act II, the cab driver who dropped off Faye in the first 2
minutes returns to seduce her. The
sophisticated lady she is, she opens the door and in barely there bath towel,
and puts on false pretense about not letting him in – again drawing laughs from
the crowd as she’s playing the wrong character. To the real Faye, it’s finally,
a thrill in this lousy place! It’s presented so foolishly and in direct
opposition to the script, the oh, so clever reviewer at the New York Times suggested
a female impersonator play the part as it came across so camp. Act III, we see Manny has made the front page
of the newspaper again; this time being released for murder on account of “temporary
insanity”. Of course, when Faye realizes her daughter is entering the convent and
Manny reminds her she will be all alone once the divorce goes through, she
again wants the thrill of being with the man who’s made the front page of the
paper – for whatever reason, he is famous again. Can’t we all relate kind of
celebrity? Yet instead of playing her return to Manny as her return to fame and
shallow importance, it’s directed so sloppily and somberly, audience members
were mumbling how old-fashioned it was to have Inge return to her husband only
to be beaten or maybe killed. Her last
line, said to herself, “No. There is nothing more to say,” is said with zero
inflection as mood lighting and music come in.
NO choice has been made by actor or director. It’s mind-numbingly awful,
and it is not the script. It does look like she’s going back to, ho-hum, be
murdered, as well.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Speaking of the script, having seen the Saturday matinee and
evening performance, 10 – 15% of the dialogue was different. While mistakes happen, a line gets skipped,
etc – which makes live theatre enjoyable, I’ve never seen a production that
played so loosely with the text. YES! The text needed to be trimmed. Inge wrote
this as a short TV episode in the 60’s. It was part of a proposed tv series
ordered by NBC, but this was the only episode produced. Until 2008 when it was “found”, there was no
mention that there was ever a full play version of this script, which I think
is suspect. Was it written as a full play and cut to a 60 minute TV show? Was
it written as a 60 minute TV show and added to by someone else? Did he add on
to it, and die before he could edit it? These are all valid questions and as no
copyright exists, it’s doubtful we’ll ever get a concrete answer.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">While Faye appears in 95% of the scenes, there <i>are</i> other cast members. Legendary Estelle Parsons, playing Faye’s
mother, is given the thankless job of trying to get her onstage daughter to
react! She frequently received entrance
AND exit applause, partially due to her long experience, but because she brings
much needed life on to the stage with her. In a way too small role, Becky Ann
Baker is a treat. Faye’s daughter,
played by Mary Wiseman and her temporary beau played by Daniel Sharman, bring
an honesty of young lovers, that while it may not quite fit the era of the
play, is so sincere in its young love awkwardness, it is captivating and
exciting. As Manny, Jeremy Davidson shows great potential, but he is given
little to do but stand around with his hands on hips or sitting on an arm
chair. The heavily dramatic scenes outside are so poorly lit, they are almost
impossible to see. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Still, it all comes back to the misdirection. Even veteran
Parsons, stands around much of the time as if she were participating in a
reading. The key to Inge is in the behavior; the subtext, of which there is
none here. All the text is taken at face
value and it is a crime as so much characterization is lost. In the months that this play elapses, no one
ever does a single every day thing, such as eat, bring in groceries, wash a
dish, just ANYTHING to resemble the everyday living that Inge wrote about so
beautifully. Also, this cabin is foreign
to every character except the proprietor, yet everyone enters and knows where
every item is. NO ONE ever looks around the room to see if it is a dump or not.
This is ACTING 101!!! A character dies a horrid death in the cabin, and at one
performance, the actors talked over him as if it were a Peter Shaffer comedy.
At the 2<sup>nd</sup> performance, an actor momentarily damped his face with a
dry hand towel as if he were sweaty – he was bleeding out on the floor. I’m not
sure which was cornier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you want to experience Inge, any Inge, I’m afraid to say
at this point, you’re going to need to pick up a script and read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Allie Mulholland is the founder and director of the ReGroup
Theatre Company. He’s also published the Lost Group Theatre Volumes 1-3. While
every artists has the right to make mistakes, he’d drop dead if he ever
directed anything this poorly. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Yes, this seems particularly harsh. We live in a
theatre where we give too many proverbial 'participation ribbons.'
"Well, they tried." That's not enough. </b> </span> </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-73657266439347267722015-04-16T20:08:00.001-07:002015-04-16T20:08:37.424-07:00Questionairre 3 of 3 from AEA Presidential Candidates - Current President Nick Wyman RespondsI've yet to read the comments myself, but we all appreciate Nick taking the time to respond. Many thanks!<br />
<br />
Dear Allie, Colin et alia,<br /><br /> Both Larry and Kate have beaten
me to the punch on these questions, and they have carried off most of
the prizes and tipped hats for their articulate answers, but I am happy
to add a few points of my own.<br /><br />---------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />While
Equity has done a promotional campaign “Ask if it’s Equity/Ask if it’s
really Broadway,” (As if Broadway equals brilliance!) regarding the
non-union tours, it’s equal to trying to plug the hole in the boat after
Equity allowed it to start sinking. On the same note, many union
actors/SMs claim the lowest tier Union tours are now beneath the
non-union standards. What are your comments? <br /><br />It's a
misrepresentation to say SET-Agreement tours are beneath non-union
standards and here's why: the Short Engagement Touring Agreement
provides for work rules, travel rules, pension credits, health payments,
and other worker protections that are nowhere to be found in a
non-Equity job. Also, the SET Agreement and the Tiers of the Production
Contract provide for a back-end profit participation that in some cases
(Newsies, Les Miserables) brings the minimum salaries above Production
Contract minimum. That said, one of the difficult decisions in creating
these contracts, particularly the SET Agreement, was where to draw the
line on compensation . As Kate pointed out in one of her comments, $550
per week plus per diem may seem like an insult to a NYC member used to
making Production contract money but it may seem like a fabulous
opportunity to a member in Seattle or Chicago or Minneapolis.<br /><br />And
Equity deserves a great deal of credit for seeing the handwriting on
the Touring wall and creating the Tiers, which have brought the vast
majority of the one-week touring market back into the Equity fold. And
given that it is the local presenters (with whom we have no bargaining
relationship and therefor no leverage) who determine the guarantee our
bargaining partner the producer will receive -- which determines what
level tier or SET agreement the contract is and therefore how much the
minimum will be, Equity deserves even more credit for coming up with a
strategy (telling subscribers and patrons to "ask if it's Equity") to
put some pressure on the presenters to choose the Equity tours marketed
by our bargaining partners rather than the cheaper non-Equity tours.<br /><br />And
nobody is saying that Broadway equals brilliance (though I have seen
some fantastic work on Broadway this season.) The campaign is about the
quality of the contract -- union protections, benefits, work rules --
not the quality of the work.<br /><br />Though the Union was
formed to protect its members, what, if any, responsibility does the
Union have in serving, nurturing, promoting the theatre? Without IT,
we’d all be jobless.<br /><br />I refer you to the Preamble to the
AEA Constitution. "We hereby constitute ourselves a voluntary
Association to advance, promote, foster, and benefit all those connected
with the art of the theatre and particularly the profession of acting
and the conditions of persons engaged therein; to protect and secure the
rights of actors; to inform them as to their legal rights and remedies;
to advise and assist them in obtaining employment and proper
compensation therefor." That is our mission. I take it seriously. <br /><br />Today
at the meet and greet for the play I am doing at the Long Wharf, I
buttonholed the theater's chairman of the board and talked to him about
board development and the need to find new board members and new sources
of funding as local banks and utilities are subsumed into megabanks and
conglomerates. I make it my personal mission to attempt to improve the
financial health of every theater organization I encounter. Why? Not
just because I love Theatre, but because a healthier theatre can hire
more actors and pay them more.<br /><br />That's why I wish those who
cajoled the head of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of
the California Assembly's "Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism &
Internet Media" committee and the Entertinment committee of the Valley
Industry & Commerce Association to issue statements opposing
Equity's efforts to change 99 Seat Theatre had instead used those
lobbying efforts to convince those worthies to create some laws and
regulations that would actually support Theater: rent subsidies,
allocation of sales tax dollars, etc. etc.<br /><br />HOW do
you think the change to the 99-seat plan, as it currently exists, will
help/hurt the LA Theatre and the theatre community as a whole?<br /><br />Okay.
This question, if I understand it correctly, needs a six-month answer.
I will try to be succinct. The current Equity proposals have
frequently been described as "one size fits all," but there are three
separate categories: the Self-Produced option, the Membership Company
rule, and the 99 Seat Theatre Agreement, which is basically the current
Plan with wages for rehearsal and performance instead of just a stipend
for performance. In fact, the current 99 Seat Theatre Plan is actually
"one size fits all:" whether you are a hole-in-the-wall artist
collective or a well-established theatrical producing entity, you all
get to take advantage of the same sweetheart deal of no rehearsal pay,
modest performance stipends and up to 80 performances. That sweetheart
deal is very supportive of the member who has a hankering to put on a
show with some pals but serves as a powerful disincentive for an
established producer to use a theater of more than 99 seats or to put
actors on contract. The current Equity proposals are, in my opinion, an
improvement over the current 99 Seat Theatre Plan as they stand. But I
have heard lots and lots of suggestions for changing/improving the
Equity proposals, and I firmly believe that some of those will be
adopted next week in Council. Should significant changes be made to the
99 Seat Theatre Plan such that the Plan is no longer available to the
members, the union will be free to meet with producers, theatre
companies, producer-members, etc. directly rather than going through the
Review Committee. The union will then have the power to tweak, revise,
expand, improve the 99 Seat Theatre Agreement and the internal
membership rules.<br /><br />I absolutely believe that the future of Theatre in LA will be better and brighter.<br /><br />What
is your take on the methods Equity is using, including the Anti-99
phone bank, to confuse its membership during the 99 Seat voting process?
(Matter of fact, this includes the lies in the phone bank towards Blank
Theatre, the tone of many of the councilors, McColl's use of double
speak and obfuscation, the incredibly insidious change in mid-stream
saying yes means you want change and after you vote yes THEN they'll
change the proposals, it goes on and on, and the behavior has seriously
eroded the legitimacy of Equity in this town. Examples here: <a href="http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=actors+equity+99+seat&x=30&y=7#sthash.Nxu70Os7.dpbs" target="_blank">http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=actors+equity+99+seat&x=30&y=7#sthash.Nxu70Os7.dpbs</a><br /><br />Phone
banks are a get-out-the-vote tool. Your elected leaders voted
overwhelmingly in favor of the current proposals, so those folks manning
the phone banks represented the union's position. (And let's drop
"anti-99" as well as "anti-union.")<br /><br />As to the Blank Theatre, I
have no idea what their rent situation is, so I will accept their
disclaimer. Regarding their statement that the reason they have not
fulfilled their avowed (since 1990) intent to become a LORT theatre is
solely the 2008 recession and not the financial advantage of the 99 Seat
Theatre Plan, that seems disingenuous. Dozens and dozens of theatres
across the country have fought through the financial setbacks of
2008-2009 to come onto Equity contract.<br /><br />As to the tone of
my fellow councillors, maybe the truly surprising part is how civil
they generally have been. There has been a lot of invective, outrage
and unbridled passion flowing into our e-mail inboxes. (We have also
received a number of calm, rational, and genteel notes asking me to vote
"No" and thanking me for my service.) Actors, perhaps by definition,
have easy access to their emotions; there have been lots of rude things
said on both sides.<br /><br />For myself, I have always seen though the
language to the passion and commitment to LA Theatre and to a cherished
method of exercising one's craft. I have seen the fear and the anxiety
that those cherished opportunities would be destroyed. That is what I
have always responded to.<br /><br />As to Mary McColl, I have spent four
years working by her side, and I tell you she is simply the best. You
want her in your foxhole. You want her on your negotiating team. You
want her as your Executive Director. Rather than being obfuscatory, she
is a remarkable straight-shooter. I back her all the way.<br /><br />I am
not fond of the idea of promoting a Yes vote as a vote for "change in
general" because both the Vote Yes for Any Sort of Change and the Vote
No if you want Change But Not This Change have muddied the waters.<br /><br />The
LA 99 seat code ‘VOTE FOR A CHANGE” says it’s for any change, whatever
the change is will be decided later. While both coasts want change to
the 99 Seat, we don’t want to write a blank check that allows for
someone to fill in the blanks later. IF the proposed 99 change passes,
WILL members get to vote on those specific changes later?<br /><br />The
check is far from blank. The shy, bashful LA County members have
managed to be surprisingly articulate and forthcoming in what they want
and don't want in a theatrical agreement and in their theatrical
opportunities. "Both coasts want change to the 99 Seat," you say.
Good, because I believe change is coming. It will reflect the survey of
the LA members, it will reflect the focus groups, it will reflect the
Town Hall Meeting and the Special Membership Meeting, it will reflect
the dozens and dozens of e-mails we have received. And no, members will
not get to vote on those specific changes -- just as members do not
currently get to vote on the HAT contract or the SPT contract.<br /><br />Why
has it taken Equity 25 years to suddenly realize that they are
"breaking federal labor laws" in regard to the 99-seat code? Why didn't
they bring this minimum wage ‘issue’ up back in the 80's? (Respectfully,
please don’t say, “We’re not lawyers.” ANY Union has plenty of lawyers,
and plenty of its members are lawyers who say this is absolutely
untrue.)<br /><br />Equity is not breaking federal Labor laws
because we are not the Employer. Although I agree with the Federal
government that employers should pay employees at least minimum wage,
the impetus for this change came from members who approached us last
year about their wish to be compensated for their work.<br /><br />Why
is Equity trying to quickly pass the 99 seat change instead of sitting
down with the members who have been making theatre to get actual factual
evidence on the business of theatre in L.A? Why not use the resources
and firsthand knowledge of the AEA actor-producers who have been making
great work for the last twenty five years?"<br /><br />Equity has
solicited input from members and producer-members for months now. The
current 99 Seat Plan stipulation that Equity must deal only with the
Review Committee has limited Equity's ability to deal with and be
responsive to individual producer-members.<br /><br />Where do you
stand on the statement, AEA needs to “protect” actors from themselves?
