The Arts are getting the shaft from the government... again!

Saw this in my local Theatre Association's newsletter. Please help! Without the arts, there is no culture, there is no life.


Senate Cuts Arts from Economic Stimulus Bill

From Americans for the Arts

Breaking News
This afternoon the U.S. Senate, during their consideration of the economic recovery bill, approved an egregious amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that stated ``None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.`` Unfortunately, the amendment passed by a wide vote margin of 73-24, and surprisingly included support from many high profile Senators including Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and several other Democratic and Republican Senators.

If the Coburn amendment language is included in the final conference version of this legislation, many arts groups will be prevented from receiving economic recovery funds from any portion of this specific stimulus bill. It is clear that there is still much work to be done in the Senate and in the media about the role that nonprofit arts organizations and artists play in the nation`s economy and workforce.

Plan of Action

1. Arts advocates need to quickly contact Senators who voted for the Coburn Amendment and express your extreme disappointment with their vote. We need these Senators to know that their vote would detrimentally impact nonprofit arts organizations and the jobs they support in their state. We have crafted a customized message for you to send to your Senators based on their vote on the Coburn Amendment. The correct letter, customized to each of your Senators will appear when you enter your zip code. If your Senator voted for this funding prohibition, you can send them a message expressing your disappointment and ask them to work to delete this language in the final conference bill with the House. If your Senator voted against the Coburn Amendment, you can thank them for their support of the arts.

2. We need as many news articles as possible this coming week to publish stories about the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry and how the recession is negatively affecting arts groups across the country. Please click here to customize an opinion editorial to your local media. We have provided you with easy-to-use talking points.

3. Next week, Americans for the Arts will be sending you another action alert that targets the White House and the soon-to-be-named Senators and Representatives who will serve as conferees to the final economic recovery bill. Please be prepared to take action on this alert as well.

4. Americans for the Arts itself is submitting op-eds to several national newspapers and online blogs. We are enlisting high profile leaders to co-sign these letters as well.

5. Americans for the Arts is purchasing full-page ads titled ``The Arts = Jobs`` in Washington`s top political newspapers in Roll Call, Politico and The Hill on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We encourage you to post the ad on your social network sites.

Please help us continue this important work by becoming an official member of the Arts Action Fund. Play your part by joining the Arts Action Fund today -- it's free and simple.

I still think he's an amazing actor.

Okay so I'm probably one of the few people that will defend Christian Bale in his tirade on the DP of the Terminator movie.

So here's why I'm defending him...

Though now I focus more on my directing, I used to act. I understand how fragile your mind is when you are in the middle of a scene. As actors, we are charged with living truthfully in imaginary circumstances, we must trick our brain into believing what we are saying, doing, who we are is real. For even those most experienced actor this can be a very difficult task.

Christian Bale is a serious actor, I was going to use the term professional, but his outburst kind of struck that word from the vocabulary to describe him. He is intense, he cares about the work he does, sometimes probably more than he should. (I mean did you see the Machinist?) He puts his entire self into a role and while he's in that moment, things like a DP walking through in his line of sight, adjusting lights can be a pretty distracting. It takes you out of the moment, which then can be extremely hard to get fully back in. And the DP didn't do it just once, it happened twice! Let's say you're trying to do something extremely difficult, and someone messes you up twice, wouldn't that frustrate you?

So though I do think it was kind of crappy that it happened (I mean everyone on that set should be professionals, especially considering how much they are getting paid), I understand the frustration that incited that explosion of anger.

We aren't all perfect. And even though he's a celebrity, he's still a human being. My other question is, this incident happened in July, why now was the audio released? That part doesn't sit right with me.

Bermuda @ The Strand

So Sunday I hopped on over to one of my favorite theaters in town, The Strand. It's a small theater in an old Victorian row home which resides in the Station North Arts District. Just up the street from the Everyman and the Charles Theater, it's a great little place to catch a show.

The show I saw was Bermuda by Noah Galuten (famous for his http://manbitesworld.com/ blog). It's a quick little piece, only about an hour long, but a lot happens in a short amount of time. It's about a new married man and wife who have the husband's brother over for dinner. As we all know, nothing ever good happens over the dinner table in theatre. So chaos ensues. The play kind of reminds me of a mix between "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and Dharma & Greg, but without the kookiness.

It's worth a look for sure. Well written and with a strong director. I think sometimes there was a slight disconnect with what the actors were saying, but I also over analyze any piece of theatre I see.

It runs until February 15th, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. More info at http://www.strandtheatercompany.org/.

Other's passion can be inspiring.

It's really nice to be around a group of people that cares as much about theatre as I do.

Let me rewind a little bit for you...

Today was the BTA strategic planning meeting at Towson U and I was invited to attend because I worked up a proposal for how BTA can leverage social media to help bring exposure to the local theatre in Baltimore.

It was a little strange at first. I think people wondered who the hell I was, but once I started contributing and actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about all was good.

These people are not just passionate, but they are passionate about this city and doing theatre in THIS city. They care about the community as a whole and are working to make sure that we ALL survive. No one goes down. In times like these, where arts organizations are folding left and right, that mentality that we are all in this together is extremely refreshing. Finding ways to provide value to the community, an all hands on deck approach, is really awesome. So thanks to all who were in the meeting today, you really made me feel good about my future in this town.

It's always been my goal to own a theatre company in NYC, and don't get me wrong, it's still what I want, but I think I'm doing alright here in Bmore for now.

And not to be all solicitor-like, but if you're looking to get involved and contribute to the community, let BTA know. All hands on deck, right?