I’d like to express my gratitude to the team behind StageSource’s “If I Knew Then…” series Monday evening for the insight into the world of ‘the actor’ living in Boston. De’Lon Grant kept the dialogue going constructively as he and other New England based actors Tim Smith, Marianna Bassham, and Will Lyman shared experiences and opinions on the business and the craft to a nearly packed room of union and non-union actors. If you didn’t make it to ask them a question or hear them speak, you can read brief bits of the conversation thanks to whoever live-tweeted on the @StageSourceBos twitter feed– I believe the organization is now offering bona fide Tweet Seats for avid Twitter users to do their thing in the last row of the audience! If you don’t know what a Tweet Seat is, I tempt you to scroll down to Julie’s blog post on January 5^th and share your opinion.

I left last night’s panel discussion with a full page of condensed notes, taken in a specific style, and at a rate that I haven’t churned out since my college acting classes. Although most of these “notes” look like scattered blocks of short semi-sentences thrown-up across a yellow sheet of paper, they are in fact savory snippets of conversation that I found particularly enlightening. It was refreshing to be in that environment, and although I felt bashful arriving midway into the discussion, I quickly settled down amid the relaxing atmosphere of artists simply having a conversation.

Let me tell you something about conversation. I’ve been a StageSource member since 2009, but I met Ms. Julie Hennrikus during my final year at Emerson College. She taught my Arts Management class, and although I learned a lot about the art of Arts Management, what I was most blown away by was the flood of inspiration and thought that came out of the conversations we had in that jam-packed room on the tenth floor.

These were the utterly awesome conversations that would come up once more, months later, after I graduated and I began a very influential internship experience with StageSource. Each morning I arrived to an office where there was much to be done, but also much conversation to be had. I’m not talking about regular chit-chat, but about that special, artistic, rich-with-insight kind of conversation that occurred once more in my life, a month after my internship came to a finish, at Monday’s “If I Knew Then…” panel.

It’s that same type of conversation that inspired the new StageSource Library and Community Room over the course of my time there, and the type that continues to plant seeds of thought into the head of Executive Director Ms. Henrikkus and her colleagues. I cannot articulate how much being a part of the conversations that began in that office energized and re-fueled my passion for theatre.

Let’s talk about Tweet Seats. Let’s talk about how StageSource can continue to grow as a resource. Let’s talk about the role artists can play during this Occupy movement. Let’s talk about using the community room for live podcasts.

Let’s talk about getting Howard Sherman in here for one of those podcasts. Let’s talk about a giant script give-away. Let’s talk about how we can reach out more to schools. Let’s talk about how we can better assist theatre communities outside Metro-Boston.

Rich with similar conversation, the “If I Knew Then…” event on Monday made me realize that a theatre artist not engaged in these crucial exchanges of ideas and insight, is similar to a flower that continues to live but rarely gets any sun. For us to function at our most passionate and really bloom, we need this, and thank goodness StageSource continues to give us those opportunities to be a part of the conversation. Mr. Lyman, Mr. Grant, Mr. Smith and Ms. Bassham even reaffirmed, it’s a shame actors don’t collaborate and communicate and discuss more casually, and more often, as we all did on Monday. If I hadn’t been a part of that conversation, I wouldn’t have gotten that reminder I needed to rate and value my experiences based on execution before results. I wouldn’t have been persuaded that it isn’t wrong to really pursue and trust in what I want to do with my life; what makes me feel best. And without Mr. Lyman specifically, I would have completely forgotten that the phrase “I’m booked” is a perfectly acceptable way to get out of an audition or call-back I’m sketched out by.

So StageSource members out there, and all artists in the community:

Let’s have a conversation about how fear of failure really is the biggest sin.
Let’s have a conversation about long-term measurable goals.
Let’s have a conversation about how we come across monologues and songs.
Let’s have a conversation about what the next step is for theatre.
Let’s have a conversation about what the next step is for us.
Let’s have a conversation about what you learned on the other side of that audition table.

