I’m in the middle of my eighth summer teaching at this place, so I’m teching – no joke – 10 shows right now, but I wanted to take a moment to draw some attention to some folks.

So this whole Chase grant thing is complete. And Chicago theatres made their mark, and in several of the 15 cases landed in the top 200 of companies (thus receiving a $20,000) in creative ways that didn’t buy into Chase’s marketing mechanism. That’s $300,000 that Chase just dumped on typically small-to-mid-sized Chicago theatres. I find that fact to be awesome. However, I’ve also been a fairly vocal opponent of the community messaging behaviors that the grant tends to encourage, so the folks that I did end up voting for demonstrated some capacity for making the ask for votes their own.

The Neo-futurists first prompted me to support them by leveraging their campaign during the run of a show that directly and ingeniously interrogated the links and points of contact between arts, corporate structures and marketing (check out their “word from our sponsor” videos). In addition, they focused their requests for votes to facebook-ready laptops available in their lobby, rather than impersonal, overwhelming and disconnecting e-mail blasts.

Another group, Will Act For Food, outlined the specific uses they intend for the funds which included benefits beyond production value and replacing other grants such as Illinois Arts Council funding that have dried up or been delayed. Essentially, they added some transparency to the ask, which in turn makes them somewhat accountable as beneficiaries of the grant to achieve some measurable results out of their windfall. I hope that all companies who get funds from a community-voted grant demonstrate the same level of accountability to that community who votes for them, just as you would file a grant report to a granting association. That structure, I think, helps young non-profits with loose infrastructures gather some long-term support in times like these.

But all that’s just my opinion. It was a hard decision, and not one done without some hand-wringing, but my company New Leaf decided not to participate in the campaign because the methods we’d have to employ to win such a grant at this stage didn’t fit our vision of how we want to cultivate relationships with the community.

But let me tell you what does fit our vision: 84 People voted for us anyway despite the fact that we didn’t ask for their votes. And I’d like to thank them personally now. I don’t have access to the entire list (I’m curious to know if winners / administrators DO have access) but I’ll make do with what I can.

Thank you, Rebecca Zellar, for casting the first vote for New Leaf.

And thank you to everyone else who spoke up for us while we focused our energy elsewhere.

Your ongoing relationship and in many cases partnership with us is worth more than $20,000. A lot more. And I just wanted to say that.

Attendees of the 2010 Theatre Communications Group conference are beginning to arrive at the Palmer House in downtown Chicago.

It’s the culmination of a lot of behind the scenes work, collaboration, and getting things done over the past six months from some great theatre artists and in particular artists who administrate.

There’s a conference site outlining the metric tons of topics and ideas being explored during the conference.

There’s a twitter hashtag where many conversations that start at the conference continue after hours and virtually across the country.

There’s a multi-media site featuring introductions and other content generated by Chicago Theatres (from the League and programmed by yours truly) which features introductory videos to many theatres in Chicago and video and images of moments captured from the conference.

There are surprises.

There’s a boat.

There’s this dude.

I hope you’ll tune in and join in this weekend.

Knowledge is best when drunk deeply.

A few nights ago Dan Granata and the Chicago Artists Resource threw a little Chicago Theatre history lesson over at the DCA storefront space (“Do it myself: Five Decades of Theatre that Works“) featuring three veterans of the storefront movement: Steve Scott of the Goodman, Jackie Taylor of Black Ensemble Theatre, and Sharon Phillips, Managing Director of the legendary Body Politic.

The whole event was taped and I’m sure a bunch of us who were there will be posting the full video once it’s out there. For theatre nerds and folks who want to someday produce in Chicago, it’s a concentrated dose of both the sense of family and interconnectedness that exists in the Chicago theatre community. At the same time, it’s a timely reminder that the essentially young, DIY spirit of Chicago leads to a lot of history repeating itself.

One thing that Sharon Phillips said really stuck and clarified for me the core components of the ingredients of a thriving theatre company in Chicago, which frankly could be applied anywhere. These ingredients are so simple as to be a bit of a “no duh” but the revelation of them was more of a “awesome, so the rest of the noise can be let go.”

There are three things every theatre company needs to thrive:

1) Heart.
You can call this what you want. Passion, Love, a “Fuck you I’m doing this” attitude. It’s the force that makes a company move to this town with an axe and Meisner training to grind. It’s the force that makes that company drop $6k on their credit card to put up a show in a hole in the wall. It’s the force that then makes that same company five years later confident enough to make the claim “No freaking way am I dropping $6k of my own money on this anymore. People need to PAY for this work.” If you don’t have enough of it, you close. And yes, it makes you look crazy.

Heart is the primary fuel of all theatres in Chicago, in that when a company doesn’t have enough of it any more, shuttering the theatre is not long behind. This life cycle is in some ways a bittersweet gift: if a theatre loses its heart, better to close before the integrity of the theatre is lost than to keep it alive beyond its usefulness with more artificial business practices. Unmanaged heart is often in direct competition with a stable, well-incomed lifestyle.

2) Close cooperation between artistic collectives
If nothing else, this is the factor that has made Chicago a unique theatre town. Having this level of cooperation is the one benchmark that determines if Chicago is the best place in the world to generate new work and new artists. I should add that I don’t think that Chicago owns the core principle of cooperation, and if another city comes along with the same level of city-wide collaborative culture then THAT will be the best place in the world to make theatre.

After learning a lot more of the historical context of the last thirty years from Steve, Jackie and Sharon, it’s clear that there was a surge of this kind of cross-border cooperation during the early seventies that supported the massive success of Steppenwolf and David Mamet. Just from the example of Black Ensemble Theatre and the Goodman of the time, there was all kinds of cooperation happening in those years from casting to emergency venue maintenance to business development to fundraising. Sharon Phillips told a story where Body Politic had run out of money for the last show of their season, and all the other theatres in town put an envelope for $1.50 donations to Body Politic in their programs, effectively saving the theatre through community support.

At some point, the level of cooperation began to peter off in the 90 and 00s, decades which saw the number of theatre companies in Chicago rise from around 120 to 300. Cooperation is harder when there are more relationships to manage. The existing relationships ossified within the older theatres, and it became harder for a new, small company to find a place in the market. After several 5-year lifecycles of small theatres, the community effectively ceased to remember itself and began to trade in legends of the Steppenwolf rehearsal church basement in extravagant, hushed tones rather than the remarkable, yes, but human-sized spaces and events that they actually were. The three panelists and much of the audience noted a change in the air in the last few years, however – a sense that the community is coming together again. Maybe it’s simply that economic crises breed more cooperative theatre, but I hope this means that we can learn to cooperate on the more fundamental level that existed in the 70s. That will require one thing of us: that we know, care, and invest in each other. Which leads to the final ingredient.

3) A deep, lasting connection with a unique audience
This is the final, elusive ingredient that becomes very challenging in a 300-theatre town, and I think it’s the area where most of Chicago’s theatres have to improve or face destruction. There are a handful of theatres that have have incredible success with the connections to their audience, connections which have developed after years of consistent excellence and resulted in passionate, sometimes rabid support from their fans. In particular: Court Theatre has the strongest geographic connection with its audience, the in many ways isolated neighborhood of Hyde Park, and its programming matches the demographics and intellectual tenor of the neighborhood closely. Having sat in on several of their talkbacks in the last year (in full disclosure, I’m about to open a show there tonight) I can say with confidence that Court has one of if not THE most enviably engaged audience a theatre could have. Talkbacks have become a point of empowerment for the audience, and over years many patrons have gotten used to seeing their feedback and perspectives during previews result in changes in the work itself. It makes those talkbacks very well attended.

But not every theatre gets to be the only game in a neighborhood like Hyde Park, and for the glut of theatres that operate on the north side of Chicago, uniqueness comes not with pure geography but with stylistic and thematic uniqueness. Sometimes that uniqueness comes in the form of investing in the aesthetics of individual genius – like the Hypocrites’ Sean Graney, or the Organic’s Stuart Gordon before him. Sometimes a collective of artists can articulate an aesthetic beyond the vision of one individual: Timeline Theatre is another theatre that marries a reputation for quality with a narrow focus on programming inspired by history. That flexible focus on history as touchstone for the core audience is important to keep in mind. While many other theatres excel at storytelling – hundreds of them, in fact – that touchstone trains the audience to keep engaged with the specific theatre company rather than the shows they happen to be doing at that particular moment.

