Last night, Pam and I went to see Paul Simon's Under African Skies concert at BAM. David Byrne did "You Can Call Me Al."
Yes, it was perfect.
About Me
- Freeman
- Matthew Freeman is a Brooklyn based playwright with a BFA from Emerson College. His plays include THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR, REASONS FOR MOVING, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE AMERICANS, THE WHITE SWALLOW, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, THE MOST WONDERFUL LOVE, WHEN IS A CLOCK, GLEE CLUB, THAT OLD SOFT SHOE and BRANDYWINE DISTILLERY FIRE. He served as Assistant Producer and Senior Writer for the live webcast from Times Square on New Year's Eve 2010-2012. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Gamespy, Premiere, Complex Magazine, Maxim Online, and MTV Magazine. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., New York Theatre Experience, and Samuel French.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
When is a Clock's first performance is in 5 days
Yesterday Kyle and I were up at 5 am to drive around and record some video for the play. That's right: We're modern.
Tickets to When is a Clock can be reserved here.
Tickets to When is a Clock can be reserved here.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Babylon Babylon opens April 11th
I wanted to mention to my readers that Babylon Babylon sounds friggin' cool and I recommend you check it out.
The description from their website:
Undoubtedly the most arrogant, grandiose theatre project ever attempted! Experience the Fall of Ancient Civilization in an intimate Brooklyn performance space as a cast of dozens recreates the Temple of Ishtar, home of ritual prostitution, gyrating priestesses, doomsday prophets, grasping plutocrats, undercover lovers, displaced Jews, seekers of bloody vengeance, invading Persians, and a lion.
And look at the talent involved:
| Written and Directed by Jeff Lewonczyk |
Created with and Starring |
Gyda Arber, Fred Backus, Aaron Baker, Ali Skye Bennet, Eric Bland, |
| Assistant Director: Jessica McVea Stage Manager: Lindsay Vrab Choreographer: Amantha May Fight Director: Qui Nguyen Costume Designer: Julianne Kroboth Lighting Designer: James Bedell Video Designer: Jason Robert Bell Sound Designer: Dave Shim Technical Assistance: Chris Connolly |
Here's details and how to get tickets.
Here's the Babylblog Blogbylon.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Is it just me...
Should this article, about Richard Jenkins, be given to all actors who feel daunted by questions like "NY or L.A.?"
NYITF OOB Budget Study Released Today
Survey results that are a step in the right direction, especially in terms of talking realistically about the cost of doing business...
Download the PDF here.
Here's what their press release says...
Groundbreaking Off-Off Broadway Budget Study
New York, NY-April 7, 2008: The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, a not-for-profit organization supporting the Off-Off-Broadway community, released the findings of their statistical analysis of Off-Off Broadway's budgets today. Questions for the survey focused exclusively on production budgets. The results prove that the OOB community is actively producing high-quality productions at affordable prices with paid actors and production value. The survey is the first in a series that will help raise awareness of the contributions of the OOB community.
Some of the highlights of what the Foundation learned are:
* 67% of the community is spending between 1k-20k on their productions
* Over half of the community is paying their actors
* THE COMMUNITY SPENDS OVER 31 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR ON PRODUCTIONS!
"I found some the results to be very surprising," said Shay Gines, co-founder of the IT Awards. "It is important for our community to have this kind of baseline statistical information. Whether a company is trying to get a good deal on a space rental or trying to obtain sponsorship from a local restaurant, knowing the standards within our community will prove to be very helpful."
So...what do you see here, dear readers?
For example...paying their actors...how much? The stipend? Seems like if 85% of all Off-Off Broadway productions are 16 performances and under (at least according to this data) that most productions are working either non-Union or within the Showcase Code.
This also shows just how many companies are directly affected by the Showcase Code and its cap of numbers of performances.
I'd be curious what non-New Yorkers think of what they see here too. In fact, especially.
Download the PDF here.
Here's what their press release says...
Groundbreaking Off-Off Broadway Budget Study
New York, NY-April 7, 2008: The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, a not-for-profit organization supporting the Off-Off-Broadway community, released the findings of their statistical analysis of Off-Off Broadway's budgets today. Questions for the survey focused exclusively on production budgets. The results prove that the OOB community is actively producing high-quality productions at affordable prices with paid actors and production value. The survey is the first in a series that will help raise awareness of the contributions of the OOB community.
Some of the highlights of what the Foundation learned are:
* 67% of the community is spending between 1k-20k on their productions
* Over half of the community is paying their actors
* THE COMMUNITY SPENDS OVER 31 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR ON PRODUCTIONS!