Let’s have a conversation about how we help and learn as a members, interns, volunteers, and friends of StageSource, and what sharing your time, resources, and insights can do for yourself and the theatre community.

Last night I attended the latest of Stagesource’s “If I Knew Then…” series, the previous entry featuring playwrights and this one featuring actors. Since I didn’t have anything to do last night, and it was right in Harvard Square at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education I thought “why the hell not” and gave Stagesource the $5 for admission.

What do I now know after having attended the event? A lot of things which I had some idea of already, but refreshed and reinforced in new ways I hadn’t necessarily considered in the context of these actor’s careers. One theme which actor Tim Smith repeatedly reinforced “be aggressive”. For example, during the audience Q&A someone asked “who are good acting teachers” and Tim said (paraphrasing) “your fellow actors and directors who you work with whom you respect and can learn from. Most of the time, if you offer a fellow actor your money, they will help you. Ask them, be aggressive.” He accompanied this with an anecdote of his younger self calling around to random agents, managers, coaches, etc and being like “hey can you help me out” and one of them said to him “ask some people you know and respect”. The person was in fact, Nicholas Cage’s former acting coach, so he went and did that and now he’s a successful equity actor. So there you go!

On the subject of auditioning, Marianna Basham said “try and enjoy it, pick material that you really enjoy performing, not necessarily just because someone says it’s right for you but because you enjoy performing it.” Also on the subject, Marianna said “be a human being. Say thank you to the reader.” And the group agreed “know your limits and control the things that you can control.”

One profound thing Will Lyman talked about sort of in that vein is instead of getting caught up in your head of what your whole performance has to be, go on stage and ask yourself “what am I doing?” If your looking for your keys, find your keys. Then what? Essentially, be in the moment. Isolate the first thing you or your character needs to do when you get on stage, and do that thing.

That last point I learned from Scott Zigler’s Practical Aesthetics class and from reading David Mamet, but they are deep and essential truisms of our craft, worthy of being reminded of, over and over! Another great suggestion from Will, which I hadn’t heard before, “prior to walking into an audition take a sip of water or suck on a lemon drop. Feel the water or the juice from the lemon drop going down your throat. Focus on that.” Whoa, pretty Zen type shit, Will Lyman. And so true! And not something I’d heard before! But also so obvious. Just be in the moment. As Will put it at the end, “your job is not to act, it’s to be.” And I mean, there it is, that’s the fundamental thing. But it’s so difficult to do that, and cut past all our prepared, canned, smelly bullshit.

Another subject that was discussed at length was the subject of having a “survival job”, basically the job you have that you can manage alongside your acting pursuits that helps you buy food and pay rent. Will Lyman highly recommends a career in voiceover, but then again he’s also Will Lyman voice of Frontline and those beer commercials with “the most interesting man in the world”. Consensus was that it’s important to find something you enjoy and which you find worthwhile. Will talked at length about how during a period of doing what I imagine to be mediocre plays, television work, commercials, etc, Frontline gave him the feeling of working on something worthwhile which contributed to society, and sort of “fed his soul” when acting wasn’t doing that.

Maybe the biggest and most universal point of the evening, find meaning in what your doing and lead a rich life, which may not come from acting alone but all the things you do, you have to be happy doing it. “You go from show to show and you build this career, and in the end, what’s the point?” To be happy. So find the thing that makes you happy, and go after it. Follow your gut, “what is the thing I want to be doing?” A lesson I’ve heard repeated before, but an important one to be reminded of. Let’s hope we all never forget it.

P.S. If anyone associated with the event finds this, realize all the quotes are paraphrased from my memory. Also, if you are associated with the event and reading this, thanks for a great and informative evening!

Mike Handelman is a Boston based actor and blogger. You’ve probably seen him at theater and film auditions around the greater Boston area, or on stages as diverse as the BCA, Riverside Theatre Works and Apollinaire Theatre Company where he performed in their Uncle Vanya. For more information, check out his blog; ithinkthereforeiambic.blogspot.com

Last fall Howard Sherman came to my arts management class to talk about organizational social media practices. Howard is the former Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing, is a blogger and very active on Twitter. (Another one of his Twitter relationships resulted in this conversation with critic Peter Marks “Theater Beyond Twitter”.) His Downstage Center podcasts were homework assignments for my class, and Howard and I “met” on Twitter.

