I'm a total Robert Lepage fanboy. Case in point; last year while the rest of the 17-men stag party I was with in Vegas started the night with a UFC fight, I suffered their slings and arrows and tucked myself into a middle seat at Lepage's Cirque installation Ka, alone with a box of popcorn… Continue reading Determining the industry’s blood type
Who says there’s no great heartbreaking roles out there?
Looking to diversify your role base? Like making children cry? Apparently, if you're an actor having trouble finding work you're just not looking hard enough. There's some money parts waiting for you if you comb through Craigslist. From the Washington DC edition: My deceased aunt gave my two kids a Cocker Spaniel a few months… Continue reading Who says there’s no great heartbreaking roles out there?
The battle of artist vs. state
The following is a guest post by Toronto Theatre Artist, Photographer and Fringe staffer Amanda Lynne Ballard, first published in the Fringe Harold newsletter. From the Texan Bill 2649 attack on lighting designers in May to the recent UK Equity attempt to implement mandatory minimum wage payment on all working actors to Canada’s Equity contracts… Continue reading The battle of artist vs. state
Heading for home
“Hey. Actors. Suck it up.”
This post has been a long time coming. It's one I really wanted to write a few weeks ago, but I was so mad, so red-faced incensed at the time that I couldn't dare sit down at the computer and spit out the vitriol I was gargling with. So I waited to cool down. Which… Continue reading “Hey. Actors. Suck it up.”
A welcome to The Room
A great company web site. Somewhere on it you'll find a set of posted rules. The first rule is: In the room, things are being made. The fourth rule is: In The Room no one can say for sure what these things will be until they are done, because making things is a kind of… Continue reading A welcome to The Room
This One Goes to Eleven: Sally Stubbs
Sally is an award-winning playwright and teacher-director of theatre with, by and for young people and a performer who loves to clown. She is completing a graduate degree in writing at the University of Victoria with master playwright Joan MacLeod. Hers is a strong local voice, and a proud addition to the interview series. 1.… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Sally Stubbs
Kick-starting your Social Marketing program
A year and a half ago I met a firecracker of a theatre publicist. Her name was Rebecca Coleman. Still is, actually. She was, at the time, busy making a name for herself in the independent arts scene here in Vancouver. A trained actor, a theatre geek, and a single mom, she was springboarding off… Continue reading Kick-starting your Social Marketing program
Advice to the playwright from Malachy Walsh
Recently American playwright and blogger Adam Szymkowicz decided to devote his blog to the interviewing of playwrights, which he has been doing at a rather relentless rate. They're wonderful and chock full o' inspiration, if you're into wonderful and inspiring things. Check them out when you've got the time. A lot of the young series… Continue reading Advice to the playwright from Malachy Walsh
Family bonding at the Jessies
I know there's an argument that some make about awards shows like the Jessies. They hold that it's wrong to pit artists against one another, that saying this actor 'beat' that actor, and that this company is 'better' than that company etc, etc diminishes us all. They say that competition has no place in the… Continue reading Family bonding at the Jessies
2009 Vancouver New Play Festival ends Saturday!
The Playwrights Theatre Centre's annual new works festival is in full swing, with 3 days of staged readings left in the line-up: Thursday June 11 - Stroke by Marie Leofeli Barlizo, director: Martin Kinch A Filipino-Canadian family wrestles with its past when a traumatic event stirs up family secrets. A father and daughter, connected by… Continue reading 2009 Vancouver New Play Festival ends Saturday!
A how not-to guide to publicity photos
I stumbled across this little gem of a blog yesterday, and put out a twitter link to it that instantly became my most wide-spread Re-tweet to date. It's an aggregation of the very worst in theatre production stills culled from the wilds of the internets, and manages to be heart-wrenchingly sad and murderously funny all… Continue reading A how not-to guide to publicity photos
This One Goes to Eleven: Anna Cummer
Anna is the very model of the modern Vancouver working actress. Born in Singapore and raised between Southeast Asia and Saskatoon, she graduated high school in Hong Kong and went on to earn two theatre degrees in England. She now lives and works tirelessly here in Vancouver in TV, film and theatre. On stage she… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Anna Cummer
The most awesome marketing metaphor ever
Direct from the incomparable Seth Godin... From Seth's post: My favorite part happens just before the first minute mark. That's when guy #3 joins the group. Before him, it was just a crazy dancing guy and then maybe one other crazy guy. But it's guy #3 who made it a movement. Initiators are rare indeed,… Continue reading The most awesome marketing metaphor ever
Open up and let them in
Do you know why theatre rocks? Of course you do, you've found your way to a theatre blog on the overwhelmingly crowded internet. Whatever that answer is to you is the greatest marketing tool you've got. All you've got to do is spread that reason all over town. Why do I think theatre rocks? Accessibility.… Continue reading Open up and let them in
Simon Ogden 