To the adult actors, that seems condescending. Pacino has publicly says
he does ‘shit’ movies so he can return to the poor paying work that
really matters. IF there are sleazy small time producers, making big
bucks – why don’t you stop then, instead of everyone??<br /><br />I
think the union does indeed have an interest in protecting actors from
undervaluing their work. Al Pacino doesn't need to make money from his
stage work; not all actors are so fortunate. A young actor offered a
Broadway show might well be happy to do that show for $50 a week in
order to get the exposure; that would not be good for other actors.<br /><br />The
uproar to the 25 year old 99-seat plan has been tremendous, and
rightfully so. The NY version, The Showcase Code, is 33 years old. When
established in 1982, the Showcase code clearly made no exceptions for
social media, the internet, diminishing rental space, etc. – It also
established the top ticket price at $15. JUST adjusted for inflation,
that is the equivalent of $36.49 in 2015 USD. The current top ticket
price is $18 – less than some Manhattan movie tickets. What changes do
you propose for the Showcase code? <br /><br />I am not currently
proposing any changes to the Showcase Code, but I think the time has
come to remove the top ticket price limitation.<br /><br />Several
members of the AEA council have repeatedly referred to Equity members
who oppose the proposal as "anti-union" and suggested if they don't
support it, they should quit. Do you support a union member's right to
express disagreement about matters of policy? What are Councilors'
responsibilities regarding how they treat fellow union members?<br /><br />I
totally support members' rights (and councilors' rights) to express
disagreement, both as a free speech issue and because I find dialectic
to be an effective way to develop strong policy. I think "anti-union"
is a mistaken and unfortunate characterization. (I also disagree with
the locution "Pro-99" -- a distressing echo of "pro-life" -- as if
Equity leadership were "anti-99.") We are indeed all on the same side:
the side of Theater, the side of improving and increasind opportunities
for actors and stage managers. We just disagree about our methods.<br /><br />Why, if at all, is the 99 seat/Showcase codes important to you?<br /><br />As
I have consistently written (I refer you to my Equity News column
"Work, Art, and 'Work'"), I acknowledge the value of Theater as a source
of Creativity and Community and Career Opportunities, and in my own
life, those have frequently trumped Cash as a reason to do a particular
job. <br /><br />As all theatres need to report final
statistics, why can you tell us what percentage of 99 seat/Showcase code
theatres made a profit in 2014? This has to be an easy number to get –
yet no one seems to know it.<br /><br />Sadly, I am sure that number
is zero. I assume that most 99 Seat Theatres are not-for-profits, and
by their very definition they do not (and legally cannot) make a profit.
Even more sadly, Theater in general does not make a profit. Box office
receipts usually cover only about 50% of a theater's expenses.
Theaters, even the big-name theaters, have to scrounge for donors and
patrons and grants and corporate support to make ends meet. <br /><br />The theatre should never be just an employer. It’s not Starbucks. Where do you think the theatre fits in to today’s culture?<br /><br />I
love Theater. I love seeing Theater, and I am a cheerleader and a
champion for the shows I see. I love doing Theater because it gives me
the chance to work on more interesting roles than the stuff I do on TV
and film and because when you do a play or a musical you become a family
and I love my theatrical families. (I refer you to my Equity News
column "Why I Do Theatre" and the piece on my Facebook candidacy page
"The Case for Analog Entertainment in a Digital World.")<br /><br />Several
members of council have repeatedly referred to Equity members who
oppose the proposal as "anti-union" and suggested if they don't support
it, they should quit. (Very Boss Fatt of them!) Do you support a union
member's right to express disagreement about matters of policy? What are
Councilors' responsibilities regarding how they treat fellow union
members? IF NO ONE is running against them, what are our rights as
members to remove them from office?<br /><br />If the non-star members do
make a mass exodus from Equity after the 99 seat vote – and it is a
reality on both coasts, what are your thoughts. NO ONE wants to leave,
but it may be the only choice that it left? <br /><br />It is the
"non-star members" for whom the union exists. In 1913, stars like Mary
Madden Fiske and Francis Wilson didn't need a union to achieve fair
treatment from employers. If members disagree with Council's decision
on 99 Seat Theatre -- whatever that decision may turn out to be (and I
truly have no more idea of what Council will decide than I do of who
will win the 2015 World Series) -- then I strongly suggest that members
continue to make their case to their elected officers and councilors
about how to improve Theatre in LA. Work from within to effect change.<br /><br />Harold
Clurman, one of the greats of the American Theatre – talked about
artists versus the ‘employees’ sitting in sludge and just wanting a job,
or as he stated were “more frequently known as an Actor Equity Member.
How, if at all, has that changed in 60 years?<br /><br />We actors
and stage managers exist simultaneously as artists and as
small-businesspeople. We all want to do good work -- Art when possible
-- and we all want to make some money doing it. I have never sat in
sludge (whatever that metaphor might mean) but sometimes I just want a
job and I'm not too fussy about the Art part. The union exists to
ensure that actors and stage managers get fair treatment and make some
money; the union doesn't enter into the subjective world of Art -- good
art vs. bad art vs. non-art.<br /><br />There are
150 times the companies that agree with us, cheer us, and tell us, we
are going to get blackballed as we asked for a better Union! If we were
anti-union, we would have left and saved ourselves the hassle. What do
you feel about this huge majority of people who are AFRAID of their
union????<br /><br />No one at Equity -- staff or councillors -- is
going to blackball anyone. (What would I blackball you from? The LORT
committee?) I agree that some people are afraid, but I certainly hope
they aren't afraid of the elected representatives and the staff that are
here to serve them. I think the fear is members' concern about the
possibility of losing valued opportunities to practice their craft. I
share that concern and as I work to create theatre that values actors, i
am also working to maintain if not increase opportunities for our
members.<br /><br /><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-17922270646307151452015-04-13T13:50:00.000-07:002015-04-13T13:50:08.607-07:00STATISTICALLY – NOT ARTISTICALLY SPEAKING<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yPBSpEDgp-WfT683Wa6gPftoiFaVzyye-NZoY7-MeK50HBZmhLqpvi77tkZ_3ZORJ6fZVQEs6LonNClfjUjHkOEaWUMTpAqM0ifo80O02LezXzYre3l8xB9fDA9vRGeXvBLrP3ovoEg/s1600/women-old-fashioned-compute.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yPBSpEDgp-WfT683Wa6gPftoiFaVzyye-NZoY7-MeK50HBZmhLqpvi77tkZ_3ZORJ6fZVQEs6LonNClfjUjHkOEaWUMTpAqM0ifo80O02LezXzYre3l8xB9fDA9vRGeXvBLrP3ovoEg/s1600/women-old-fashioned-compute.gif" height="268" width="320" /> </a></div>
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One of the major issues on the small theatres, the 99 seat
in LA and Showcase code in NY, has been that producers are USING actors to get
rich while not paying them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Per the NY
Showcase, NO ONE on any show can make more money than the union actors, so there
goes the fat cat illusions. I’ve repeatedly asked for statistics, which Equity
can whip out when it benefits them, but NO ONE can give me 99 seat/Showcase
code examples or statistics showing where there are examples of
producers/directors getting rich off the backs of actors. It’s like a Hans
Christian Anderson fairy tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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How many
shows transfer to code now than they did in say, 1989? These are important
numbers? Did any of the 2014 900+ NY showcases break even and transfer? AEA CAN
PROVIDE THESE STATISTIC - THEY JUST WON'T!</div>
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<br /></div>
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The only answer I get it that 'most of these theatres are
501(c)(3)’s – (again, statistics please) and that they can’t expect to make
money as they are charities'. (Yet, whenever I’ve referred to our company <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as a charity, I get told we’ charge tiny admission’
and therefore are not by Union Standards.) While legally unsound – (“All candidates proudly proclaim
they are NOT lawyers” but if you are running for office – you wouldn’t consult
one???) museums, memorials, nursing homes are non-profits, yet they charge fees
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in order to continue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why shouldn’t we be allowed the CHANCE to
continue? And yes, in RARE cases, 501c3 directors, secretaries, etc receive a
salary. They are not working on just one show but have full time, year round
duties (And I’d bet that almost all of us who do these full time jobs, get NO <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>payment. As far as 501c3 staff, they can
legally make something like 20-30% of what they would doing the same job in the
commercial market. IF they’re making more, let the IRS get them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
THE STATISTICS ARE OUT THERE – IF A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
DOESN’T HAVE ACCESS TO THEM, THEN WHO DOES? <br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-89243841217772225982015-04-12T15:57:00.002-07:002015-04-12T20:44:37.303-07:00AEA Presidential Candidate KATE SHINDLE responds to questionnaire<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">Thanks Kate for your time!!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">As a preamble to
addressing each issue directly, I would like to state two things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, we’ve all been asked not to respond
“like a politician,” which is a confusing request to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does this mean “don’t be diplomatic?” I don’t
work that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it mean “say what
you think, regardless of the consequences?” Because I rarely, if ever, do that
in my own life, let alone when asking 50,000 members to elect me as their
advocate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I typically strive for a
balance between straight talk and consideration that there are lots of opinions
that differ from mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, I don’t agree with the premises of
all of these questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some cases, I
strongly disagree; in a couple of cases, I would classify the questions as
outright combative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I’ve learned
(over a lot of years of tangling with communication on difficult or radioactive
topics) that it’s generally better to meet the questioner where they are,
rather than where you wish they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
in that spirit, here are my thoughts. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">While Equity has done a promotional campaign “Ask if it’s
Equity/Ask if it’s really Broadway,” (As if Broadway equals brilliance!)
regarding the non-union tours, it’s equal to trying to plug the hole in the
boat after Equity allowed it to start sinking. On the same note, many union
actors/SMs claim the lowest tier Union tours are now beneath the non-union
standards. What are your comments?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 135%; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">1. Equity has heard a lot about
tiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was something of a member
revolt last year (largely young members, as it happens; the very actors and
stage managers who some assume would be thrilled to accept these contracts)
about the wages and especially about how the finances of the road have
changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I attended the Town Hall that
these members successfully demanded, and it was packed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given a sophisticated and intelligent
explanation of how touring itself has changed (guarantees, trucking costs, etc)
it seemed to me that most of those members left that room far more satisfied
than when they entered it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tells me
two things: first, we have a lot of smart members who deserve nuanced
information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And second: if we don’t
deliver that information in ways that gives them credit for more than being
able to stand on line for orange juice commercial auditions (no offense, orange
juice; you are delicious), our members start to doubt the sincerity and
transparency of their own union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
that helps absolutely no one.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I know that there are some who take these jobs just to get
health weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But also, there are
members around the country who are comparing these contracts to the
lower-paying contracts they are currently working, and who might actually
be enthusiastic about some of this work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you live in New York and your gold standard is the Production </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Contract, then sure, the numbers are lower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if you live in many other places I’ve
worked, and you could make your whole living on a tour--instead of working a
full-time day job and then rehearsing all night--you might welcome that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IMO, this speaks to a larger issue: when
everything is viewed through the lens of NYC, it does a disservice to many,
many other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And fixes like online
EPA signups, which I’ve been talking about since I took office six years ago
(and is a conversation I know continued after I left office three years ago)
could make it much easier for members in other cities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember having an early-stage meeting with
Brian Myers Cooper and a (now former) staff member at AEA, in which we were
told that online signups would be disastrous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I walked out of the meeting thinking “well, not if you live in DC,
or Philly, or Boston, and you could actually get a reasonable appointment
instead of taking a 3 a.m. bus.” </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Finally, one more
thing that will underline probably everything I say in this document: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">members must participate</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a matter of weeks, Equity will be asking
for thoughts about these exact contracts, so that the team has that information
and can use it in the upcoming negotiation of Production and Touring (including
SETA) later this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your biggest
beef with the Union is that you want better touring agreements, then for God’s
sake, participate in that discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because it enables your fellow members to walk into that room and have
more leverage on your behalf.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Though the Union was formed to protect its members, what, if
any, responsibility does the Union have in serving, nurturing, promoting the
theatre? Without IT, we’d all be jobless.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">2. Well, sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And AEA does engage in arts advocacy, some
lobbying and a fair amount of promotion of the arts in general, although our
Constitution prohibits the endorsement of political candidates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the record: there is no part of me that
believes that AEA has any interest or investment in killing theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite the contrary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And also for the record: as an actor, I have
been in a lot of rooms with a lot of producers who have told me that Equity was
trying to destroy them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it was
usually because they had asked for a concession that they had not been
given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a Councillor and then as an Officer,
I typically view minimum agreements as a baseline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a producer wants to go below the minimum
(double the permitted unpaid layoff to accommodate a star’s touring schedule,
for example, or to revive a previously-produced Showcase before the rules allow
that to be done, for another), I have to think long and hard about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And weigh the potential precedent we set by
allowing those things, and how those “exceptions” can quickly become a new
standard that everyone feels they can ask for, and that a committee then feels
compelled to grant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish everybody
would join a committee--even briefly, even as an observer--so that they
understand what a slippery slope this can be. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Equity exists to act
in service of its members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideally, that
includes the greater theatrical community as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do not believe AEA works best as a
nanny state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe it works best
when we, as members, communicate as peers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And again, the more educated our members become, and the more they
participate, the more likely we all are to be able to look at the big picture
together.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">HOW do you think the change to the 99-seat plan, as it
currently exists, will help/hurt the LA Theatre and the theatre community as a
whole?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">3. Well, I think it’s
a mess, for several reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, I
believe that minimum wage is a fine thing to aspire to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what theatre company on earth wouldn’t
need some time to adjust to such a significant budget change?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to roll it out immediately, if it does
pass, could be a disaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even if
the Union is okay with some attrition in the service of the minimum wage package,
this would mostly just do a fabulous job of reinforcing the “us vs them”
mentality that is so destructive.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Additionally, having
served on a few negotiating teams when I was a Councillor/Officer, the presence
of volunteer labor in one market has the power to erode contracts
elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to sit across the
table from employers--in San Diego or San Francisco or even LA County--and
basically say “ignore what’s happening in Los Angeles; you need to pay actors
more” when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">those</i> theatres are also
struggling to keep the lights on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are some very, very wealthy LORT theatres, to be sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also many who have been surviving
on a wing and a prayer since the crash in 2008 dried up their credit
lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when members hear “it’s a
national union,” it doesn’t mean “your local issues don’t matter.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means something closer to “we have to
examine how your local issues may affect SPT in Illinois or LOA in Florida, in
ways that you don’t intend and certainly would not wish upon those actors.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand that pro99 is fighting for their
community’s right to use their free time to create art. But this seemingly
local issue is just not that simple, when considered against the whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I should emphasize here that I do not
have any kind of vote here, as I’m neither a current Councillor/Officer nor an
LA County member.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s what
springs to mind for me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Finally, the
communication has been dreadful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve
got Councillors--who are not even authorized to speak on behalf of the
Union--unofficially trying to explain the situation on social media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve got paid-up members who say that
they’re not getting referendum ballots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both “sides” (and again, I hate using that word, because we are
ostensibly on the same side) feel victimized and criticized and defensive,
which has created so much anger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if
this was the only example of the negative consequences of poor communication
strategy, I could live with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
it’s not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a blowup almost every
year, like clockwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m talking
“major national blowup”, not “tempest in a teapot”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equity needs to recognize that despite its
intentions, there are plenty of members who apparently don’t understand what is
being said, and why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">What is your take on the methods Equity is using, including
the Anti-99 phone bank, to confuse its membership during the 99 Seat voting
process? (Matter of fact, this includes the lies in the phone bank towards
Blank Theatre, the tone of many of the councilors, McColl's use of double speak
and obfuscation, the incredibly insidious change in mid-stream saying yes means
you want change and after you vote yes THEN they'll change the proposals, it
goes on and on, and the behavior has seriously eroded the legitimacy of Equity
in this town. Examples here: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"><a href="http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=actors+equity+99+seat&x=30&y=7#sthash.Nxu70Os7.dpbs"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=actors+equity+99+seat&x=30&y=7#sthash.Nxu70Os7.dpbs</span></b></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">4. Okay, here’s where
these questions veer into the land of not-objective, but okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can’t characterize all the tactics that Equity is reportedly using,
because--for example--I’ve asked for a transcript or a legal audio recording of
an offensive phone bank call and never received one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deductive reasoning tells me that the Union
is probably advocating for its official position, which is understandable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">As for the Blank,
again, I’m only hearing what was actually said through a filter (full
disclosure: I did a show at the Blank several years ago, and have spoken to
Daniel Henning more than once about this whole 99-seat episode).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just for kicks, I went onto Guidestar and
checked out the Blank’s most recent 990, which is a good way of dispelling
misinformation...but I see that most of the figures regarding rent and other
expense specifics are blacked out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s legal, of course, but I think that the Blank could shoot any
perjorative “theories” out of the sky if they made their numbers public without
requiring in-person inquiries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
same vein, why not post a copy of board minutes, or some other document,
reflecting a discussion about converting to contract?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they intended to move in that direction
before the 2008 crash sent their plans up in smoke, this would easily reinforce
their argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to argue with
a good-faith paper trail.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Finally, I’ve been on
record several times stating that the “YES vote means that you vaguely support
change, and pay no attention to the proposals behind the curtain” message is
preposterous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of this, I think, is
Council-speak for the process, particularly the timing of when changes to the
proposals are permitted, based on the terms of the settlement agreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the many thousands of members who
don’t walk around with the Constitution, By-Laws, and Robert’s Rules of Order
in their pockets, it can certainly read as obfuscation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is why I favor more plain-English
communication between our Union and its members.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">The LA 99 seat code ‘VOTE FOR A CHANGE” says it’s for any
change, whatever the change is will be decided later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While both coasts want change to the 99 Seat,
we don’t want to write a blank check that allows for someone to fill in the
blanks later. IF the proposed 99 change passes, WILL members get to vote on
those specific changes later?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">5. I’m confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Vote For A Change?” If this refers to the
concept that members are not voting on specific proposals, but rather on the
general idea that change needs to happen (and I think that’s what’s being asked),
see above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I understand it, the
advisory vote is to be taken into account by the Council during its debate in a
couple weeks, at which time the existing proposals can be revised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The settlement agreement, as I read it, does
not require a member vote on amendments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But that would be a question for a labor lawyer, not an actor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Why has it taken Equity 25 years to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suddenly </i>realize that they are "breaking federal labor