In class Howard used an analogy that I want to share. He said (I am paraphrasing) that social media today is like television in 1949. Television was a fairly new medium, though not brand new. There were many naysayers who discounted the impact of the medium. Content was mostly recycled from other mediums. And while we now consider 1949 television quaint, those early adapters were pioneers. And the impact of television on our culture cannot be denied.

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Foursquare, Tumblr, etc.) is evolving, and best practices are still being figured out by everyone. But social media is not a marketing tool. It is a conversational tool. That is an important distinction, and the reason social media isn’t going away. Social media is a way for audiences and artists to have “conversations” with theater companies, and with each other. Using social media as a marketing billboard does not work–people turn it off. I argue that rather than social media (technology) disconnecting us, it has the power to connect us on a powerful level.

Our community has to be pioneers in these conversations. We are storytellers. Engaging with audiences is what we do. Let us figure out how best to use these platforms, rather than dismissing them all because of disdain for blue screens during performances. A disdain, by the way, that I share. But at the same time, I am a huge Twitter fan, and am grateful for the great conversations I am privy to every day.

There are many more conversations to be had about best practices for social media, and StageSource will be facilitating some of them in this new year. In the meantime, follow me and follow StageSource on Twitter. And if you want to find some great conversations about theater, search the hashtags #2amT (also a website with theater ideas that wake you up at 2am) and #newplay (especially since the Theater Commons, David Dower and Polly Carl are coming to town).

And let’s keep the baby in the tub.

Happy New Year.

Many local companies drop off perusal copies of scripts for their upcoming season so that actors are better prepared for auditions and callbacks so be sure to keep an eye on the ENews for when scripts for auditions are available to read.  The Community Room also has a computer workstation if you are in the area and need to check your email or kill some time.  Our intrepid Freedom Trail members are also welcome to come by, grab a cup of coffee and warm up in between tours.

We may be able to make the space available for small meetings as well, and in the coming months we will keep you updated on how scheduling for these would work.   Our hope is to continue to update the furniture, computers and other resources in this space to make it as comfortable and useful to our members as possible.  If you have any office equipment you would like to donate to StageSource, please email us at info@stagesource.org or you can donate funds here to help us grow the library.

Please come and visit any time!

StageSource’s new peer-to-peer discussion series, If I Knew Then…, got off to a strong start on Monday night at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, with a focus on playwrights. Young playwright MJ Halberstadt, currently in the BU MFA Playwriting program, moderated a discussion between Kirsten Greenidge, Ginger Lazarus, and Rick Park, about the ins and outs of making a playwriting career. Each writer had plenty of stories and experience to share with the two dozen writers in the audience.
Rick talked about how the relationships he’s formed as an actor have helped get his work produced in Boston. He’ll send a new script to friends at various theatres, and say, “Let me know what you think,” to look both for feedback, but also the possibility of future production. He’s found local short play festivals, like the Boston Theater Marathon and Mill 6’s T Plays, invaluable in developing his work as a playwright. (He’s also currently getting a lot out of being a student in BU’s Playwriting Program.) He sends out his short plays widely, and has found himself greatly admired in Racine, Wisconsin. (As well as Boston, of course.)
Ginger addressed the extreme challenge of trying to make a living as a playwright. For her, teaching helps pay the bills, and also gives her a constant excuse to think about craft. Her work with students has led to productions of her work—one of her former students recently produced a short film based on one of her plays.
When writers approach theatres with scripts, Ginger talked about how important it is for the relationship between the playwright and producer to seem balanced. Both parties need to feel they’re getting something out of the relationship and production. You don’t want to be in a situation where it seems like the producer feels like he is doing the playwright a favor by producing her play.
In addition to a bunch of fun stories about grad school in Iowa, Kirsten explained the importance of a writer having patience when it comes to developing a new script. It doesn’t always pay to leap into production if the script isn’t ready, or the company doesn’t have access to the right actors to do the script justice. The world premiere of a script is important, for various reasons. And it’s often hard to find a theatre willing to spend additional money to give a play the necessary workshop time it needs before production. Kirsten echoed Ginger’s comments on how hard it is to make a living as a writer, though Kirsten has had her work produced by major regional theaters and Off Broadway. She’s able to make money through commissions, but the income stream is highly unstable.
She also talked about her experiences as a TCG fellow with the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC, where she was able to see the challenges faced by script readers. Her time there gave her important insight on the importance of the readability of a script, the need to grab a reader’s attention within the first few pages (even though she feels her own writing often doesn’t lend itself to dramatic beginnings), and ensuring that submitted work is well-suited for the particular theatre. There’s no point in sending your play that’s best suited for production in a small black box theatre to a company that performs in a 900-seat proscenium.
Following a round of lively questions, the group broke into a buzz of conversation and networking. There was plenty of catching up with friends and making new acquaintances. It was definitely an evening with great energy and information for everyone who attended. I can’t wait for the next one.

