Magic!

                                                                                               

ANYTIME SOMEONE CLAIMS their venue has "state-of-the-art" gear or you're told, dismissively, to simply "Do your magic," turn one-eighty and run. Don't look back.

Craftsmanship

Another installment of Drive To The Curtain
 

When I get into a jam and have to forego an aesthetic choice, I often think to myself, "THE AUDIENCE WON'T KNOW THE FUCKIN' DIFFERENCE". That’s not a good  perspective for craftsmanship or the effort of making better experiences for, ahem, paying audience members but…it’s likely to be true. It may also be practical. When is it O.K. to let it go?

For a start, look at the calendar and the clock. Check your other resources,  including other people working with you on this thing. What is it going to cost  you to either force this aesthetic choice into existence or cook up an adaption that will approximate it? Another couple of hours? Twenty minutes? Somebody has  to go get a ladder, move a lot of chairs out of the way, set the ladder and climb  up there? Extra crew have to be called in and it gets done….when? Tonight after  the scheduled shift? In the morning? Is somebody else coming in then? Oh… the stage gets painted overnight… Can’t do it then. Or is it just as simple as this: You have an hour to finish the load-in, about that much time’s worth of regular stuff to do, but this thing might take fifteen minutes you can’t afford. How much difference in quality will this make to the show, what will be missing in the communication of the story to the audience?

“I’m the only one who’s going to know the fuckin’ difference…”

This isn’t easy because you count, too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t think of yourself as a professional, you wouldn’t get these gigs, you wouldn’t get paid, you wouldn’t get the other gratification that keeps you in  this line of work. Your opionion, your sense of craftsmanship, counts. You’re the  last one you can, or should, dismiss when having to make difficult decisions about craftsmanship…even if no one else is really going to know the fuckin’ difference… this time.

“Disregard for details is the first sign of doom.”
– Kai Krause

It’s a tricky prospect but one that people have been wrangling since, probably, they were barely hominids. You learn which things you bust your ass to do well and which you let go, primarily by busting your ass to do well a lot. Eventually,  experience puts you in positions from which you have a pretty good perspective on when to… let… it… go. Given, you will misjudge this. You’ll screw up. You’ll get caught out, people will fuckin’ know the difference and you’ll look  bad. If you’re not basically psychotic, you’ll learn from that mistake and prevent yourself doing it again. You’ll make a different mistake but, one can hope, it’s not as bad as the last one because of shared conditions. You will be reminded that craftsmanship is that important and that compromising it really can hurt.

photo: Cassandra Phillips

Sometimes, you just can’t do anything about it. The venue doesn’t have the gear, or the stuff is falling apart. The stage, sightlines, something isn’t suited to your show. Tech support is crap or just non-existent. You don’t have enough time.  You’ve torn out some hair making some things turn out well, at least. Some of  the other things are just beyond reach. In your big picture view, they’re all of about the same importance in your show, so that the shortcomings are going to  look, to you, like big potholes of neglect, even though you have neglected nothing. In the same load-in, you’ve made some things work out really well. They’re moments of thoroughly professional, high craftsmanship. You can do this, goddammit. See?!

Yes, somebody sees. Somebody notices. Maybe even consciously. I’ve had plenty of people over the years walk up to me after a show and compliment me on some design, some technical element. To be honest, some of those times I didn’t think I did that great a job. I was having craftsmanship issues, or I had potholes in my artistic decisions. From an Off-Broadway production, I got positive and negative mentions in reviews, and I disagreed with most of them. Since  then, I’ve gotten good ink for a few different disciplines in several different productions. Some of the criticisms I didn’t quite understand. What’s this tell me?

It’s all indicative of a fundamental. Caring about what you do, caring about craftsmanship, is part of professionalism. Exactly how that plays out from show to show, scene to scene, isn’t always predictable, but it’s clear to me that if it’s important to you, that’s enough. It’s part of the drive to get better. One way or another, if you care, it pays off.

Relationships

Another installment of Drive To The Curtain

ReAct Theatre, Seattle

IN REAL LIFE, THEATRE PRODUCTION isn’t as difficult as some people insist on  making it. No, really. This shit isn’t that hard. I understand, however, that,  in any and all kinds of life, there are those who don’t feel real unless they create drama. It follows that a field of work devoted to making drama would be  conducive to making more drama than is needed to, uh… make drama. I prefer my drama scripted. I like calendars. I plan things. I make art. I work with people who make art. I also work with technicians and managers. Most of them want to get the job done, and done well, without more stress than necessary. I’m there. That’s what I want, too, and I work toward that, beginning with my first contact with everyone I’m going to work with on an upcoming project. I let them know from the get-go that I really want things to go smoothly. It can’t be that tough. Really.