My own theatre, New Leaf, as we close our ninth season operating in Chicago (Curse of the Starving Class closes tonight), is at a crossroads with this final piece of the puzzle.

We have found a way to articulate and be proud of our passion.

We have created a way, somehow, to create consistently excellent work. I can call it what it is because of that heart.

We have forged incredible connections with the rest of the artistic community, and are fed by those connections on a daily basis. New Leaf’s artistic friends are incredible supporters – from the guest artists on our stages, to companies we collaborate with like Backstage, Theatre Seven, The Side Project, the Goodman, WNEP, TUTA, The Plagiarists, Strawdog, Will Act For Food, the League of Chicago Theatres, and the ongoing Storefront Summit.

What we have not done is found that unique touchstone that will allow us to make theatre for a unique group of people, an audience that shares not just our passion for the theatre and storytelling but a passion for this kind of theatre – theatre that celebrates and renews and reinvents the space in which it is made.

Maybe I need to invite a bunch of architects to the show.

The recipe is simple: Figure out the people that you do this for. Do it well for them. Keep doing it well for them.

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to a discussion with a number of – I’m gonna say it – legendary designers and engineers (Rob Milburn, Andre Pluess, Toy DeIorio and Goodman sound head David Naunton) and equally heavyweight Chicago-area Equity stage managers to talk about a common challenge that we now face as technology rapidly evolves: when, whether, and how to use rehearsal and placeholder sound effects in the rehearsal room. While the technological challenges nearly solve themselves as new solutions and software rapidly evolve, the ethical challenges of maintaining the right support of all artistic processes in the room remains something that isn’t discussed as a community as much, and it was wonderful to witness some of the most experienced minds in the city tackle the problem.

Some of my takeaways from the discussion, which must have synthesized the collected experience of nearly a thousand productions:

- The challenge of incorporating an element as young as sound into a rehearsal process boils down to the entire team’s ability to effectively estimate the scope of the resources required to achieve a smooth level of operation. That means: know how many people and how much time it takes. There’s no one-size-fits-all process that works for every production, and if a stage manager is tied up running sound cues that means they’re not on book or capturing blocking changes. Especially in devised-work shows where sound playback is as integral to the development of the work as music is to a musical, a reasonable estimate of the labor required to effectively run rehearsal sound needs to be made, and the theater needs to make a programming decision with those costs in mind as to whether rehearsal sound should be incorporated. In many theaters right now, this estimate of priority and expense exists in a limbo, and by asking SMs to “just press go” we may still be at risk of asking SMs to do so much that they’re unable to do the core of their jobs.

- The line that both stage managers and designers seem to want to draw in terms of who takes what is that designers want to manipulate cues, and stage managers don’t like manipulating cues. However, everyone acknowledges that stopping creative flow for a director or cast by saying “let’s not do that until the designer weighs in” is often counter-productive. The ideal solution seems to be either a) theaters and designers evolving the contracted relationship to secure more of the designer’s time so that they can be contracted with in-rehearsal development time (which might be seen as an early tech, for better or worse) or b) creating a basic technological infrastructure to have a more 24-hour turnaround of new sound cues and programming files in rehearsal. This would allow stage managers to adjust things like cue timing in the moment, and allow designers and directors to have to have more close communication about how cues need to evolve.

- and yes, because I know Chris Ashworth is listening in, all of the sound designers and many stage managers in the room said one word about how to solve this particular technological need: qLab. Which is to say: use software with a high level of flexibility and repeatability (the Go button is always the Go button) and a minimum of cost. So great was the buy-in for qLab that for the first time I’ve seen, it was mentioned that for many reasons it may make sense for theaters or SMs to invest in Macintosh rather than PC computers for the simplicity that the mac platform lends to this and other processes – to say nothing of the flexibility mac offers in being able to run windows. This is not to say that it is suddenly the SM’s responsibility to supply equipment for the operation of the theater – I made a point of saying the opposite, in fact. But if SM & Sound Designer is on the same platform for the first time, suddenly that kind of communication gets a LOT easier and more virtuosic.

- The picture of this system looks a lot like what I and other designers have been using for short-timeframe or remote designing (yes, because we’ve overbooked ourselves):

- Back to the question of finding better ways to estimate the NEED of rehearsal sound, there is the problem of our eyes being bigger than our stomachs. From the director’s perspective, and often the sound designer’s perspective, having the ability to have complete working prototypes every step of the way would be great. Also great: enough staff to reassembles and reworks that prototype into different configurations whenever we want to experiment. Of course that bumps up against the financial limits of the theater and it’s production management’s creative job to find ways of getting as much experimentation as possible to be able to deliver a quality product that’s under budget. Sound has evolved SO rapidly in the last ten years that every theatre, production manager, director and sound designer have a different method of determining the exact time and money cost of that reworking and retooling a sound design. If a team won’t be able to be virtuosic with implementing rehearsal sound, sometimes the right answer is: hold off. Especially when dealing with new works, if a play’s text is going to be evolving until late in the process, a good sound designer will often get better results by NOT weighing in until the breath of the text has been worked out in rehearsal – sometimes in that last week before tech. Again, every one of these decisions is a case-by-case estimate of need that has to be done by the whole team for each production.

What’s worked for you?

Yup. Still here. Still cooking. Big news on the horizon, no less.

One of the things that’s cooking is coming up quick – on May 3rd 5pm at the Goodman, there’s a big ol’ exposition and awards ceremony of the work done by theatrical designers in Chicago. Perhaps you’ve heard of it: The Michael Merritt Awards.

Several designers will be honored at the ceremony (notably set designer Collette Pollard who will be receiving the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award, and a celebration of the work of lighting and set designer Michael Philippi who passed away suddenly this year)

My personal favorite bit of the event is the huge designer showcase, where dozens of designers in the Chicago area will display their portfolios to the artistic leadership of the city.

Interested? I know am. Check out the press release details below if you’d like to either present your own work or check out some great designers to hire. Oh, and it’s on facebook, too.

The 17th Annual Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration program, posthumously honoring and celebrating the work of lighting and set designer Michael Philippi (Desire Under the Elms, Death of a Salesman), “an esteemed longtime collaborator and friend”, will take place on Monday, May 3, at the Goodman Theatre.

Scenic designer Collette Pollard (The Illusion, Stoop Stories) will receive The Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award. There will also be a presentation of three student scholarship recipients representing The Theatre School of DePaul University (scenic designer Williams G. Wever), Northwestern University (costume designer Jeremy Floyd) and from Columbia College Chicago for The John Murbach Scholarship for Collaborative Design (lighting designer Wade Holliday).

The doors open at 5 p.m., with a viewing of the fourth annual ‘Theater Design Expo’, showcasing the works of over 50 Chicago-area emerging theatrical designers and a portfolio review of graduating design students from some of the finest programs in the country.

Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Director Robert Falls, a founding member of the Michael Merritt Endowment Fund Steering Committee, will lead a panel discussion from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. about the Goodman’s experiences working with Michael Philippi in recent times and during Bob’s past tenure as fledgling artistic director of Chicago’s Wisdom Bridge Theatre Company. Philippi’s design collaborators Michael Bodeen (Composer, Sound Designer), John Boesche (Projection Designer) and Ana Kuzmanic (Costume Designer) will join in the dialogue. Nathan Allen, Artistic Director of The House Theatre of Chicago, Dixie Uffleman, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Production Supervisor, and House Theatre Designer and this year’s Emerging Designer Award recipient, Collette Pollard, will also bring their perspectives on creating and sustaining a new theatre company in Chicago, then and now.

The awards presentation will begin at 8 p.m. Attendees will enjoy a Chicago style supper buffet by Conn’s Catering complete with beer, wine and soda from start to finish until 10 p.m. Tickets/Exhibitor Fees are $20 per person and $5 for students. For ticket reservations, phone (312) 369-6105 (credit card orders are accepted) AND email robmilburn@ameritech.net to reserve an exhibit space.

The Goodman Theatre is centrally located in Chicago’s Loop at 170 North Dearborn Street, in close proximity to I-55, I-90/94, I-290 and Lake Shore Drive, as well as all major CTA rail lines and many bus routes. Discounted parking is available for $19 at the Government Center Self Park, located directly adjacent to the theatre at the southeast corner of Clark and Lake Streets, and parking coupons will be available at the registration table in the Goodman Theatre lobby.

