Thursday, January 12, 2012
Industry Ticket Offers
Enron - TimeLine Theatre Company, 615 W. Wellington Ave., is offering $15 industry tickets to all preview performances January 17 - 26. For tickets call 773.281.8463 x6 and mention code industry. For more information visit www.timelinetheatre.com.
MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive Charity Partners Program
Looking for a fun and easy summer fundraiser for your non-profit organization? Apply to the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive Charity Partners Program. Give your supporters an enjoyable way to make a real difference for your mission – by raising money to for your work and enjoying a bike ride on a car-free Lakeshore Drive on Sunday, May 27th. See attachment for more details or contact katie@activetrans.org.
Spring Space Availability at Chicago Dramatists
Chicago Dramatists has rental space available for a 6 week commitment, beginning March 26th and ending May 6th. Rental fee is $1,150 a week; this includes: Lobby, Bar Service, Lighting and Sound. To inquire further about this rental opportunity, contact Brian Loevner, Managing Director, at bloevner@chicagodramatists.org.
Rehearsal Space Availability at Gorilla Tango Theatre
Hey! Looking for someplace to rehearse? Gorilla Tango Theatre has rental rooms available for just $12/hour!
Rooms can be rented out online with a credit card at www.gorillatango.com/portal. Check availability, schedule out rooms, have a good time - all from the comfort of your own computer!
Gorilla Tango Theatre is located at 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago 60647 (Western stop on O'Hare Blue Line). Private second-floor rehearsal rooms are available to GTT and non-GTT producers alike, and include individually controlled AC, centralized heating, 10 foot ceilings, and carpeted floors. Note: sorry - no amplified music/drum rehearsals (acoustic and mp3 player music - OK).
Visit www.gorillatango.com/portal to rent out rooms, for more info, dimensions, etc!
Rooms can be rented out online with a credit card at www.gorillatango.com/portal. Check availability, schedule out rooms, have a good time - all from the comfort of your own computer!
Gorilla Tango Theatre is located at 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago 60647 (Western stop on O'Hare Blue Line). Private second-floor rehearsal rooms are available to GTT and non-GTT producers alike, and include individually controlled AC, centralized heating, 10 foot ceilings, and carpeted floors. Note: sorry - no amplified music/drum rehearsals (acoustic and mp3 player music - OK).
Visit www.gorillatango.com/portal to rent out rooms, for more info, dimensions, etc!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
They Should Answer To Us
Welcome to the first blog of 2012. It’s been an eventful first few days, and not really in a good way, but one thing that’s been on my mind has been these Iowa caucuses. All of these will lead back around to why you should come to the advocacy roundtable on 1/23. So, of the 3 million residents of Iowa, 640,000 are registered republicans and can vote in the Iowa caucuses (actually, anyone can vote, they simply have to register as a republican wherever the caucus is being held). Of those registered republicans (and others, presumably) only 123,000 voted. Of those 123,000 only 60,000 voted for the top two candidates, that’s about the same number of people who are on the email list for our Hot Tix emails. Not too many. And, in fact, those caucuses do not even elect the delegates to the national convention, that comes later, it’s very complicated the way this thing works, you can look it up.
I think more people should vote. Each of those votes in Iowa counted for nearly 6 other republican votes. Even with the world watching less than 20% of republicans showed up to choose a republican candidate for president. No wonder politicians think they don’t answer to us. I think we, and I include myself, should be more involved politically, that we should communicate regularly with our elected officials. They should answer to us.
So, a couple of things, come to the advocacy roundtable on January 23. Did you know that the City of Chicago is working on a new cultural plan for the city? Well, they are…you can find out more here. There is a place there for suggestions and comments and we will be organizing a meeting between City officials and the theatre community soon. And…if you haven’t introduced yourself and your company to your Alderman yet, do it. They can actually help you in a lot of ways.
Deb
I think more people should vote. Each of those votes in Iowa counted for nearly 6 other republican votes. Even with the world watching less than 20% of republicans showed up to choose a republican candidate for president. No wonder politicians think they don’t answer to us. I think we, and I include myself, should be more involved politically, that we should communicate regularly with our elected officials. They should answer to us.
