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.)

I got to re-balance my creative input / output ratio in December. And it felt goooooood.

“What is this compassion? Because I don’t really know what it is. So I want to know, really, what is it?”

- Aunt Dan and Lemon

“Thinking rationally is the way to be happy and the key to learning more.”

- L. Ron Hubbard, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant

“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (h/t Granata)

I don’t think New Year’s resolutions work for me. It’s like preemptively choosing the solution for a problem you haven’t come up against yet.

In past years I always thought, “This year I’ll do more blank and try to be less blank.” But the idea of approaching a theatrical season as a question (instead of say, a theme) or approaching software development from the reiterative question of “what is the way to build what our clients need” has yielded some exciting fruit this year.

And so I wonder: My life seems awfully recursive. A question seems like it might be useful.

The danger is in picking the wrong question. “How can I make my business more profitable?” for instance might lead me pretty far astray, though it is certainly something on my mind. At this point in this year, I’m thinking a lot about stability because it’s been a tumultuous year. My wife and several of our friends all left full time work / half-hearted careers to pursue part time work / full-hearted careers. Watching and helping them develop those full-hearted careers has, I think, been the unasked question for me in 2009. Can you survive that way, ‘living your dream’? And when you do, does it stay your dream? What of that romance can you hang on to, if any, and would you want to? And the answer was: It is possible to be more fulfilled by your work, and the difference between plenty and just getting by is in the strength of your connections to community and friends. Those are the tools that we use to overcome fear and poverty (and one of the reasons why I think it is important for me to stay in theater still).

So the question for this year deals with stability – “How can I be more stable and more sustainable?” The nice thing about a question is that it’s three-dimensional – the shape of the question shifts depending on the time of day or the context in which you consider it. My current, two-dimensional answer to that question is that “stability” for me does not mean for me a prototypical “financial security” – it means a sustainable level of activity that is full-hearted and doesn’t physically kill me or prevent me from enjoying my life or prevent my wife and friends and family from enjoying theirs. Balancing work, play, and family takes work and consideration – I wouldn’t want to ask that question frivolously.

Stability for me is linked to that question of compassion from Aunt Dan. As a designer (both web and sound), or really as a person who provides services to clients, I require compassion to do my job/life effectively, since I essentially act as an artistic and technical advisor to another storyteller. I hear what a storyteller (a director or an organization) is trying to communicate or accomplish with their story, and I create the tools or atmosphere in which that communication is possible. I require compassion and empathy to be able to translate the director’s complex vocabulary and emotional understanding of their story into my own emotional understanding of the story, and in the case of web design, incorporate the reactions and responses of many, many users into a final, finished and ideally universal understanding of a complex narrative. That question, quoted above, is the core of what I didn’t connect to with that script (which I should add was excellently produced and presented by my pals at BackStage Theatre – all artists I deeply respect.) Without compassion, I don’t operate, and my designs don’t resonate with other people, and I don’t get hired again – which of course, always may happen. Compassion for me is a sense of empathy, an often misguided but for me visceral and tangible sense that I understand the motives and worldview of another human being. I couldn’t operate if I didn’t feel some level of compassion for and from my collaborators, or an audience, or the users of my websites.

But compassion also quickly throws me out of balance and creates a vast amount of instability in my life. (I can hear the Objectivists in the room chuckling, and I’ll get to you later.) The art itself is always a solitary and personal reaction to that compassion, which comes from something internal to me, hopefully not an external, societal, or conventional response to a given design challenge (“It’s night! We need to hear crickets!”) Compassion muddies that personal relationship I have with my work, and left unchecked can muddy and complicate the quality of that work. Compassion with my clients compels me to take on too much work to fill my clients and my collaborators needs before my own. Finding the right valve that gets me to shut off the sense of compassion in favor of the sense of taking care of myself at just the right moment has always been a challenge for me. In many ways and on many days, my sense of compassion is least developed with this guy, Nick Keenan.

Changing and developing our lives and the people that we are and the Things that We Do With Our Time On This Planet is not a question of carving or molding ourselves out of clay. We’re given certain talents and certain flaws, and I believe very strongly that those talents and flaws are closely linked together – amazingly, fascinatingly so. Applying dogma to our lives that we developed before New Years past (about so-and-so pounds lost or whatee-hoo books read or blah-tee-blah engrams we need to audit before we achieve Clear) can unintentionally damage our honest experience of February, April, June, and September.