It’s been a longer than expected ramp up to the third Chicago Storefront Summit – which will be happening on March 22nd, and I hope you’ll join us again or for the first time. In the process, I had a couple “what the hell are we doing here?” conversations with Rebecca Zellar of the GreyZelda Theatre Group, who has really stepped up to help this ad-hoc group schedule, coordinate and dispatch the various breakout sessions and communications that crop up when you try to get 100 loosely-structured organizations to talk to each other.

We realized in this discussion: the summit is very much about giving the folks who run storefronts the tools, resources and opportunities to practice leadership – both leaders charting the course for their own company as well as leaders of the entire artistic community.

The clearest example of the way the storefront generates opportunity for an artist to develop their own leadership skills is in the way they’ve been organized thus far. Each summit thus far has been organized quickly, agilely, and with an absolute minimum of top-down leadership and maximum of bottom-up leadership. Each breakout meeting has begun with an artist who asks a question like “why aren’t women well represented in theatre leadership?” or “who else is doing theatre like me?” and the loose network comes together to compare notes, draw conclusions. All the coordinators – folks like Andy Hobgood, Matt Hoff, James Palmer, Dan Granata, Rebecca and I have been working on is how best to faciliate those discussions in a way that continuously promotes broad participation. And that is a tall order. But the framework has allowed people like Brian Golden, Margo Gray, Jenn Adams, Matthew Reeder and others to generate and perpetuate more and more conversation that, I think, has been very valuable to them and many others.

The summit is in many ways a less immediately effective but more mission-critical in-person companion to efforts at theatre management brainstorming like the collaborative idea nursery of 2amtheatre.com (or the twitter hashtag #2amt if you’re nasty). The #2amt conversation became a successful methodology almost accidentally for innovative brainstorming because it quickly synthesized a broad range of perspectives on a broad range of topics. It combined the brainpower of theatre producers (@dloehr, myself, @matthewreeder, @travisbedard, @trishamead), theatre funders & patrons (@ericzieg), theatre promoters (@scottyiseri, @davecharest) and theatre critics (@krisvire, @mreida) to solve common problems from all angles at once. It was, and continues to be, an agile way to have a conversation.

It’s harder to xerox that agility in an in-person meeting that needs to balance dozens of personal schedules and time limits: but the fact is that #2amt is not an accessible conversation for most theater makers to participate in, and conversations that come out of community groups like the Summit and the League of Chicago Theatres are still more potentially actionable than the high-level strategizing and future design brainstorms that #2amt is so good at.

So: I think we have to try.

There is a question – a point of resistance, in some ways, that manifests as a reasonable curiosity – that we’ve gotten a lot when being asked about what we’re trying to accomplish through the summit: What is its purpose?

A fair question. This is what I think.

The summit is a forum to discuss and share best practices at this level of producing theatre. It includes non-equity, independent, DIY, and newborn theatres that have a comparatively small amount of institutional memory and/or institutional overhead. Our discussion includes but is not limited to finding the simplest ways of getting storefronts the help and resources they need, and then – ideally – taking cooperative strategic action within the context of other established theater / arts advocacy orgs (such as the League) to more effectively articulate the solutions that will actually help us as a community of independent theatres.

Developing our own ability to lead, indeed.

The Third Chicago Storefront Summit
Monday, March 22
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Greenhouse Theater Center
(h/t to RZ for making it happen)

At long last, details are firming up on this year’s March 27 @ 9:30 World Theatre Day celebration at the Chopin.

First, let’s review some of the awesome from last year.

And now here’s the FACEBOOK INVITE.

WHAT IS WORLD THEATRE DAY?
World Theatre Day is an international celebration of theater and the impact that theater has on communities and individuals across the globe – and it’s just now catching on in the U.S. Last year, Chicago launched the first community-wide celebration of World Theatre Day in the United States, and this year, we’re doing it up even more.

WHAT ARE WE DOING THIS YEAR?
Join us at the Chopin on Saturday, March 27. In the evening, experience a special World Theater Day performance of The House’s WILSON WANTS IT ALL or BackStage’s ORANGE FLOWER WATER. Then, beginning at 9:30 as the City’s saturday shows come down, join us for some complimentary food, music, conversation, and performances all provided by the League of Chicago Theatres, the Chopin Theatre, and folks in the Chicago theatre community.

Every space in the Chopin becomes a promenade party, with a little bit of something for everyone to celebrate our corner of the world, and reach out to all the others. Downstairs will feature live music and loungey hob-nobbing with the folks who make Chicago theatre tick. In the lobby, social media connections fuel an international conversation with a host of Chicago’s international friends. And on the mainstage, Chris Piatt, former theatre editor for TimeOut Chicago, brings his PAPER MACHETE live magazine to investigate – and roast – Chicago’s historic relationships with other cities in “The Second City Complex.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO – MAKE YOUR OWN INTERNATIONAL THEATER SHOUT-OUT
World Theatre Day is all about generating cross-cultural dialogue that explores the power of theater to celebrate life and effect social change through collaborative performance. This year, we want to put you and your theater in the driver’s seat of that discussion, by encouraging you to send a public shout out to an international “sister” company of your choice.

STEP ONE – Make Contact. Find an international theater company or artist – maybe you already know them, or maybe we can hook you up with one – and think about what issues, ideas, and dialogue you would want to share them. Tell them about World Theatre Day and what we’re doing in Chicago.

STEP TWO – Talk it out. Record a video or audio greeting to that sister company, and have them send one to you. Share your thoughts about issues, listen to what your new international friends are working on and trying to accomplish. Find common ground.

STEP THREE – Share. Make a record of your conversation – a video greeting, an audio recording of a skype conversation, a collaborative art project, a photo – and post it to the internationally-contributed World Theatre Day tumblr blog, just by emailing a link to what you’ve made to http://tinyurl.com/wtdmedia, or ask us for help at worldtheatreday@nikku.net.

Follow the international events leading up to World Theatre Day at http://worldtheatreday.org/, and see you at the World Theatre Day party on 3/27!

Dan Granata and I were interviewed a ways back by Chicago Art Machine about the current status of the Chicago Theater Database, and what makes a fancy community-wide project like that hover in stasis while other projects roll forward.

The interview just went up, and it’s interesting to see how the current evolution of theater resources mirrors other things happening in the rest of the art world.

Moreover, as we’ve worked on this project, we are finding more and more resources out there that do some of what we want to do, or seem to do much of what we want to do but aren’t well-implemented, so we’ve been reassessing what the best way forward is. We certainly believe in the project, and think it adds so much value to the community of theatre artists of which we are members, but we’re also wary of following in the misguided footsteps of so many well-meaning arts advocacy/development organizations who plunge headlong into building something from scratch—trying to be the “end-all, be-all”—without seeing what’s already available or what could be achieved by pooling our resources. In a way, we’re trying not to fall into the same trap we see theatres and theatre artists fall into all the time: wasting energy recreating the wheel when there’s a guy selling spokes down the street.

– Dan Granata

Read the full interview here.

In other news, I’ll be live chatting with the good people at TheatreFace this week about the wonderful world of Sound Design. You can check that out at 2 p.m. EST/11 a.m. PST Wednesday, February 24, in their chat room.

Okay, seriously: there are so many cool projects, parties, and celebrations to encourage Chicago theater to reach out to the world and the nation coming this spring and summer, I can barely contain myself. Here are just two of them that I hope pretty much you and everyone you know in theater can jump on in and participate in.

Chicago and environs: Save the date and spread the word, please:

WORLD THEATRE DAY CELEBRATION
Saturday, March 27. Chopin Theatre.
9:30 until question marks.
Details coming soon. We need volunteers to help set up the event (sign up here), and stay tuned for yet more ways to participate in this international theatre celebration.

TCG Conference Performances
Second of all, I’m helping (along with the League TCG host committee) put together a series of performances to showcase Chicago theatre at the TCG Conference in June. We just released a call for proposals (see below) for two opportunities – late-night-party performances, and flash performances that pop up unexpectedly throughout the conference.