So, a couple of things, come to the advocacy roundtable on January 23. Did you know that the City of Chicago is working on a new cultural plan for the city? Well, they are…you can find out more here. There is a place there for suggestions and comments and we will be organizing a meeting between City officials and the theatre community soon. And…if you haven’t introduced yourself and your company to your Alderman yet, do it. They can actually help you in a lot of ways.
Deb
Industry Ticket Offers
Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah - Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy, is offering 50% off tickets* for Sat, Jan 14 at 7:30pm and Sun, Jan 15 at 3pm. Use code LEAGUE. Tickets available at 800.982.ARTS, www.ticketmaster.com/auditorium or the Auditorium box office. *Available on price levels 2 & 3 only.
The Gingerbread House - Red Tape Theatre, 621 W. Belmont Ave. is offering $15 industry tickets to performances February 2 - March 3. Special industry night performance on February 13 at 7 :30 p.m. For tickets visit http://www.redtapetheatre.com/.
Death and Harry Houdini - The House Theatre of Chicago at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. offers $10 student and industry rush tickets available at all performances pending availability one prior to curtain at the box office window through March 11, 2012. Visit http://www.thehousetheatre.com/ for more information.
Winter Pageant 2011 - Redmoon Theater, 1463 W. Hubbard St. is offering FREE industry tickets for all Jan 7th and 8th performances. To find out more and to purchase tickets, please visit our website www.redmoon.org and use code "CROONER"
The Gingerbread House - Red Tape Theatre, 621 W. Belmont Ave. is offering $15 industry tickets to performances February 2 - March 3. Special industry night performance on February 13 at 7 :30 p.m. For tickets visit http://www.redtapetheatre.com/.
Death and Harry Houdini - The House Theatre of Chicago at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. offers $10 student and industry rush tickets available at all performances pending availability one prior to curtain at the box office window through March 11, 2012. Visit http://www.thehousetheatre.com/ for more information.
Winter Pageant 2011 - Redmoon Theater, 1463 W. Hubbard St. is offering FREE industry tickets for all Jan 7th and 8th performances. To find out more and to purchase tickets, please visit our website www.redmoon.org and use code "CROONER"
Space Availability at Greenhouse Theater Center
60-Seat Studio Rental available at the Greenhouse Theater Center. $1000/week includes box office, front of house services, lighting & sound package, Playbill, full-service bar & concessions and cross-promotion marketing opportunities with other Greenhouse Theater Center companies. Space is available from April 2-May 27, 2012. Please contact Jenn Kincaid at jennifer@greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336 x200 for more information.
Short Run, 195-Seat Mainstage Rental available at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Perfect for Dance Companies or other shorter run opportunities! $3000/week includes box office, front of house services, lighting & sound package, Playbill, full-service bar & concessions and cross-promotion marketing opportunities with other Greenhouse Theater Center companies. Space is available from April 30-May 20, 2012. Please contact Jenn Kincaid at jennifer@greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336 x200 for more information.
Short Run, 195-Seat Mainstage Rental available at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Perfect for Dance Companies or other shorter run opportunities! $3000/week includes box office, front of house services, lighting & sound package, Playbill, full-service bar & concessions and cross-promotion marketing opportunities with other Greenhouse Theater Center companies. Space is available from April 30-May 20, 2012. Please contact Jenn Kincaid at jennifer@greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336 x200 for more information.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Advocacy 201 Roundtable
Monday, January 23, 2012, 6 - 7:30 p.m.League of Chicago Theatres offices, 228 S. Wabash, Suite 200
Chicago is about to create a cultural plan for the first time in 25 years. Decisions made today will impact you and your theatre for generations to come. Learn how to have a seat at the table and make your voice heard in Arts Advocacy 201. This advanced training covers:
* What is in-bounds and out-of-bounds when it comes to advocacy, lobbying, and elections
* How to design an advocacy strategy and select advocacy tactics that work
* Ways to engage in the Chicago Cultural Plan and the 2012 elections
You will leave with a plan to engage your elected officials that is tailored to your theatre as well as with specific steps you can take to participate in and impact the Chicago Cultural Plan.