laws" in regard to the 99-seat code? Why didn't they bring this minimum
wage ‘issue’ up back in the 80's? (Respectfully, please don’t say, “We’re not
lawyers.” ANY Union has plenty of lawyers, and plenty of its members are
lawyers who say this is absolutely untrue.)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">6. But see, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to say that I’m not a lawyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I’m not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have good reading comprehension
skills...but there are things like case law and legal precedent that I have no
clue about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the larger point, of
course, we actually don’t need to be lawyers--because our Union hires lawyers
for the express purpose of interpreting our contracts and the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And regarding the labor law issue, there are
obviously federal laws, and state laws, both of which govern employment and
both of which must be complied with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
assume that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">those</i> laws haven’t
changed in 25 years is the real problem embedded in this question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So again: a labor lawyer would be able to
point to the exact moment at which attorneys for the Union believe that the
existing 99-seat plan--or any other agreement, code, or contract--became noncompliant
with state and/or federal law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here,
again, is where I personally believe the Union could have communicated better;
as problematic as it may seem to have thousands of members trying to interpret
legislation, I would have nonetheless pushed Equity to cite the relevant
clause(s) or statute(s) right from the very beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When in doubt, choose transparency.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Why is Equity trying to quickly pass the 99 seat change
instead of sitting down with the members who have been making theatre to get
actual factual evidence on the business of theatre in L.A? Why not use the
resources and firsthand knowledge of the AEA actor-producers who have been
making great work for the last twenty five years?"</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">7. Everything that I
have read and discussed has indicated that AEA is closely following the terms
laid out in the original settlement agreement regarding any changes to the
99-seat plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would speculate that the
Union is adhering strictly to those guidelines in order to protect against
legal exposure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do know, however, that
a number of Councillors have had private conversations and small meetings with
LA members that they characterize as very productive and informative...and the
Councillors are the ones who will decide what gets finalized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know time is short, but if member-producers
would still like to speak personally to Councillors before April 21st, I
believe it’s very possible to make this happen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Where do you stand on the statement, AEA needs to “protect”
actors from themselves? To the adult actors, that seems condescending. Pacino
has publicly says he does ‘shit’ movies so he can return to the poor paying
work that really matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IF there are
sleazy small time producers, making big bucks – why don’t you stop then,
instead of everyone??</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">8. That’s a couple
different questions in one, so let me answer the easy one first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any sleazy small-time producers exploiting
actors should absolutely be dealt with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And if you personally know of any, contact me directly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will protect your confidentiality, and if I
am not elected, I will pass your concerns onto an elected official who will
talk to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if it rises to the
level of being handed to staff--for what would actually constitute
enforcement--then we’ll go ahead with that to the best of everyone’s
ability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One caveat: as I understand it,
the current 99-seat plan is very, very difficult to enforce re: producers
because, technically, it is an agreement between AEA and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">its own members</i>, not AEA and producers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">As to protecting
actors from ourselves, I’m of two minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first is that there have been times, in hindsight, that I’m glad the
Union stepped in on my behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one
instance, AEA did not allow me to sign a contract for my first major
(high-paying) role, because I had no idea that it contained an illegal clause
allowing the producers to renew me without my consent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have happily signed that and never
known the difference--but allowing that to stand could set precedent for other
actors. AEA went all the way to (successful) arbitration with that on my
behalf, while I was working under the other, legal, terms of the rider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while the producers made veiled threats
to me personally and piled on the guilt, my Union had my back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite frankly, there have been times when I
would have worked neck-deep in quicksand because I loved the project so
much...but if I do that, others will also be expected to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I’m glad that Equity sets a baseline for
professional actors and stage managers, because otherwise I would have given
away the farm on numerous occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
when you’re in a Union, it’s important to recognize that you’re not just
talking about your own farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the
other farms are potentially affected as well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">HOWEVER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The line between “protecting me” and “telling
me what to do” is a pretty bold one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
joined the Union--quite simply--to represent my professional interests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pay dues in order to work under the
protection of AEA contracts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect
Equity to step in if the provisions we’ve bargained for, over the course of a
century, are being violated or disregarded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not to say, however, that I have any interest in
Union-as-nanny-state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question of
how much freedom we are willing to give up in the interest of security is certainly
a common one, and has different answers for different people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s mine.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Oh, and obviously, Al
Pacino is a tremendous actor…but it’s hard for me to compare my career to his,
in terms of how we respectively make decisions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">The uproar to the 25 year old 99-seat plan has been
tremendous, and rightfully so. The NY version, The Showcase Code, is <u>33</u>
years old. When established in 1982, the Showcase code clearly made no
exceptions for social media, the internet, diminishing rental space, etc. – It
also established the top ticket price at $15. JUST adjusted for inflation, that
is the equivalent of $36.49 in 2015 USD. The current top ticket price is $18 –
less than some Manhattan movie tickets. What changes do you propose for the
Showcase code? </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">9. I’ve had this
discussion several times, both publicly and privately, over the past few
weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first thought is that it’s a
bit of a zero-sum game to conflate 99-seat and Showcase, unless one is trying
to gain NYC support for what’s going on in LA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which, I suppose, is fair game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Here are the things I
like about Showcase: fewer performances before converting to contract, over a
shorter period of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A true
“showcase” for actors to be seen, without the perception that it’s a real
run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My showcase work has been some of
my absolute favorite, and in at least one instance, provided me the opportunity
to do a role I almost certainly would not have been cast in otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it was Broadway, or even off-Broadway, it
would have gone to a TV or film star.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">I absolutely,
positively agree that the ticket prices should be examined, and the inflation
argument is a compelling reason to do so (although based on the regularity of
this assertion, somebody out there goes to way nicer movie theatres than I
do).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would support the caps being removed
altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, I don’t know if
there are any existing proposed modifications to Showcase, because I’m not
currently a Councillor or Officer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sidebar: when I served on the off-off-Bway committee, which regulates
Showcase, I was surprised by how many concession requests we got to a pretty
straightforward set of rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fundamentally, I don’t know that Showcase will ever be a moneymaker (nor
do I think there are many people who expect it to be), but I do believe that,
given the structure and guidelines as they currently exist, it has inherent
value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, I think it would have
solved a lot of problems if the existing Showcase code was the model for
beginning the revision of 99-seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
while we’re at it, let’s look at the Members Project Code so that we have some
parity and consistency across contracts, while still accounting for the
uniqueness of individual regions/liaison cities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Several members of the AEA council have repeatedly referred
to Equity members who oppose the proposal as "anti-union" and
suggested if they don't support it, they should quit. Do you support a union
member's right to express disagreement about matters of policy? What are
Councilors' responsibilities regarding how they treat fellow union
members?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why, if at all, is the 99
seat/Showcase codes important to you?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to be very, very clear on this
point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is my firm belief that any one
of our members who chooses to participate is pro-Union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is my even firmer belief that our Union is
well-served by members who continue to be involved when the issue they are most
passionate about is resolved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy
to get angry about one thing; I’ve done it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What’s harder, in the midst of this crazy, cobbled-together business
model, is making time to attend a committee meeting once a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is incredibly important, and that
participation directly affects our day-to-day lives as actors.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Also, there’s this
ridiculous idea that we all need to work toward consensus, all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to this, I simply throw my hands up and
ask “WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, come
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are artists, every last one of us
(yes, stage managers, you too!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Consensus is pleasant, but so much of our identity as artists is that
unique passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue that the
person who tells us to check our passion at the door is delusional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And more to the point, I don’t understand why
we’re supposed to tuck away the very thing that makes us artists when it’s time
to discuss the business of our art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i> argue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should
</i>fight for what we believe in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
should also try very hard not to be flat-out assholes to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that respect, a Union that looks quite a
lot like an exciting, collaborative rehearsal room--where there are rules of
the road, sure, but where we also aren’t afraid to have our say--is my ideal
version of Actors Equity.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">As all theatres need to report final statistics, why can you
tell us what percentage of 99 seat/Showcase code theatres made a profit in
2014? This has to be an easy number to get – yet no one seems to know it.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">11. Nope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe the current Councillors/Officers/Staff
have been studying those numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know
that a lot of them have spent time examining tax returns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But let’s be real: “profit,” especially for a
nonprofit or not-for-profit entity, is an ambiguous and fluid thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, if Theater X (a true
hypothetical; I’m just riffing here) operated under the 99-seat plan--which
obviously provides actors a stipend, but not a proper salary or benefits--and
showed zero profit for a particular calendar year, does that mean that Theater
X didn’t make any money?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, what if
Theater X paid 8 staff members?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
about 20 staff members?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about all
the designers and the musical director? What if it spent $50,000 renovating the
space?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, the people who love
and work hard for Theater X would have reasons to be proud, and the attendance
might improve, and the shows might be great. But as long as any nonprofit
entity <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spends</i> all the money it makes,
it will show no profit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So looking
simply at “profit,” instead of examining revenue vs expenses, does not reflect
the whole picture. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">The theatre should never be<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> just</i> an employer. It’s not Starbucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where do you think the theatre fits into
today’s culture?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">12. Lol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this a question?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 135%;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-Of
course the theatre *should* never be just an employer; I would argue that it
*is* never just an employer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially
to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for me to make the argument
here about why theatre is more than simple commerce would be, IMHO, preaching
to the converted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-Seriously, why the hate for
Starbucks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kinda feel like there are
some people who like working for Starbucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or making minimum wage at other jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or working purely on commission, with no salary, as I do in my day
job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This idea that “minimum wage” makes
being an actor equivalent to “all those jobs we don’t do” seems reductive to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, frankly, a bit snobby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent time talking to a young flight
attendant the other day, and I’ll tell you what I told her: I could never, ever
in a million years do what she does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t have the patience or the customer service skills to handle people at any
stage of air travel, let alone with a smile on my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure that there have been many times when
I’ve made a lot more money than she has...but I have an infinite amount of
respect for her and her coworkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
the same reason I respect people working at Starbucks; as simple as it may seem
to some, I could easily have stress dreams about trying to get the foam right
and make the caramel sauce look pretty while customers are barking at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have different skills; it doesn’t have
to become a value judgment based on take-home pay.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-If there’s one thing I think we can agree
on above all else, it’s that theatre is an extremely important part of any
culture, regardless of the era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
said, it’s also a business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not commerce
at the expense of art, hopefully...but art that recognizes commerce as part of
survival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not new, of
course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to see the day when
theaters don’t have to compromise on producing adventurous new work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the truth is that, like everything else,
theatre lives in a land of supply and demand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve used this example before, but I think there will always be some
kind of tradeoff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to do a
new play, you probably have to program Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams plays
(neither of which, for the record, is anything to be ashamed of).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to put up an exciting
undiscovered musical, then you may have to sell the hell out of the space with
“Hello, Dolly” so you can keep the lights on. Could we advocate for more
government support of the arts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, and
Equity does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But will it fundamentally
change the short-term market, or will politicians go to the mat for arts
funding?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not counting on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I think that we are better off not
to count on it, and then be pleasantly surprised when legislators do show up
for us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Several members of council have repeatedly referred to Equity
members who oppose the proposal as<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"anti-union"</i>
and suggested if they don't support it, they should quit. (Very Boss Fatt of
them!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you support a union member's
right to express disagreement about matters of policy? What are Councilors'
responsibilities regarding how they treat fellow union members? IF NO ONE is
running against them, what are our rights as members to remove them from
office?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">13. See above for what
I think of the whole “anti-union” thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can’t see myself ever advocating that members quit, although I respect
their decision if they really don’t feel they’re being represented, and paying
dues no longer seems like a good use of their money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even if that’s the case, I would ask them
to try getting involved with a committee first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s a low bar for involvement, and experiencing the process from the
inside is incredibly educational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of
course members should express disagreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The most productive way to do that, in my opinion, is to be involved in shaping
the policy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> it reaches fever
pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because when everyone’s upset and
pissed off, nobody feels good about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, there is a procedure here (<a href="http://actorsequity.org/docs/about/AEA_ConstitutionBylaws.pdf">http://actorsequity.org/docs/about/AEA_ConstitutionBylaws.pdf</a>,
page 12) for removal of Councillors or Officers, but it’s very limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, the easiest way to replace someone
is to step up and run against them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Council seats come up every year, and Officers run every 3 years. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">If the non-star members do make a mass exodus from Equity
after the 99 seat vote – and it is a reality on both coasts, what are your
thoughts. NO ONE wants to leave, but it may be the only choice that it left?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">14. Well, if noone
wants to leave, then why cede the union to people you don’t agree with?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I disagree that it’s a reality in New York,
at least as a mass exodus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
simply enough Equity work in NYC to make membership worthwhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In LA, my fervent hope is that however the
vote goes, the passion isn’t lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so easy </i>for this exact kind of
engagement to simply flame out once a single issue is resolved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also easy for people to get discouraged
and throw in the towel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand and
respect every member’s right to make that choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we would just be so much better off if
some of those members decided to stay involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s hard to hear now, I think; I’m sure the LA membership is exhausted
and ready for the whole damn thing to be over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the people serving on Council don’t inherently have some mysterious
superior value as artists--they’re just the ones who made the choice to run,
and then show up to do the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
most of them would actually tell you that, if you asked them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and by the way, I lost the first two
times I ran for Council.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I knew it
was something I wanted to be involved with, so I kept plugging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now I’ve gone from committee member to
Councillor to Officer to Presidential candidate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not that hard.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">Harold Clurman, one of the greats of the American Theatre –
talked about artists versus the ‘employees’ sitting in sludge and just wanting
a job, or as he stated were<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“more
frequently known as an Actor Equity Member. How, if at all, has that changed in
60 years?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">15. Couple things:
Harold Clurman was obviously an incredibly insightful man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve always loved what he said about
theatre’s relationship to society, and I studied at Stella Adler (which totally
changed me as an actor) and am mesmerized by The Group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So: not objective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, I have to admit I don’t know this
exact quotation, and a quick google search did not provide it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can give me the exact quote, I’m happy
to comment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wording here confuses me
a bit, or else I’d just take a stab at it. But also, Clurman was a director, so
his perspective was fundamentally different.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">There are 150 times the companies that agree with us, cheer
us, and tell us, we are going to get blackballed as we asked for a better
Union! If we were anti-union, we would have left and saved ourselves the
hassle. What do you feel about this huge majority of people who are AFRAID of
their union????</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 135%;">16. I don’t understand
the first statement, so I can’t agree or disagree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the rest: I think that if you were
anti-union, you wouldn’t have bothered writing these questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You would have saved about 120-ish bucks a
year and a lot of hassle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as for
being afraid: just stop it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are the union; all
of us are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So make the choice to be part
of the solution. </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-24157736348557291192015-04-12T15:54:00.000-07:002015-04-12T16:03:09.370-07:00AEA Presidential Candidate LARRY CAHN responds to questionnaireThanks Larry! The response are too long to post in the comment section, I'll give each candidate their own space.<br />
<br />
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6545" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>On Ask if it’s Equity. I think the analogy to plugging a hole in
the boat after
“Equity allowed it to start sinking” is a bit unfair. In the late ‘90s,
Equity started losing many of its first
national tours. Many shows were
going straight to non-union tours from Broadway. This became a strike
issue – and in July 2004 Council met to
vote for a strike (we had already gotten member approval of such a
move). Just before the vote, the League caved,
and agreed to hammer out an agreement that would keep most tours union.
