Listening to the Field

To complete our research on the need and viability for a graduate theatre management program, we spent time talking with local theatres about what they need or want from an intern. With the help of L.A. Stage Alliance, we structured two focus groups of Los Angeles Theatre leaders to gain perspectives from a range of opportunities and experiences. The first afternoon was spent with 8 smaller sized ensemble based theatre companies and the second group of 9 was mostly mid-sized theatres.

Here are some highlights:
• Match Passion to Passion: Most organizations feel very adamant that they want interns who are excited and passionate about that particular organization’s mission and work. If a student is more interested in large presenting organizations, it may not be the best fit for them to intern with a smaller ensemble based theatre. The staffs in these theatres typically have been there since the inception of the company and have extreme pride for their work. They were clear in wanting an intern that is going to match their enthusiasm.
• Recruitment is a Time Suck: Our theatre colleagues agreed that searching for qualified interns is an endless challenge. It takes a lot of time and energy to locate viable intern candidates and the majority of the theatres would like more help in this regard.
• Best Learning Opportunities Happen During the Season: Not only is summer too short, but most of the "juicy" projects that interns crave fall during the season. (There was a suggestion that maybe summer could serve as a training period and then the student could fully immerse themselves into the real work when the season begins.) The amount of time that it takes to train and invest in an intern is significant, and if these students want a deep, rich experience they also need to invest the time in getting oriented, and being available and flexible with their schedules.
• Is it an Internship We are Talking About?: The term “internship” came up for debate in both groups. Some argued that students may want more of an "observership" so they can learn and be in the room for lots of various discussions. Some argued that placements would be more of a peer to peer collaboration, especially at the graduate level.
• Pass the Cream, Please: Organizations agreed that we want the cream of the crop of emerging professionals to join our working ranks. We want the best of the best students who are committed to our art form and our city. Many of these organizations are short staffed and need people that are going to actually provide quality help to them. In return, the intern will get real life experience that they can apply to future job offerings or maybe even turn into a job offer there at that particular organization.
• Ask Not What Theatre Can Do for You...: Theatres want to see tangible results. If they trust interns with vital work for the organization to thrive then the product needs to be useful and viable for that organization to implement.
• Connect Theatre Classroom with Theatre Community: Perhaps most importantly, the theatre professionals in our focus groups want interns to see theatre and expose themselves to the art that their management deals with on a day to day basis. Get in the field! They lamented that university curriculum does not necessarily align with what theatre employers are looking for in terms of field experience and knowledge of the art form itself. Students should go see theatre if they are getting a degree in theatre management!

A big special thanks to the following theatres for taking the time from their very full schedules to come and spend an afternoon with us:
24th Street Theatre, Colony Theatre Company, Deaf West Theatre, East West Players, Fountain Theatre, LA Theatre Center, Theatre @ Boston Court, Little Fish Theatre/Shakespeare by the Sea, Blank Theatre Company, Ebony Repertory Theatre, Elephant Theatre Company, Ghost Road Company, Long Beach Playhouse, Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble (LATE), Theatre West, Pacific Resident Theatre, Son of Semele Ensemble
-Patricia

Ask and You Shall Receive

We made huge strides recently in our research for this grant by actually talking with students! We gathered 12 students from our partner universities and advisors and talked with them about what their ideal internship structure would be in an organization. All the students were extremely enthusiastic and contributed so many great ideas!

Here are a few of the highlights:
Compensation
• Students need to be paid for their work, especially at a graduate level.

Types of Projects/Tasks
• Students want project based work that serves the needs and increases the capacity of the organization.
• They would like to be supported with their tasks within a safe space to make mistakes.

Mentorship Opportunities
• It is very important to the students that their mentors are prepped through training emphasizing how to work with interns for the benefit of both the organization and the intern.
• Students would like ideally to have a comprehensive view of the organization, working in various departments first, then honing in on one specific area of focus.