Pat Gabridge is a playwright living in Boston, MA and StageSource Board Member.  To find out more about Pat visit his website www.gabridge.com

Tonight StageSource launches a new program we’re calling the “If I Knew Then…” series. These are discipline specific events where a early career artist interviews a some established artists about their career arcs, making a living, advice they wish they’d take, and tips they wish they’d learned about earlier. Tonight’s panel, on playwriting, features MJ Halberstadt (Winner of the StageSource Jack Welch Scholarship), Kirsten Greenidge (Luck of the Irish), Rick Park (The Superherione Monologues) and Ginger Lazarus (Matter Familias).

This series has three goals.

1. To talk about career strategies. Though this concept seems simple, we all know that a career in theater (or partially in theater) is not a linear path to success. In fact, the swerves and curves of a career are part of the journey. But while we know this, actually hearing how others have navigated some of those curves is helpful.

2. To get some mentoring conversations started. StageSource has created a working group on mentoring. The “If I Knew Then…” series will (hopefully) help launch some ideas about how to create a more formal mentoring structure for individual artists and companies alike.

3. To build your community. There is nothing like being in a room with a bunch of people who “get it” on a basic level so that you don’t have to explain, or make excuses for, your career choices. I write murder mysteries and I belong to a group called Sisters in Crime. When I am with my group, I don’t have to explain “why mystery” or defend genre writing. I can learn from and with writers at various stages of their careers. And we can continue the conversations and support on email, in smaller groups and on social media.

The “If I Knew Then…” series is an opportunity to build your community. Come and be in a room with people who do what you do. Learn from them, or offer some advice. Network. Be part of the conversation.

Tonight is a conversation with playwrights. On January 23 De’Lon Grant will be interviewing Will Lyman, Marianna Basham and Tim Smith.  Other conversations will be announced after the new year.

We are very excited about this new series, and look forward to seeing you at one of these events.

Last summer I met a theater artist from LA at one of those events where a lot of people introduce themselves at once. When I said that I was the new executive director of StageSource in Boston he put his hand on his heart and said “I loved StageSource”. He then explained how often he used it, both as an actor and a director, while he lived in Boston fifteen years ago and said “I am so glad you are still there.”

At twenty-six years old, we are still here and making a difference in the lives of theater artists in Boston. In 2011 Stage Source convened the Boston Theater Conference and in 2012 we will welcome the TCG Conference. Our community is being recognized for the marvel that it is, and StageSource exists to support it.

We are expanding our programs to offer more support, knowing that our work makes a difference. But our membership covers 57% of our budget. We must raise the rest. If we have made a difference for you, please consider making a donation and helping StageSource achieve its mission.

Your contribution of $50, or whatever amount you can give, will enable us to continue our work. All donations are tax-deductible, and donating has never been easier – Donate Online or if you prefer to donate over the phone, call (617) 720-6066 or send a check to StageSource, 88 Tremont Street, Suite 714, Boston, MA 02108.