This resulted in the tiered tours, and,
yes, the SETA contract. All of
these agreements require salary bumps when certain box office results
are
reported (so that tours like Newsies, while on a tier, are actually
paying
above Production minimum). Are
these agreements good enough? Of
course not. The first priority was
to get the road back, and that was accomplished. Now, through
negotiation, we work diligently to improve the
contracts as they stand. Still,
too many shows are going out non-union, and Equity is fighting, as we
did in
’04, to bring them into the Equity fold.
The Ask if it’s Equity campaign is an audience education tool, which we
hope will aid in that effort. I
know that there has been some uproar about Bullets Over Broadway.
NETworks came to us with a demand for salary concessions on this tour
that would reduce Actor compensation BELOW the lowest rate on the Short
Engagement Touring Agreement, and we did not agree that was appropriate,
especially because Equity members have made it very clear that they do
not want
any further reductions on touring rates beyond those negotiated with the
Broadway League for both the Production Contract and the SET Agreement.
So we said no. I would agree that the Union has a
great responsibility to nurture and promote theatre. That is what we
do, AFTER we serve our members by establishing
a living wage and safe and proper working conditions. Our entire
history, including our recent history, is replete
with examples, many shared yesterday at the Membership meeting, of
Equity
nurturing small companies and bringing them to contract.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>The 99-seat plan, as it currently exists, does
nothing to promote well-paying theatre in Los Angeles. It is, in my opinion, an anti-incentive
to that. I do not believe the AEA
proposal, as stated, will be what eventually comes out of this process. But what does come out will, hopefully,
create an atmosphere where both theatres and actors can thrive and grow.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6549" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I am not in LA at the moment. I don’t know what’s being said on the
phone banks, and so I can’t comment.
And I think the tone of your question is unnecessary. Considering you signed your post,
“Respectfully,” I think the accusations you make here are out of place. For example, I have, myself, been
accused of smearing The Blank Theatre.
I like the Blank. A
lot. I’ve worked there. That said, there are two things I have
said, and will attest to affirmatively if necessary about the Blank. Six or seven years ago, I worked for
the Blank, doing one of the shows in the Young Playwrights Festival (one of the
truly great things the Blank does).
I was paid $9 a show. When
the cast was paid, it was strongly suggested that we consider kicking back that
payment to the theatre, as a donation (as if our training, talent,
uncompensated rehearsal hours and grossly undercompensated performance hours
were not donation enough). That
is, in my opinion, a heinous practice.
Second, before each show, the artistic director of the theatre gave a
curtain speech – the norm for non-profit theatres. In his speech, though, he stated each time that the Blank
wanted to establish a 400-seat LORT theatre for Hollywood. I asked a staffer how long that was
going on, and I was told, from the beginning. This is what I personally witnessed. Other than that, I have expressed only
a personal opinion that The Blank has the wherewithal to pay its actors
something above $9 a show. I
continue to believe that.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6550" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I realize that you don’t want to write a blank
check to AEA to change 99-seat as it sees fit. The fact is, you don’t
have to. Equity already has that check. AEA has always been able to do
what it wants with 99-seat as
long as it followed the procedures prescribed in the Settlement
Agreement. Will members get to vote on the changes
that are made? Probably not. I can envision a way that could happen
– but that’s not really what you want.
What you want is input into the decision before hand. I get that. I
agree with you, as a matter of fact. Again, I don’t speak for anyone
but
myself, but as a Councilor, I’d like nothing better than to sit down
with
99-seat producers and Membership companies and hammer out something that
works
for all of us. Please understand
that the Settlement Agreement – which has the force of law – prohibits
us from
doing that. We have to follow the
procedures we’re following whether we like them or not. The good news
is, once Equity changes
the plan, then the plan doesn’t exist, and the Settlement Agreement is
no
longer and force, and those across-the-table conversations/negotiations
can
actually occur. And since I am
highly confident that no matter what changes are made, there will be a
considerable amount of time given before the changes are implemented,
there
will be time to do just that.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6551" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>It hasn’t taken 25 years. Equity is not proposing changes because
of federal labor laws. It’s
actually the theatre’s responsibility to follow those laws. Any agreement between producer and
union presumes that nothing will be done under said agreement that is
illegal. Equity is doing this now
because, believe it or not, many of our LA members have asked us to.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6552" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>The statement regarding protecting actors from
themselves was taken out of context.
You know this, Allie, because I made the statement. <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6553">By "protecting actors from
themselves," clearly I meant that actors are one of the most exploited
working forces in history. We love what we do - we NEED what we do.
We're willing to do anything for the chance to do it. That leaves us
vulnerable, because we'll take nothing for that chance. And Equity steps
in and says to the producer - nope - you have to pay a living wage to this
person. I beg you not to blow that comment out of proportion. ALL
unions were formed, in part, to protect workers from themselves - workers who
would go out of their way to please employers, beyond their actual job
functions. This shouldn't be a controversial statement.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6555" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6554">If
I had my druthers, both LA and New York would have the same Showcase Code. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I
would like that. I would like to
see the limit on ticket prices eliminated. I would like to see a situation where larger theatres with
relatively large yearly budgets would pay its actors from first rehearsals, and
smaller theatres would begin to pay actors for performances beyond a certain
number. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6557" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">8.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6556">Of
course
I support a union member’s right to express disagreement. I have
always championed that. In fact, that’s how most of us got on
Council in the first place.
Interesting about your reference to the suggestion to quit. I won’t
speak for the Councilor who
sent out that hashtag. I will say
this – the amount of vitriol, the hate-filled emails we on the Council
have had
to endure over the past two months, is sometimes overwhelming. It is
truly difficult for those of us
who have been serving membership on Council, often to the detriment of
our own
careers, to have to read this day after day after day. So I will not
judge what was a
knee-jerk lashing out at one particularly hate-spewing communication.
Interesting that so many remember the
hashtag, but no one acknowledges the almost immediate apology for it
that
followed. Can we agree that no
matter what happens on April 21, we’re all going to have get past this
and try
to heal? Why don’t we start here.
As for how Councilors should treat fellow union members – this is how I
do it. You ask, I answer. You have a grievance, I acknowledge it
and try to fix it. You send me
hate-filled personal email based on no knowledge of who I am whatsoever,
I tend
to tune you out. 99-seat and
Showcase have always been important to me. I utilized Showcase in the
‘70s to try to get seen by people
who could help me get paying work.
I utilized it to help others get their written work fleshed out and
seen. I did not get paid – and I
was fine with that. But nobody
else in the enterprise got paid either.
We were truly all in it together.
Which made it all the more exciting and fulfilling.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6558" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">9.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I
can probably answer as to how many 99-seat or Showcase theatres made a
profit
in 2014. The answer is probably
zero. They’re almost all
501(C)(3)s. They are prohibited
from reporting profit. But that
doesn’t mean they’re not making money.
It means they have to spend all the money they take in. Which they do,
partly in philanthropic
endeavors, to be sure. But also in
salaries to staff, both management and artistic. My position,
throughout all of this, has been simple. There are people in the
99-seat
community that are making their living doing it, be they producers,
artistic
directors, managing directors, development directors, what have you.
Not everyone, to be sure. Not every theatre, to be sure. It’s very
hard to answer briefly when
there’s such large disparity. But
– general rule - Pay your staff?
Pay your directors? Pay your designers? Then find a way to pay your
actors.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">10.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>Of
course a theatre is not just an employer.
But, as I’ve told Allie multiple times, AEA is a labor union. It cannot care about the quality of the
theatre, or its effect on the culture of the community. As individual actors, certainly each
Councilor cares deeply about that.
But as a body, the Council cannot do that.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">11.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I
don’t know anyone who has called those who oppose the change
anti-union. I certainly haven’t. And let’s not go over the suggestion
to
quit again, please. Again, I
champion any member’s right and determination to protest decisions they
disagree with. Always have. Again, it’s how most of us got on
Council to begin with. I know and
have served with all of the people who are running unopposed. They are
all terrific people – they
have served, and will continue to serve, the membership brilliantly.
You can be mad at them for something
they said, either in the heat of the moment or deliberately. But I can
state clearly that I, as a
working actor, am very glad they are there for me. And once the dust
settles, and when we’re all objective
again, I’m sure you’ll feel the same.
But if you wanted them gone, you should have run against them. They
will be elected by the membership
– and you have no recourse that I know of to go against the will of that
membership.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">12.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I
truly doubt there will be a mass exodus from the union. It would be such a mistake. To give up membership in Equity for the
rest of your lives because you’re upset over one decision that you’re
pre-judging? I’m not the president
of the union – but if I get that honor, what happens on April 21 will be
discussed, fairly implemented, and the union will open its doors and its ears
to better, more equitable ideas.
To even discuss leaving the union is so premature, and would be so
unfortunate for those who choose to do so who will never be let back in.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6565" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">13.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>Harold
Clurman died in 1980. He was a
director, not an actor. To refer
to an Equity member as sitting in sludge and just wanting a job is so
insulting. He was a theatre god –
but he was wrong on this. (And I
certainly forgive the slight.) But 85% of us are out of work at any one
time. Sometimes we do, indeed,
just want a job. There are so few
of them, and so many of us. Which
is why the union works so hard to find more and more of them. Why we think that theatres that CAN pay
actors, SHOULD pay actors.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6564" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">14.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6563">Hyperbole
aside
– if anyone is “afraid” of the union, they should work to change it.
Elect new leadership. Get more involved – not just by
emailing and name-calling. Get on
committees. Run for Council. Become the change you want. Some are
doing that this year. I think it’s great. As for the rest of you, what
are you
waiting for?</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-79490182232251248852015-04-11T02:11:00.000-07:002015-04-11T23:29:14.104-07:00Which Side (If ANY) Are You On, Mr./Ms. President????? - UPDATED<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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These are questions proposed to the AEA Presidential Candidates! They don't need to respond - as we're clearly no one to them. Combined with out brother sites, we do have 4000+ members, so we have some reach.</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxQBiNxZ1PmbHmr4zUbXOOCmCMJTmF5V-P8f-ynQm2PFw5LWgS9RQTY7HppHPxJP8IlNufn4qOOIFDVM5zK8CrGEhgzjDfZOV6e8lBQMa4vnvHCIYvj-R2r334ThLtCVGHxauQCfUd10/s1600/Going+out+of+business.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxQBiNxZ1PmbHmr4zUbXOOCmCMJTmF5V-P8f-ynQm2PFw5LWgS9RQTY7HppHPxJP8IlNufn4qOOIFDVM5zK8CrGEhgzjDfZOV6e8lBQMa4vnvHCIYvj-R2r334ThLtCVGHxauQCfUd10/s1600/Going+out+of+business.jpg" height="303" width="320" /></a></div>
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Dear Kate, Larry and Nick - </h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>15 (?)… (Poorly Counted) Questions
for the Actors Equity Presidential Candidates</b></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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These questions are to open the dialogue between candidates
and the members that elect them. All 3 Candidates are being sent the same
questions – whether you answer is up to you. We ask one thing – if you DO reply, answer the
questions directly – don’t dodge them and give us politically vague, run around
answers. We NEED to know where you stand. I think we’d all tip our hat for an
articulate answer that we don’t agree with, than an indecisive one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Respectfully, TheatREhab, The ReGroup Theatre,
Allie Mulholland and LA Bitter Lemons</div>
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While Equity has done a promotional campaign “Ask if it’s
Equity/Ask if it’s really Broadway,” (As if Broadway equals brilliance!) regarding
the non-union tours, it’s equal to trying to plug the hole in the boat after Equity
allowed it to start sinking. On the same note, many union actors/SMs claim the
lowest tier Union tours are now beneath the non-union standards. What are your
comments?</div>
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Though the Union was formed to protect its members, what, if
any, responsibility does the Union have in serving, nurturing, promoting the
theatre? Without IT, we’d all be jobless.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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HOW do you think the change to the 99-seat plan, as it
currently exists, will help/hurt the LA Theatre and the theatre community as a
whole?<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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<span class="5yl5">What is your take on the methods Equity is
using, including the Anti-99 phone bank, to confuse its membership during the
99 Seat voting process? (Matter of fact, this includes the lies in the phone
bank towards Blank Theatre, the tone of many of the councilors, McColl's use of
double speak and obfuscation, the incredibly insidious change in mid-stream
saying yes means you want change and after you vote yes THEN they'll change the
proposals, it goes on and on, and the behavior has seriously eroded the
legitimacy of Equity in this town. Examples here: <a href="http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=actors+equity+99+seat&x=30&y=7#sthash.Nxu70Os7.dpbs" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=actors+equity+99+seat&x=30&y=7#sthash.Nxu70Os7.dpbs<br /></span></a></span></div>
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<span class="5yl5">The LA 99 seat code ‘VOTE FOR A CHANGE”
says it’s for any change, whatever the change is will be decided later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While both coasts want change to the 99 Seat,
we don’t want to write a blank check that allows for someone to fill in the
blanks later. IF the proposed 99 change passes, WILL members get to vote on
those specific changes later?<br /></span></div>
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<span class="5yl5">Why has it taken Equity 25 years to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suddenly </i>realize that they are
"breaking federal labor laws" in regard to the 99-seat code? Why
didn't they bring this minimum wage ‘issue’ up back in the 80's? (Respectfully,
please don’t say, “We’re not lawyers.” ANY Union has plenty of lawyers, and
plenty of its members are lawyers who say this is absolutely untrue.)<br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">Why is Equity trying to quickly pass the 99
seat change instead of sitting down with the members who have been making
theatre to get actual factual evidence on the business of theatre in L.A? Why
not use the resources and firsthand knowledge of the AEA actor-producers who
have been making great work for the last twenty five years?"</span></div>
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<span class="5yl5"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">Where do you stand on the statement, AEA
needs to “protect” actors from themselves? To the adult actors, that seems
condescending. Pacino has publicly says he does ‘shit’ movies so he can return
to the poor paying work that really matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>IF there are sleazy small time producers, making big bucks – why don’t
you stop then, instead of everyone?? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">The uproar to the 25 year old 99-seat plan
has been tremendous, and rightfully so. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
NY version, The Showcase Code, is <u>33</u> years old. When established in 1982, the
Showcase code clearly made no exceptions for social media, the internet, diminishing
rental space, etc. – It also established the top ticket price at $15. JUST
adjusted for inflation, that is the equivalent of $36.49 in 2015 USD. </b>The
current top ticket price is $18 – less than some Manhattan movie tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What changes do you propose for the Showcase
code? </span></div>
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<span class="5yl5"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">Several members of the AEA council have
repeatedly referred to Equity members who oppose the proposal as
"anti-union" and suggested if they don't support it, they should
quit. Do you support a union member's right to express disagreement about
matters of policy? What are Councilors' responsibilities regarding how they
treat fellow union members?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">Why, if at all, is the 99 seat/Showcase
codes important to you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">As all theatres need to report final
statistics, why can you tell us what percentage of 99 seat/Showcase code
theatres made a profit in 2014? This has to be an easy number to get – yet no
one seems to know it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">The theatre should never be<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> just</i> an employer. It’s not
Starbucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where do you think the
theatre fits in to today’s culture?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">Several members of council have repeatedly
referred to Equity members who oppose the proposal as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"anti-union"</i> and suggested if they don't support it, they
should quit. (Very Boss Fatt of them!) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you support a union member's right to
express disagreement about matters of policy? What are Councilors'
responsibilities regarding how they treat fellow union members? IF NO ONE is
running against them, what are our rights as members to remove them from
office?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">If the non-star members do make a mass
exodus from Equity after the 99 seat vote – and it is a reality on both coasts,
what are your thoughts. NO ONE wants to leave, but it may be the only choice
that it left? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">Harold Clurman, one of the greats of the
American Theatre – talked about artists versus the ‘employees’ sitting in
sludge and just wanting a job, or as he stated were “more frequently known as an Actor Equity Member.