If your company is unable to attend the conference, this may be one of your only get-in-through-the-stage-door opportunities to get exposure at the conference. You do not need to be a league member theatre to participate, and one of our major goals is to represent the incredible diversity of Chicago theater at the conference through these performances. I hope your theater company can come up with a performance you can share with TCG Conference attendees!

The League of Chicago Theatres is hosting the 2010 TCG Conference in Chicago this June. A diverse selection of theatre companies are sought to represent the breadth and richness of Chicago theatre by creating performances that will be showcased throughout the conference in Flash Performances and at the Late-Night Party. A Flash Performance is a performance that erupts from thin air, engages an audience of 5 to 100, and then quickly disappears. Flash performances will be artfully coordinated to occur in unsuspected places (streets, hallways, el stations) several times a day throughout the conference in order to provide the attendees with a taste of Chicago theatre. A Late-Night Party performance will enhance a party atmosphere, and might include installations, amusements and performances of all kinds. The event itself will be a “carnival” style party featuring light snacks, drinks, music and multi-disciplinary performances- offering conference-goers an opportunity to unwind and let loose after a long day of workshops and networking. The goal is to give the attendees from across the country a sense of the artistry, collaboration and surprise that is Chicago theatre.

The conference will take place June 17-19, 2010. The Late-Night Party will take place on Friday, June 18, 2010. A small panel of theatre artists will select a diverse range of companies to perform. Please submit your proposal and supporting documents for consideration by the panel to Ben Thiem at ben@chicagoplays.com.

Click here for more information and to Download Application.

Deadline for submissions is March 5, 2010

Two of the most mind-blowing conversations I’ve had this year have both been late at night and joined in by a bunch of twitter pals. They’ve been energizing and challenging – I seem to do better in creative, collaborative brainstorming environments – and at the end of it all, I think I understand the theater ecosystem we’re trying to create much more clearly.

If you don’t like combing through other people’s conversations for bits of inspiration, I’ll be summarizing with handy flowcharts later.

