Thinning out the heard ... and running even further from risk.

From The Economist:

A reliable choice for a family on the town has long been a splashy musical with some hearty laughs. But the recession is bringing about changes, some of which may be for the better. These days, the expensive tickets are for maudlin Danish princes, not singing mermaid princesses.

 

The Economist article then goes on to highlight the benefits of a leaner Broadway:  Less splashy shows, more theatre written and produced for adult audiences, simpler plays requiring less of those expensive stage hands, 007 & Wolverine acting …

 

I hadn't thought of it this way, but certainly as far as Broadway is concerned, maybe the recession isn't such a bad thing.  Broadway theatres may be competing for a smaller, and perhaps more sophisticated audience.  That means fewer shows geared toward tourists since there are fewer tourists, and fewer big budget spectacles masquerading as art.  RIP you Legally Blonds and Shrek: The Musicals.

I certainly won't miss the bubblegum, and I appreciate The Economist's effort to put on a happy face about Broadway's struggles, but I am not as sure about their take on the recessionary "bright side" for Broadway, and the theater.  When times are tough I see a tendency to run to safety, not necessarily higher art.  Bye, Bye Birdie isn't back on Broadway because it was a groundbreaking work of art.  Oh look, Jude Law is playing Hamlet!  How novel to cast a big star in a play everyone has seen too many times!  But who can blame Broadway producers?  Times like these call for less risky ventures.  I'm just not sure it's such a great thing for the artistry.

There is probably some truth to The Economist article's take, but I see a Broadway scared to take many real chances.  So what if the Spiderman musical is a bad idea (and it is), it's risky – I like that.  Hope it finds investors to reinvigorate the Broadway bubble-gum machine.  If they won't take a chance on Spiderman, how will they react to an actual production of artistic merit?

Subscriptions are Down After Skylight Opera Drama

Skylight Opera has been the subject of many news articles posted on artsjournal.com over the past few months.  It started in June when Eric Dillner, Managing Director cut the Artistic Director, Bill Theisen's position and other staff positions due to financial difficulties.  Playbill News reported a "public outcry after the June 14^th firing" which included performers resigning, protests and online grievances.   In July the Board asked Theisen back as Artistic Director and this most recent article says he has accepted a contract through 2011. Dillner has since resigned and interim managers continue to deal with a $475,000 deficit.  This challenge will be even harder to overcome due to slowing subscription sales, which has been attributed to the events of the summer.

 

 

http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/64211152.html

 

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/131061-Skylight_Theatre_Invites_Axed_Artistic_Director_Back_Into_Fold_But_He_Says_No

--Leah

Much Ado About Downloadable Theatre

There has been much written in the London papers about what is being deemed "well done" digital theatre.  We've all seen bad recordings of stage plays, operas, concerts, etc.  Apparently, the recently-launched London-based www.digitaltheatre.com is making strides to improve the filming of live stage productions (think MET Opera on the big screen).  I'm still downloading the Digital Theatre Player as I write this, but I did check out a preview for a recording of English Touring Theatre's Far From The Madding Crowd.  The trailer is quite good – many theaters could learn a thing or two from this site about creating a well-shot web-trailer of their shows (hopefully, the unions are loosening up to this).

I don't know what good such a service will be in the long run, whether it will be best for archiving purposes, or actually capturing and sharing a theatrical experience to a newcomer (probably a long shot), but the website is worth a look.  The story in The Times asks and provides many answers to the question: "Why would you download plays?"   Whatever your reason, I just hope that theater companies will continue to improve efforts to create quality recordings of the works on stage, not as a replacement for the experience of going to the theatre, but as a means of giving visitors a more accurate glimpse of the experience they can expect when they go.

--Joe

Old Music, New Ad idea

If you are a classical music lover, you are no stranger to Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture. You might have listened to different recordings, or live performances from various orchestras. But have you ever heard the 1812 overture by a cellphone orchestra?? Recently, Vodafone NZ hired a production team to orchestrate cellphones into "playing" Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture. Curious how did it sound? Visit Vodafone website and watch the Ad video. I also recommend watching the "production" video for how the production team put it together. I think it's pretty impressive that a corporate business will go this far to create a "minute" of viral video, and what a smart idea of turning something from a classical repertoire into a music engineered product.

Gloria

The theatre world divided yet again...

A major debate has been going on in theatres throughout the country since the dawn of microphones.  To mic or not to mic?  Musicals are now all mic'ed, but plays are still fighting the trend.  Many theatre professionals argue that microphones allow new opportunities within plays, such as adding voice effects to simulate a setting or mood.  However, many others adamantly refuse to allow microphones in their productions. 