"I found some the results to be very surprising," said Shay Gines, co-founder of the IT Awards. "It is important for our community to have this kind of baseline statistical information. Whether a company is trying to get a good deal on a space rental or trying to obtain sponsorship from a local restaurant, knowing the standards within our community will prove to be very helpful."
____
So...what do you see here, dear readers?
For example...paying their actors...how much? The stipend? Seems like if 85% of all Off-Off Broadway productions are 16 performances and under (at least according to this data) that most productions are working either non-Union or within the Showcase Code.
This also shows just how many companies are directly affected by the Showcase Code and its cap of numbers of performances.
I'd be curious what non-New Yorkers think of what they see here too. In fact, especially.
Mark Penn
I'm actually starting to feel bad for the guy.The press just wants to eat him. He can't be, you know, evil.
He's not Karl Rove, the pigf*cker.
He's not Karl Rove, the pigf*cker.
Monday, April 07, 2008
When is a Clock - Discounted Preview Tickets
When is a Clock will have three preview performances, April 15th, 16th and 17th, and on those nights tickets will be $12. That's $6 cheaper! A whole beer! HOLY CRAP WHAT A GOOD DEAL!
You might find yourself wanting to come to see the show on one of those nights. You should, then, do so.
Here is where you can order tickets online.
Here's the Blue Coyote website.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Phantasmaphile
As a closing thought for the week... all of you read my girlfriend's absolutely kick-ass, totally non-theater related blog-of-amazing-things Phantasmaphile don't you? It's on my blogroll, but I wanted to take a second and highlight it.
It's awesome.
For example...here's an interview she did with artist Lori Field.
Anyhow...take a look. Inspiring, beautiful work is all over it. She's got it going on.
It's awesome.
For example...here's an interview she did with artist Lori Field.
Anyhow...take a look. Inspiring, beautiful work is all over it. She's got it going on.
Rehearsing "When is a Clock" # 6
Watched some scene work last night. Good work being done. I haven't given everyone the easiest time with some of the monologues and scenes, but it's wonderful to see good, smart actors and a smart director getting into it and figuring it all out.
How I personally tell the difference between good scene work and counter-productive scene work: one looks like a conversation, the other looks like a game of questions.
Lots of good conversation last night.
Blurted out, by accident, a glowing personal review of someone's performance when they asked their director: "What do you think?"
I must learn to keep my mouth...shut. At least, more often. No one asked me.
Also last night I spent a fair amount of time pushing Shadowfax (Kyle's car) with his girlfriend Lindsey, so the thing would start.
Shadowfax is the Lord of All Horses.
How I personally tell the difference between good scene work and counter-productive scene work: one looks like a conversation, the other looks like a game of questions.
Lots of good conversation last night.
Blurted out, by accident, a glowing personal review of someone's performance when they asked their director: "What do you think?"
I must learn to keep my mouth...shut. At least, more often. No one asked me.
Also last night I spent a fair amount of time pushing Shadowfax (Kyle's car) with his girlfriend Lindsey, so the thing would start.
Shadowfax is the Lord of All Horses.
BSG S4 Begins Tonight
I just wanted to mention it. There hasn't been better Science Fiction on television in years. Maybe ever. I'll be sad to see the series go.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Building and Dismantling
Although I've been primarily focused on my upcoming production lately (plug!), I've been reading all sorts of semi-related thoughts around the theatre 'sphere. Playgoer takes notice of the salaries of Artistic Directors in New York; Scott Walters at Theatre Ideas seems to think this indicates that the non-profit model is far too corporate. (Don't tell that to commercial Broadway Producers, who think that non-profits are practically subsidized, take on less risk, and shouldn't be eligible for their Tony Awards...)
Related, in my mind, is Jaime Green's endorsement of lower ticket prices in order to perhaps attract a new or younger audience (as I noted here as well) and Scott's call for Decentralization of the American Theater (notice the capital letters!) which can be seen in any number of his blog posts, which are based primarily on the assumption that American Theater is too focused on major markets, that it's biased against regional sensibilities and too, again, structurally corporate.
A lot of this seems to have been inspired, in all honesty, by Mike Daisey's The Empty Spaces which sparked it's very own conversation right there and then.
All in all, a rather dire view of the state of play in America.
So I wanted to take a second to respond and react to the overall discussion. Just for my own gratification, and maybe some food for thought.
We blame ourselves.
It's one thing that Philadelphia Eagles fans have in common with lovers of American Theatre: we hate our team. Our team lets us down. Or team gets to the big game and drops the ball. Our team does ok sometimes, but we know they'll eventually cock it up.