Read the full conversation after the jump

ericzieg: @TheNineChicago re @parabasisThe game will change when it catches up to the success of other venues for perishable, live experiences.
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg I’m interested, not sure if I’m on the same page, though. Are we talking sporting events? Live music? Dance?
TheNineChicago: That’s a’ight, I’ll be that guy.
ericzieg: @TheNineChicago Any venue offering a liminal, perishable experience: the restaurant model, the club model, the store model.
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg So, in a nutshell, the game ain’t changing.
ericzieg: @TheNineChicago I articulated it a bit in the comments at @Chris_Ashworth‘s blog last year: http://bit.ly/KgLDy
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg Ah, I see. I’m mainly talking playwrights — how the current institution has little interest in them.
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg What with the amount of underpants being wrung that someone who is essentially part of the institution called them whiners.
ericzieg: @TheNineChicago Where I would draw an analogy is: who is the equivalent of the playwright at these other venues, and how are they paid?
“ericzieg: @TheNineChicago (Ah, I was relating this more to Isaac’s post about quitting the game, and suggesting that that “”game”" will be replaced.)”
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg …aside from the fact that Jones is fine with the game and Isaac also thinks it should be replaced.
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg Oh oh oh, I’m with you there, the ‘game’ should be replaced. I just don’t think Isaac and Jones come up with different answers…
ericzieg: @TheNineChicago All the sold-out shows in small theaters in the past few months suggests to me the possiblity of greater self-sufficiency.
ericzieg: @TheNineChicago (i.e., good shows that weren’t given exceptional coverage but found an audience: Strange Tree, Redtwist, BackStage, Snnermn)
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg That’s my hope for Outrageous Fortune — not that we ‘fix’ theatre, but we realize we can do it ourselves.
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg Self-sufficiency’s the name of the game. Naturally, the higher up the food chain you go, the less people are going to agree.
TheNineChicago: @ericzieg And the best part is that them not agreeing doesn’t really matter. That’s why the outrage baffles me.
nickkeenan: YES. RT @ericzieg All the sold-out shows in small theaters in the past few months suggests to me the possiblity of greater self-sufficiency.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago @ericzieg Restaurants are doing it already. All word of mouth, and provide a delicious shareable local experience.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago That is my definition of fixing theater – doing it ourselves, sustainably.
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan Perhaps I should have used a capital Theater. So much agreement on what’s wrong makes me wonder who we’re trying to convince.
travisbedard: @nickkeenan eh. If I wait long enough Steppenwolf will fix it for me.
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan The bigger picture system that’s in place isn’t going to change, so yes, let’s stop playing that game and make our own.
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan That’s what I meant. We don’t fix Broadway, we stop worrying about it and do it better.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago It is true. Today is one of those days that makes me want to sever connections with that side of the industry.
travisbedard: @Ericdoggettremember that you’re smarter than me, I could be missing something big, just didn’t see it in my once over.
travisbedard: @TheNineChicago Trying to convince the untired people with money who aren’t us, so when we wake up we’re closer to Zion.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago Not in a bitter way – just, acknowledging that we function as differently as local restaurants and MickeyDs.
travisbedard: @dloehr can you drive one down here? I’m all mopey.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago We’re trying to convince the audience, Bries.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago remember that all your project’s goals are compatible with going off the grid. Mine are not: I want a more local grid.
nickkeenan: @travisbedard T-shirt! (Why worry? Steppenwolf will fix it for me.)
krisvire: @nickkeenan Bingo. But don’t you also want to have a series of local grids that can better serve, say, Toni Press-Coffman?
travisbedard: @nickkeenan Somebody had better, this bejeweled ain’t gonna play itself.
travisbedard: @krisvire Does Ms. P-C like eggs?
travisbedard: @krisvire or @ToniChristianoif you’re nasty
nickkeenan: @krisvire Yes indeed. And I want a blueprint for such a grid (like we have in foodie-dom) to exist in every community.
“travisbedard: @Ericdoggettyeah just let her know I followed with an “”it’s not you it’s me”" and then you can roll your eyes and say “”hh…Actor”"”
nickkeenan: @travisbedard Too Much Light, naturally.
nickkeenan: @krisvire We need the support of hometown critics for that – who prefer good local food over M-Fing Applebee’s.
travisbedard: @nickkeenan what’s the theatre equivalent of braised short ribs and minted quinoa?
travisbedard: @nickkeenan BAM. Sold.
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan We convince the audience with our work, not with books and studies. (Which reads more bitter than I intend.)
nickkeenan: @dloehr The sustainability is the hard part. A restaurant requires the support of a network of people who know how a restaurant works.
krisvire: @travisbedard Is this all about you missing dinner?
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago The work is part of it, but the framework is also part. Great chefs go under because they don’t connect with their hood
travisbedard: @krisvire if you’re going to be all perceptive about it. Apparently YES.
travisbedard: Seriouly guys – Monofonus Press (a multimedia label) in Austin with a reading I WANT to go to: Teleportal Readings http://is.gd/5WhVo
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan I do love that The Nine doesn’t have to deal with some of this, but I swing both ways. The Signal hat changes priorities.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Well. Yes. I mean the cheese biscuits at Red Lobster are made from magic. But I tend to favor the neighborhood places.
travisbedard: @dloehr use it to come up with metaphors to fix and label theatre. GO (and not CSAs that’s taken)
nickkeenan: @krisvire And thus we have cheese biscuits = xanadu.
krisvire: @TheNineChicago The study’s not for audiences, but it got this discussion going among us, yeah? Curious what the Monday thing will be like.
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan @krisvire Local grids = yes. But this isn’t new info; we’re working on it. What frustrates me is all the time and energy…
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan @krisvire …spent railing against McDs. They don’t care, we know they don’t care. We’re in two-wheel drive, we could use four.
krisvire: @nickkeenan I’m on a streak of torturing metaphors this week.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago The problem is that this is where the metaphor breaks down. Everyone’s talking about McDs instead of Bayless in theater
krisvire: @TheNineChicago @nickkeenan OK, but then we have to decide what Goodman & S’wolf equal. Topolobampo?
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago Without dialogue with audience, you don’t have theater that matters.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Or did we both come up with that at the same time? shudder
krisvire: @nickkeenan Thank you for following me down that treacherous path.
TheNineChicago: @krisvire I shouldn’t have had to Google that just now, should I? hangs head
nickkeenan: @krisvire Dude. Steppenwolf is totally Wolfgang Puck.
TheNineChicago: @krisvire Annie’s coming to town, right? Consider the Cracker Barrel position filled.
krisvire: @TheNineChicago Yep, and Mamma Mia = Olive Garden.
TheNineChicago: I gained three followers in the last hour. Thanks, Outrageous Fortune!
krisvire: @dloehr @nickkeenan I agree. Steppenwolf doesn’t put its name on grocery store frozen entrees.
TheNineChicago: @dloehr I already blame him for far too much.
TheNineChicago: @dloehr Also, good to make your acquaintance!
nickkeenan: @krisvire @dloehr I don’t know. Grocery store frozen entrees are the solution to all MY problems.
krisvire: &and employers/training grounds for up-and-comers?
krisvire: For (semi)serious though, do Goodman & S’wolf = Rick Bayless & Grant Achatz, our grid’s ambassadors to larger world&
nickkeenan: @krisvire Correct. And while being semi-franchised, they’re still a bridge with the community.
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan Obv, I’m not in Chicago itself, but seems like they’re a better/stronger bridge than in most cities.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire It’s not the same with our area, which, for the sake of discretion, rhymes with Hooeyville.
krisvire: Um, for those not playing along at home, my BobFalls:RickBayless analogy is part of a much larger at-reply conversation. Ahem.
TheNineChicago: @krisvire @nickkeenan And things like S’wolf’s GarageRep reinforce that. We can work together. And separately. And should do both.
nickkeenan: @dloehr dur. I mean cities.
nickkeenan: @dloehr In smaller theaters, I think the model needs to not require a bridge.
dloehr: @TheNineChicago @krisvire @nickkeenan I would love for something along the lines of GarageRep. If more places were open to such projects…
dloehr: @TheNineChicago @krisvire @nickkeenan …they might find more people coming into their buildings, maybe get a cross-pollination of auds.
rwkozlowski: I walk away from Twitter for three hours and the place is going crazy with food metaphors. Can’t I leave you people alone for two seconds??
krisvire: RT @WillActForFood: @krisvire & a convoluted 1 at that. had to follow at least 3 new ppl/cos to make sense of it. and now? totally hungry.
nickkeenan: @dloehr I think what helps places like Hooeyville is financial support for a portion of small-scale tours & cost effective remounts
dloehr: @nickkeenan They’re confused when new and different people come there to see these dinky little theatre groups in the cabaret.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Ideally, yes. But it’s amazing how ossified ATL’s gotten, even with the new play festival and the baby-steps cabaret series.
nickkeenan: @dloehr And I think in kind, cities need that fringe festival element that brings in latest work from Hooeyville.
dloehr: @nickkeenan And then figure these folks’ll be so enthralled with ATL as is, they’ll buy tickets on the spot. But they don’t.
nickkeenan: @dloehr It’s audience training. It’s like the first time you eat from a street vendor. It’s risky, but so rewarding, and delightful.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Ah, but those are doing fine. The KY Center for Arts packs them in for the tours and such.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Indeed. We did one year where all of our shows were out of town, because that’s where we got support.
nickkeenan: @dloehr I think I’m thinking about Chi. We see a lot of international, but not indiana (that isn’t in process of moving here)
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan You’re taking this metaphor to the bank, aren’t you?
