And Stage Directions

Jacob Coakley, editor at Stage Directions, dropped me a "yer killing me" e-mail this morning because I did not include his magazine in my little list in the last post. Jacob also contributes the bi-monthly Talkin' Tech column in Theatre Bay Area magazine, so he's allowed to poke fun at me.

But it just illustrates another thing the DG staff and I were talking about: the publication of lists, specifically things like "50 playwrights" (Theatre Bay Area has done something similar) or, let's say, the season preview highlights articles. It's a losing proposition. The ones you included might say thanks; the ones you left out will always let you know about it. One of the hazards of the job!

Dramatists Guild in Town

Today I took a little break to meet with some staffers from the Dramatists Guild, Gary Garrison and Roland Tec, along with local playwright and Dramatist correspondent Scott McMorrow.

The Guild is in town as part of its DG on the Road program, and is holding town hall meetings and other events over the next few days over at Z Space. I'm not attending those events, but Scott will be reporting on them for our March issue.

So the four of us headed over to Out the Door and quickly filled our table with plates to share. We talked shop--most of the details would probably bore you unless you were into the blood, sweat and tears that goes into actually producing a magazine every month, or in their case, bimonthly. The thing is, there aren't that many magazines like ours out there. There's Theatre Bay Area, American Theatre and The Dramatist, as far as industry-focused magazines. And ours is the only one that's not national. We don't get to have regional meetings or annual conferences where we meet our peers, and often national conferences like APASO and TCG don't have a publications componant (though APASO is starting to branch into online content as a subset of marketing).

So after we talked specifics like printing costs, distribution and production schedules, they asked me what my biggest challenge was. Hmm, that's interesting. I have so many! (And that's not necessarily a bad thing.) I said that given my staff size and resources, my biggest challenge was keeping up with news all over the Bay Area, which is why my correspondents are so important. Even then, I'd like to add more correspondents for each area, but I'm having problems finding people who are a) connected, b) can write and c) can keep a monthly deadline. Yes, that is an open invitation to contact me if you're all of the above.

And if you're a playwright, I hope you're attending the DG activities and letting them know about the fabulous writers and new work that's happening in the Bay Area, and giving them ideas on what they can do for you. The Guild is the closest thing playwrights have to a union--they have your best interests at heart and are a great resource.

Willows Show Benefits Teenager with Cancer

Evil Dead: The Musical seems an unlikely show to use as a benefit for a teenager diagnosed with terminal cancer, but, as Willows Theatre's property manager Shaun Carroll says, "It's the show we're currently doing, and it's been drawing good audiences."

The Willows is staging a special show at 10:30 p.m. on February 5 at the Campbell Theatre for Rachel Fulton of Martinez, who has terminal liver cancer. To purchase tickets, call (925) 798-1300.

Rachel's family has depleted their retirement and savings to pay her medical bills, and are in danger of losing their home because they are behind paying their mortgage. I can't believe this sort of thing still happens in this country, where the health care system is so bad many families lose everything in order to care for a loved one. It's unacceptable.

And bravo to Willows Theatre for holding this benefit. Once again, artists and arts organizations are one of the first to come forward to help their community. In a time when all theatre companies are struggling--many closing or on the brink--here the Willows is helping out a family in an unbelievable situation. Are any for-profit businesses or corporations helping? I hope so. I once read a summary of a survey that said lower-income people are more likely to donate to charity than higher-income (middle class) people, the asumption being that lower-income people are more likely to know hardship and therefore know the importance of community.

Another reason to fund the arts--not just because the arts are a good economic investment, but because they support their communities in ways just like this.

Three Places at Once

Theatre writers may wish for a time travel machine or to exist in several parallel universes on January 30. Aurora Theatre, San Jose Rep and New Conservatory Theatre Center have all scheduled January 30 as their press night!

I'm fully expecting to get that occasional e-mail from a prominent critic asking Theatre Bay Area to post a press night calendar so companies don't do this sort of thing. Problem is, we don't hear about most press nights any sooner than anyone else. Mostly the top 3 or 4 regional theatres announce their press nights when they announce their season.

Glickman Winner Announced

The Will Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area is administered by Theatre Bay Area, but the play is chosen by an independent panel of critics comprised of Robert Hurwitt, Karen D'Souza, Chad Jones, Chloe Veltman and Robert Avila.