I wonder if the question will stick better than the resolution. The question is a iterative procedure that is scalable, a kind of Kaizen ritual that provides structure and allows for individual variation and diversity, person-to-person and day-to-day. Life is shaped like a question, not an answer.

Living that question is audacious humility, and I could use somma that.

From the moment we saw this post from Chris Ashworth in October, New Leaf buckled down to create a vision of what sustainable theater could look like in the 21st century. It was a clarion call for an idea that had been churning and developing in the company for years.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to begin to roll out the results today.

Our theater must move away from a patronage model of funding and towards a partnership model. I don’t think any of our patrons would argue that art and the artists that make it couldn’t use more support in our society, both financial and social – we have all seen the ancillary benefits that are generated when you connect an artist with their passion – beauty, clarity, revelation, emotional release, simplicity, dialogue. But we also believe that society, corporate culture, and community organizations could directly and immediately benefit from a creative integration of the artistic process and the byproducts of artistic thinking into their work and daily experience. Most of America’s exposure to art is the finished “product” – a couple hours of watching a play, taking in a recital, or browsing paintings at a museum. If what we offer is an experience, our product is not the result, it is the entire experience from concept to creation to completion. And audiences routinely miss or are restricted from the meat of what that experience has to offer.

READ THE WHOLE PLAN

I’m not gonna lie – this feels like a crazy risk right now, at one in the morning. But putting your mouth where your money is always was going to be a risk.

I’ve immersed myself in the past few months in histories of artistic renaissance both ancient and recent, reading stories about the financial models of the Medici and how they funded one of the most vibrant and ultimately constructive cultural revolutions and sequences of rediscovery in history. The mob-esque patronage model of the Medici was highly supportive of the artist, quite untransparent, seems pretty attractive out of the context of plague, excommunication, brutality, and almost certainly political dysfunction, which all makes it seem oddly familiar to an artist in Chicago.

And on the other hand I’ve also read up on the organizational work of the generation that are now my artistic mentors – the folks that built Chicago theatre and specifically storefront theatre from the ground up and found ways of making it work that lasted through at least a couple major recessions.

(sidebar: if you wanted to know what it’s been like producing in Chicago in the last ten years, check out these decade-wrapping articles from New City. There’s some stunning archival work on display.)

I also feel like, as per usual, it’s a crazy long post. But we have several difficult cases to make. On the one hand, we have to make the case that in an economic downturn, investing in art in general and theater specifically can be directly beneficial to the investors, not just indirectly beneficial in the form of some vague warm feeling of generosity. Which brings us to the other case to be made: Theater may be non-profit, but we need to get out of the mentality that we therefore deserve financial support. Because if donors give money out of guilt or a heart that bleeds for unsupported artists, it’s misplaced. I’m sorry, but we just don’t need money like organizations that fight poverty and hunger and violence and disease do. If anything, we should be working for them. We must either be satisfied with just putting on plays with our own resources alone, which I think is a perfectly acceptable way of producing theater, or if we produce for the benefit of broader social goals, we need to articulate those goals and create direct and accountable value in our donor’s lives.

This shouldn’t leave us in a quandry or a place where we need to suddenly justify our existence, however. The answer is that we need to do a better job of featuring our people. Your company, after all, is your people, and their talents, and their projects, and their dreams, and their vision. To forget that is to risk losing them, and so instead you fight for them. You fight to keep them, you fight to support them, you wrangle and jostle to provide them with rich opportunities in which they will thrive.

I think the mistake we’ve had to make as theaters, especially mid-sized and small theaters, in the past few decades as we often aimed our ambitions towards national and grand scales is that we largely forgot that “our people” includes our audience. We must embrace our scale and scope and choose to feature them too, not just take their money and tell ourselves “yes, we deserve to take their money.” We must draw them out and be able to say: “this person paid for this set, this prop, this sound design. This person made this happen. And it wasn’t just humble generosity, no, this person has talents and dreams that match ours, and we want you, dear audience, to take this thing we made out of that energy and that support and go and support them, and each other.”

It’s so crazy. Here’s hoping it just works.

This post was brought to you, once again, by E. Hunter Spreen. She is a supporter of this blog and my coffee habit that I would like to draw your attention to. She stopped blogging for a time because she had the H1N1. I hope you will join me in forgiving her for having human limitations and reading her just the same. And after being inspired by her example, I actually put her coffee money towards a brief upcoming mental health break from technology and the city that I love. Cheers, E.