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago It works! I’m finding it incredibly valuable. Plus I need to hold on to sense of humor as tight as possible today.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Exactly. Which is why I have such hopes for @ChicagoFringe.
dloehr: @nickkeenan –we do okay with the 40-50 seat space, room to add chairs if need be.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Yeah. We’re about 40 miles from L’ville, so that’s our civilization. Local pop is 25k for the entire county. So locally–
nickkeenan: @krisvire That would throw so much fuel on Twitter. I would love to see Austin, IN, and Vancouver bring shows here and vice versa.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Hmm, now I’m trying to imagine a theater version of the Taste.
dloehr: @nickkeenan L’ville has so many little groups that do good work, but they die quickly because there’s nowhere to do it. But if ATL–
TheNineChicago: @dloehr @nickkeenan And this is how National becomes National, not NYLACHI.
nickkeenan: @dloehr I think that’s the perfect size to serve a small community or neighborhood. Program the hell out of the space.
dloehr: @nickkeenan And you know what they push as the draw? The beer. Honestly.
dloehr: @nickkeenan –of their occasional cabaret thing late one Friday night every three or four months for ten minute shows, loud music and beer.
dloehr: @nickkeenan –were to support a rotating series of shows from homegrown theatre artists, they’d pull people in on a regular basis instead–
nickkeenan: @krisvire its what loopapalooza should be
dloehr: @nickkeenan This space isn’t ours full time, but we’ve got a guy who’s developing a little complex and he wants us as the draw.
nickkeenan: @krisvire And I think it’s most of the way there. Chaotic, fun, centrally located. With a map and schedule that is best left at home.
dloehr: @nickkeenan And programming it continuously is my goal.
“nickkeenan: @rwkozlowskiYou’re not hungry enough. “”Pizza”" “”Mashed Potatoes.”" “”Hamburger.”"”
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan I’m hoping to bring something up to @ChicagoFringe, depending on my actor’s schedule…
TheNineChicago: @nickkeenan Looptopia? But that’s dead now, isn’t it?
dloehr: @travisbedard This is a good thing. I was worried I’d have to break out some of the 5yr’s knock knock jokes.
dloehr: @nickkeenan That’s really 90% of the local battle–a dedicated space that people are aware of and visit regularly.
rwkozlowski: @nickkeenan I’m full as hell. Wife and I got a large pizza from I Monelli. Almost finished the damn thing.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago My brain is totally fried. Yes. Looptopia. And THATS why we need sustainability.
krisvire: @nickkeenan GarageRep, O’Neill fest, FugardChicago & RogersParkFlexPass are all almost-there models to build on, too.
TheNineChicago: @krisvire What ever the at-reply version of retweeting is, I’m doing that right now.
nickkeenan: @krisvire Each one of those programs reduces the risk of experience that CJ is so deathly afraid of.
nickkeenan: @krisvire All just selling our stuff together to create an audience culture that values that kind of performance experience. Patron choice
dloehr: @WillActForFoodWe do great with pay-what-you-can Thurs nights, often make as much as regular nights. Sun are tougher, depends on the show.
nickkeenan: @krisvire If one component sucks, you have three or four more to make your date happy.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire Then you’re part of something more, and even the lesser shows are still fun.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire That’s the beauty of the Capital Fringe (and others), where you enjoy the experience itself, see a few shows at once.
rwkozlowski: Chicago improv is modeled on exactly that. RT @nickkeenan If one component sucks, you have three or four more to make your date happy.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Exactly. Risk-minimizers. Only diff now is, if you’re not digging something at Lolla or Looptopia&
krisvire: @nickkeenan &you can drag yr date away to another perf happening simultaneously. With thtr models, it’s try again another night.
TheNineChicago: @krisvire @nickkeenan If we can get to a place where something like FugardChicago is planned ahead? Dialogue for aud./artists/everyone.
nickkeenan: @TheNineChicago That’s why the league is trying to make FugardChicago a model.
krisvire: @TheNineChicago @nickkeenan YES. On the fly is undeniably awesome, but on purpose is way better.
krisvire: @TheNineChicago @nickkeenan And that’s, frankly, what O’Neill was. Which is to Goodman’s bridging credit.
“nickkeenan: @krisvire @TheNineChicago so we need more “”Free Nights of Theatre”" for the next 10 years until people WANT the full night of theater”
nickkeenan: @krisvire @TheNineChicago Thanks. This discussion really clarifies where I should be putting my energy in next six months.
ericzieg: Momofuku Ko in NYC has 12 seats. Top restaurant in NYC. Someone will figure out how to do this with Chicago theater. http://bit.ly/28IpFY
ericzieg: The dovetailing of a theater’s work and its physical space – as in @buildingstage. In the 2010s Chicago theater will have its Grant Achatz.
ericzieg: See also arena concerts instead of Schubas, X-Box not Whirlyball RT @nickkeenan Everyone’s talking about McDs instead of Bayless in theater
krisvire: @ericzieg @halcyonjennHey y’all, welcome to our weirdo Friday night jam session.
ericzieg: Went to The Counter on Diversey tonight, which absolutely holds its own against Chi theater as $15 for sensory surprise/satisfaction/depth.
krisvire: @ericzieg Love @buildingstage, but doesn’t it sit fallow when not booked, in a culture desert? I think to audiences it does.
ericzieg: @krisvire If a place like @buildingstagewere a cultural gym, with the hours and membership model of a gym, maybe gym model would work.
ericzieg: @krisvire If any restaurant had the limited hours of a storefront theater, there’s no way they would stay in business…but, conversely,
ericzieg: @krisvire …if a theater space had the hours and daily number of customers as a restaurant, could it work as a for-profit?
krisvire: @ericzieg Hmm. So expect large auds in evening, small auds mid-afternoon & late-night (w/lighter staffing)? I’m trying to follow you here&
ericzieg: @krisvire Maybe yoga in the morning, kids shows or classes in the afternoon, theater in the evening, music at night.
ericzieg: @krisvire See also: Old Town School and Second City. Both are open from about 9 a.m. to midnight, in one capacity or another.
ericzieg: @krisvire If a space is membership-sustained, some use it quarterly, some daily; like the private old-boy club model + gym model.
krisvire: @ericzieg OK, I see where you’re coming from now.
ericzieg: @krisvire As Adam Thurman wrote, churches don’t propser through Sunday services but through what else they do: http://bit.ly/AOcFI
“krisvire: @ericzieg I spent a decade waiting/bartending to pay the bills, so I’m slightly resistant to “”it’ll all balance out”" memes&”
krisvire: @ericzieg &just based on my own experience about the way dayparts play out. But smart programming could allay that.
krisvire: @ericzieg Adam’s totally right about 11-12 on Sunday not paying the bills, but a lot of churches waste a lot of time too.
krisvire: @ericzieg And for what it’s worth, I love me some Adam Thurman.
ericzieg: @krisvire I think it’s a really exciting time for Chi theater, with the talent here combined with you/Thurman/Keenan/et-al pooling thoughts.
krisvire: @ericzieg Thank you, sir. I can only hope that I (in conjunction with those way more awesome minds) can do some good for the cause.
nickkeenan: @dloehr Serial plays often discussed in Chicago, BTW – there’s even a historic precedent in WARP by Organic.
nickkeenan: @dloehr Yowser. It is goood to get those ideas out there. Many things to think about now.
dloehr: @nickkeenan I think it’s a natural idea right now, give people a reason to keep coming back in, esp one acts/cheap tix.
dloehr: @nickkeenan And we the public are so conditioned to the TV model, why the hell not? We can write that, too, dangit.
dloehr: @NEW_PLAY_BLOGSeems to me, that’s one lady blogger right there who should be on your list…
nickkeenan: @dloehr I think Slings and Arrows / West Wing is the model for theater serials though – L&O is leave-on-in-background noise
dloehr: @NEW_PLAY_BLOGAlso violenceofarticulation.blogspot.com.
nickkeenan: @dloehr And that’s actually what I use TV serials for – comfy as an armchair. Theater is different – demands attention.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Oh yes. The one we filmed is a police interrogation, so that was the pitch. Crowd went nuts for it, which was nice.
dloehr: @nickkeenan I’m more a Homicide type than L&O, myself.
dloehr: @nickkeenan It would sort of be a bait-and-switch for exactly that reason. Once in the theatre, they’d be surprised by the electricity.
travisbedard: @nickkeenan @dloehr and you do it in a pub. A Theatre Pub: http://is.gd/66RZG – @directaddress
nickkeenan: @dloehr @travisbedard exactly. You don’t want to remove the comfort from the serial. Needs beer & cheese fries & community.
dloehr: @travisbedard @nickkeenan I would love that. There’s sort of one in L’ville we’ve worked at, awkward, bad area, small auds, but still…
travisbedard: @nickkeenan And a cheap place that benefits from repeat business
travisbedard: @TheNineChicago I had never run into it before… omg so good.
dloehr: @travisbedard @nickkeenan Tho this isn’t overly serialized, they’re meant to be standalone if need be. So serial isn’t quite the word.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @travisbedard But it would be easy to design a lighter, more serialized collection to run in such a setting.
nickkeenan: @dloehr @travisbedard in Chicago, we see this most prevalently at The Spot and Chopin Theatres – Spot has great food, Chopin couches & booze
travisbedard: @dloehr even on a basic level. Running Cheers IN a bar.
dloehr: @travisbedard That would be a lot of fun.
nickkeenan: @travisbedard @dloehr Oh duh, and Our Hamburger Mary’s has Mary’s Attic – a tiny alt performance space.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @travisbedard L’ville’s got the Rudyard Kipling, perpetually in danger of closing. But free stage space. Mostly music.
nickkeenan: @dloehr @travisbedard What would you do in this room (notice the bar) http://bit.ly/80Fxpy? (Note: this is home of Chicago WTD09)
dloehr: @nickkeenan Is there an actual stage space that’s hidden? Or would it be immersive theatre?
nickkeenan: @dloehr @travisbedard More views at http://bit.ly/7HjG1P Owner would LOVE to do something like this on Sat. afternoons.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Oh, wait, I’ve been to their site before…
nickkeenan: @dloehr They have 2 stages, but I think think their studio lobby is a worthy performance venue in itself and would rarely conflict w/renters
dloehr: @nickkeenan Yeah yeah yeah, I was reading about the I-fest months ago. (Why am I not moving to Chicago tonight?)
dloehr: @nickkeenan I’m good with small/odd spaces–we’ve had to be, down here. The DC fringe show last summer: woman, suitcase, chair.
nickkeenan: @dloehr Everyone in the world should meet Lela and Ziggy. They are some of the craziest, hardest-working, most generous theatricians ITW.
travisbedard: @nickkeenan Do I only get that room?
krisvire: @nickkeenan @dloehr @travisbedard dont 4get Mary’s Attic ran serial The Ville 4 last couple yrs & has Charles Busch fest starting nxt wk.
nickkeenan: @travisbedard Well… it’s configurable. Baby Grand piano, couches can be reorganized, and anteroom & cafe is fair game but tight.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Oh, I’m not tweeting fast enough.