They just announced the winner for 2008: Beowulf by Jason Craig, produced by Shotgun Players and Banana Bag and Bodice. (Dave Malloy is the composer.)

Awesome! I just saw Beowulf for the second time at the cabaret/party last Friday, which was a right good time. I missed the Roda Theatre performance, but saw the original at Ashby Stage.

Hurwitt told me the news last night at the opening of Rich & Famous at ACT. He sat down next to me and said, "So."

(Get it?)

Mayor's Office Axes SFIAF Funds

Andrew Wood of the San Francisco International Arts Festival today announced that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's office cut 100 percent of the municipal funds set aside for this year's festival. This cut represents a 40 percent cut to the SFIAF organization budget.

Unlike most San Francisco arts organizations, who receive city money through Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, the SFIAF has been receiving money directly out of the city's general fund. When Andrew Wood wanted to launch the festival, he worked with the mayor's office and other city leaders to receive money this way instead of through GFTA, much to the consternation of most other San Francisco arts organizations. (He did have to submit a proposal and win the bid to run the festival.) It looks like the problem of being an exception is that you're the first to be cut.

Andrew Wood says that SFIAF understood the city deficit problems and offered to take a 30 percent cut, which would have impacted 12 percent of the festival's budget. The 100 percent cut means that while the festival will not have to close its doors, it does have to renegotiate contracts with artists and venues, and may lose a few of them. But the festival will go on, at least for now.

A Convening on the Recession

On Monday the San Francisco Arts Commission in partnership with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and ArtsForum (run by Theatre Bay Area executive director Brad Erickson and Intersection for the Arts executive director Deborah Cullinan) presented the practically titled "A Convening on the Economic Recession and the Impact on the Bay Area Arts Community" in YBCA's Forum.
The convening featured keynote speaker Jeremy Nowak, a "renowned economist and expert in urban development" from Philadelphia. I personally found his comments on the economy more interesting and applicable than his comments about the role of arts and culture in neighborhood regeneration, simply because the situation in Philadelphia is so different than the Bay Area. He said more than once that the Bay Area--San Francisco particularly--was much better off than many cities. And, Philadelphia has experienced a huge population flight that's created 26,000 vacant homes, not to mention the loss of industry that's created a lot of vacant warehouse space. Imagine 26,000 vacant homes in San Francisco!
While a few optimistic economists (admittedly very few) say that 2009 could be better than 2008, Nowak says that this recession is going to be longer and depper than recessions past because the GDP is down and past recessions hadn't seen the financial sector meltdown that this one has. He notes that the nation needs to profoundly rethink the way it does business.
His advice for the arts may be things we have all heard before: manage cautiously but stay ambitious, look for efficiencies.
Attendees then broke up into groups for a cathartic conversation on how the economy was affecting them and/or their organizations, and the larger goal is to build partnerships so we can address the downturn locally as a community.
The notes from each breakout are being collected and compiled, and will be posted on Theatre Bay Area's website, perhaps in about a week (there are a lot of notes). We anticipate that they'll be posted on a new blog so that everyone can leave comments.
In the meantime, check out SF Chronicle's Jesse Hamlin's article.

Magic Probably OK

I just received an e-mail from publicist David Perry, who has just been hired by the Magic to do publicity for Tough Titty. That's a promising sign--I think we can assume the show will go on.

The Magic also extended its January 9 deadline due to an anonymous challenge grant.

AfroSolo TV

AfroSolo artistic director Thomas Simpson launched AfroSolo TV quite a while back, airing on Comcast Cable Station 76 in San Francisco, where he interviews prominent Bay Area (and beyond) artists like Paula West, Colman Domingo, Sherri Young and more. If you missed any of these TV shows, he's been uploading them to YouTube. Check out the list.

Welcome, Weekly Updaters

If you've clicked the link from the January 6 Weekly Update, welcome! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

Yesterday was our first day back after a long break, and we dove right into the magazine deadline. We had a ton of listings to process, and I've been wrapping up all the other text. On top of it all, associate editor Sam Hurwitt has been on vacation and will be until January 20. (He deserves a break!)

So, once I make it through this firestorm, I'll get back to posting. There's certainly lots to talk about! Come visit me again soon!