How, if at all, has that changed in 60 years?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="5yl5">There are 150 times the companies that
agree with us, cheer us, and tell us, we are going to get blackballed as we
asked for a better Union! If we were anti-union, we would have left and saved
ourselves the hassle. What do you feel about this huge majority of people who
are AFRAID of their union????</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
---------As the comments section doesn't allow for long replies ---- We're including Larry Cahn's reply below. Thanks for taking the time to reply!----------------<br />
<br />
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6545" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>On Ask if it’s Equity. I think the analogy to plugging a hole in
the boat after
“Equity allowed it to start sinking” is a bit unfair. In the late ‘90s,
Equity started losing many of its first
national tours. Many shows were
going straight to non-union tours from Broadway. This became a strike
issue – and in July 2004 Council met to
vote for a strike (we had already gotten member approval of such a
move). Just before the vote, the League caved,
and agreed to hammer out an agreement that would keep most tours union.
This resulted in the tiered tours, and,
yes, the SETA contract. All of
these agreements require salary bumps when certain box office results
are
reported (so that tours like Newsies, while on a tier, are actually
paying
above Production minimum). Are
these agreements good enough? Of
course not. The first priority was
to get the road back, and that was accomplished. Now, through
negotiation, we work diligently to improve the
contracts as they stand. Still,
too many shows are going out non-union, and Equity is fighting, as we
did in
’04, to bring them into the Equity fold.
The Ask if it’s Equity campaign is an audience education tool, which we
hope will aid in that effort. I
know that there has been some uproar about Bullets Over Broadway.
NETworks came to us with a demand for salary concessions on this tour
that would reduce Actor compensation BELOW the lowest rate on the Short
Engagement Touring Agreement, and we did not agree that was appropriate,
especially because Equity members have made it very clear that they do
not want
any further reductions on touring rates beyond those negotiated with the
Broadway League for both the Production Contract and the SET Agreement.
So we said no. I would agree that the Union has a
great responsibility to nurture and promote theatre. That is what we
do, AFTER we serve our members by establishing
a living wage and safe and proper working conditions. Our entire
history, including our recent history, is replete
with examples, many shared yesterday at the Membership meeting, of
Equity
nurturing small companies and bringing them to contract.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>The 99-seat plan, as it currently exists, does
nothing to promote well-paying theatre in Los Angeles. It is, in my opinion, an anti-incentive
to that. I do not believe the AEA
proposal, as stated, will be what eventually comes out of this process. But what does come out will, hopefully,
create an atmosphere where both theatres and actors can thrive and grow.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6549" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I am not in LA at the moment. I don’t know what’s being said on the
phone banks, and so I can’t comment.
And I think the tone of your question is unnecessary. Considering you signed your post,
“Respectfully,” I think the accusations you make here are out of place. For example, I have, myself, been
accused of smearing The Blank Theatre.
I like the Blank. A
lot. I’ve worked there. That said, there are two things I have
said, and will attest to affirmatively if necessary about the Blank. Six or seven years ago, I worked for
the Blank, doing one of the shows in the Young Playwrights Festival (one of the
truly great things the Blank does).
I was paid $9 a show. When
the cast was paid, it was strongly suggested that we consider kicking back that
payment to the theatre, as a donation (as if our training, talent,
uncompensated rehearsal hours and grossly undercompensated performance hours
were not donation enough). That
is, in my opinion, a heinous practice.
Second, before each show, the artistic director of the theatre gave a
curtain speech – the norm for non-profit theatres. In his speech, though, he stated each time that the Blank
wanted to establish a 400-seat LORT theatre for Hollywood. I asked a staffer how long that was
going on, and I was told, from the beginning. This is what I personally witnessed. Other than that, I have expressed only
a personal opinion that The Blank has the wherewithal to pay its actors
something above $9 a show. I
continue to believe that.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6550" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I realize that you don’t want to write a blank
check to AEA to change 99-seat as it sees fit. The fact is, you don’t
have to. Equity already has that check. AEA has always been able to do
what it wants with 99-seat as
long as it followed the procedures prescribed in the Settlement
Agreement. Will members get to vote on the changes
that are made? Probably not. I can envision a way that could happen
– but that’s not really what you want.
What you want is input into the decision before hand. I get that. I
agree with you, as a matter of fact. Again, I don’t speak for anyone
but
myself, but as a Councilor, I’d like nothing better than to sit down
with
99-seat producers and Membership companies and hammer out something that
works
for all of us. Please understand
that the Settlement Agreement – which has the force of law – prohibits
us from
doing that. We have to follow the
procedures we’re following whether we like them or not. The good news
is, once Equity changes
the plan, then the plan doesn’t exist, and the Settlement Agreement is
no
longer and force, and those across-the-table conversations/negotiations
can
actually occur. And since I am
highly confident that no matter what changes are made, there will be a
considerable amount of time given before the changes are implemented,
there
will be time to do just that.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6551" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>It hasn’t taken 25 years. Equity is not proposing changes because
of federal labor laws. It’s
actually the theatre’s responsibility to follow those laws. Any agreement between producer and
union presumes that nothing will be done under said agreement that is
illegal. Equity is doing this now
because, believe it or not, many of our LA members have asked us to.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6552" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>The statement regarding protecting actors from
themselves was taken out of context.
You know this, Allie, because I made the statement. <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6553">By "protecting actors from
themselves," clearly I meant that actors are one of the most exploited
working forces in history. We love what we do - we NEED what we do.
We're willing to do anything for the chance to do it. That leaves us
vulnerable, because we'll take nothing for that chance. And Equity steps
in and says to the producer - nope - you have to pay a living wage to this
person. I beg you not to blow that comment out of proportion. ALL
unions were formed, in part, to protect workers from themselves - workers who
would go out of their way to please employers, beyond their actual job
functions. This shouldn't be a controversial statement.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6555" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6554">If
I had my druthers, both LA and New York would have the same Showcase Code. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I
would like that. I would like to
see the limit on ticket prices eliminated. I would like to see a situation where larger theatres with
relatively large yearly budgets would pay its actors from first rehearsals, and
smaller theatres would begin to pay actors for performances beyond a certain
number. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6557" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">8.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6556">Of
course
I support a union member’s right to express disagreement. I have
always championed that. In fact, that’s how most of us got on
Council in the first place.
Interesting about your reference to the suggestion to quit. I won’t
speak for the Councilor who
sent out that hashtag. I will say
this – the amount of vitriol, the hate-filled emails we on the Council
have had
to endure over the past two months, is sometimes overwhelming. It is
truly difficult for those of us
who have been serving membership on Council, often to the detriment of
our own
careers, to have to read this day after day after day. So I will not
judge what was a
knee-jerk lashing out at one particularly hate-spewing communication.
Interesting that so many remember the
hashtag, but no one acknowledges the almost immediate apology for it
that
followed. Can we agree that no
matter what happens on April 21, we’re all going to have get past this
and try
to heal? Why don’t we start here.
As for how Councilors should treat fellow union members – this is how I
do it. You ask, I answer. You have a grievance, I acknowledge it
and try to fix it. You send me
hate-filled personal email based on no knowledge of who I am whatsoever,
I tend
to tune you out. 99-seat and
Showcase have always been important to me. I utilized Showcase in the
‘70s to try to get seen by people
who could help me get paying work.
I utilized it to help others get their written work fleshed out and
seen. I did not get paid – and I
was fine with that. But nobody
else in the enterprise got paid either.
We were truly all in it together.
Which made it all the more exciting and fulfilling.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6558" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">9.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I
can probably answer as to how many 99-seat or Showcase theatres made a
profit
in 2014. The answer is probably
zero. They’re almost all
501(C)(3)s. They are prohibited
from reporting profit. But that
doesn’t mean they’re not making money.
It means they have to spend all the money they take in. Which they do,
partly in philanthropic
endeavors, to be sure. But also in
salaries to staff, both management and artistic. My position,
throughout all of this, has been simple. There are people in the
99-seat
community that are making their living doing it, be they producers,
artistic
directors, managing directors, development directors, what have you.
Not everyone, to be sure. Not every theatre, to be sure. It’s very
hard to answer briefly when
there’s such large disparity. But
– general rule - Pay your staff?
Pay your directors? Pay your designers? Then find a way to pay your
actors.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">10.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>Of
course a theatre is not just an employer.
But, as I’ve told Allie multiple times, AEA is a labor union. It cannot care about the quality of the
theatre, or its effect on the culture of the community. As individual actors, certainly each
Councilor cares deeply about that.
But as a body, the Council cannot do that.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">11.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I
don’t know anyone who has called those who oppose the change
anti-union. I certainly haven’t. And let’s not go over the suggestion
to
quit again, please. Again, I
champion any member’s right and determination to protest decisions they
disagree with. Always have. Again, it’s how most of us got on
Council to begin with. I know and
have served with all of the people who are running unopposed. They are
all terrific people – they
have served, and will continue to serve, the membership brilliantly.
You can be mad at them for something
they said, either in the heat of the moment or deliberately. But I can
state clearly that I, as a
working actor, am very glad they are there for me. And once the dust
settles, and when we’re all objective
again, I’m sure you’ll feel the same.
But if you wanted them gone, you should have run against them. They
will be elected by the membership
– and you have no recourse that I know of to go against the will of that
membership.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">12.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>I
truly doubt there will be a mass exodus from the union. It would be such a mistake. To give up membership in Equity for the
rest of your lives because you’re upset over one decision that you’re
pre-judging? I’m not the president
of the union – but if I get that honor, what happens on April 21 will be
discussed, fairly implemented, and the union will open its doors and its ears
to better, more equitable ideas.
To even discuss leaving the union is so premature, and would be so
unfortunate for those who choose to do so who will never be let back in.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6565" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">13.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span>Harold
Clurman died in 1980. He was a
director, not an actor. To refer
to an Equity member as sitting in sludge and just wanting a job is so
insulting. He was a theatre god –
but he was wrong on this. (And I
certainly forgive the slight.) But 85% of us are out of work at any one
time. Sometimes we do, indeed,
just want a job. There are so few
of them, and so many of us. Which
is why the union works so hard to find more and more of them. Why we think that theatres that CAN pay
actors, SHOULD pay actors.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6938028743" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6564" style="margin-left: 84pt;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;">14.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1428799143884_6563">Hyperbole
aside
– if anyone is “afraid” of the union, they should work to change it.