It seems that at least ninety percent of the professional work I’ve done in my life has involved some form of customer service. That’s not special, but I think calling it that is a bit of a broader view than most people take on what they do.  Basically, you and someone else are engaging in a transaction in which they’re  trying to get what they want — usually by paying you or your company — and  you’re trying to give them what they want because you’re getting paid to do so.  You got the goods, they got the dough. It’s up to you to provide everything,  including what the other person doesn’t know about but should. That’s basically customer service. (By the way, no, sales is not customer service, although it’s  been called that for decades, at least. Pitching somebody something they don’t actually need, or even want, until they cough up money isn’t “service” by any stretch of the  imagination. It’s domination.) You’re paying attention to what the other person wants or needs and trying to get it for them. If you’re both doing that, you’ve  got a relationship developing. That can go a long way to the both of you getting things done now and later. Compassion is involved here, empathy, that sort of  thing. It can be very productive. It’s mostly a matter of paying attention and, frankly, giving a shit.

Like I said, it doesn’t have to be that hard.

IN RENTAL VENUES, ESPECIALLY, I find production personnel to be the happiest when  they’re working a show that is well organized, appropriately scaled to the facility and staff, prompt but easygoing — in short, professional. The relationship is developed here, in those planning emails and phone calls, during  the load-in and rehearsal. By the time we all get to the first performance call-time, venue personnel should be both prepared and relaxed. Who doesn’t do well  when they’re enjoying the work? If your show is the least stressful thing they have to do this month, the venue staff will want you back. Next time, it’ll  be even easier for everybody.

Oh, sure, there might be some tech or manager or admin who just can’t be bothered to do their job, thus making others’ work harder than it needs to be. Ideally, that person doesn’t last with the organization long, or, at least, gets cut out of some of the jobs. Commonly, trouble like this can start at the top. If so, unfortunately, a good, professional tech staff can’t very well tell the artistic director to stay the hell out of the way. That’s an internal problem, and I’m coming in from outside that troubled world to work my own relationships. As a client, I expect  professional treatment. As a collegue, I give just that. The negligent, the  abusive, the unprofessional I do my best to avoid. No good relationships are available there, nope. Waste of my time.

Live performance productions can be very, very complex, yet big groups of people with disparate skills and motivations get ‘em up and running all the time. I’ve worked on teeny tiny productions that were painfully difficult to put together  because there was at least one key person who refused to develop civil  relationships with anybody else. Any size production gets done because people pay attention to one another and cooperate. Kinda like… Real Life.

Shattered Globe Theatre, Chicago

"Drive To The Curtain" series - #1: Professionalism

   A couple of years ago, I started writing a series of blog postings about working in theatre called "Drive To The Curtain" over in WordPress. I haven't been using WP, none of it is dated and I don't think anybody actually read that stuff, so I'm putting it up here now.
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I’m just going to do this anyway. It feels like a good starter for this series, even if we’ve all heard it before. (Have we?)

PROFESSIONALISM AND AMATEURISM HAVE LITTLE OR NOTHIING TO DO WITH MONEY, etymology notwithstanding. I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years in performance projects who were very professional or just plain amateurs regardless of whether they were paid (or, if so, how much). Likewise, I’ve tried to carry myself and behave professionally, even if I didn’t quite know what the fuck I was doing. I appreciate that in others, and it counts for a lot. It isn’t just effort for effect, it’s effort for good results.

I’ve seen just too many under-compensated, underappreciated workers carrying themselves as professionals, being productive and helpful, to have much patience for those whose asses are getting covered yet can’t be bothered to pull their heads out of their ignorance, much less lift a finger to help. Worse, amateurs like that often manage to get in the way of the rest of us and make our jobs harder simply by not co-operating. Can’t tell you how many simple tasks on my list have been made hair-pulling workarounds because someone with a title and power but limited skills, bent on maintaining order in their tiny unproductive worlds, have unilaterally changed the schedule and work environment arbitrarily and without consulting anyone else. These are amateurs — selfish, incompetent, egotistical twits who shouldn’t be left alone with pointy objects.

photo: Craig VanDerSchaegen

OFTEN, THEY'RE SUPPORTED BY PEOPLE MUCH SMARTER, and have actual chops and social skills, in search of the professional gratification they really need while they’re struggling to pay the rent in the meantime by working for idiots. The hell of it is that the work, itself, is often gratifying, and it keeps the good people, the actual professionals, from moving on as they should. Nevermind that the money isn’t paying the bills and the boss is an immature micromanager, some good workers will keep coming back to make the art, partly because they’ve had “real jobs” and are afraid it’s either this or that.