Please help us continue to be a resource to our vibrant theater community. On behalf of Dawn, Jeremy, and Barlow as well as the board here at StageSource, thank you. Have a safe and healthy holiday season.

Best regards,

Julie A. Hennrikus

Click here to donate to StageSource

In Angela’s two hour session we talked about the importance of setting goals, naming our fears (what worries you the most when you wake up in the middle of the night), keeping income records,  tracking expenses, reducing debt, keeping an emergency fund,  and coming up with strategies that are realistic and manageable.

Most of this was information I’d had already, but this time a couple of points stayed with me.  Angela put dollar values on things, for example, my morning cup of coffee may cost me up to $2500 a year.  She asked us to think about our five year goals and what we’d need to do in the next year to put us closer to that goal.  Then she suggested that every time we spend money think, “does this put me closer to my five year goal?”   That one bit of advice put things in perspective for me in a manner other classes had not.   Before we left class Angela asked everyone to identify one strategy one change that we would make and follow through with it for the week.  If it works, then she encouraged us to continue on that path.  As you may have guessed, my strategy is to give up my morning cup of joe.  Let me clarify.  I’m not giving up coffee, but I’m not purchasing it at a storefront on my way into work.  I’m making it at home, and bringing it to work in my unloved travel mug.

I enjoyed the class because it wasn’t a one size fits all prescription.  Everyone in the room had a different relationship with money.   I identified my relationship with money as cautious.  Others identified their relationships as anything from abusive to good, to “what’s money”.  Everyone’s take home strategy was different.  Some vowed to track receipts better, some will invest in financial tracking software, some plan to purchase books on the subject so that they can be more informed on money management strategies and can gather ideas on how to live with less or how to start placing a value on their art so that they don’t have to.  The point is to do what will work for you but start.  Start somewhere.

There are two more chances to get involved with our Financial Planning Basics: Understanding the Art of Money Seminars. The second is November 15^th at 6:30 PM when we’ll speak to CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Caroline Gaffney on The Nuts and Bolts of Financial Planning.  Caroline will talk about:

• How to conduct a personal inventory

• The methods for creating a sound financial planning strategy
• Tools and investment products available to you
• Retirement planning

The third opportunity is the Tax Saving Strategies seminar on December 6^th at 6:30 PM when Michael Tucci, CPA, MST will talk to us about:

• Form 1040 preparation
• Deductions
• Schedule C
• Audits
• Expenses
• How to treat yourself as a business
• Steps you can take to pay less in taxes
• W2 vs 1099 and the tax benfit you may be wasting

In the meantime I encourage you to read the following:

•  The One Page Business Plan
• The Right Brain Business Plan
• Young Fabulous and Broke (a favorite at the StageSource office)

Dawn M. Simmons

In three weeks, Robbie Samuels will lead “Perfecting Your Pitch,” the next Career Lab from GAN-e-meed Theatre Project and StageSource.  Robbie has extensive community organizing, event logistics and fundraising experience. He’s so good at networking and pitching that the Boston City Council named September 16, 2011 “Robbie Samuels Day”!  Seriously.  This is who I want teaching me to promote myself and my project.

In two dynamic, fun hours, Robbie promises to sharpen skills in:

• Defining a pitch, and when one is needed
• Practical tips on ways to engage someone in a conversation
• Preparing a clear and concise description of your project
• Modifying the pitch to fit the contact
• Role-playing your pitch

Yep, I will actually write and deliver a pitch by the end of the night (deep breath).  And who knows, maybe someone there wants to produce it, or collaborate with me.  Maybe you do?  Come find out.

“Perfecting Your Pitch” is November 8, 6:30-8:30pm with networking starting at 6pm, at the Calderwood Pavilion at BostonCenterfor the Arts.  Register at www.stagesource.org. Produced by GAN-e-meed Theatre Project and StageSource, hosted by the BCA.  This is the fourth of the Women in Theatre Career Labs, and the next one isn’t until April.  All genders welcome.  Light refreshments will be served.

