American Theatre = Walmart

There was an interesting blog post that I saw tweeted out by @balttheatre, the source being a friend of mine, Cole Matson. (link to article)

The author quoted Beth Leavel's keynote at Southeastern Theatre Conference:

"All I know is that if I want to work in Chicago, I have to be in New York; if I want to work in Seattle, which is a great theatre town, I have to be in New York; if I want to work in my home town of Raleigh, I have to be in New York."

He goes on to discuss how American theatre is turning into Wal-Mart and NYC is our distribution center. Theatre schools are teaching students that if they want to work they need to go to NYC. Or at least that's what I got from it.

At least in my experience, it wasn't my school that taught me that, it was the regional theaters themselves. I trained in Seattle and we were afforded the opportunity to go to the regional theaters at least twice a year (I think it was actually more than that). My classmates and I quickly noticed that a lot of the bios had NY credits. This wasn't the case EVERY time, but it happened a lot. In the comments of the post there was an interesting discussion about how it needs to be the responsibility of the AD or MD/ED to have the vision and care enough about the artistic community to cast local talent. I agree completely, though I suggest a mix of talent from other cities (not just NYC) intertwined with local talent. This lets your audience experience a mix of local actors they love, while giving them something new to chew their teeth on.

When I was at On the Boards (OtB)in Seattle, their programming was dedicated to showcasing acts from the Northwest as well as bringing talent from around the world to Seattle audiences. Granted they were a type of performance house that supported contemporary work that pushes artistic boundaries, but their spirit was one that I think regional theatres can take a clue from.

How many times do you go to the theatre and see only actors from out of town?

A bit of hope.

Last night was a very moving experience for me. For the first time in a long time I have hope again.

I'm hopeful that art won't be cast aside as a luxury. I'm hopeful that President-elect Barack Obama (aka PEBO, thanks @scottpalmer) will see art as a necessity to society's well being. I'm hopeful that american Theater will survive.

What inspired this?

I had an amazing theater experience seeing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Centerstage in Baltimore. I was leary to go when I heard that Centerstage was doing Virginia Woolf this year since it's one of my all time favorite plays. I love the banter and the play that Albee delivers all while saying something about the way that we treat each other. I know some of the play by heart and even used a George and Martha scene for my stage combat final in college. I've seen other productions that really didn't wow me, so I was anxious to be surprised.

Well it was fabulous. Incredibly so. It shook me to my core and even got me to cry a little. Martha has always been my dream part, I've always wanted to be her. I admire her vulnerability within the hard edge. She is a complete person. Sometimes in plays there are characters that only show you the one side of themselves, not Martha, you see her ugly, sweet, brash, rude, complementary, etc. You see the whole person.

I made me feel like the purpose of theatre wasn't just to make money to do more theatre, but that there was a level of art to it. That American Theatre is back on the road to art, instead of just entertainment. That the arts I love so much will actually have funding!

We'll see what happens...