We ask for the press to acknowledge writers who are younger, then they do christen the next big thing, and we think they picked wrong. We want a vibrant economy of regional theaters, but if they do plays that were produced in New York, they're not regional enough. We do not want theater to die (theaters shuttered, audiences gone, no pay for anyone), but they charge too much money for tickets and pay some people too much and other people too little.
Certainly some of the concerns are valid. We should be skeptical and critical. It's a virtue. But the tone tends to be one that gives little room of the realities of the market, and leaps to the terminal failings of theater within the system. There are lots of people toiling away in these big and small institutions for little to no pay for the love of our art, who work to find artistic space and battle with financial constraints and realities every day.
I don't hear a lot of praise for their hard work. Just observations at what they aren't doing.
You have to build, not dismantle.
Listen, I sympathize with people that think the Industrial Revolution was a bad idea and that we should all go back to living in small agrarian communities. I'm not a huge fan of the inherently corrupting nature of an unregulated free market or a culture that views unfettered, ubiquitous advertising as par for the course.
But we can't go backwards. It just doesn't work that way. New technologies are coming at breakneck speed (note: Blogs. Where were they 10 years ago?). Even corporate models that have been foolproof for years are unsure how they will sustain themselves in an economy where media and entertainment can be easily stolen, shared, copied, and bought without a physical product. Television advertisers are worried that no one is watching advertising anymore; video games are encroaching on the ratings of sporting events; the newspaper industry is in dire straights: this is reality.
I hear concern about the salary of the Roundabout's Artistic Director as almost amusing: in a world where television advertisers pay the amount he makes in a year to show a 30 second spot on some television show on ABC... its clear we're focused on the very small picture.
Artists, and people who work in arts organizations, are not all small "c" communists. I don't relish living in a collective where I share my food with a bunch of other actors and playwrights or what-have-you because I no longer believe in the "corporate" theater. I don't believe that my work should be given away for free, and I do, yes, like to have my own apartment and go to the movies and download music and go out to eat at restaurants. I didn't leave my consumer card at the door when I said "I want to write plays and get a BFA."
I bet most of the people who work in subscriber sales, or box office, or marketing or development for NYTW and MTC or the Guthrie (and hey...I don't mean to speak for you...this is just a guess) don't want to stop what they're doing, sell their cars, and hold up a torch next to a field so someone can do Hamlet without having to beg for corporate sponsorship.
So...what would I LOVE to see? Theaters become more successful. Sell more tickets. Receive more government subsidy and support. More patronage and donations. I want audiences to become excited by new writers and exciting new work. Effective marketing and advertising of really fucking great plays (including mine! plug!) that help everyone become more successful, make more money, feel artistically more free, and do the sort of work they want to do.
We can build that. We can excite audiences, we can sell more tickets, we can pay everyone more effectively, we can get better deals with the unions, we can make our case and win our case.
But we can't dismantle the system, and we can't be successful by pulling away from it, simply pointing out its already terribly obvious flaws, or just hiding in a hole of artistic distance.
Everyone has different values.
I am not of the opinion that the truth is of equal distance between two points. That's a weird fallacy of the current American discussions. I think there are some prescriptions being written out there that are true, and some that are false. But I do not think we all have the same goals, or perspectives, or values.
Some people might read my dismissal, above, of full on rebellion against the system as self-serving or, worse, conciliatory towards something broken.
As a writer in New York City, I can only pretend to relate to those who work outside the major cities and how they feel as if their work is not acknowledged, perhaps, as it should be.
Anyone outside of New York City likely doesn't give a hoot about the Showcase Code debates and discussions.
Those who have never worked in the media, written reviews or articles for magazines, likely have a very different point of view on the responsibility of the media to write a certain way, as opposed to those who may read this, as critics and editors themselves, who know the pressures and concerns of simply making it to print.
I say this because I need to remind myself that my direct interests do not necessarily translate into truths about the "American Theatre" as a whole. Which is, of course, perfectly ok.
Everyone is in this together.
On the other hand, there tend to be small efforts in isolated places to do good works or make changes, and the entire community does not seem able to come together (in any way I notice) to put forth major initiatives. For example... some for-profit industries will literally promote their industry. ("Got Milk?") We need a bit of this. We need to say "Theatre... come see it" in some unified way.
And the only way to get initiatives like that to happen is to use this new wonderfully democratizing force, the 'net, bring people together, and look up from the short term concerns, briefly, of individual programming needs and look at each other as partners.
If New York Theater Workshop and Manhattan Theater Club and the Roundabout and the Guthrie and Southcoast Rep and whomever else thrive individually, that's wonderful but localized. If they thrive together, we all thrive.
So.