UPDATE:
Rebecca Zellar of @GreyZeldahas thrown up the Summit on Twitter
Bob Fisher aka the @devilvethas offered to host a small roundtable on how to produce in non-traditional spaces on 1/17 (details coming soon on his blog).
A number of other roundtables are in the works on the topics mentioned in the topics listed below (Jenn Adams [@halcyonjenn] and @MargoGrayare putting together a discussion of women in storefront theatre), and we’re looking for volunteers, facilitators and participants via Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere to help us put together more.
Tony Adams (@Halcyontony) has set up a public Google calendar (ICAL / XML) which you can use to stay on top of ALL the storefront summit breakout meetings. We’ll of course also be setting up Facebook events so that you can bring folks who will thank you for bringing them.

I think my favorite part of the Storefront Theatre Summit this evening was when Don Hall came up to me at the end and suggested that the way to make the conversation really heat up for next time would be: (drum roll)

… to form sub-committees.

Okay, I’m paraphrasing him a bit. But the nice thing was: these small project-based follow up meetings that he, our resident uncle devil’s advocate, suggested … were part of our plan from the beginning.

Generating meaningful conversation in the storefront community is a tall order. In the room tonight we had 25-year-old companies, 10-year-old companies, and 1-year-old companies. We had folks who were looking for help with board development, folks who were looking for collaborators, companies looking for better relationships with venues, companies looking for ways of being a better venue, organizations who were looking to get their services into the use of companies that need them, and folks who didn’t belong to companies at all yet.

So tonight was about discovering more detail of the lay of the land. We started with a simple round of introductions – Who we are, what we’re working on, what we need help on. Then we took a second pass to really focus in on the core of what community collaboration was about – what skills are we missing in our organizations, and what knowledge could we offer each other to make up the difference. This set off a dozen or so mini-conversations about a wide range of subjects, and after New Colony Board member Matt Hoff (our designated note taker for the evening) is done posting the conversation to the facebook page, I think a lot more connections and partnerships are in the works.

I’m believing more and more in this simple recipe for fueling productive collaborative conversation about complex subjects: 1 part comfortable and frank face-to-face meeting, 1 part online follow-up. Too much of either and you don’t get the right kind of explosive force.

The face-to-face isn’t – and can’t be – about accomplishing something in the room & banging it out, but it is about forming real connections, identifying common challenges efficiently, and establishing as much trust, context, and basis for comparison between parties as possible. We’re humans: we need the faces, voices, beer, music, and sense of being in the same boat before we dump that boat in the river that we all need to cross.

Once you have that trust, too much face time will wear the conversation out and create too much pressure for immediate progress. You need convenience, energy, research, and time to develop the ideas. We do that on our own schedules, in our own pockets of opportunity. But as we all have found, starting online doesn’t get things done even faster. You can’t generate alignment, trust, and real group clarity from a conversation in a blog’s comments.

The face to face meeting generates the partnership and the alignment. The online follow-up generates the progress.

I’m looking forward to seeing these companies found themselves, develop strong boards, put on crazy large festivals (I counted four at the table, including the up-and-coming national and international Chicago Fringe Festival), develop unique and richer ways to engage their audience through a blog, learn to raise $5k in a single event, display collective legal force to gain more productive rights agreements with licensing companies, and put up shows with great production values in non-tradtional spaces with zero, nada, zilch budget. These are things we asked for help on from each other – and these are things that folks on this room could help with – if not by a direct hookup, than by tried-and-true plan of action developed from years of experience.

It was an inspiring group of people to speak with.

There was something I needed to hear tonight, and it came from BackStage Artistic Director Matthew Reeder, whose main stated concern was finding methods of preventing burnout. And I realized: that’s what I’m doing this month. I’m not working on shows for the most part, I’m not really running around trying to catch meetings. I feel like a lazy ass. But as a person with adult onset workaholism, finding ways to stay lazy means giving myself an action to play, or I get self-destructive.

Matt, ever the great director, gave me in his plea for help the action I need to play, which is: I am spending this month preventing my own burnout. And self-imposed vacation has suddenly never felt so fun.

I think a lot of the attendees had these little moments of clarity tonight. And so I hope you join us to discuss your goals, skills, and needs online (and format refinements for future summit meetings) and participate in our next regular meeting or one of our subject-oriented smaller meetings, which we’ll be announcing via the Facebook page.

SAVE THE DATE
Chicago Storefront Summit III
Sunday January 31st – Evening
Location TBA

Yup, been having technical difficulties with the site all day. I have taken one too many forced tea times today while waiting for my computer or the server or the network or the alignment of the planets to behave in some kind of semi-predictable way.