Expectations and End Results
• What Students Want the Most:
-Access to the “players” in theatre companies and arts organizations.
-Understanding the politics and cultures of how different organizations work and decisions are made.
-Opportunities to mix and mingling with professionals
-Getting to know other interns—the people they’ll be working with in the future.
• Real Work Experience:
-Understanding use of real budgets, planning processes, and scheduling
-Being exposed to resources, product, and capital that really exist and mean something.
-Being placed in an environment where there are professional systems and protocols.
-Building a network.
-Making connections to larger community and national theatre trends.

A big special thanks to the following students for their insight and participation-your contribution to this research has been invaluable:
Hunter Bird, Lisa Dring, Mira Greene, Marisa Johnston, Jaeeun Joon, Chelsea Larkin, Yanda Li, Alex Lydon, Elena Muslar, Rachel Saltzman, Laura Swanson, Michael Vanderbilt, Erika Varela, and Ashley Walden

On a side note: Theatre Communications Group (TCG) had their annual conference here in Los Angeles and I was able to finally meet Mohammad Shatara, TCG’s Artistic Programs Associate who has been helping with everything to do with this grant so thanks Mo!

Here is a picture of him with Leslie and me celebrating TCG’s 50th Birthday out at the Music Center Plaza. Cheers to TCG for helping us to do this great research!


-Patricia

Post TCG conference buzz

I just got back from the TCG conference in LA. It was inspiring and educational, to say the least.

For me one of the unofficial themes that seemed to thread throughout the conference was the intersection of theatre with film/tv. I attended two sessions that explored the topic overtly, and the climax of the weekend was a conversation with Julie Taymor. Obviously she's an artist who has had huge amounts of success as a director of both live theatre and films.

It was heartening and exciting to see so many of the elements of our own innovation project bubbling up through out the discussions at the conference.

But like many of us experience, as soon as I returned home I was confronted with reality, ever challenging reality. For scheduling reasons I've had to push back production on our biggest DGTV project to date, which in turn affects the launch dates. It's frustrating but I'd rather get the cast I want for the project than release it at the planned time.

So I guess in the tug of war between artistic excellence and real world deadlines I've favored the former in this case. I hope it's the right call but only time will tell. What I do know for sure is that issues like this will continue to surface with increasing frequency as we strive to release more and more content on a more and more ambitious schedule. So I guess it's important for me to know how I want to handle it.

Unfinished business!

One last note, from our final Superlab participant, Erin Courtney:

Working with Maria Striar and Adam Greenfield on a Superlab of my new play Honey Drop has been the most productive development week that I have ever participated in as a writer. New play development is difficult because there are so many factors that must be “right” in order for true development to take place. Let me track in what ways this development process was so successful.

First of all, Maria Striar knew that my first draft of Honey Drop was not ready for a Superlab. I was sure it was ready to be rehearsed and contemplated in that format but Maria thought the draft was not there yet. Maria and I have worked together for many years, and we have recently been discussing my tendency to underwrite plays. Coming from a “less is more” approach, I often leave so much out of a play that the story does not get fully told and the audience is left wanting more, but not necessarily in a good way. So the first component in effective development of new plays is knowing when is the most beneficial time to be in a rehearsal room with actors and a director. I was sure Honey Drop was ready for a Superlab, but Maria could see it needed more time in the hopper. So I wrote more and a few months later I resubmitted the play to Maria and Adam. Both Adam and Maria decided the new draft was in a place that was ready for an intensive, collaborative, feedback oriented process.

The second effective practice that Superlab did so well is the ability to match the writer with a director who is experienced in new play development and who is the right aesthetic match for the play. In order to find the right director, Maria, Adam and I engaged in a conversation regarding my goals for the piece, the rehearsal approach that might best suit those goals, and they asked me to brainstorm what directors I had worked with in the past or what new directors I might be interested in forging a new relationship with. Maria, Adam and I were all interested in the work of May Adrales and we all felt she was the best director to work with on this project. Even though May has had a very busy season, she read the play in one sitting and emotionally connected with it right away. May and I had a long, very productive meeting where we discussed goals for the play. I expressed my fears about what parts of the play were pat or cliché, and she discussed the way she felt the play was emotionally true and places for further exploration. Like all good directors, she asked great questions and she listened intently to my answers.

