Hi, friends. I’m looking to pitch some ideas on positive outcomes of the current situation—not the virus itself, of course, but is there anything useful that Chicago theater might learn from the forced pause and rethinking of practices? And it occurred to me that I should open up the floor for discussion among Storefront Rebellion readers. What potential silver linings do you see?
What do you think about streamed recordings as an advertisement for (though certainly not a replacement for) the Chicago theater scene?
Just anecdotally (since we don't have a robust data set quite yet), Victory Gardens tells me it's already sold streaming tickets for Fun Home to viewers in 23 countries, and within the U.S. it's reached 47 states plus D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. I'm told Theater Wit has also attracted international audiences with its streaming version of Teenage Dick. I haven't asked the Goodman for numbers regarding School Girls, but it's done well enough to add virtual dates.
Multiple unexpected silver linings. The night that Shelter in Place was ordered I got an idea to direct and produce an audio drama production of a play about Orson Welles' radio play THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. Written by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, the WAR OF THE WELLeS focuses on the ascent of Orson Welles and the CBS Mercury Theater in a different era but with the timeless themes of national fear and uncertainty. The ensuing hysteria that swept across the nation based on the supposed attack from Mars was based on one of the original templates for "fake news" as drama and is poignantly relevant. We have assembled 26 actors on hiatus from film and Broadway commitments from Chicago to LA to NY and in between to bring this play to life as a benefit for A Red Orchid and Porchlight Theaters. Artists who would never work together in a virtual sound studio in different time zones, two Chicago theaters who have very little in common artistically, and a medium that promises to reignite our dramatic imaginations in a time when streaming theater and Zoom theatrical events find their footing. This project has given many of us an unexpected lifeline to creativity and we hope it might have the same power to reach an audience next month. - Larry Grimm
Aileen McGroddy, a former Chicago director and Forks & Hope teammate from our very first "Hunting of the Snark" at Strawdog and now a current MFA candidate in Directing at Brown, wrote this and its been getting passed around a bit, and I think its pretty awesome. I find the last paragraph in particular immensely thought-provoking in terms of exactly what you are talking about, re: "anything useful that Chicago theater might learn from the forced pause and rethinking of practices?"
BIG PICTURE: I'm hoping that the community leaders and it's artists will take the moment to analyze the role theatre serves in our communities within a culture where televised and filmed entertainment is more accessible and prolific than ever before. We need to dig deeper and ask why people should leave their homes and purchase admission. We've been leaning on aged tropes of "because it's live" for too long. I would love for our community to stop asking how we're supposed to compete with Netflix and start asking how theatre can further evolve as it's own autonomous discipline and industry independent from streaming culture.
PRACTICAL: I'm hoping that we incorporate digital production meetings as standard practice into our post-COVID19 practices. As a designer, I'm always working on multiple projects. Taking time out of my day to commute (and the un-reimursed expense of an uber to transport models) for a one hour meeting is time I'm hoping can be spend either on actual creating on elsewhere in my personal life. The technology can make our lives much better and help us financially in an industury where we're notoriously underpaid.
Coming from Vancouver where it was always almost impossible for low budg companies to get any kind of traditional theatrical space for an affordable price, I think we‘ll see innovation akin to site specific works. Socializing itself is undergoing innovation with online happy hours, Netflix party etc, so count me as one who believes we can achieve a communal spirit (to me, the key of theatre even more so than in-person interaction) digitally. How do we foster a community between spectator and performer? How do we touch people, as opposed to moving them, through the new mediums at our disposal? To me, the heart of this innovation will probably come from direct address storytelling, perhaps with chat functions facilitating an even deeper, less cringey, level of audience interaction. -Mack
I'd be curious to see how much money theater's are netting from their online galas, and if it's comparable to what they've made historically. If we're able to raise the same amount of fundraising dollars while reducing all the waste that comes from galas, I think that would be a positive practice to take with us. I know that galas are also fun and allow funders to directly feel like part of the party, but perhaps the environmental benefits outweigh the social ones.
What do you think about streamed recordings as an advertisement for (though certainly not a replacement for) the Chicago theater scene?