Elect new leadership. Get more involved – not just by
emailing and name-calling. Get on
committees. Run for Council. Become the change you want. Some are
doing that this year. I think it’s great. As for the rest of you, what
are you
waiting for?</span></span></div>
</div>
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<![endif]-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-85985389321983183022015-04-11T00:09:00.001-07:002015-04-11T00:09:50.746-07:00Judith Malina - Theatre Rebel<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">REST IN PEACE TO A RARE THEATRE VISIONARY</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6RP1U9xJevDDAEMjDSf6UASp-a_zRftwojEdu9z8jLue8Lyogp_4fRDj0jR7qqBrqpUFUVkY0coerawmdV9Z1_2UTjrMyZtRl90Gec3DG7C8aUKSV-XsLyB14b_JWGic0Dx3eR-0opuY/s1600/11102693_10153256926497375_182807800297843908_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6RP1U9xJevDDAEMjDSf6UASp-a_zRftwojEdu9z8jLue8Lyogp_4fRDj0jR7qqBrqpUFUVkY0coerawmdV9Z1_2UTjrMyZtRl90Gec3DG7C8aUKSV-XsLyB14b_JWGic0Dx3eR-0opuY/s1600/11102693_10153256926497375_182807800297843908_n.jpg" height="320" width="203" /></a></div>
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It was such an honor to get into the same room as this woman, and even a 'pinch-me moment' when she praised your work. Screw a Tony 'reward', I got a Judith compliment. Where are our theatrical rebels? I can easily make this into a point about the future of the true theatre vs. the union and commercial theatre, as she was a fighter. But this is not the place. You did well, Judith, you changed the theatre, and you change a small piece of the world for many people. Whatever world or plain you have shuffled off to, I'm sure you are giving them one Hell of a show tonight. -Lovingly, Brian Stites</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-3535931526810396552015-03-25T21:36:00.003-07:002015-03-25T21:48:19.155-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>They're Putting the QUIT in Equity!</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJ4q-F6z__eeRxcqTTYf7U5xXmSuwMqzDxuL2mt4HG9E1ZSK_7pP6avsIQSkGhr8obT2lU9tgMkvEXRHUfQSL_jtOBjxDjQePQo4HITMhQC7a6-n7gBn8Jc-GAlj9YIeYBfW2AH_n_4w/s1600/aea.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJ4q-F6z__eeRxcqTTYf7U5xXmSuwMqzDxuL2mt4HG9E1ZSK_7pP6avsIQSkGhr8obT2lU9tgMkvEXRHUfQSL_jtOBjxDjQePQo4HITMhQC7a6-n7gBn8Jc-GAlj9YIeYBfW2AH_n_4w/s1600/aea.png" height="320" width="314" /></a></div>
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<br />
Truly, maybe they want us all to quit - and it's sad, but actually understandable. We must admit, whether West, East or Peoria, as small theatres, we make no money for AEA. (Just as we don't make money for ourselves.) If they get rid of the little theatres, there's less competition for the BIG BOYS, MONEY MAKING, FAT CATS (The ones they are supposedly protecting us from!) in the ever diminishing search for an audience.<br />
<br />
IF 2% of small union productions even break even, I'll run naked through Times Square. They don't understand and they largely are not listening. The vote for an unspecified change is essentially handing someone a blank, endorsed check.<br />
<br />
It's ridiculous and insulting. The lame arguments about us exploiting ourselves or the (false) accusations that it will make us ineligible for unemployment are infuriating. <span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Shouldn't the union be more focused on helping us to work than helping us sit at home and collect unemployment???</b></i></span> Actors WANT to work. We NEED to work. You cannot ever monetize art.<br />
<br />
So far, as for the Presidential elections, we're leaning toward Kate Shindle - once we hear a little more, we will campaign on both coast for whomever we collectively decide. At the very least, Kate has engaged in conversation and taken a slight stand over the 99 seat "Blank Check" vote. Larry Cahn hasn't replied at all - Nick Wyman's statement is blatantly stale and not worth his time to update, as he writes, "The following is basically what I wrote five years ago. It still holds true." A lot has changed in 5 years - but not with the small theatres. The LA code is 25 yrs old, the NY Showcase code is 7 years older. They don't even take into account the invention of the internet or inflation! Adjust for inflation, and actors CAN be paid better.<br />
<br />
Am I anti-union? HELL NO! But I am for a constructive union - one that not only looks after the actors but the art form as well. If there is no theatre, there's no need for theatre actors. The union has done many, many great things in its history - but they need to honor their own mission statement to take care of theatre 'artists'. We all want money, of course, but even more so, we NEED work - meaningful experiences. If not, we're <i>totally </i>insane for sticking with this profession. We can pay to stay in class forever, or actually get out there and make a fucking difference.<br />
<br />
AEA and Broadway are not, as they like to state, equal to QUALITY. While you can see lots of crap in small theatres under the 99 seat/ showcase code - it may or may not be all union - <u>ALL the horrible stuff we've seen on Broadway IS ALL union.</u> That defeats that argument.<br />
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This is a major turning point in our theatre - Equity could topple if they don't play their cards right. In the age of social media - which also isn't included in the ancient codes - if someone is an asshole producer, they will be outed publicly. And if these mystery, greedy Mr. Producer X's exist - target them, not the people who skip lunch, WILLINGLY, to contribute to their craft. No, it shouldn't be, but maybe Equity would be better off trying to change the culture instead of killing off the little fish.<br />
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As for the many comments that all this speaking out against the union is dividing it, and keeping us from being 'UNITED', as some candidates have put it, it's as manipulative as these imaginary evil producers or Boss Fatt saying, "take it and like it." We can disagree with the union, and still be for it - many of the people in power are so far removed from what it is like for the struggling actor, they can't represent a majority of their members. The East and West coasts are kept in the dark from what each other is experiencing - so there goes the 'united' argument. Hell, we New Yorkers' would love to have the 99 seat code! We're forming a bi-coastal union, in spite of our Union. These issues should be on the front page of the Equity website - NOT fluff like "“Magical” Bahiyah Hibah is honored with Equity’s Gypsy Robe" and "Celebrating ... Tyne Daly." That's swell, but far from pressing matters. <br />
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<br />
Almost no one votes in these elections, it's determined by a small handful of votes. WE CAN, AS A <i>UNITED </i>LITTLE THEATRE, CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE THEATRE! WE MUST!!<br />
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We, on both coasts, have offered to help change these codes for years now. We've volunteered our time and brainstormed for free (We'll send AEA a bill for the thousands of hrs at minimum wage.) We've gotten no where. We are sick of waiting for Godot, Lefty and Little Sheeba to arrive - we DEMAND change now. Candidates - now is the time to step up.<br />
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Otherwise, I see a coast to coast card burning party. Work WITH us, not against us.<br />
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The Theatre is bigger than Broadway, AEA, you or me.<br />
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ps. I've emailed over 70 professional, small companies and individuals this week asking them to get behind us. Few jumped on board, no one said 'no.' The main response is good luck, they agree but they're too AFRAID of being blacklisted. Honestly, I am too, but I'm doing what I feel is right. We should NOT ever be afraid of our union.<br />
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#TowardaBetterTheatre<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-25515882963688108002015-03-13T09:07:00.001-07:002015-04-12T22:51:01.370-07:00We Elect the Next Union President<br />
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As founders of the Facebook page "NY ACTORS STANDING IN SOLIDARITY TO UPHOLD THE LA 99 SEAT PLAN," we're overwhelmed to have over 400 supporters in less than 12 hrs. As the 99 Seat (LA) or Showcase (NY) producers/actors/etc, now is the only time we have any clout. We don't have the fat wallets of the Broadway producers or tiered tour producers who can pay for a dozen exemptions. We make theatre TO MAKE THEATRE. No one gets rich- we do it out of love, to train, to make the world a better place, etc. Or as at my AEA Orientation, when asked about any concerns of being an Equity member, the moderator laughed and prodded everyone in the room to laugh at me, and wrote it on the dry erase board as 'artistic theater'. ISN'T THAT THE WHOLE POINT?<br />
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Maybe we need two theatre unions. The Disney theatre and the art theatre. (I'm not dismissing their work, it's just not what WE do.) What AEA is trying to do in LA is disgusting. It will KILL the struggling theatre scene there. In this day and age of social media, if a producer is a jerk, word will spread immediately. Besides, AEA requires producers to submit their final budgets, and I'd expect 99.9% of them are big losses. That's sadly the state of the theatre (and only partially AEA's fault -$18 top ticket price, really???). If a producer is making huge profits, then they need to investigate them, not punish all theatres and cause us to lose even more money. As an AEA member and a producer, I've lost money I cannot afford to lose to bring great theatre the stage. I have thousands on my credit card to cover the gaps in funding. I'm not asking for praise or thanks. I'm no martyr. I did it freely and without regret. I BELIEVE THE THEATRE IS BIGGER THAN ANY ONE OF US.<br />
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We've recently put out a survey asking LA and NY actors (separately) WHY they do these small theatre projects. Full stats will be available once we collect more info - but an overwhelming amount have already said that they've gotten other PAID work, great reviews, free training, signed with agents, etc from this rewarding work. There's not always big paying work out there, and to those of us who do the work for the right reasons, we'd likely do it even if it cost us. It means that much to us.<br />
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As the most widely produced code out there, the Showcase and 99 Seat Code have one rare trait, despite our lack of money, WE CAN CHANGE THE ELECTIONS SINGLEHANDEDLY. It's time for us to pressure the candidates, and the changes to the LA 99 seat plan is the first warning sign they DO NOT GET IT. As a painter, if I want to paint - I PAINT. I don't have to ask permission, and painting is not a hobby. I believe in a union but one that must understand the needs of its members.<br />
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We've posted on all 3 Presidential Candidate's Official "Facebook Pages" asking them for their stance on the code - The Awful 99 Seat Proposal AND the 33 year old NY Showcase.<br />
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This is a pivotal point for the theatre. How can we compete with digital media? Yet, there's never been a time when actual human connection is MORE needed. While NY AEA says the LA plan won't ever happen here, I don't believe it. The NY Showcase is 33 years out of date. (And we wonder what happened to the Golden Age of American Theatre!) This influences us all. Theatre isn't a money making business - but it can be rewarding beyond any monetary standards. <br />
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We are artists. That doesn't mean we don't want or deserve to be compensated, but look at history. What greats were?? Don't believe me, believe Brando: http://jamesgrissom.blogspot.com/2014/12/marlon-brando-art-and-money.html<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-3684394549300868472014-12-04T23:55:00.000-08:002014-12-06T01:37:27.798-08:00Actors Equity vs the Artistic Theatre or (Art Perverses Commerce)<br />
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What
did I mean when I made the comment that "The Revolution is Coming" in
regards to Equity's ancient Showcase code? (Which AEA retweeted!) Whatever I meant, many of you literally 'liked it.' We <i><u>want</u></i> to work with Equity to
rewrite this archaic code, which still mandates the maximum charge of $18 for
admission. That is $3 more than it was in 1982 and still less than a
Manhattan movie ticket. (Social Media, Email, Blog reviewers, etc have
all changed the field since the "Showcase code" was created). ReGroup has
been working on this for years, and even have had a gracious,
thoughtful meeting with Equity President Nick Wyman in early 2013. While
the meeting was to be followed up with another, it yet has been, and
we've had radio silence.</div>
Small companies are getting angry
and desperate, and for good reason! While Nick said, "You can't
expect to make money in the theatre," I told him, I'm not asking to MAKE
money, I'm asking for a tiny <i>chance</i> not to lose our shirts so we
can continue bringing important theatre to NY, and republishing these
amazing Group plays for companies worldwide. (I've actually forked over
any 'spare money' and a lot of my credit to bring these works to life,
and I did so willingly. Our actors are volunteers. We have an Oscar
Winner, many Tony Winners, Multi-Obie winners in our shows, and they all
will work for free as they believe in the Theatre (Capital 'T') - not just in filling
their wallets. Fulfilling work, by considerate employers, is worth more
than gold. Certainly Equity had/has a reason to exist, but in this age
of social media, if a producer is an ass, it will be spread within
minutes. No one, from pizza parties to birthday cakes, treats their
actors better than we do. I try to right all the wrongs I experienced as an
actor in my 20's.</div>
Some actors want to be stars, and that is
totally fine, but most want to make a difference. The Showcase code does not
allow for the latter. It's all about transaction. If a painter wants
to paint, or an actor wants to produce their own one woman show, (or a hater wants to hate) they
shouldn't have to seek Big Daddy Union's permission. We've heard that the
union is worried we will "exploit ourselves". While that is utterly
ridiculous, it's much better we do it than a pervert producer who can
pay the union salary. While it's most likely they're out to protect the big
money earning Broadway theatres from the little revolutionaries, it's
clearly and ridiculously out of date. (1982? Are we all still supposed
to be drinking TAB?) The ancient Showcase code is the main symptom
crippling the Fabulous Invalid. In the theatrical 'ecosystem', if the
little plankton can't take risks and flourish, the "BIG FISH" at the top
of the food chain will die miserably. It's Art!! (Or at least it should
be.) Equity's lack to keep the Showcase code relevant has majorly contributed to the 'schools' who charge $40 for a 3 minute 'class' with a Casting Director. This is now the main way talent gets seen. It's unethical and destructive to our theatre. AEA,why aren't you protecting talent from the vultures? A class-action lawsuit is going to happen eventually, and it will show how much strength our union has.<br /> #FiCore? #NewArtistUnion? </div>
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2015 will see the most massive changes in the Off/ Off-Off-Broadway
scene in ages. ReGroup is honored to even be a part of that. AEA is with us or
against us. #TowardABetterTheatre</div>
Allie Mulholland</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-71000130123537946752014-11-26T13:20:00.000-08:002014-12-05T11:28:54.899-08:00Johnny Johnson at UNC- A BASS-ACKWARDS PRODUCTION<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmn19dXSjKa7rnhM2O2dO9hr-uEadFhDBPQbJs779DGIuKN1x3rirfT0TA9LQEXuIyjTKKHycbkvBWh80JnbY90zJUUWjEm3iP2M4AcO6wUTtNFjumg-GIGIyh1CcWaF-NOPRiGpmVc4/s1600/JohnnyJohnsonPOSTER-KenanTheatreCompany2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmn19dXSjKa7rnhM2O2dO9hr-uEadFhDBPQbJs779DGIuKN1x3rirfT0TA9LQEXuIyjTKKHycbkvBWh80JnbY90zJUUWjEm3iP2M4AcO6wUTtNFjumg-GIGIyh1CcWaF-NOPRiGpmVc4/s1600/JohnnyJohnsonPOSTER-KenanTheatreCompany2014.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">"Turr-able, Turr-able, It's Awful to Think About"</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">- Paul Green</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cheryl<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crawford, one
of the 3 founders of the Group Theatre, paired up Paul Green (who wrote the
Group’s first play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The House of Connelly</i>)
and Kurt Weill (the acclaimed European composer in his first American
composition).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The play, by Paul Green
with music by Kurt Weill, is a somewhat convoluted story of a young innocent
boy who gets enlists in WW1 as he believes it is the “war to end all wars.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The current version presented by the Kenan Theatre Co, UNC
Dept of Dramatic Arts and Music, and the Institute for Arts and Humanities is
billed as the “world premiere” of the new, more coherent, version of Johnny
Johnson, revised by Dr. Tim Carter, who claims to have spent 6 years on the
project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he authored the poorly written tome that
was published by the Kurt Weill Fdnt and still for sale at $400 a copy - it’s
no surprise he is on Weill’s side. That’s a shame, as despite how gorgeous and
memorable the music can be, it’s Green script that is the key.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Weill’s songs are beautifully composed, but they add little,
if anything, to the plot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This new
version includes songs that were originally cut by the creators before ever
being produced (further cuts were wisely made by the experts in the Group
Theatre), and after hearing the added songs, it’s clear why they were cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Carter has found that he needs to add
every scrap of music back into the play while cutting 2/3 of the dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, he’s inserted a One-Act by Green
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roses for Johnny Johnson</i> and
it sadly becomes the main bulk of the script. While the One-Act has many
charms, it comes at the expense of the overall storytelling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was priceless to see so many ‘deleted’ scenes from<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Johnny Johnson</i>, just as a theatre-lover,
but for the average attendee, it provided a very warped version of the
play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it’s unlikely the average
attendee will seek out the published script (Samuel French/Regroup Theatre),
THIS production is sadly the only version of Johnny Johnson they will know.