The third element required for a great development process is casting. Playwrights Horizons and Clubbed Thumb both have an incredible relationship with talented actors who are experienced in new play development. I cannot over emphasize the importance of the actors’ input. artistic generosity and intelligence in this process. Casting this particular piece took quite a while but the Superlab team were able to cast a group of actors that Maria Striar dubbed “The All-Stars”. They are Bill Buell, Judith Hawking, Jenny Seastone Stern, Hannah Cabell, and Mike Iveson. All of these actors have a fearlessness in embracing new plays and a sharp eye for exploration.

The fourth step in a successful development is in the providing enough rehearsal time and space. Playwrights Horizon and Clubbed Thumb provided us with a great stage manager, Chuck Turner, a beautiful rehearsal space, copies of scripts and copies of new pages. We had planned to do an invited reading, but one of the actors had a family emergency. We decided to cancel that reading, but the Superlab team made it possible for us to schedule an extra rehearsal and a new date for an invited reading. This required extra time from the staff of both Playwrights Horizions and Clubbed Thumb, as well as additional money to pay an additional stipend to the creative team.

And lastly, there is the extremely important contribution of the feedback. Both Maria Striar and Adam Greenfield are two of the most experienced and effective dramaturges of new plays. They both have spent years listening attentively to the fragile birth of new work. They scheduled in plenty of time for listening, meeting with me, and then giving me time to respond in the writing. After the first read through, I asked for their feedback. Both of them gave me incredibly perceptive notes that I implemented during the week. After the week of rehearsal, they met with me again with a new round of notes and I wrote more. Then after the invited reading, we discussed the play once more and I am now in the process of integrating those notes. Their wisdom, their desire to take the time, and their ability to convey their thoughts in a useful manner are an invaluable asset to the completion of new plays.

I am deeply appreciative that I my play Honey Drop was selected to be a part of the Superlab and that each element of this process was so thoughtfully and professionally completed. Superlab is setting a new standard for quality play development and audiences and artists will benefit from their intelligent and passionate work.

Thank you,

Erin Courtney

Learning From the Experts

If you are a student studying arts management you should become familiar with The Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE). AAAE is an international organization incorporated as a nonprofit institution whose mission is to represent college and university graduate and undergraduate programs in arts administration, encompassing training in the management of visual, performing, literary, media, cultural and arts service organizations. Founded in 1975, the AAAE was created to provide a forum for communication among its members and advocate formal training and high standards of education for arts administrators. The Association, moreover, encourages its members to pursue, publish, present and disseminate research in arts management and administration to strengthen the understanding of arts management issues in the academic and professional fields.

Leslie and I ventured over to Boston for their 2011 conference hosted by the Arts Administration Graduate Program at Boston University (see picture of me above overlooking Boston). Overall, we felt it was completely invaluable for us to be present. The conference is primarily geared towards the educators of these university programs, but the conversation spanned a broad range of issues in arts management that clearly benefitted from having students and to a greater extent the “employer” in the room. There was much talk about what future employers would want. Being an “employer” we had the opportunity to chime in. I think people were fascinated that 1. We were there at all; and 2. That we are having parallel conversations about key skills and insights we are looking for in future employees.

A few major revelations that peaked our interest:
• Leadership Competencies: Most often employers are looking for key leadership skills when they hire, but how do these get taught at the university level? What skills are employers really looking for? How can universities and employers work together to develop these in future leaders?
• National Scope: We had originally thought of our Theatre Management Internship program being only open to local university partners, but after meeting with many other universities there is a definite interest for students nationally to be able to participate. Can we design a program that can encompass a national pool of students? Or is this an opportunity for a national organization, such as TCG, to create a national program?