nickkeenan: @krisvire I’m trying to think of other theater pubs… Plagiarists use Black Rock to great effect.
dloehr: @krisvire Yeah, we’ve been fast and furious tonight.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @dloehr I WILL CATCH UP TO YOUR TWEETS, KEENAN
krisvire: @nickkeenan @dloehr That downstairs lobby space is totally underused. And owners Zyggy & Lela are some of the Earth’s finest denizens.
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan I think I heard that all the way down here, what, five hours south?
krisvire: @nickkeenan And Viaduct can be a theater pub of sorts, when used creatively.
dloehr: @trishameadThen it edges closer to dinner theatre mystery, less marketable for (hopefully) larger theatres. And they’re not all crime…
travisbedard: @nickkeenan @dloehr so you ficitonalize it AND the length and breadth of the history of the theatre
travisbedard: @nickkeenan @dloehr You don’t have a res. company (that I’m aware of)
travisbedard: @nickkeenan @dloehr I totally go the Slings and Arrows route.
nickkeenan: @dloehr @krisvire If we keep having these theater ecosystem convos, Vire & I are both going to heart attack. But they’re as good as sat. fat
krisvire: @nickkeenan Sandbox did a play at Matilda’s some years back to great effect. And Town Hall’s a comedy pub, no reason it couldn’t do thtr too
travisbedard: @dloehr You’ve listened to Stuart Maclean yeah?
travisbedard: @krisvire that was so much louder than a Popeye’s bag.
dloehr: @travisbedard Why do I know that name?
dloehr: @travisbedard @nickkeenan In the right setting, sure. That’d be fun. Doubt we could do that here, for various reasons.
travisbedard: @nickkeenan @dloehr Serialized company prepped for a show upstairs
nickkeenan: @krisvire Right… EVERY comedy club is like this… serial shows, booze, snacks. Skybox, iO, on and on… Maybe thats why we don’t do it?
krisvire: @nickkeenan @dloehr @travisbedard Seriously, Nick & I will OD on this stuff. And if @ericzieg is around…
ericzieg: @nickkeenan EP has canned beer, a bit pubbish; Seanachai used Atlantic Bar & Grill; upstairs at The Spot; Walkabout and panto @ The Hideout.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire I call them intellectual catnip. And my pupils get freaky just like the cats’ do.
travisbedard: @dloehr He’s your godfather?
travisbedard: @dloehr Well I’m looking at @nickkeenan ‘s Noel Coward salon
dloehr: @trishameadDown here, they keep asking us to do that, but they don’t know what goes into it. I’ve seen the Shear Madness script…
nickkeenan: @trishameadActually, no, what happens? Is it like drinking flat cola?
ericzieg: @nickkeenan Seanachai’s ‘Our Father’ worked well in the back room – audience all around the actors (Dan Waller, etc.), far better than thtr.
dloehr: @trishameadYes, but I got them hooked. Score one for theatre.
travisbedard: @trishameadbut you already HAVE them in a theatre, and they’re drinking
nickkeenan: @travisbedard AWWWW YEAH COWARD.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan Finished some work, took a bath, I’m ready for round #97.
dloehr: @trishamead@nickkeenan Flat cola with Pop Rocks, maybe?
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire Exactly. My idea is, here, here’s something you’re familiar with, but in a theatre. Look what else we can do…
dloehr: @travisbedard OHHHH yes. Brain went dead. Vinyl Cafe. Yes, there are some on my phone right now.
“krisvire: @nickkeenan Also perception prob of calling it “”theater”" means auds must behave differently stay in seats, no talking&”
ericzieg: @krisvire …and how if there were a theater equivalent of the Old Town School, that could be (or become) it.
ericzieg: @krisvire Oh, I was thinking today how the Center on Halsted is a model space that folks can make their hangout, is open most of the time.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @travisbedard Love me some good Coward.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg But how amazing to see theater and then grocery shop in same building.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg Center is a great space. Though: the design is cold. I just had a really awkward time in their upstairs lobby.
“travisbedard: @trishamead@nickkeenan @trishamead@krisvire For me the goal in serialized theatre is the bridge, the “”no this IS for you, PROMISE – LOOK!”"”
“nickkeenan: @krisvire I love using the word “”performance”" for everything. Then people only expect to see something.”
ericzieg: @nickkeenan @krisvire Have you guys been to the Guthrie? I loved the old space, was against rebuilding, but it’s such a 21st century bldg.
nickkeenan: @travisbedard That was the beauty of WARP – it appealed to anyone who got lost in a Star Wars world.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan @krisvire Minneapolis has fantastic spaces at all levels: Bryant Lake Bowl, Open Eye, The Jungle, Southern, Jeune Lune(rip)…
dloehr: @trishameadWould that we could at Humana. Oh, such potential in that bldg, and to see how they spend it…
nickkeenan: @ericzieg Not yet. This is the decade of me taking those trips.
dloehr: @travisbedard EXACTLY. That’s why mine is loose, not full-on serial. Enough to connect, but valid theatre pieces individually.
travisbedard: @krisvire can we call it Bagel?
“krisvire: @nickkeenan And not for nothing, but my buddy Piatt’s been making inroads on “”performance”" at Ricochet’s.”
dloehr: @trishameadIt’s in toys, w/creative stuff, I forget the brand, but it’s with science-y things. Comes with a pack of Mentos, too.
dloehr: @trishameadThat would be brilliant. They’d never do it. (I’ve suggested similar things.)
travisbedard: @dloehr Oh. I don’t DO valid theatre. We’re on different pages
nickkeenan: @krisvire I love his salons. The one I saw (at Black Rock) was pure Federal Theatre Project. Giddy.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg Nor I. But love the idea the Nat’l model that Chris J keeps going on about.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan @krisvire Davenport’s actually has lots of rigid (in a good way) theatrical conventions to its space, lights, sound, design, etc
“dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan Maintains the “”order”" of sitting in a show while allowing the looseness of beer/drinks, fun.”
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan ATL’s doing an occasional late night cabaret series, normal theatre with a cash bar inside. Works well.
travisbedard: @dloehr I’m kidding
krisvire: @ericzieg @nickkeenan VG has been rolling beer carts into the theater for its latenite Fresh Squeezed programming, FWIW.
dloehr: @travisbedard I knew. You had that look in your eye.
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan But they don’t program it as well as they could, run it as consistently as they could. So it flounders.
nickkeenan: @dloehr Which comes from not connecting to an audience. By focusing on musical standards & guest singers, Davenports thrives.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan The Guthrie basically has design and function combined along the lines of the Violet Hour-a passageway before a show.
dloehr: @trishameadYup. That’d be the thing. They’re trying to use the bldg late at fest now, free shows w/apprentice co. Bleh.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Theatre groups don’t jump at it because it’s too short form for them, and the music sucks. ATL fills a slot themselves now–
dloehr: @nickkeenan –right there is how/why they don’t connect.
“dloehr: @nickkeenan –just to fill the bill. We’ve performed a few times, have gotten praise as “”the coherent act.”" Which I don’t mind, but that–”
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan (and when I talk about design and function, it’s not about $ or fancy- EP does it intuitively- a rare homemade space.)
dloehr: @krisvire @SMLois@travisbedard @nickkeenan It’s like intellectual, theatre-based Mario Kart.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg Right… each design FITS the space, fits the audience, fits the content.
dloehr: @krisvire @travisbedard I suppose, given the tweeters, it’s superfluous…
travisbedard: @krisvire @dloehr I’m a hack and tend to not deliver cleanly unless I’m being oppressively earnest.
krisvire: @ericzieg @nickkeenan I’ve seen lots of examples of limitations birthing innovation at EP, for sure.
dloehr: @trishameadYeah, that works. (I’m getting lightheaded again.) : )
travisbedard: @dloehr @krisvire @SMLois@nickkeenan BANANA SHPEEL!
dloehr: @travisbedard @krisvire @SMLois@nickkeenan …the horror….the horror….
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan And the EP experience starts with having to go down the alley to find the space, then having to hang out.Redmoon same.
travisbedard: @trishameadwow Tweetdeck just isn’t going to let that happen
nickkeenan: @ericzieg @krisvire I need to get down there to see what they’re doing. I am kind of excited that it’s a hub for @ChicagoFringe
krisvire: @travisbedard @dloehr @SMLois@nickkeenan You had to go there, didn’t you?
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan Going to EP/Hideout/Hopleaf/Hugen Hall/Profiles/Building Stage is like a tweet; some theaters, as space, an auto-post.
travisbedard: @krisvire You wanna rule the USAian theatre world? You have to own the bastard children. We let you have UNH ALUM Molly Brennan
krisvire: @ericzieg @nickkeenan Jeez, how did I not think of Hugen Hall yet? Talk about a theater pub.
dloehr: @krisvire He did. He really did. #davidshiner #whyyyyy
travisbedard: @nickkeenan so sad I couldn’t afford ChiFringe this year
nickkeenan: @krisvire @ericzieg Oh! And is The Heart of Gold still happening? An underground one, but probably the best hangout of them all.
ericzieg: @krisvire So many years of actors going to Konak before Hugen Hall. Talk about the difference of a theater going 8-1a.m. instead of 8-10.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @travisbedard I’m hoping to bring something up for the Fringe, mainly as an excuse to visit…
krisvire: @ericzieg @nickkeenan And too, what @thenewcolonydid last year at DANKhaus FRAT was promenade + open bar.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Which is a shame; she’s great, and possibly the second coming of Carol Burnett, I kid you not.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Funny, a good friend lived there briefly last year and left because it was too haphazard, she couldn’t take it.
nickkeenan: @dloehr Well: It is a PERFORMANCE VENUE that people tried to LIVE IN. Haphazard is built into the lease.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg I think Heart of Gold is defunct, but The Inconvenience has taken its spiritual place.
nickkeenan: @krisvire Dankhaus is absolutey becoming one of those places… especially since that’s where we’re having @ChicagoSFSummitmeetups
dloehr: @nickkeenan Such an odd concept. Yeah, she’s not Felix Unger, but it was too much for her. But the concept sounded cool.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan @krisvire O and in so many ways @2ndstoryis a strong model – bar performance, single performances, unintimidating, social.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg So true! @dloehr, @travisbedard You guys should check out @2ndStory– Chi’s answer to The Moth.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan The lit scene is thriving now because of bar shows: Quickies, Rec Room, et al – not academic/stuffy/off-putting.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @ericzieg @travisbedard Very cool. Reminds me of Speakeasy back in DC, too, similar idea.