The question is whether or not something is lost by the use of microphones in plays.  I believe that something is different about hearing an actors voice through a speaker versus their mouth, but this point is probably not the most important.  Patrons, who are often older individuals, constantly complain about being able to hear actors during plays.  If theatre is about communication and storytelling, but people cannot hear the story, wouldn't it be a no-brainer to resolve the problem?  Some people blame modern technology with its surround speakers and hi-definition sound for creating this situation.  Others blame poorly trained actors who lack proper voice training. 

It makes me wonder, did audiences of yesterday just not hear what was going on?  Was this simply a part of the theatre, or were they trained to listen?  Regardless of these answers, the modern audience wants better sound than yesterday's audiences, and if we are indeed interested in audiences understanding the messages in our plays, wouldn't it be a great idea to let them hear what is being said?  

-Brian

NEA Chairman Pushes Economic Contribution of Arts

In his recent kick-off speech for his 6-month "Art-Works" tour around the United States, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman heavily emphasized the economic contribution of the arts industry to the areas in which they exist.  Says Landesman, "The 5.7 million people who have full-time arts-related jobs in this country are part of the real economy…Any discussion of policy for coming out of this recession, any plan that addresses economic growth and urban and neighborhood revitalization has to included the arts. We know, and we can prove, that when you bring art and artists into the center of town, that town changes."

Are there ways in which arts organizations can better use this information and their collective economic impact when lobbying for federal, state, or local funding?  Are they better off working independently, or together?

http://www.americanorchestras.org/industry_buzz/nea_landesman_s_fiery_speech.html

--Katie

Storytelling, one tweet at a time

Alright, I'm a sucker for something like this.  I just think it's really cool.  I haven't been keeping up on my Audiobook marketing news, and just read about BBC Audiobooks America's recent publicity stunt to crowdsource an audio book at Salon.com.    Neil Gaiman, who I remember from The Sandman graphic novels I read in High School, Tweeted the first sentence of the book.  From that first sentence, participants tweeted the subsequent passages, advancing and eventually completing the story.  I found a synopsis of the completed, and undtitled book here, but haven't seen the raw material (probably a good thing ... the raw material may kill my enthusiasm for the idea itself). Apparently, BBC Audiobooks have moved the tweets into the editing process and will eventually release them in audiobook form.

I'm less concerned with reading the book, and have my doubts about the literary merit of a book assembled on twitter.  I do, however, love the idea.  It certainly generated publicity for the audiobook company.  Our art forms often require our audiences to be too passive (yawn).  We invite them to sit and watch and listen and occasionally clap … maybe laugh here or there.  If an audience member is lucky, he may suffer a coughing spell between movements and receive a cold glare from a conductor.

 And although we can't all be improvisational comedy troupes (thank goodness), inviting our audience to chime in with an idea every now and then, maybe we can invite them to participate outside the theater or hall.  Rather than just inviting fans to "following us" on twitter, we can come up with something creative which actually invites them to engage in the creative process, like writing a book together, one tweet at a time.

That's it.  I'm finally joining the Twitter.  Then I'm going to see if Tony Kushner wants to write a play with a couple hundred people.

--Joe

Pit of Unrest

Members of the Chicago Lyric Opera's pit orchestra have been without a contract since April.  After the Lyric's management "walked out of negotiations July 7", orchestra members have resorted to grass-roots methods, such as handing out brochures, to gain support for their cause.  The players, members of the Chicago Federation of Musicians, argue that the pay cuts, unfair stipulations, and shortened contract term proposed by Lyric management will ultimately lead to a serious deterioration in the quality of the orchestra.  They also point out that between 2001 and 2007, the Lyric's top administrators received an increase in pay and benefits of almost 35%, while orchestra members received a 24% raise.

While each union negotiation is different, and certainly there are specific problems to be addressed within the CLO, today's current issue forum made me think about the responsibility administrative staff to inform orchestra members about the state of their organization.  Perhaps negotiations would be easier if everyone really knew what was going on.  For example, when musicians in the Salt Lake Symphony became concerned about their finances, they approached management to take a voluntary 5% pay cut.  While this is not typical and likely would not happen within most organizations, perhaps a little more transparency would be beneficial to everyone.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/pit-of-unrest/Content?oid=1214551

--Katie

Can we be as clever as NPR?