So to celebrate, here’s another piece of bloggy performance art to help voodoo out the bad server daemons. This one is at least in part h/t @greyzelda.

Watch and listen to this at half volume:

While also listening to this:

While watching this:

Remember, you’ll need to start the album when the tiger roars to really get them to sync properly.

This is the sound of a thought.

It was time to bite the bullet.

Today is the final day of my last two shows of the season, High Holidays at the Goodman and End Days at Next Theatre. To celebrate, I’m officially (and finally) migrating this blog to its permanent home at theaterforthefuture.com. Welcome.

You *could* update your blogrolls / links / feeds / etc. But I’m hoping that I’ve got these 301 redirects and feedburner settings set up that it should be nice and seamless. I’ll be keeping those redirects up in perpetuity. You were nice enough to link to this site and my articles. The least I could do is reduce your workload.

Let me know in the comments if you notice anything weird.

Yup, it’s here. Or, more accurately, it’s on facebook.

After going through notes for the first storefront theatre summit, we’ve just launched a couple tools to try this whole “let’s all coordinate and meet” thing on for size. If you missed the first summit, December 6th at 7:00 pm at the Dank Haus in Lincoln Square is the next one (feel free to invite other theatre companies – one or two representatives from each theatre company would be ideal), and we hope you’ll share your thoughts.

Why facebook? Because we all use it. Why build something new when we can just build off what we already have?

A couple resources on there that are worth a look:

1) Regular Meetings as coordinated by Facebook Events. One of the biggest pieces of feedback generated by the first summit was that there is a desire for regular meetings among the storefront community – if nothing else, just to see what each other is working on. They’ll likely be set on a monthly or bi-monthly basis at this second meeting, and then will be reminded by a Facebook Event.

2) Notes. Whit Nelson has compiled notes and thoughts from the first summit, and a discussion board has been set up to take a community crack at some challenging questions. This is the online arm of the discussion – the face to face will also help us more quickly work through and build trust and alliance, but the discussion boards is where vast amounts of research and experience can be compiled – and read by folks new to town. Do those resources exist elsewhere? Absolutely. But this is where they can be digested for a young storefront theatre to more quickly align themselves with existing support infrastructures, such as the DCA, the League of Chicago Theatres, Chicago Artists Resource, and other storefronts.

There’s still a lot of ‘getting to know you’ work to be done here – while the blogging community pretty much understands where each other are coming from, there’s a dozen or so disconnected companies that we could hear more from. These questions (‘what are your best resources?’, ‘what are your biggest challenges’) are designed to help pry open the procedures and identities of all these theatres so that conversation can be fruitful for all.

3) Friends and Fans. These are the folks, folks. We need to know who each other are for this conversation to be really productive. Oh look, someone built that for us. Theatres who participate will be ‘fanned’ by the storefront summit page, and individuals will be on there as well. People to meet, Theatre to see.

See you December 6th!

On Nov. 7, Bilal Dardai and I had some fun live-tweeting THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY at New Leaf. Bilal provided the commentary, and I backed him up with a live stream of media – video, audio, and static images.

This is our first crack at packaging the byproducts of theatre – the DVD extras, so to speak – to maximize our creative exposure to an online audience. I’m interested to know what you think of the results. Obviously we didn’t publicize this event very much… it was more a proof of concept. The question is: are there pieces here that hook you to see the show, or that hook you to delve further into what we do at New Leaf, and what are they?

You can check out the full broadcast (with some additional commentary!) on Bilal’s blog.

Here’s some highlights:

New Leaf, 8:03pm: Brian Rooney prepares for his role as the Marquis RT @bilaldWill be updating from dressing room.

Bilal, 8:04pm: Sean Fawcett (Sunday) threatened to spend the first 30 minutes of this show staring at me blankly.

New Leaf:

Bilal, 8:30pm: Tidbit: the secret knock Gregory uses to access the anarchists’ chamber is that 10-note royalty phrase you always hear to signify “England.” First time I heard it, I thought it was the opening beat to the Rose Royce disco classic “Car Wash.”

New Leaf: http://blip.fm/~g12p8

Bilal, 8:37pm: @jesshutchinson’s short-hand for this underground anarchists’ meeting is “JV (Junior Varsity) Council.”

Bilal, 8:41pm: The line “Order! Order, anarchists, order!” is one of the funniest lines in the play. And I wish I’d been the one who’d written it.