Robbie is currently the Special Events Manager at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), an adjunct professor at LesleyCollegeteaching “Activism and Change in Communities,” and co-organizer of Socializing for Justice (www.SoJust.org), a grassroots cross-issue progressive community, network and movement inBoston that he co-founded in 2006. He is a Boston World Partnership Connector, New Leaders Council Institute 2010 Fellow and has been recognized by ServiceNation, LGBT History Project and The Theater Offensive for his activism. In 2011, his birthday, September 16, was declared “Robbie Samuels Day” by the Boston City Council. Robbie identifies as a white, queer, feminist, trans man and lives in Jamaica Plain with his partner, Alison Brill. He likes burritos.

Jen Alison Lewis

Perfecting Your Pitch with Robbie Samuels is scheduled for Tuesday November 8th at 6:30 PM at the Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion in Hall A on the second floor.  To purchase your ticket go to Perfecting Your Pitch .  Tickets are $15 in advance and $25 cash only at the door.

The meeting was focused around a general update on the union for its members in the Boston area, but was open to those, like myself, who were interested in learning more about why the union is important and how they can become members. Before that day, it had never occurred to me that I could become an associate member of the union whenever I felt it was right for me (a membership application was included in everyone’s folder of brochures and handouts). I had always assumed it was more like Equity, a union I had to prove I was ready for by gaining experience and “points.” Rather, an associated membership with SDC is open to anyone able to spend $300 initiation fee and pay their $60 annual dues. So this poses the question, should anyone with an interest in directing or choreography join the union?

For those of you who don’t know me, I should say that I am a senior at Emerson, studying directing and arts management. Do I have enough experience to necessarily warrant joining a union right out of college? Not really. Have I wanted to be a director since I was 6? Probably. It really just becomes a matter of finding work, and deciding for yourself whether the union will be a help or a hindrance in this endeavor.

Courtney O’Connor, my first directing teacher at Emerson, posed exactly this question. How can a young director find work when they have to start requiring union compensation? The opinion of the union is that, even as an associate member, joining is a great “foot in the door” for any aspiring theatre professional. I know we have all heard that expression before, but it still holds true for a lot of us.  It is also worth noting that, as long as you are just an associate member, you are not required to file a contract for a directing or choreographer position.

The biggest draw for anyone seven months out from graduating college would have to be the programs run by the SDC Foundation.  The Foundation runs Observerships that pays emerging directors and choreographers to observe mentors working in theatres all over the country. I cannot deny that this sounded like a great opportunity. I dressed as Susan Stroman for Halloween a few years ago, how could I turn down a chance to work with her?

So what is the downside? Dues can be a part of it, especially when you’re not so much earning money, but living, as a lot of my recently graduated friends put it. Yet, more than that, it is the responsibility and commitment that comes from being in a union. Career services at Emerson will usually run a union panel for theatre students at some point in the year, but more of the participants will advocate against joining a union in the early stages of a career. It becomes that asterisk in a program that may inevitably redirect the course of your career. There may be nothing wrong with jumping up a few pegs in the work you can get, but there will always be those shows you are no longer suited for, and it seems that could be the case when you are asked to move from associate to fill membership with the SDC.

It also worthwhile to point out that Boston is not exactly a city full of opportunities for union directors. Many mid-size companies struggle to hire union directors, and there are not as many opportunities at larger theatres for emerging artists. The question that really needs to be asked is whether we need to have the union jobs before people can/want to start applying for them, or are the companies just waiting for the artists to start joining the union before they begin creating the opportunities?

I don’t know if, at least right now, I have the emotional maturity for such a “grown up” step in my life, but joining a union has always been at the back of my mind, and I am sure it will be for as long as I am pursuing this field. I suppose it is just a decision that we may all face at some point, but it is really going to be based on our own life paths and personal discretion.

Anna Trachtman is an intern at StageSource and a senior at Emerson College.