JAN 12 - Theatre Serials, Theatre Pubs and Multi-Disciplinary Events

nickkeenan: @ericzieg @dloehr so maybe key to Serial performances is partnerships. Get a lit group, theatre troupe, musicians, and pub and light it up.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg. Totally. With props to Dollar Store, Mortified too. And Chicago’s Moth is holding its own, I hear.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @ericzieg Now you speak my language. Each element draws people and maybe piques interest in the other elements.
dloehr: @ericzieg @nickkeenan Busboys and Poets in DC is mildly like that. No theatre, but spoken word, music, talks/lectures. Big hit.
nickkeenan: @dloehr because the theater troupe is going to be best at staging, not necessarily picking the right literary source of serial literature.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan @krisvire The Hideout does it in their way, with music/performance/community each week; so much potential for more like it.
nickkeenan: @dloehr And that’s why I see theater rather than poetry slams – the spotlight / mic / transition music thing is cool, but could be improved.
dloehr: @nickkeenan Yup. The space we’re theoretically helping to develop here might be able to handle that; there’ll be a restaurant/bar, I know.
krisvire: Why isn’t there more cross-pollination of 2ndStory, DollarStore, LateNightLateShow(rip), TheVille, Mortified, etc? Do we need variety shows?
“dloehr: @nickkeenan Poetry slams, as “”exciting”" as they can be, turn off more people than pure storytelling, I think.”
“ericzieg: @dloehr What’s great is that these lit events in Chicago have none of the baggage of “”spoken word”" and “”poetry slam”" and “”performance art.”"”
ericzieg: @krisvire They’re happening, but there isn’t a clear place to list them: Reconstruction Room and Cabaret Vagabond pack the room each time.
dloehr: @ericzieg Right. Down here (Madison/Hanover, IN), we sell plays/readings as ‘telling stories,’ which is something people can grasp.
nickkeenan: @krisvire Isn’t that the low-risk sampler pack we were talking about in the last session?
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire @ericzieg I see what you mean about the heart attack/OD thing…I should be asleep by now…
krisvire: @ericzieg We actually have this convo weekly at TOC: where to list multi-genre stuff?
nickkeenan: @ericzieg Are they promoted sufficiently via facebook? (damn, would have liked to catch dictionary reading http://bit.ly/60y0VL )
krisvire: @ericzieg @nickkeenan & most of these only submit to 1 section or another, so we don’t know to x-reference.
nickkeenan: @krisvire @ericzieg I don’t understand or trust my own need to categorize performance types. But it’s there.
nickkeenan: @krisvire The web 2.0 answer is tagging by style, content, subject?
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg Holy Christ, have I mentioned how awesome The Encyclopedia Show @ the Chopin is? But what is it?
“ericzieg: @krisvire What’s exciting is that there isn’t a blanket term for them yet – it’s like SoHo in 1978, no “”performance art”" yet, no “”new wave.”"”
nickkeenan: @krisvire It sounds like visual RadioLab.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan Yeah, Facebook groups are the main promotion. Cabaret Vagabond sold out Martyrs; I’d never heard of 13 of the 15 acts.
“nickkeenan: @dloehr @travisbedard I have a new t-shirt for us based on tonight’s convo: “”Re-invent and Prosper.”"”
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan @ericzieg Sorry to have vanished there; I hit my TweetDeck limit for the first time. But I really do need to go…
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan (before I go) Visual RadioLab would be a fantastic thing.
dloehr: @krisvire @nickkeenan @ericzieg But a wonderful conversation. Thanks!
nickkeenan: @ericzieg It’s funny. I’ve never heard of any of these and they’re ALL SOLD OUT.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Pretty much, yep. Yr 2.0 thought is right(& I hope we get it right in our next upgrade), but what of our 50K print subscribers?
ericzieg: @nickkeenan What’s healthy about the lit/variety shows/Hugen Hall is that they’re catalysts for folks to create new work but as party games.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @travisbedard I like. R&P.
nickkeenan: @krisvire You guys have good luck with bubbles. What about cross-pollenation bubbles? Theater lovers would dig this restaurant.
krisvire: @dloehr 1st Wednesday of every month at Chicago’s Chopin Theatre.
krisvire: @dloehr @nickkeenan @ericzieg Twitter FTW in 2010.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan What’s also exciting is that these are, fiscally, some of the healthiest arts orgs, though no board, 501c3, mission.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @ericzieg @krisvire Indeed. (And zzzzzz.)
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire Oh, that’s good. (I’m sleep-tweeting now. Stupid iPhone.)
nickkeenan: @ericzieg Missions are so much bigger than a 10-person company. It’s not a good model fit. Whereas being awesome IS a good fit.
ericzieg: @dloehr This American Life is absolutely the model for things like @2ndStory, so a live take on RadioLab makes perfect sense.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire @ericzieg Soon, the iPhone will be able to pick up thoughts and tweet them without typing.
nickkeenan: @krisvire ha. Except folks who aren’t following all of us think we CRAZY.
krisvire: @nickkeenan We love our stupid bubbles. But if 2ndS submits to Books, for instance, Jonny doesn’t know they haven’t also notified me.
dloehr: @ericzieg Yes. I download both as podcasts, listen weekly, would love to get something up and running like TAL et al down here.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Yeah, there’s that.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan You joke, but I’m absolutely sure that @rickbaylessand @gAchatzwould collaborate with their equals in the arts.
ericzieg: @nickkeenan I was putting together an event for the Sundance Lab and invited C. Trotter – the event fell through, but he was 100% game.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire And now, exeunt pursued by a bear.
dloehr: @nickkeenan @krisvire Seriously. My wife follows a few, but not all, and only catches pieces of conversations. The confusion is fun.
nickkeenan: @krisvire Tricky. But wouldn’t cross-pollenation be best with established (and predictable) institutions? 2nd Story, The Spot, Encyc. Show
nickkeenan: @ericzieg @krisvire. @rickbaylessreturns to the theater model discussion for a 2nd night. And scene.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg Friggin’ food metaphors again.
krisvire: @nickkeenan Makes sense. They all have their own sold-out crowds; can they be integrated?
ericzieg: @nickkeenan @krisvire All right, we’ll get the chefs in on this by the end of the week. As spacial wizards too, I bet they’ve got ideas.
nickkeenan: @krisvire Here’s where mission hits me: SHOULDN’T they all be integrated? aren’t we a little compartmentalized in this city?
ericzieg: @krisvire They kind of don’t need to be integrated if they’re selling out venues appropriate for the work-but each show reflects its host.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg So true. Bayless could cook paella while 500 clown sous chefs and Encyc show could demonstrate chemistry of food.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg We’re definitely compartmentalized. Should we be? Or is it a reflex?
nickkeenan: @krisvire It’s reflexive. We overindulge in our hobbies. I really value that TOC shakes me out of my habits.
nickkeenan: @krisvire For example, I’m now kicking myself that I don’t see more lit events. I habitually ONLY read the theater & food sections of TOC.
krisvire: @nickkeenan @ericzieg This morning’s TDF convening has me thinking it’s reflex (protect yr own interests), not best practices.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan As I teenager I saw folks like Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, John Lurie…were they actors? musicians? writers? artists?
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan They were doing all that stuff, and they were in a world where that stuff overlapped, and folks inspired each other.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg I wonder if it’s a factor of internet culture to date, where finding interest was all about categories and searching for keywords.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan I hosted a few potluck nights in ’09 with writers/musicians/etc, and the potluck part made it curated but inclusive.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg Which was a response to label-esque top-down culture – which was well-edited but monocultured and more solidly counter-cultured.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan Off to bed. Looking forward to seeing actors, musicians, writers, and @Rick_Baylessin the same variety show someday.
nickkeenan: @ericzieg @krisvire Love it. That is a sweet vision to feed a dream. Y’all are brilliant.
krisvire: @ericzieg @nickkeenan Indeed. Looking forward to continuing the conversation, but morning comes soon.
ericzieg: @krisvire @nickkeenan (P.S. I go back to food metaphors because an exact number of people eat a meal, same as see a play. Same rules.)