Whether our choices are that limited is a topic for elsewhere. For now, my rant is in support of the professionals I meet and get to work with all the time while railing against the airheaded and petty amateurs under whom many of them work. Every once in awhile, I’ve told somebody, “If you ever need a recommendation, email me.” It’s cheap talk, really. I’d much rather be able to hire them. That, too, is cheap talk. Best I can do, usually, is let them know I get it, and I appreciate it. As an experienced outsider rolling into their house to do my thang for awhile with their support and then hit the road again buh-bye, I’m hoping a token of my perspective is helpful, that it, at the very least, reminds them they’re not completely nuts.

Regular positions in theatre can be a bit isolated, depending upon whether the organization’s definition of outreach is developing relationships in its community or merely shaking more money out of people. Once, I asked an artistic director whether the theatre was in touch with a similarly low-budgeted, plucky organization in the neighborhood and I was told “We’re not in touch with anyone”. Right. Actors, however, always itinerant, commonly keep on top of the broader performance scene in a variety of theatres, and even at the bar. They don’t become isolated and lose perspective that easily. They’re always moving around. Production people from several theatres might benefit from post-show boozing together. Just a thought. Apparently, this has long since been addressed in Manhattan with the Broadway bowling league (which, I found out while there, includes Off-Broadway and then some). Fringe Festival kind of goes there, too. Beats staff meetings.

High school students, volunteers at community theatres, minimum wage multitaskers doing three people’s jobs in neglected and run-down venues… Pros can be found anywhere. Since I end up working just about anywhere, it’s good to know that.

"Creative"

"CREATIVE" IS A WORD SALESPEOPLE OFTEN USE to identify themselves and their ilk. Really? They're "creative" like…your favorite fiction writer, filmmaker, graphic artist, musician — ? eeww… I’m thinking “delusional” is a better word for what they are.

New Year, old shows, new muscles

                                                 photo: 7 Seas

Brian Copeland had been kicking around the idea for a Christmas story based on some things that happened with him when he was about six in Oakland in 1970, and he and his co-developer/director David Ford decided this last fall to go for it. Copeland hadn't written it yet. He got that going right around...November. A bit rushed, as these things go, sure, but, unlike some solo shows I've seen and have worked on in the last eight years or so, this one actually had a beginning, middle and an end -- Woo-hoo! -- even before Cope sat down to write the thing.

photo: courtesy Brian Copeland

"The Jewelry Box" was presented, with fair warning, to a few audience in December, script in hand. I designed sound and light. It was, I thought, a sort of reader's theatre deluxe. It was clear in the first weekend that we had a good story and a pretty solid form already. As the phrasing around here goes, it was "in good shape" already. By the end of the ultra-short run of performances, the sudden growth of asses in seats (g'head...visualize that...) told me there was street buzz on the show almost immediately. Mind you, this new piece was deliberately not marketed for shit. Absolutely no media coverage was solicited. It was shyly stuck out in front of strange people to see whether it could work. In spite of the distinct lack of effort to interest the local market, we seem to have another hit on our hands. We'll see how it goes down in the 2013 holiday season.
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Meanwhile, we're about to remount Brian Copeland's "The Waiting Period" (yeah, that guy again). That one we started workshopping over a year ago, and its opening night was last February. Ran it all last year until that holiday story quickie. This February, we'll be doing an encore and No Really We're Not Kidding limited run of Copeland's flagship show "Not A Genuine Black Man". If you have the least interest in seeing "Genuine", better go this time. No, really. By autumn, the stage production will be retired in favor of a full television live performance video production currently in early development. Details here as that moves along, but the director on board has a few Emmys under his belt for theatrical telecast productions.

                                     photo: 7 Seas

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Hitting the ground running with "The Jewelry Box" and succeeding as well as we did just infuses further confidence into what's becoming both a body of work and a product line. It's a nice feeling, and makes ya wonder just how much you can push and dance and and leap and still land on your feet.