That's a few thoughts. For you. From me.
Now back to plugging my show. Which is called "When is a Clock." It opens on April 15th.
Related, in my mind, is Jaime Green's endorsement of lower ticket prices in order to perhaps attract a new or younger audience (as I noted here as well) and Scott's call for Decentralization of the American Theater (notice the capital letters!) which can be seen in any number of his blog posts, which are based primarily on the assumption that American Theater is too focused on major markets, that it's biased against regional sensibilities and too, again, structurally corporate.
A lot of this seems to have been inspired, in all honesty, by Mike Daisey's The Empty Spaces which sparked it's very own conversation right there and then.
All in all, a rather dire view of the state of play in America.
So I wanted to take a second to respond and react to the overall discussion. Just for my own gratification, and maybe some food for thought.
We blame ourselves.
It's one thing that Philadelphia Eagles fans have in common with lovers of American Theatre: we hate our team. Our team lets us down. Or team gets to the big game and drops the ball. Our team does ok sometimes, but we know they'll eventually cock it up.
We ask for the press to acknowledge writers who are younger, then they do christen the next big thing, and we think they picked wrong. We want a vibrant economy of regional theaters, but if they do plays that were produced in New York, they're not regional enough. We do not want theater to die (theaters shuttered, audiences gone, no pay for anyone), but they charge too much money for tickets and pay some people too much and other people too little.
Certainly some of the concerns are valid. We should be skeptical and critical. It's a virtue. But the tone tends to be one that gives little room of the realities of the market, and leaps to the terminal failings of theater within the system. There are lots of people toiling away in these big and small institutions for little to no pay for the love of our art, who work to find artistic space and battle with financial constraints and realities every day.
I don't hear a lot of praise for their hard work. Just observations at what they aren't doing.
You have to build, not dismantle.
Listen, I sympathize with people that think the Industrial Revolution was a bad idea and that we should all go back to living in small agrarian communities. I'm not a huge fan of the inherently corrupting nature of an unregulated free market or a culture that views unfettered, ubiquitous advertising as par for the course.
But we can't go backwards. It just doesn't work that way. New technologies are coming at breakneck speed (note: Blogs. Where were they 10 years ago?). Even corporate models that have been foolproof for years are unsure how they will sustain themselves in an economy where media and entertainment can be easily stolen, shared, copied, and bought without a physical product. Television advertisers are worried that no one is watching advertising anymore; video games are encroaching on the ratings of sporting events; the newspaper industry is in dire straights: this is reality.
I hear concern about the salary of the Roundabout's Artistic Director as almost amusing: in a world where television advertisers pay the amount he makes in a year to show a 30 second spot on some television show on ABC... its clear we're focused on the very small picture.
Artists, and people who work in arts organizations, are not all small "c" communists. I don't relish living in a collective where I share my food with a bunch of other actors and playwrights or what-have-you because I no longer believe in the "corporate" theater. I don't believe that my work should be given away for free, and I do, yes, like to have my own apartment and go to the movies and download music and go out to eat at restaurants. I didn't leave my consumer card at the door when I said "I want to write plays and get a BFA."
I bet most of the people who work in subscriber sales, or box office, or marketing or development for NYTW and MTC or the Guthrie (and hey...I don't mean to speak for you...this is just a guess) don't want to stop what they're doing, sell their cars, and hold up a torch next to a field so someone can do Hamlet without having to beg for corporate sponsorship.
So...what would I LOVE to see? Theaters become more successful. Sell more tickets. Receive more government subsidy and support. More patronage and donations. I want audiences to become excited by new writers and exciting new work. Effective marketing and advertising of really fucking great plays (including mine! plug!) that help everyone become more successful, make more money, feel artistically more free, and do the sort of work they want to do.
We can build that. We can excite audiences, we can sell more tickets, we can pay everyone more effectively, we can get better deals with the unions, we can make our case and win our case.
But we can't dismantle the system, and we can't be successful by pulling away from it, simply pointing out its already terribly obvious flaws, or just hiding in a hole of artistic distance.
Everyone has different values.
I am not of the opinion that the truth is of equal distance between two points. That's a weird fallacy of the current American discussions. I think there are some prescriptions being written out there that are true, and some that are false. But I do not think we all have the same goals, or perspectives, or values.
Some people might read my dismissal, above, of full on rebellion against the system as self-serving or, worse, conciliatory towards something broken.
As a writer in New York City, I can only pretend to relate to those who work outside the major cities and how they feel as if their work is not acknowledged, perhaps, as it should be.
Anyone outside of New York City likely doesn't give a hoot about the Showcase Code debates and discussions.
