New Leader for a Children’s Theatre in Minneapolis

Tim Jennings was recently named the managing director for the Children’s Theatre Co. in Minneapolis. He had the same position at the Seattle Children’s Theatre for the past four years. Jennings will be replacing the previous managing director, Gabriella Calicchio, who is leaving CTC because she will be taking a job at the Disney museum in San Francisco. Tim Jennings will be leading the company as a co-lead with Peter Brosius. Brosius is the Children’s Theatre Co’s artistic director.

The Children’s Theatre Co is the largest theatre for youth in the nation. The theatre is repairing its balance sheet after several years of deficits.

I found this article to be interesting and informative. Although it was short, I was to the point. I find it interesting how theatre companies work. It is much like any other company, once one leader leaves, his or her place must be filled. Jennings seems to be a very experienced leader and he seems to be interested in the field that he is in. I enjoyed reading this article to learn more about how jobs can be empty and filled so quickly.

SOU Theatre Students Recognized for Stage Management

A Director of the Yale School of Drama Master in Fine Arts program in Stage Management has notified SOU’s student, Robert Chikar as one of the four students in the nation that would be accepted into the program for this year. Chikar will receive full tuition remission and he will receive an assistantship that will allow him to work with leading directors, designers, and performers from around the world. Another student stage manager at SOU, Kim Freimoeller, won the KCACTF Region 7’s award for excellence in Stage Management. She won an all expense paid trip to the Kennedy Center to attend workshops and career development seminars.

            I found this article to be extremely interesting because of how much success one school is having in one area of theatre. They must have great leadership leading them in order to have this much success. I also enjoyed reading this article because we were just learning about grad school in Career Prep class. It was interesting to see that there really is an interst for stage managers for grad school and stage management can go for if they know what they are doing and talking about. SOU seems to be putting out excellent work. 

http://news.sou.edu/blog/2011/02/sou-theatre-students-recognized-for-stage-management/

Marburg’s Management Change

Ekkehard Dennewitz has been the head of the Marburg’s Hessian State Theatre for 20 years. He is not handing over his job to Matthias Faltz the new director of Marburg’s theatre company.

            The young generation of Marburg are very curious about the new manager. It is Falz’s goal to attract the younger generation by producing fresh and modern shows. He will also be instituting a new event called “theatre of darkness,” in order to stay with Marburg’s position of the city of the blind.

            Faltz is also opening two smaller theatre companies in Marburg to add to their four that they already have. Everyone enjoys Marburg productions even the tourists. The companies tour all over Hesse, and even visits foreign countries.

            I found this article very interesting to read. I liked it because of how excited the new leader is about the production company. He is ready to make changes for the greater good of the community and he is adding new events and things to make everyone happy to be able to enjoy theatre.

https://www.marburg.de/en/94473

Le Petit Theatre Management

     As heard on October 24th, a meeting of the executive committee of Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre’s board of governors would result in a marked shift in management. No one from the committee is ready to talk about what exactly happened during the meeting. The word keeps being spread that “Le Petit Theatre is undergoing a transition in management,” according to Le Petit’s board president, Cassie Worley. Gary Solomon Jr. is currently the manager at Le Petit and he did not have anything different to add to what Worley said about the management situation. He did explain that his job as manager was only supposed to be a temporary situation and that Le Petit has come to the understanding that it is time to establish a more permanent management structure. 

     There is more to come about what will be the outcome of Le Petit’s management situation. They are working on finding a permanent structure and they do not want to leak too much information to the press as of right now.

     This article was interesting to read because it shows the reality about theatre management. It shows how fast the word gets out and how fast something can be changed when it needs to be. Through this article we do not know if the change in management is because of Solomon or for other reasons be something must have went wrong somewhere. I am excited to see what is to come about this story. 

http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2010/10/le_petit_theatre_management_in.html

A Theatre Companies Move in Location

The Follies Theatre will open December 1^st in two buildings side by side on Route 47 in Yorkville. The theatre has been in Ottawa for four years. The 55 seat theatre entertained audiences with a variety of many different kinds of shows. The Follies’ Facebook kept fans updated on details of the move. Their Facebook helped the fans of the company to cope with the move and to be excited about what is to come in Yorkville. According to the theatre’s press release, “the theatre in Yorkville will be ‘substantially bigger’ than the 55 seat theatre.”

            The theatre will be made up of two properties that are connected for easy use. An adjoining entrance will be where the audience enters to get to the box office and lobby. The theatre will have three rows of main floor table seating and three elevated levels of seating. The new space will be wider, deeper, and larger overall than the Ottawa location.

            The theatre moved to Yorkville because of the growth and changes taking place in town. It also is a good location for tourist destinations and it is closer to other well-known cities in Illinois like: Aurora, Joliet, and Oswego.