I have a love-hate relationship with Public Radio pledge drives, okay hate-love.  I hate the fact that they seem to go on forever.  I hate the fact that I can't bring myself to change the station.  But I love their persistence.  I can certainly endure listening to twenty-five continuous minutes of pitches and appeals if my favorite voices on the radio can endure hour after hour of making those pitches.  Slate.com recently published an amusing piece about what they call "The cunning genius of the public radio fundraising drive," and I'm sad to say that it works.  NPR knows its audience and just how to manipulate inspire that audience to give or give more.  I had already decided I would donate this year, but they managed to get more than I had intended.  Maybe it was Ira Glass' sarcastic prerecorded appeal, maybe it was the fame that comes with having my name announced on the radio, or perhaps that "triple your dollars" matching grant that was about to "end."  Okay, it was the digitally re-mastered Beatles White album.  But they succeeded in getting a larger pledge out of me than I had originally intended.

NPR has a huge audience.  They don't sell tickets.  They're on the radio for goodness sake.  Most arts organizations have none of these things, but can we figure out what our individual donors will respond to most and work to be as cunning as NPR?  Can we tailor our appeals and communicate them in one-on-one correspondence?  It's just me and my favorite radio host in the car – an isolated one-on-one interaction.  The same could be said about really tailoring e-blast appeals for individuals who may respond best to the free gift, or the matching grant, or the education program.  I don't think most organizations have the human resources to do this on the fly, but it is something to build on.

--Joe

Season Brochure

After a brief and unfinished discussion about the purpose of season brochure in our previous class, I happened to stumble upon a blog - The future of season brochure. The author perfectly describes the situation of our current season brochure process; it took so much time and resources to put together a season brochure and the end product is almost treated as the "holy grail" of the year. The writer points out that this season brochure process has remained unchanged while the world is changing rapidly around us. He suggests that with the help of new technology and lower production cost, we should customize brochure to a smaller segment of our targeted audience, such as single ticket buyer, multi-single ticket buyer, season subscriber or audiences with specific interest.

I think this is a good strategy and direction for the future of season brochure. Marketing should be more efficient by directing the appropriate marketing material to the targeted audiences. However, this segmented strategy might only work for very established arts organizations that have a detailed database/analysis of their audience demographic. Mailing out various versions of brochures to smaller segmented group might mean additional work and time for the organizations which might have been tight with resources. Regardless the challenges and difficulties of changing the traditional season brochure strategy, sending out specific mailing materials to a targeted audience segment might still worth the trial. We need to keep up with the constant changing world around us nonetheless. I am also curious about the outcome of the experimental direct mail campaign from the Arena Stage, it might shed light to the "future of season brochure" after all.

Gloria

Donor bequest creates controversy

The Santa Fe Opera received an upfront payment as well as the mineral rights to future profits for the drilling of oil and gas in a bequest to support the apprentice program for young singers.  Drilling is a controversial issue in New Mexico and watchdog groups are surprised to see an opera company involved.  Charles MacKay, general director of the opera, hopes to both fulfill the donor's wishes and address people's environmental concerns.  

The question lies in the opera's commitment to honor the donor's intentions and maintain financial viability, but also to act in a socially and environmentally responsible way.  Similarly to the way corporate entities must remain sensitive to how their actions affect their communities, not-for-profit organizations must also be aware of these growing concerns.  As funding sources become more diverse, in terms of where the money comes from and over what timeline it is distributed, arts organizations may have to take a closer look from the start at the terms of accepting donations that could have negative impacts down the road. 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2010035120_apusoperadrillingdilemma.html?syndication=rss

--Leah

LG, Lincoln Center Help Foster 'Next Dudamel'

LG Arts Center, one of the biggest performing arts centers in South Korea, launched a music education program in a partnership with Licoln Center Chamber Music Society. 'LG-Lincoln Center Center Chamber Music School will pursue to be a korean version of El Sistema which is a famous Venezuelan music education program for fostering talents such as Gustavo Dudamel, a conductor and music director of LA Philharmonic.   http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2009/10/143_49952.html   I noticed that in Korea, there have been recently a lot of  joint music education programs like this. My first thought was that those programs are great and will create a better environment for students who have passion in music and desire for better, deeper learning, but then, I realized the programs always put this word "gifted" in the criteria of potential students. (athough this LG-Lincoln Center music school is  a little different and select "gifted and underprivilidged" students) Students should be already proved to have special talents in music to join those programs, and there is almost no chance for students who have not yet been proved to be gifted but have strong interests and passion in music. Although I agree that it is important to have and offer a good education system to musically talented students, quality music education should not be limited to the certain groups.       Se Hyun Kim

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180° 달라진 야후! 메일
두둥! 새로운 야후! 메일에서는 메시지를 여기저기 끌어다 놓을 수 있답니다.

Broadway takes a cue from its non-profit peers.