Like the brilliant novel that is poorly adapted for the screen, those who
haven’t read the book may wonder why those that have are shaking their fists at
the screen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Johnny Johnson is a long play (or musical in this case), but
adding unnecessary songs and plot in exchange for character development keeps
the actors from developing 3 dimensional characters and keeps the audience from
caring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Carter is clearly trying to
make a name for himself by revising the script and including all the rare
scraps he found at the expense of the play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“An unheard stanza? An unseen scene? Throw it in!” That seems to be
Carter’s idea. If this is the story he wants to tell, he should write his own play - with music, instead of butchering Green's script.</div>
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While it’s extremely difficult to direct a play with such a
huge cast, Selena Ebhardt fails on so many levels. I’d say the main problem is
script analysis, but when the majority of the script is cut, it makes some
sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When presenting such a monumental
production, you have great responsibility on your shoulders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The show went off, but almost every decision,
being fight choreography, the blinding all white set and blocking were a
travesty. It’s actually hard to imagine them being worse.) Minny Belle gets
proposed to and keeps on singing without even slightly acknowledging it? Changing Capt Valentine to a flaming 'bisexual' for no reason an in conflict to the script! The
soldiers on the front lines are shouting and dancing, even though a sniper is
shooting at them? Changing the meaning of the word ‘Nuts’ to mean testicles
instead of lunatic is just sloppy. These are just a few examples that should
have been fixed with a minor note from even the most novice director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All this aside, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> an undergraduate production. I don’t want to point out any performance
faults as it should be a safe space for the students to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel it’s necessary to applaud the professional
work of Kyle Strickenberger (Sgt. Jackson/Sniper) and Emma Gutt (Dr.
Mahodan).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it’s a student production,
I also feel it important to point out how mic’ed everyone was. In such a small
theatre, and even with a demanding score, it was entirely unnecessary and
harmful. It’s a shame the UNC is telling their students this acceptable
behavior for an actor. It is not.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like the ‘special edition’ dvd of a movie, I’m glad I got to
see the “deleted scenes”. Just the same, it’s very clear why they were
scrapped. Hopefully, you will never have to sit through this perversion of the
show.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-21480392736707104102014-09-02T23:24:00.001-07:002014-09-02T23:24:16.170-07:00NEW ACTORS - WELCOME AND PLEASE HELP SAVE US!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs_DIF8VZeqMI9v6tsPKUoGNmk1VIsAhzdYc5-0Ggn3m72pg8NSHfYfyx6aIHL6PBdUYW1aYuPh1BhLgtOlUCRGAFDH8kwMJLHFJp7mGE57xJ1qwQimIu9xITh5nlT9s6WyijjT4r9lQ/s1600/faulty-goods-claims.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs_DIF8VZeqMI9v6tsPKUoGNmk1VIsAhzdYc5-0Ggn3m72pg8NSHfYfyx6aIHL6PBdUYW1aYuPh1BhLgtOlUCRGAFDH8kwMJLHFJp7mGE57xJ1qwQimIu9xITh5nlT9s6WyijjT4r9lQ/s1600/faulty-goods-claims.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear young actors – So many of you are getting off the
bus/plane/train this week to find a career in NY! WELCOME! Whether you’re
studying at an expensive university or an acclaimed studio or making it on your
own – here’s our words of advice to make it!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
STUDY! READ! STUDY! READ! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>STUDY! NEVER STOP READING! Even the bad
writing will teach you what it means to be good. (So read lots of Theresa
Rebeck so you will know the former!) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You will still be young a year from now, and you will be a
much better actor if you find the right teacher and it’s in your DNA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it’s not, you’ll have spent a year
learning how to be human rather than an extra year sitting around and waiting
for your cell to ring.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Young, already good actors - You will give the best audition the casting people have seen, and you often will have more education than
they do. Fact. They won’t even know it and won’t even care as the part was cast
months ago. I’m not being a pessimist – always try – yet I’ve seen actors who
are much better than myself get passed over for some D-list CW flunkie. It’s
the business. And I truly believe the casting directors think she is a better
actress than you as they’ve seen her transform into a vampire on Hulu. It’s the
business. (There is no A R T in business.) The people in control do not even
KNOW what it good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are true, you can help change the
tide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t mean being bitter, it
means rolling up your sleeves and getting to work!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Places like The Network, Actors Connection, One on One, etc,
etc want your money. BADLY! (One on One used to be a casting director – but I
guess there’s more money in essentially ripping off actors than in casting
them. It’s a perfect sign of the times.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s due to the desperate actor’s fight against ‘failure’. It’s a union
failure. No other field allows for a pay to play interview. NONE. It should be
illegal, and the unions and the Attorney General have failed you by allowing
this to happen. By calling a 3 minute paid audition a ‘class’, they can get
away with it. A huge class-action lawsuit is inevitable. It will upend the
businesses and the unions who fail to take action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These classes contribute to the dumbing down
of the theatre/film/tv industry. People can pay to read 20 yr old soap opera
copy or a failed comedy pilot for $40 for 3 minutes instead of working in an
off-off-Broadway show that may actually transfer to something bigger and not
only get you a resume credit but real experience. It may pay dust, but at least
it wasn’t costing you $15 a minute. Those (quality) experimental shows are the
lifeblood of our theatre – and as the small off-broadway theatre dies, so do
your employment opportunities and the chances to take control of your career.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unless SAG-AFTRA/ Equity defend actors, its current members
and future-members, against these rip-off artists, and helps protect the low
paying art theatre, while it makes concessions for the hugely funded touring
Broadway shows. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As new artists coming to NY – you can help change the tide
by seeking out real theatres to work with and NEVER EVER paying to be seen for
an audition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We get the theatre we deserve.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We wish you nothing but luck,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
THEATREHAB</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
PS - And never ever take nudie pics on your phone unless you
want a baseless career boon that you can’t possibly sustain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-50997472508758275462014-08-26T22:50:00.001-07:002014-08-26T23:28:41.764-07:00Any Asshole can Blog "And most do"Yes, I get the irony in that statement. I recently replied to a critic's mixed review of ReGroup's A Texas Trilogy, stating there were blatant mistakes in it. The editor, who seems like a decent guy, said I'd need to edit it before he could post it and asked me to rephrase the word 'lies' as 'misreported'. I refused to be censored and put a spin on, well... the lies, and felt I failed my company by letting a 3rd rate writer review the shows - to which I was told "It's a free country" and he can review them if he wants. Journalism is in the toilet - Our production was called "Uneven". Fine. Yet 4 of the top 5 headlines of reviews on the site also use that <b>same exact word.</b> Not something to get upset about - yet a red signal it's not a site I'd want reviewing my artists. The biggest lessons I've learned about running a theatre sometimes come from intelligent, negative comments.When I refused to edit my post, I was accused of censorship and told I wasn't willing to have a dialogue. Some dialogue when my words are censored. You can google it and find it here - with their 60 'expert' writers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiYQ3vBELvGqJ7fP9HLpcFMuPlgVNCee8hfeB-wIeNMBw4DrxJPgNetxNlL1XsPOkj425jykSMGeW2Z9f8eY-uTqSZaxvLaq6Ps5eK2n4roJfsVL2w2WBLUenAJTMrlhGcY0NuV9GWmc/s1600/arts-fuse-header-for-web-site-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiYQ3vBELvGqJ7fP9HLpcFMuPlgVNCee8hfeB-wIeNMBw4DrxJPgNetxNlL1XsPOkj425jykSMGeW2Z9f8eY-uTqSZaxvLaq6Ps5eK2n4roJfsVL2w2WBLUenAJTMrlhGcY0NuV9GWmc/s1600/arts-fuse-header-for-web-site-01.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Here's my reply, that was deemed inappropriate on the reviewer's site. I can stand by all of my statements, and yes, I can laugh at myself better than anyone can- though I know humor is sometimes hard to read online. The editor's perceived 'snark' was meant to be laughable. <br />
<br />
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We’re honored to have such an esteemed critic as Paul Darvis
in attendance. (See, anyone can bullshit online.) Art is subjective, so I don’t
fault his criticism. When there are downright factual inaccuracies – they need
to be called out. The set was not the same for all 3 plays, other than a
literal breadbox and one bookshelf that both appeared in 2 of the 3 plays, the
set for all three plays was different – down to the rug, the coffee table,
cookie jar, the wallpaper and the towels in the kitchen. That’s the most basic
outright lie. I could go on, but it’s not worth my time.</div>
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Darvis’s statements about union vs non-union actors is also
very unclear. He praised mostly non-union actors and trashed the union ones.
What’s the point?</div>
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When 4 of the 5 recommended articles on the site are :<br />
Fuse Theater Review: “Working, A Musical” — A Pleasantly<b> Uneven</b> Hymn to the
Working Man<br />
Fuse Film Review: “Begin Again” — Lost Souls Making <b>Uneven </b>Music Together<br />
Fuse Theater Review: An <b>Uneven</b> Evening Out “On The Town”<br />
Fuse Music Review: Emmanuel Music’s “A Little Night Music” — An <b>Uneven</b> Evening<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
a certain word stands out, and perhaps Fuse needs to send
their critics back to school or at least get them a thesaurus. You cannot make
this crap up. It’s too obviously funny. We knew we were in for a hack job when
the critic didn’t even know his editor’s email address, and after 3 nights,
finally provided the WRONG email. There’s lots of ‘uneven’ theatre out there
(thank God, it evens out the rest that’s tested and polished for public
consumption) but there are even more terrible critics. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Brian Stites<br />
Founder of the ReGroup Theatre (We’ve had our colon surgically removed, so
where Paul got ‘Re:Group’ from is another mystery)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-26163178770679485702014-06-02T22:12:00.001-07:002014-06-02T22:12:26.927-07:00Heckle or Dr. Jekyll<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcp_oAXbyyT9cjXL6VFWhPr8J3uULRCFb8bqxWaZTrkD43CfUYQKfmGulqPXwt7xwn0avTSOJrDYF_gE78m9TDGbnXCs0-9xnWWiqcANyJxAP_-POAx7MAp-qK1NKgc_6cuIxO4zOY38o/s1600/a91d3001d6e9ef86fcc3218e0d7fcef0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcp_oAXbyyT9cjXL6VFWhPr8J3uULRCFb8bqxWaZTrkD43CfUYQKfmGulqPXwt7xwn0avTSOJrDYF_gE78m9TDGbnXCs0-9xnWWiqcANyJxAP_-POAx7MAp-qK1NKgc_6cuIxO4zOY38o/s1600/a91d3001d6e9ef86fcc3218e0d7fcef0.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />
So the 'internets' are all abuzz over a prematurely closed production of <i>Cat on a Hot Tin Roof</i> at Repertory East Playhouse in CA. For those lucky enough not to be plugged in - in short- some idiots were yelling homophobic remarks at Brick (or the Paul Newman character as many news outlets so intelligently reported) and during Act II, the actor playing Big Daddy had enough of it and broke character and tried to eject or decked the hecklers (depending on which report you read). And some heroic audience member (likely a member of Actors Equity who surely has added this credit to his resume) bravely threw them out after the incident and then seems to have made a full time job talking to the press about it.<br />
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So What? The whole purpose of the arts is to provoke a response in its audience. A production of Cat that did more than entertain should be applauded. Clearly, we don't condone hate speech, but at the same time, it's the artists job to expose things swept under the rugs, unknown, ignored or deemed unimportant. We'd like to think we live in a world of equal rights, where people are treated the same, but as the play shows, that wasn't and still isn't the case.<br />
<br />There are 2 kinds of hecklers- and maybe this just was the drunken asshole trying to get a rise out of people. In that case, I am reminded of Stella Adler's fabled story of the touring production of <i>Awake and Sing</i>! At one point when a character remarked the house doesn't even have an orange, the actors were pelted with oranges. Adler stepped to the front of the stage and proclaimed, "It's up to you ladies and gentlemen out there to protect these actors." And they did. Incidents like this are part of what makes the theatre so special - REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES - communion between the action on the stage and in the audience. These aren't ideal, but it's what make the theatre completely different from the people that yell out in the movie theater, "LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!' Ideally they would all be ejected by a 7 foot bouncer, but in the theatre, there's the chance to spin their interjections into the tapestry of the performance. (That is the most pretentious thing I've ever said, but I stand by it.) They can't teach that in acting school or even through years of performance experience - but a theatre audience influences the show every night - (Maybe we should punch them when they don't laugh!). Embrace it and create a unique and powerful night. It's one of the biggest assets the theatre has going for it!<br />
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The other type of heckler is the true racist/homophobe/bigot/asshole. Again, it's not ideal, but their outbursts solidify why we do our work as artists. During the closing moments of ReGroup's recent revival of Paul Green's 1931 play <i>The House of Connelly</i>, the two former slave women murder the new bride and heir to the Connelly farm. During this scene, an audience member started shouting, "I hate niggers." The audience started yelling at her and some smacked her with their playbills. Yet the actors kept on course without violence. Though tears were shed and feelings were hurt all around in the company, including my own, the larger goal prevailed. We're here to tell a story that affects people. The response the play and the performances solicited only shows that the issues dealt with in an 83 year old play are still alive and unwell. It was unsettling and uncomfortable, but it struck the audience to the core.<br />
<br />
At their bests, artists are here to tell a story, to communicate, and hopefully make a change, however minor, in the way the audience thinks. Through the communion of actors and audience, there is a unique experience every night. While I don't condone hecklers, I'm saddened by those who have made the incident into a grab at a headline instead of using what the audience was giving to make the performance even more resonant.<br />
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Think of our greatest talents? Surely Maureen Stapleton, Olivier, Jessica Tandy, Brando, Newman, Duse, Geraldine Page, etc etc etc all had nights like this - but I don't recall any stories of smack-downs. USE WHAT YOU ARE GIVEN AND MAKE IT PART OF THAT NIGHT'S DIALOGUE WITH THE AUDIENCE.<br />
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(And if you're going to beat up someone in the audience, why not start with the critics who know nothing?!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-45228749516360308902014-05-16T22:54:00.001-07:002014-05-16T22:54:48.534-07:00The Wis-dumbness of Theatre Professionals<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>So Many Experts are Total Idiots</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8T1by5fUr1g74bsz93eOHILBpn3hAEpmsl9e8pG7YRU1u9NTO2bbCzlV956xtuiiFywVfAJMhNF5L7uM64ZIbUzqPnAwy7XtRtEFsbaQF_0OWCng887TIZNXpKjgtSoJOba98PzLVd8/s1600/tumblr_lm1p6vZq9D1qearaqo1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8T1by5fUr1g74bsz93eOHILBpn3hAEpmsl9e8pG7YRU1u9NTO2bbCzlV956xtuiiFywVfAJMhNF5L7uM64ZIbUzqPnAwy7XtRtEFsbaQF_0OWCng887TIZNXpKjgtSoJOba98PzLVd8/s1600/tumblr_lm1p6vZq9D1qearaqo1_400.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div>
<br />
Young actors-<br />
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For a decade, I made a very nice living doing soaps, off-Broadway, and print ads - It was great money but for me, it was Hell. (Note - I don't look down on anyone who does the same. I'd rather clean toilets where no one sees it than use my artistry to undermine my body of work. Pretentious? Not at all - it's great for some people, that's great by me.)<br />
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I studied with two of the main casting directors for major theatre companies in NY. 1.) Gave us a monologue from some (usually) awful play of the last season, and after the performance of said piece, told us that we needed to perform the beginning and the end of the play in that one scene. ??? First off, many of these plays were not yet in print, but how could I portray the first scene, an innocent first date that 3 hrs later turns out to be a killer in one 3 min scene. First of all, it's WRONG! In his first scene, the character would never show his Act 3 development of a psycho on his first date. It's kills the storytelling and the arch. I understand the need to see both sides of the character - so give me an Act I scene and an Act III scene. I can play, but should not play, Act III at the start.<br />