Bilal, 9:11pm: Just walked into side hallway and saw Ted Evans (Saturday) rocking from side to side, reciting his lines next to the ghost light. Creepy.

New Leaf: This album just rocks for Spy intrigue.

Bilal, 9:24pm: Meanwhile, Nick Mikula is setting up a lot of very large dominoes in front of the dressing room door.

New Leaf: We were going to ask what Nick Mikula was up to right about now.

Bilal, 10:00pm: I recently described @nhburger’s “Monday” voice as being that of the curator of the snootiest art gallery in hell.

New Leaf: Right about now, it is necessary for Monday and Tuesday to form an alliance. This is how they do it.

New Leaf, 10:14pm: Lyrics get progressively more tongue in cheek as show goes on: THURSDAY is @nickkeenan’s tribute to Baz Luhrman. ♫ http://blip.fm/~g17ws

Bilal, 10:15pm: Tidbit: One of the lines in the picnic monologues about Sunday is scavenged from a college poem I wrote about a girl who broke my heart.

Bilal, 10:32 pm: Two of the lines in this rewritten final scene are deliberate and snarky jabs at Chesterton’s actual ending. I’m a baaaaad boy. End of Play, Great Job, All!

New Leaf:

The Man Who Was Thursday is now running through November 21st, Thursday – Saturday at 8pm. I mention that because: We are very close to selling out the rest of the run. I’m looking forward to discussing why we think that happened. If you’re a regular reader of this blog and you haven’t seen it and you still want to, reserve your tickets now, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Speaking of theatrical byproducts that are worth another look, have you heard our Treehouse podcasts at New Leaf? We’re finding and commissioning new plays, and recording podcasts of them. You can download them. On iTunes. For Free. Or join us at New Leaf every month for another live reading. For Free. Let me know what you think.

This post brought to you by Ana Lucia Novak, who bought me some coffee. Actually, do you know where that coffee money really goes? Paypal. Which means I use it to buy speakers. Like the two beautiful JF60s I bought for New Leaf that are used in Thursday. So thanks: Your donations make my own sticker shock greatly diminished.

This past week, I had five shows open at the same time. So that was fun.

As they start to close down, I’m delightfully surprised how other thoughts are popping into my head other than “OH GOD WORK OH GOD EAT OH GOD WORK OH GOD sleee… NO! GOD!”

For instance, something that is probably broken inside me told me to jump in on the (continuing) discussion on Playgoer about micing actors – now in straight plays – and what it means for the future of theater. It’s something I think about a lot as I mix microphones and other sounds at work, but that doesn’t entirely explain why I’m arguing a) to limit my employment opportunities for the good of all and b) why storefront theatre is financially destined to supersede big box theatre. If I was to be honest with myself, we’re oh so very not ready to make that conclusion yet.

But here’s the argument for it anyway.

On the one side is CLJ’s “good” or transparent sound – sound that is properly delayed and sourced to the actor using the principle known as the Haas effect – (look it up). It is truly convincing, so much so that we as engineers often get asked why we’re not amplifying the actors – when we are. On the other hand is over-amplified sound that makes actors sound like they’re breathing like walruses hanging from the giant center cluster in the grid. That’s not helping anyone push the art forward. And there are gradients in between, and times when over-amplification is the aesthetic goal.

The biggest question for me is sustainability. Both transparent and non-transparent sound have a problem – it’s horrendously expensive to body mic people, and I’m worried that the format of the 1,000 seat theatre is getting less popular. I’ve seen shows easily spend around a half-million to a million dollars to get that sound right – and they need to hire one of the probably a couple dozen sound designers who can effectively design on that scale in a transparent way. I’m talking in the united states. How is that ever going to work?

I wonder if the solution here isn’t an embracing of theatricality. The audience often thinks they want loudness when they actually want clarity. I’m coming from an environment (Chicago) where our best selling theatre is in an increasing number of smaller and smaller houses. The intimacy helps clarity of both sound and performance, and not at a great expense. The quality of the experience improves.

It’s very true – the old methods of vocal projection were born out of necessity, required skill and craft, and we miss those things, and we shouldn’t forget them. Nor should we mistake them for better days. Large houses and big voices engendered a style of acting that clearly communicated to the audience – but became outmoded as technology changed. Look at the difference in acting styles between the silent movie era and the talkies – huge differences brought on by a slight shift in technology. We’re seeing that shift again as the technology has lept forward in the last ten years, but I think our response isn’t as creative – we’re somehow still pursuing the naturalistic realism of what – Miller? nah, that’d be fooling ourselves- when we could be using sound in the theater to further illuminate the human condition. And again, louder does not necessarily equal more illuminating.