Presented by Arts Alliance Illinois, this training is full of stories, role plays (made infamous at last year's Arts Advocacy 101 training), and lessons learned from the Alliance's own advocacy experiences.
This roundtable is free for League members, but space is limited. RSVP to ben@chicagoplays.com to attend.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Playfest! Seeks Submissions for Fall 2012
PlayFest! The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays (Fall 2012) is seeking new full-length plays or musicals based on or inspired by works of classic literature or historic events, famous persons, or advances in science. These events, persons, or advances can be from any age in history, including the present. We prefer (but are not limited to) plays that require six actors or less, and have an interest in one-person shows. However, even in the case of one-person shows, we are not looking for history lectures, or museum piece adaptations that are faithful to a fault, but rather dynamic new theatrical versions of classic stories that speak to the contemporary mindset.In musical submissions, we are interested in musicals based on or inspired by the same criteria as mentioned above.Click here for a downloadable PDF of PlayFest 2012 submission guidelines.
Initial submission deadline for PlayFest 2012 is March 15, 2012.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
On Media
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a tribute to Roy Leonard. Roy is a very well known radio and tv personality but most of you probably haven’t heard of him because he went off the air back in the 90s. I didn’t move to Chicago until 2002 so I never got the pleasure of hearing his show, but man it seems like it was extremely popular. He loved theatre and talked a lot about it and even led theatre trips to London and New York. Roy was one of those folks who were instrumental in creating the extraordinary audiences we have for theatre today.
This morning I was at a meeting at a media outlet to essentially complain about the lack of coverage they are providing for theatre. I was joined by some folks who buy a lot of advertising for their theatres. The representatives of the media outlet genuinely care about theatre in this community, I see them regularly at shows. But they do not and simply cannot provide the kind of coverage and enthusiasm that Roy Leonard provided for the 31 years he was on WGN.
Then I read a lot about the dust up that Michael Kaiser created when he condemned the rise of the “citizen blogger,” as people who have no real knowledge and so are unqualified to give their opinion. Entitled, The Death of Criticism or Everyone Is a Critic. – kind of says it all.
So, this is not news, right? We don’t have one or two major newspapers or radio stations or tv stations with critics people listen to and trust, we have hundreds. So, in reality there is more coverage but it is a much more diverse group of people doing the talking and we can’t count on any one of them to say anything that will give us a boost in ticket sales and isn’t that what we all want?
We have done some surveys about where people go to get theatre information and some still get it from newspapers and more and more get it on line but when you ask them to define on line I think most people don’t actually know. A few years ago we did a survey and some people said they get their information from Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster provides only minimum information, they sell tickets.
As usual, I don’t have any solutions, but I’m thinking it can’t be that hard to point people who are looking for good information in the right direction, right? I wonder if the media outlets would do it – you know like they do for morning shows on the radio – but featuring the folks who are talking about theatre. Just an idea, I’m sure there are many more out there.
Deb
This morning I was at a meeting at a media outlet to essentially complain about the lack of coverage they are providing for theatre. I was joined by some folks who buy a lot of advertising for their theatres. The representatives of the media outlet genuinely care about theatre in this community, I see them regularly at shows. But they do not and simply cannot provide the kind of coverage and enthusiasm that Roy Leonard provided for the 31 years he was on WGN.
Then I read a lot about the dust up that Michael Kaiser created when he condemned the rise of the “citizen blogger,” as people who have no real knowledge and so are unqualified to give their opinion. Entitled, The Death of Criticism or Everyone Is a Critic. – kind of says it all.
So, this is not news, right? We don’t have one or two major newspapers or radio stations or tv stations with critics people listen to and trust, we have hundreds. So, in reality there is more coverage but it is a much more diverse group of people doing the talking and we can’t count on any one of them to say anything that will give us a boost in ticket sales and isn’t that what we all want?
We have done some surveys about where people go to get theatre information and some still get it from newspapers and more and more get it on line but when you ask them to define on line I think most people don’t actually know. A few years ago we did a survey and some people said they get their information from Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster provides only minimum information, they sell tickets.