Those who have never worked in the media, written reviews or articles for magazines, likely have a very different point of view on the responsibility of the media to write a certain way, as opposed to those who may read this, as critics and editors themselves, who know the pressures and concerns of simply making it to print.
I say this because I need to remind myself that my direct interests do not necessarily translate into truths about the "American Theatre" as a whole. Which is, of course, perfectly ok.
Everyone is in this together.
On the other hand, there tend to be small efforts in isolated places to do good works or make changes, and the entire community does not seem able to come together (in any way I notice) to put forth major initiatives. For example... some for-profit industries will literally promote their industry. ("Got Milk?") We need a bit of this. We need to say "Theatre... come see it" in some unified way.
And the only way to get initiatives like that to happen is to use this new wonderfully democratizing force, the 'net, bring people together, and look up from the short term concerns, briefly, of individual programming needs and look at each other as partners.
If New York Theater Workshop and Manhattan Theater Club and the Roundabout and the Guthrie and Southcoast Rep and whomever else thrive individually, that's wonderful but localized. If they thrive together, we all thrive.
So.
That's a few thoughts. For you. From me.
Now back to plugging my show. Which is called "When is a Clock." It opens on April 15th.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
National Performing Arts Convention Blog
Jaime will be blogging (in addition to her regular duties) in this new and lovely location: The National Performing Arts Convention . Her first post is entitled "The Value of a Cheap Ticket." Check it out, add to your bloglines, comment, and be generally aware of this great stuff...
"The fact is, there are people who will buy tickets to daring, weird, new work. But usually, those people are young, and usually, those people do not have a lot of money. The math is alarmingly simple.
Here's what we know:
Current audiences are old and rich.
Current audiences like safe programming.
Younger audiences are more likely to support adventurous work.
Younger audiences don't tend to have a lot of money."
Obama takes in $1 million a day
So Obama's March haul was $30 million, or a million a day. Sure he's a national candidate, but the people who are giving to him aren't necessarily billionaires. Heck, I've given him like $75. Not a ton of money, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Which makes me think...
Does your theater company accept donations online? And does it ask, often enough, for donations? Let's say you get an average of (with big and small donations) $10 a day per month. Or $300 a month. Or around (give or take a day or two) $3600 a year in donations. Let's say you just make that your goal for online donations, barring any additional fund-raisers or ticket sales or selling t-shirts or bake sales or free donated booze parties.
Is that huge? No. Will it help? Yes. How much work do you need to do? Sign up for Network for Good and send out some e-mails.
You are doing this already. Right?
Which makes me think...
Does your theater company accept donations online? And does it ask, often enough, for donations? Let's say you get an average of (with big and small donations) $10 a day per month. Or $300 a month. Or around (give or take a day or two) $3600 a year in donations. Let's say you just make that your goal for online donations, barring any additional fund-raisers or ticket sales or selling t-shirts or bake sales or free donated booze parties.
Is that huge? No. Will it help? Yes. How much work do you need to do? Sign up for Network for Good and send out some e-mails.
You are doing this already. Right?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Question for You
Do you think a playwright should approach his or her work from a certain defined theory (their own or one they learned)?
Does it hurt or help the playwright to do so?
Honestly curious...
Does it hurt or help the playwright to do so?
Honestly curious...
Rehearsing "When is a Clock" # 5
Had a full weekend of rehearsals, after we recorded the podcast. Postcards are ready. They look great to me. Weird stuff.
Not much that I can say about rehearsal. It's going well. I had a moment that I do not recommend to any playwright: I revealed my soft underbelly in public. I had a self-conscious moment about a line and jumped up to say "Cut that line." Kyle informed me, rightly, to shut up and sit down and that I should let the actors perform the line.
We proceeded to hear versions of the line sung, in the style of Kabuki, as if delivered by Sam Spade. It was exactly what I deserved.
Added note: In "When is a Clock" I talk a bit about the "cuisine" of the Pennsylvania Dutch. I was delighted to read this on the New York Times about the food on the road for Barack Obama. So terribly validating.
Not much that I can say about rehearsal. It's going well. I had a moment that I do not recommend to any playwright: I revealed my soft underbelly in public. I had a self-conscious moment about a line and jumped up to say "Cut that line." Kyle informed me, rightly, to shut up and sit down and that I should let the actors perform the line.
We proceeded to hear versions of the line sung, in the style of Kabuki, as if delivered by Sam Spade. It was exactly what I deserved.
Added note: In "When is a Clock" I talk a bit about the "cuisine" of the Pennsylvania Dutch. I was delighted to read this on the New York Times about the food on the road for Barack Obama. So terribly validating.
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