We had some fantastic conversations that have helped to evolve our thinking and want to thank some of the conference attendees for taking time to share with us their insights: Laura Zucker and Diana Luna from Claremont Graduate University, David Edelman from Shenandoah University, Dee Boyle from University of Massachusetts Amherst Extension Services, and Antonio Cuyler from Purchase College.

It was so great to be there so big thanks to Barbara Harkins, the Administrative Director of AAAE, for talking with me and giving us the opportunity to be in the room.
-Patricia

Dad's Garage TV is live!

Things are very exciting around Dad's Garage these days.

Our horror musical Scarlett's Web is doing so well that we've extended it for two weeks.

We've launched 3 videos in the last month on our new YouTube channel as a part of Dad's Garage TV. If you're not faint of heart, you might wanna check them out here!

Or view here...



And this weekend we're hosting Saturday Night Live alumni Tim Meadows at our theatre where we will work with him to create and perform some fun nights of live comedy.

The whole idea with Dad's Garage TV is that all ships will rise, which is to say we'll see an increase in ticket sales, class registration, corporate booking, etc. And while it's certainly too early to say how effective our efforts will be, it is heartening to see things generally buzzing with a positive momentum.

The celebrity guest angle is connected because one of the goals of the theatre right now is to generate more awareness about our work on a national level, and we're hoping that amazing guest artists like Tim will help us accomplish that.

And most unexpectedly: our channel has only been live for a month and we've already received two cold call requests for corporate video work. And although this wasn't an intended outcome, it's becoming clear that it could be a great new revenue stream for the organization as well as the artists.

But really, things are just whirling around right now, and the real test of the effectiveness of this project will be when the initial excitement dies down and it has to stand on its own two digital feet.

Thanks for reading, whoever you are!

Kevin Gillese

Breaking Down Barriers

Sitting down for breakfast with Leslie Tamaribuchi, Associate Dean of School of Theatre at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) opened us up to a non-traditional approach of arts management.

CalArts has three management tracks in their program: Producing, Stage Management, and Production Management. The two most closely aligned with some of the other programs we are exploring would be the producing and production management strands. Each program has specific goals, but essentially they focus on the basics of management including budgeting, marketing, public relations, fundraising, and analyzing a script critically.

Students work on many hands-on projects throughout their time at CalArts in order to provide them a sampling of the type of work they would potentially be doing out in their careers. CalArts considers project management experience vital to their management students. CalArts believes in giving students the right general skills and tools, but also wants students to be able to develop their own specific focus. Each student in their fifth semester has a required internship. Often CalArts students are placed in for-profit settings. They have worked with a wide range of organizations such as amusements parks, in film or television. Leslie posed very valid questions for us to consider along our discovery journey: The theatre world is very expansive. Could our program be bigger by incorporating different businesses or by partnering with different types of institutions?

•How do we not set up barriers but rather support a fluid professional exchange between commercial businesses and non-profits? Why is there a commercial and non-profit divide?

•How do we change the perspective/image of our field? How can we broaden the discussion on where theatre management skills can be applied?

I have an intern here in our Education Department this semester named Elena Muslar and she just recently was accepted into the CalArts family and had this to say about what makes CalArts so uniquely exciting:
“I am immensely excited to attend CalArts after talking with students and faculty, sitting in on classes, and seeing theatrical performances! I know that I will be immersed into a mixing bowl filled with ingredients of expression, guidance, and creativity. From the start, The School of Theatre’s MFA Management program specifically has enticed me because of the personal attention CalArts provides for each student, respect for the student’s individual ideas to be cultivated, and the quick immersion into the theatre department through the Producing track. I am eager to be going into a program where I will get my feet wet right off the bat, producing shows and working on management issues so that I can attack them as an arts manager of the future!”
-Patricia