            I like this article because it describes the changes a theatre company had to make in order to make sure their company is successful. I also like the description of what the theatre looked like and what the new theatre will look like. It helps to visualize what is important to have in a theatre and what is important when it comes to finding a location for a theatre. Another aspect of this article that I enjoyed was the connection to Facebook. Facebook is the easiest way for people to communicate to other people today. It is a good thing for a production company to have in order to heighten their business and keep their audience connected and interested. 

http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/entertainment/7892978-421/live-theater-departs-ottawa-for-downtown-yorkville.html

Misnomer Dance Theatre - Nonprofit

         The Misnomer Dance Theatre is a nonprofit troupe that uses technology to promote dance. It has sought entertainment that would not only dovetail with the event’s technology theme but would show attendees something they hadn’t seen before. Price is one of the largest reasons that Misnomer is a nonprofit organization. Nonprofit organizations can reduce their entertainment expenses by as much as 75% with their performances. Their fees rage from $5,000 to $25,000 and the Misnomer troupe has begun to pursue the corporate market. They cannot afford PR or marketing personnel but that gives them room to do a lot of fundraising. Their concerns range from possibly contracting with a charity whose goals and activities are inconsistent with their corporation’s values to winding up with entertainment that appears unprofessional or frill-less for the audience’s tastes.

         Misnomer Dance Theatre has a very inspiring story. I did not know too much about nonprofit organizations before and this helped me to understand what they are all about. It is cheaper to afford and it leaves room for fundraisers. This company is a newer company that seems like they have been a victory so far. Misnomer sees themselves as professionals and they are looking to succeed in their business no matter what lengths they must go to achieve that. I am inspired by their story and it gives me a second though about nonprofit. Now that I know a little bit more about the organization, I would like to learn more of the possibilities.

http://www.misnomer.org/presscrains.html

Theatre Boosts South Hill’s Performing Arts Image

            In January 2011, a theatre in South Hill, Virginia was revamped, giving South Hill a good name. Before 2011, the mayor of South Hill, Earl Horne, did not have anything good to say about their performing arts programs and venues because they were non-existent. He would avoid questions on the subject. Now, Horne is changing his priorities with theatre on top. The new theatre is bringing sell out crowds. They are in the process of finalizing bookings with huge name bands.

            The theatre originally opened in 1925 as a vaudeville theatre and after transforming into a movie theatre, it closed in the 1970s. The renovation process began in 2001. At that point, the theatre no longer had a roof. Ten years later, the venue is now one of the “places to see” in the area. Horne believes that the Colonial Center will boos the area’s economy. The shows that they are holding there are boosting local restaurant’s business and bringing more tourists into the town. The new venue will help attract industries, encourage downtown activities, and bring vibrancy to the community in the near future.

            I think that this story is very inspiring. The Colonial Center Theatre went from a vaudeville theatre to a movie theatre to a hit venue for theatrical performances and concerts. I think that the renovation of this theatre will give a new sense of culture and arts to South Hill. The theatre went from a nothing to something big. I like how it is now a tourist place to go. Theatre arts is boosting the economy of this town and no one saw it coming. 

South Oxford Space - Home to Many

South Oxford Space is a professional theatre company that creates original works and provides office space to 19 different theatre companies along with renting space to those companies too including Ripe Time Theatre Company.  It is very rare for theatre companies to find affordable rehearsal and administrative space in the same building. What they have going helps them develop original works at there own pace since they have other companies renting out space and essentially paying their bills. It also allows the company to share work with the public and even show free open rehearsals to show their work. 

Currently, Ripe Time is producing a piece called “Septimus and Clarissa.” The play is a about two characters who never meet, a World War I veteran and a privileged housewife. It was adapted from the novel “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. The play involves nine actors playing multiple roles. The play is extremely large.

I found this article to be very interesting, because it must get crazy to rent space out to so many different production company. I think that it was a smart move on Ripe Time’s part because it give them the money to produce the shows that they want to without having to worry about where the money is coming from. They can work on their shows and provide for other companies. I could only image that this would be challenging to do. It would be challenging to try to have to accommodate for all of the production companies needs along with their own. It looks like they are making it work though and are enjoying every second of it.

Cherry Lane Theater - Saved by Management and Smart Decisions

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/new-revenue-and-better-management-help-cherry-lane-theater/?scp=1&sq=theatre%20management&st=cse

Last year, Angelina Fiordellisi, the artistic director of the Cherry Lane Theatre, announced that she was making plans to step down from the position of artistic director. She was looking for offers from buyers who would want to operate the theater as a company. She was having budget issues and could not handle it anymore.

           

Since last year, Fiordellisi and her business associates have been able to solve some of their budget issues. Instead of selling the company, she decided to lay off all but one of her employees, cut some artistic programs, book more theater events, and hire a business agent who could manage bookings, contracts, and expenses. Because of her smart business plans to change her theater around, Fiordellisi plans to remain as the artistic director at Cherry Lane. She found that artists still really wanted to work in her building even when everything was going down hill and because of her cut backs, she was able to put all of the income towards her bills.

           

Fiordellisi now has a theater that is no longer failing. In coming months, she will be able to hire more staff back on her team and continue to part take in great theater. 

I think that this was a very inspiring article. It was interesting to read because, even though the arts and the economy have not been doing the best lately, Fiordellisi made her company work. Instead of giving up on her company, she stuck with it and made smart decisions so that the theater could survive. Although some employees had to suffer the consequences of the down fall, overall it was good for the whole company. Fiordellisi can now start hiring her employees back or can hire new ones. She has make her theater a success by paying attention to what had to be fixed and changed.