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The MAIN, lifechanging example came from a huge off-Bway moneyhouse casting director who told me in class that I reminded her of Marlon Brando or Paul Newman. I was speechless. What better compliment could an actor be paid? She proceeded with, "No one wants that anymore." Uh, uhh................ She asked me to redo the monologues as casual conversation. I could, of course, but it was <b>wrong</b>. Joe Bonaparte said, "If music shot bullets I'd like it better." as if he were saying, "Is there any more Mayo?" She raved over the adjustment, but it was <b>WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! </b>After she spoke with my manager, I was called in to her office and told "I know you think Brando and Newman are good actors, but people don't want that anymore. They have been SOPHISTICATED by reality TV." (Once sentence that is burnt into my memory.) I left and threw up on the street.<br />
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Yet, in a way, they're all right. People want what's familiar and doesn't push them to think. Shouldn't the arts lift people up instead of dumbing them down? That was a horrible, yet very important day in my life, and in the life of my theatre world. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-48629601667994881242014-05-16T22:25:00.000-07:002014-05-17T08:06:13.634-07:00Arts vs Crafts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbyMMtsyAJwk4Y3VRB-TDUylGQaFndmfLdma9PgaUAhP3vT6syvrlizaqdguwZqweCOpnwtuug9_8wiqR-nvYvA34EjbRe1j_XOBwPE3BoQSvMzfXNYF-atV6wQu5SswAa1JH1CJRwrI/s1600/Cats_Last_Supper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbyMMtsyAJwk4Y3VRB-TDUylGQaFndmfLdma9PgaUAhP3vT6syvrlizaqdguwZqweCOpnwtuug9_8wiqR-nvYvA34EjbRe1j_XOBwPE3BoQSvMzfXNYF-atV6wQu5SswAa1JH1CJRwrI/s1600/Cats_Last_Supper.jpg" height="187" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pretending It's Art<br />(Or Justifying Throwing Ashtrays at Actors)</b></span></div>
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<b>This site is meant to better the theatre, but
sometimes, you have to focus on the problem to make an improvement. It's not bitching, it's a diagnosis. If
throwing rocks at false idols is what's necessary, I fully condone it. Pointing out unhealthy behavior is what Doctor's do. </b></div>
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Waiting tables. Mopping Floors. Doing Shitty Plays about Marilyn Monroe or plays with gratuitous male nudity - They're all a fact of life for a young person in the theatre. They're hopefully a harmless means to an end, but what if you start buying into the means, there's a danger. Believing your work as a waiter is of global importance is delusional; yet, I meet actors every day doing shitty plays, paying their dues, but proclaiming the work to be important. Quite quickly, they become convinced that it is high art. They may be even doing some good work in it, but that doesn't mean it's art. (This is usually from a lack of education, not meaning classroom learning- but once it become truth, they become "Born Again" artists, speaking loudly and handing out postcards in the subway.)</div>
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By art, I don't mean something aristocratic, snobbish or even purely skilled. Look at paintings, Thomas Kinkaide was a very skilled painter, but I'd bite my tongue off before I called him an artist. Craftmanship is different than artistry. Skill isn't to be scoffed at, but it's confusing a rhinestone for a diamond. They both sparkle! Yet one is carefully manufactured and one is a tiny miracle that can take people's breath away.</div>
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Actors are tricky characters though. (Often, it's part of tricking themselves.) It's fine to do a shit show for experience, but losing sight of quality is a huge danger. It gets even more dangerous when they try to convince the public that fool's gold is the real goods. Even more damaging is taking a known great piece of work, and having merely competent craftsmen go to work on it. It's akin to having Mr. Kinkaide repaint Starry Night and try to pass it off as the real deal. With the sources of mass-publicity and lazy, horribly uneducated critics, this knock-off soon becomes what people know as the real thing. The next poor knock off will gain the same fortune. It's like a photocopy, where every version gets a little more blurred. </div>
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WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WITH SENSE AND KNOWLEDGE TO POINT THIS OUT?! There is a point where educated critics are needed - when any asshole can blog (once again, point noted - I take the work very seriously, I don't take myself seriously). We live in such a 'politically correct' world, where everyone receives a participation trophy, we lose signs of greatness. Call out rottenness and falseness (see our last post). And when critics pat themselves on the back for sharing the same ignorant response, while chastising those with real knowledge, it's a sad,sad world. (And THOSE critics are usually the ones that sit and bitch about the theatre.) <b>Don't bitch. </b>Get educated. Create better.</div>
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The more I learn and see, the more I can understand the great teachers that berated you to the bone for your failings or threw ashtrays at your head, maybe there was something to it. They CARED about the work so much that they'd weed out anyone that was trying to adulterate it and wasn't totally committed AND for the right reasons - reasons bigger than ourselves. If you brought in a 3 week prepared scene of <i>Baby Want a Kiss</i> to Stella Adler and she stopped you before you spoke a word and told you to start over, she was teaching you a very valuable lesson. If Sandy Meisner threw a glass ashtray at you while performing Willy Wax from Rocket to the Moon, he didn't do it out of meanness, but out of absolute love for the higher theatre. What do you want to be a part of? LCD (Lowest Common Denominator or revolutionary theatre?)<br />
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<b>SO get educated, get experience, fall on your face and know when to throw ashtrays even though people will crucify you. </b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“A Straightforward statement made without an ambiguous grimace may be
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it, you may have to fight, perhaps shame, your adversary: and if you are not
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Any belief set forth without an evasive or apologetic grin is both bad manners
and bad salesmanship. Behind it all is the need to be free, to pick up or drop
any notion according to conveniences, to avoid choice, lest one be caught in
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-25471758587956905502014-05-12T00:03:00.001-07:002014-05-13T16:48:42.059-07:00Case 1: Quit Killing William Inge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dried Roses Are Good For Sentiment Only</div>
<br />
There's nothing I would like more than for certain playwrights to finally get their due. One of them is William Inge. It seems no one can do a good Inge production, so maybe it's best if we put a moratorium on him until a talented director comes to the boards.<br />
<br />
"Nothing happens in his plays." "They're regional." etc etc etc.<br />
<br />
Yet, if you've spent any time in the MidWest or the Plains, especially in Inge's time period, while not much seems to happen in Inge's plays, for his isolated characters, what does happen is ALL they have. A new, ugly paint job on the bank IS a major topic to these people - especially in a cut off world, with 2 radio stations and no TV or internet. It's their world, not ours. It still exists, and it's sad people don't see that. When played with NY City contemporary insight superimposed on the plays, they ARE dull. Few playwrights wrote so much subtext as Inge. <br />
<br />
While we've been very careful to keep this blog universal, it's time to name names to make a point. Inge's midwestern plays are about isolation - these characters might as well be on desert island - and the few people they encounter are the ONLY people in their world. Claustrophobia is a main issue. When there are only 10 people in your world, they all have varying, clear places of importance. Defying his script, the awful Broadway <i>Sheba</i> revival, had a huge set with tons of buildings right behind the main house (Read the most beautiful stage directions that start off Sheba - they are poetry and describe the characters through the furniture. Neglecting them is a shame.) Similarly, the sad revival of <i>A Loss of Roses</i> also has a cyclorama of wall to wall houses and businesses and a huge office building on the side, <i>all contrary to the script</i>. Even Inge's slightly more citified <i>Bus Stop</i> has the characters stranded in a small diner, while a potentially deadly snow storm brings them together. The setting and weather is a huge part of Inge and Midwestern life, and it is often overlooked.<br />
<br />
Inge is ALL about the subtext. People in his reality can speak a line every 10 minutes, and they are fine. This still exists today. It's about connecting. What IS important is the behavior between the lines. As Meiner stated, "An ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words."It was never more true than in Inge plays.<br />
<br />
Sadly, all the 'artist's' failures to make Inge soar only lead to the accepted legacy that he was a minor playwright. If you do Inge successfully, and as it reads to a Mid-Westerner, you have to put the play down at times as it is so volatile. Like Wilder's <i>Our Town,</i> his plays are usually performed as syrupy Hallmark Hall of Fame Movies. They strip them off all their edge, and only play the words.<br />
<br />
With the new revival of Inge's first flop, the brilliant A LOSS OF ROSES, produced by The Peccadillo Theatre - all the mistakes in producing Inge are glaringly on display.<br />
<br />
From their outdated, childish finger-painting of a poster, it's clear the Peccadillo isn't taking the show seriously. They're clearly only doing this as a vanity project, along with lead Lichty's La Femme Prod. Besides not having any understanding of Kansas or the Great Depression (The whirling Disney-ish purple and blue cyclorama brings Oz to 1930's Kansas - along with giant trees and rolling Irish hills! - I wish I were joking! And the sex scene brings more stars out than warp speed in the <i>Star Wars</i>. Glad they were visible through all that dust.). Also, all the characters are 10 - 25 years older than written, and look even older than the characters they play. After Peccadillo's miscasting last year of a drag queen as the mother in Sidney Howard's <i>The Silver Cord </i>(billed as a comedy, though the play's literal title is "THE SILVER CORD: A DRAMA IN THREE ACTS") my date leaned over and whispered, "Did they cast a MAN again for the female lead?" After looking at the asexual name (Jean) in the program, she wasn't quite sure.'Jean' came across as either a man or a heavy female smoker, shouting and overacting as a crass city girl in a role WRITTEN for Marilyn Monroe, at her most naive. (Yes, Jean is a woman, as far as I know. Her production company helped fund the show. See our past few posts on 'benevolent' projects.)<br />
<br />
The production, about a studly loser of a 21 year old man boy who has an unhealthy, unconsummated Oedipal relationship with his mother, (due in part to the father's death saving the son from drowning and the son feeling the need to take his father's place). The duo have their lives interrupted by the sexy ingenue who babysat the son 15 years prior. The former babysitter, now a failed stage actress, broken by the 'talkies', comes back to live with the family until she can get back on her feet. She's there as a woman, and it throws a wrench in the written Oedipal relationship - which doesn't exist, at all, in this production. Lila is a little girl in a woman's body, the son, Kenny is a boy who has been forced into a role of man of the house way too soon. As written, it makes for interesting, complex interaction, but all of this is thrown in the junk pil in exchange for one dimensional soap opera acting.<br />
<br />
The line readings in the show are so misdirected, it makes for a campy evening. (If I were director, I'd tell the cast to say everything totally opposite of what they say. They PLAY the lines and nothing, nothing else.) In the mother's final speech about her hidden sins, ie. lusting after her son, are pointless, as the mother portrays none of that inner drama ever in the production - had I not read the play, like the average patron, all of this inner poetry would have escape me.<br />
<br />
And then comes Lila, the Marilyn Monroe part. She's described as a beautiful girl in her 'early 30's' in the script. While beautiful, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/143436326766/photos/pb.143436326766.-2207520000.1400024651./10152032328151767/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">mid-50s yr old Lichty is laughable in the part</a>. The unhidden varicose veins in her legs, the amount of makeup and harsh voice do make her seem crude and like a drag queen. <br />
<br />
While the theatre building itself was nearly 100 degrees, and the script mentions 'it's too hot to work,' and the characters often lament the unbearable heat, they also stupidly wear fur coats and leather jackets.<br />
<br />
This show will crucify Inge once again. It proves what all the skeptics say, as it gets his writing so, so incorrect. As performed, it makes his writing seem trite. Sadly, it's far from the case. Inge was a brilliant American playwright, it's just there are few productions of his work done, and seemingly always by hacks, that keep him a known as a dated flop.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1957769153975735858.post-4938508444740138862014-05-11T22:04:00.001-07:002014-05-11T22:04:20.136-07:00On Dirty Fingerprints (or Adding Boogers to the Mona Lisa)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mainly found in our non-profit theatres are the sincerest narcissists. They believe in the theatre and want to do _________ play because it is "so great, and ahead of its time, and misunderstood..." Oh. "And there's a great role for me!" Win/Win!<br />
<br />
99% of the seeming benevolence in the theatre is actually a case of vanity. (Easiest case, see how many 'artistic directors' are <b>ALWAYS</b> the lead, even if horribly miscast, in EVERY show.) Their pleading claims of serving the theatre start with serving themselves. <br />
<br />
Trying to claim fake importance by getting your hands on a rare title and milking it for all its worth is again quite understandable. There are many neglected works that deserve their due - but most of these cases seem to be an issue of graffiti or dirty fingerprints. Lots of people look at this bridge, so let me spraypaint my name all over it. Or a child sees something getting attention, so he smears his muddy fingers and boogers on it. He just one upped it, and became part of the pieces legacy. (Keep checking Wikipedia - sooner or later you will see, "_____ made a name for himself by scrawling his name on Michelangelo's David.") Take a look at the marquees, see how many directors' names precede the playwright. And often, it's true, it's not the play they are doing, it's the Mona Lisa obscured by their greasy fingerprints.<br />
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It's easiest to smoke these 'artistes' out in their constant 'talk-backs', -"Watch us tell you how much we know and praise us." I've never been to a single talk-back where it wasn't a pure pissing contest. Even the rare time the artists weren't showing off, someone in the audience feels the need to show off their own presumed literary prowess. (And 9 times out of 10, they are wrong.) I wish I were naming names, only to make this more specific, but I'm trying to keep this as universal as possible, as I think you know the type I mean. <br /><br />Though I sat through a talk-back recently, where the director, a self-proclaimed "EXPERT" on ____, a neglected writer, announced that she was so dumbstruck with finding this extremely rare play. As an <i>expert</i>, she thought she knew everything on this playwright, until she happened to stumble across this very rare play. The audience cooed and applauded, unaware that copies have always been available to check-out at the NY Public Library, on the shelf at Drama Books and has never ever been out of print.<br />
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As this is to be a teaching/open discussion blog - what can we learn from these posts?<br />
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1) Do your own homework. If you are a part of the theatre, READ plays. While meant to be performed, all stories have a spine. The story of Hansel & Gretel is very straightforward. Yet if you hadn't read/heard it before, and were told it was full of incest and nudity, as reprinted in the 'anniversary production' you'd probably believe it. It's the same kind of thing when seeing a play. People can and often will, under the guise of benevolance, distort the story so far out of shape that it will become an abomination. This serves them, and sullies the play. Don't blame the author automatically - get informed.<br />
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2) When you do experience plays like this, PLEASE don't feel the need to be polite. The 'artist' surely weren't. <i>David, Starry Night, My Funny Valentine</i> all have concrete qualities to them. If you smear them with shit or change the words around, you are distorting the work. Though it's not easy to do - Those who bastardize work need to be called out. Speak up! Hold people responsible for molesting the artwork for commercial or vanity means. (Ok, sometimes, it's just out of plain stupidity, but ignorance of the law will still land you behind bars.) If someone 'artiste' took a huge SHIT on the Last Supper, do you think people would be silent, and criticize Da Vinci? NO! They would rightfully attack the 'faux' artiste. Where is our audiences power? The AUDIENCE makes the theatre.<br />
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3) BRING TOMATOES Don't EVER be a passive audience! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0