The question isn’t how to hang on to old methodologies – it’s how to embrace new capabilities in pursuit of a human truth.

This morning, several Chicago theater bloggers received a robotic love note from the representatives of Cirque du Soleil, who are opening a show in town that I’m only going to wryly allude to. Because I’m insulted.

Chloe Steve (great use of two first names!) writes in my comments:

Its a great idea.I also take immense joy in sharing with you that Cirque du soleil is in Chicago now………It should be great……..

As actual journalist™ Kris Vire gumshoed a few minutes later after HE got a similar comment on his blog, Chloe appears to be a hired hand posting from India.

Now, I would LOVE to have an actual conversation with Chloe “If that is your real name” Steve about Cirque and the intersection of Chicago and south asian theater. That would be cool, and there’s actually an annual precedent for such a conversation.

And indeed my beef is not with the hired hands. It’s with the promoter, and it’s with folks who would look at their numbers and judge the success of their marketing efforts based on butts in seats and nothing else. What encourages me about the emerging style of DIY arts marketing emerging in Chicago, Vancouver, Austin, and now most notably Baltimore is that it is based on real connection and rich conversation instead of mechanical SEO mumbo-jumbo. It is becoming the art and science of nurturing long-term relationships with your audience instead of cynically treating tickets purchased like a widget that you manufacture.

This is a letter of encouragement I sent to one of my web clients yesterday as they launched their website and thus their marketing campaign for a product they’re selling:

Keyword choices should more or less be happening in your copy, which google pays much more attention to than in your meta keywords. Your copy is already rich in keywords like *blonk*, *sploit*, *aWOOOGA!*, etc. So that’s a good start!

The most effective method of increasing SEO for your site that we’ve found at Marshall Creative will be more challenging for you as a developer of state of the art products – the biggest weight that google gives to a site is when trusted sites link or refer to content on your site. This can be achieved by 1) identifying what the trusted online neighborhoods in your industry are and 2) engaging those neighborhoods in content-rich dialogue as a part of your day-to-day marketing behavior. The more you can engage other blogs as a commenter (or even in some cases twittering thought leaders in your industry), or media outlets as an expert, the more likely those sites will choose to feature content links to your site. As you accrue those connections: Bam. Your site results surge forward in all your major keywords. This isn’t a question of just getting people to link to you in your sidebar – you want the right people TALKING about you online.

And sometimes in other odd keywords, as well. It’s not an exact science – at times it can be like drinking from an intermittent firehose. Thanks to this post on my personal blog, I have somehow become very high in google’s results for hog butchering. Luckily, I also have pretty good results in things I ACTUALLY do as well.

See that? Marketing theater is about talking about MORE THAN THEATER, and saying more than just “Chicago theater is awesome. This show is awesome.” In what specific ways is it awesome? For crying out loud, this is DYING for some creativity here. It’s about connecting the dots from the show to the subject, or the creators, or the sheer weight of the craft that goes in to Cirque’s production of [name omitted]. Think about the genius of Redmoon’s Golden Truffle. It’s a show… and a truffle tasting. And they’re truly integrated experiences. Nothing feels awkward or forced about it, and bam: You have brought an entirely new market segment into your theater. Cirque is better than this.

The really sad thing is that before this, I had a really great story pitch that I could offer to Cirque. You see, Cirque (along with the Mouse) was one of the forces that developed LCS (Level Control Systems), the top-of-the-line sound control system that we use at the Goodman. If qLab is the efficient and affordable Prius of sound control, LCS is the crazy expensive but completely configurable James Bond-mobile, and it’s quite useful with complex sound systems used by, well, Cirque, the Mouse, the Goodman, and several Broadway in Chicago shows (duh nuh nuh nuh! snap snap). The story of LCS, (now renamed D-Mitri after being aquired by top-of-the-line audio manufacturer Meyer Sound) is almost as incredible as what it is capable of, but you won’t hear that story, or the story of mad genius sound designer Jonathan Deans or any of his brilliant apprentices, because instead we get “Chicago theater is great! Including Cirque.”

Dissapointing, isn’t it? If the marketing of a show with a budget this large is this disappointing, well then I’m sure the show will be too.

And to all those who got spammed by cirque: Boycott. Boycott. Boycott. Don’t review, Don’t Go. Until the marketing department changes their ways.

(photo by NitaKang)