Non-profit arts organizations across the country have been using "pre-show lectures" and "talkback series" as ways to engage and attract audiences for years.  Recently, commercial producers in New York have begun utilizing the same tactics to try and increase box office revenues.  Producers are not convinced people will buy a ticket for a talkback, but believe that the talkbacks add value to their product and believe people will leave the theatre more satisfied. 

 

I find it very interesting for a commercial entity to be borrowing from the non-profit world.  We often hear about non-profits adopting commercial practices to reach greater efficiencies, but we rarely see the ideas flowing from the non-profit to the commercial.  I think this basic marketing principle of "creating value" should be considered more often in the commercial theatre industry.  In New York, where the commercial and non-profit live side by side, the commercial producers should realize that the local audience does not distinguish between the two types.  Although tourists do make up a large percentage of many big shows, it is the core New Yorkers that decide if and when many shows will close.  Let's hope that Broadway keeps this up, and continues considering its "value" in the future. 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/theater/10talkback.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

 

 

-Brian

 

 

What about the future generation?

There have been lots of ongoing discussions in the arts sector about using social media networking websites such as facebook and twitter. It is indeed a better way of keeping in touch with the supporters and fans of the organizations without having to ask for personal mailing addresses. It is also pretty common and standard for most major orchestras to have podcast, music samples and video clips available on their websites for this internet oriented generation. As discussed in various occasions, this new technology and media does not necessary recruit new concert goers, or arts supporters in general. Personally I agree to some extend and I think this is simply a way of communication in the 21st century, a way to keep people posted about what's happening in the most effective way. Young children, even as young as middle school children, are no strangers to texting, internet, facebook, you-tube, etc. In fact, most of them are technology oriented growing up. My 8 year old nephew showed me his favorite website and demonstrated to me how to play the online game. In addition to keeping up with the internet trend of using facebook and twitter, I think the arts sector should take a step ahead, create more media and tools for children to learn about the arts on the internet.

The SFS kids created by the San Francisco Symphony is a pretty successful example. It is an interactive website where children can learn about and listen to different orchestral instruments. They can also learn about the fundamentals of music components and compose their own musical phrases. The website also provides information about kids oriented events for children and parents who are curious to explore further. Unfortunately, I found that most major orchestras do not have such fun learning tools on their website and I think this is definitely an opportunity of investment, also an opportunity to sparkle more curiosity than simply following fans update and tweets. 

~ Gloria ~

Columbus Symphony believes new technology to be future of Orchestras

The new executive director of the Columbus Symphony, Roland Valliere, announced that the Columbus Symphony will offer high quality video recordings of their performances this season.  Roland’s last position was as executive director of the Kansas City Symphony, but he left there in 2002 to develop a handheld digital device for concert goers.  He admits that the need for such a product has lessened due to the emergence of Apple Iphones and Blackberrys, so he is pairing with a company to create applications for the Apple Iphone and Itouch.  He believes that the symphony needs to extend beyond the concert hall to reach a broader audience. 

 

Without question technology is changing our entire culture, and I respect Mr. Valliere for his continued efforts to marry 21^st century technology with classical music, but I am not sure that this technology will actually reach more people.  A person does not wake up one day and decide they want to see a symphony or a play, they are taken to it.  With the rise of Twitter and Facebook there is more opportunity to be “taken” to an on-line symphony than before, but I think that scenario will happen less than anticipated.  While this technology is quite awesome, I believe it is important to keep the live performance at the forefront of the Symphony’s efforts. 

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2009/10/04/1_VALLIERE_ART_10-04-09_E1_9MF7MQA.html?sid=101

 

--Brian

 

Would One Unified Arts Service Org. Have a Bigger Impact?

On the Partners in Performance website, John McCann asserts in his article "Strength through Coordination and Collaboration" that consolidating discipline-specific arts service organizations (like Theater Communications Group, Opera America and the League of American Orchestras) into one American Institute for the Arts, would not only save on overhead, but would unify priorities for the industry to be heard at the national level, allow data to be gathered and used more easily across disciplines, and bolster the role of the arts in public consciousness.

While I agree that it would be useful to have standardized data across disciplines to enable further research and better arguments for policy makers, I have trouble believing that such an umbrella institution would be able to articulate a unifying priority that gets a seat among the energy and health care debates at the national level or would create messages that could penetrate the hearts and minds of the public to prevent further marginalization.

On the other hand, perhaps the advancements in technology and networking can overcome the past difficulties of this type of collective effort and a real strength-in-numbers approach could have a bigger impact.

http://partnersinperformance.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/strength-through-coordination-and-collaboration/

--Leah