Just anecdotally (since we don't have a robust data set quite yet), Victory Gardens tells me it's already sold streaming tickets for Fun Home to viewers in 23 countries, and within the U.S. it's reached 47 states plus D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. I'm told Theater Wit has also attracted international audiences with its streaming version of Teenage Dick. I haven't asked the Goodman for numbers regarding School Girls, but it's done well enough to add virtual dates.
Multiple unexpected silver linings. The night that Shelter in Place was ordered I got an idea to direct and produce an audio drama production of a play about Orson Welles' radio play THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. Written by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, the WAR OF THE WELLeS focuses on the ascent of Orson Welles and the CBS Mercury Theater in a different era but with the timeless themes of national fear and uncertainty. The ensuing hysteria that swept across the nation based on the supposed attack from Mars was based on one of the original templates for "fake news" as drama and is poignantly relevant. We have assembled 26 actors on hiatus from film and Broadway commitments from Chicago to LA to NY and in between to bring this play to life as a benefit for A Red Orchid and Porchlight Theaters. Artists who would never work together in a virtual sound studio in different time zones, two Chicago theaters who have very little in common artistically, and a medium that promises to reignite our dramatic imaginations in a time when streaming theater and Zoom theatrical events find their footing. This project has given many of us an unexpected lifeline to creativity and we hope it might have the same power to reach an audience next month. - Larry Grimm
Aileen McGroddy, a former Chicago director and Forks & Hope teammate from our very first "Hunting of the Snark" at Strawdog and now a current MFA candidate in Directing at Brown, wrote this and its been getting passed around a bit, and I think its pretty awesome. I find the last paragraph in particular immensely thought-provoking in terms of exactly what you are talking about, re: "anything useful that Chicago theater might learn from the forced pause and rethinking of practices?"
https://aileenwenmcgroddy.com/blog/pandemic-as-paradigm-shift?fbclid=IwAR31CH8uyP533r7l_KZrNer5phEOBjpaJlHUdZ061qOjx5PZDUW1DFR0-RA
BIG PICTURE: I'm hoping that the community leaders and it's artists will take the moment to analyze the role theatre serves in our communities within a culture where televised and filmed entertainment is more accessible and prolific than ever before. We need to dig deeper and ask why people should leave their homes and purchase admission. We've been leaning on aged tropes of "because it's live" for too long. I would love for our community to stop asking how we're supposed to compete with Netflix and start asking how theatre can further evolve as it's own autonomous discipline and industry independent from streaming culture.
PRACTICAL: I'm hoping that we incorporate digital production meetings as standard practice into our post-COVID19 practices. As a designer, I'm always working on multiple projects. Taking time out of my day to commute (and the un-reimursed expense of an uber to transport models) for a one hour meeting is time I'm hoping can be spend either on actual creating on elsewhere in my personal life. The technology can make our lives much better and help us financially in an industury where we're notoriously underpaid.
Coming from Vancouver where it was always almost impossible for low budg companies to get any kind of traditional theatrical space for an affordable price, I think we‘ll see innovation akin to site specific works. Socializing itself is undergoing innovation with online happy hours, Netflix party etc, so count me as one who believes we can achieve a communal spirit (to me, the key of theatre even more so than in-person interaction) digitally. How do we foster a community between spectator and performer? How do we touch people, as opposed to moving them, through the new mediums at our disposal? To me, the heart of this innovation will probably come from direct address storytelling, perhaps with chat functions facilitating an even deeper, less cringey, level of audience interaction. -Mack
What can the big theaters learn from the small, scrappy theater makers about adapting productions for an online audience? Starting with an original script and non-union actors makes them more nimble - but what other best practices can the industry apply? https://www.theproducersperspective.com/my_weblog/2020/05/guest-blog-producing-the-digital-musical-live-theatre-in-the-age-of-quarantine.html?fbclid=IwAR1PcrkLV1z9FirSpkahZk8zzXVZle3AfkQJANm5Ycuu8VI6TqpFZnj4bAM
I'd be curious to see how much money theater's are netting from their online galas, and if it's comparable to what they've made historically. If we're able to raise the same amount of fundraising dollars while reducing all the waste that comes from galas, I think that would be a positive practice to take with us. I know that galas are also fun and allow funders to directly feel like part of the party, but perhaps the environmental benefits outweigh the social ones.