As usual, I don’t have any solutions, but I’m thinking it can’t be that hard to point people who are looking for good information in the right direction, right? I wonder if the media outlets would do it – you know like they do for morning shows on the radio – but featuring the folks who are talking about theatre. Just an idea, I’m sure there are many more out there.
Deb
Monday, December 12, 2011
Industry Ticket Offers
The Secret Garden - Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson in Evanston, is offering half-price industry tickets on December 26, 27, 28 and 31 at 2 p.m., and December 29 and 30 at 8 p.m. For tickets call 847-920-5360 or visit http://www.lightoperaworks.com/ and use code "robin." Tickets must be purchased in advance. No door sales.
Rudolph the Red Hosed Reindeer - Hell in a Handbag Productions at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St. is offering $10 industry tickets with code word 'boozehag' at the door through December 30, 2011. Visit http://www.handbagproductions.org/ for show times and dates.
Assisted Living – Profiles Theatre at The Second Stage, 3408 N. Sheffield is offering $15 industry tickets for the following performances: Thursday 12/22, Thursday 12/29 and Friday 12/30 all at 8 pm. Please call the box office at 773-549-1815 and mention this offer.
Penelope - Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, is offering 2 for 1 tickets to tonight's performance (December 15 at 7:30 p.m.) including FREE Explore event from 5 - 7 p.m. in the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre. Caffeine Theatre curates a cabaret of poetry, spoken word and drama surrounding the world of Penelope. To close out the event, hip-hop duo The Q-Brothers (creators of Funk it Up About Nothin’) will share a new original work, inspired by Penelope. Call Audience Services at 312-335-1650 to reserve your spot and use code 9429 when ordering for 2 for 1 show tickets. More Information.
All Childish Things - Hubris Productions at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln is offering a $10 industry performance on Thursday, December 15 at 8 p.m. Must present headshot, resume or business card at the box office. Call 773.404.7336 for reservations and mention this industry offer.
Rudolph the Red Hosed Reindeer - Hell in a Handbag Productions at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St. is offering $10 industry tickets with code word 'boozehag' at the door through December 30, 2011. Visit http://www.handbagproductions.org/ for show times and dates.
Assisted Living – Profiles Theatre at The Second Stage, 3408 N. Sheffield is offering $15 industry tickets for the following performances: Thursday 12/22, Thursday 12/29 and Friday 12/30 all at 8 pm. Please call the box office at 773-549-1815 and mention this offer.
Penelope - Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, is offering 2 for 1 tickets to tonight's performance (December 15 at 7:30 p.m.) including FREE Explore event from 5 - 7 p.m. in the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre. Caffeine Theatre curates a cabaret of poetry, spoken word and drama surrounding the world of Penelope. To close out the event, hip-hop duo The Q-Brothers (creators of Funk it Up About Nothin’) will share a new original work, inspired by Penelope. Call Audience Services at 312-335-1650 to reserve your spot and use code 9429 when ordering for 2 for 1 show tickets. More Information.
All Childish Things - Hubris Productions at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln is offering a $10 industry performance on Thursday, December 15 at 8 p.m. Must present headshot, resume or business card at the box office. Call 773.404.7336 for reservations and mention this industry offer.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
For Real
So I don’t usually talk about shows I’ve seen but this week I saw Donny and Marie and Elizabeth Rex and hmmm-hmmm, that’s right…I’m a lucky, lucky person. How many people do you think saw both? I think not so many. I loved them both and it struck me once again how fortunate we are that we have such an amazing variety and depth of theatre in this town. Do you know how many places in this country there are where you maybe would have one or the other on any given night, but both? No. Or places where there isn’t anything.
Wait, what? You went to Donny and Marie, and you liked it? Yup. They happen to be great old-school entertainers and they put on a great show. Sometimes I might not like a show, but the audience loves it and that makes me happy. This show I genuinely loved because Donny and Marie are for real. They understand who they are and how they got famous and why people come out to see them and they own it and respect it and you do too.
And you know what, that’s what makes theatre in this town so great. We got it all and we own it all and we respect it all. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to make a decision about what show to see. Tonight alone you could see: a magic show, the virgin queen, Ibsen, Blue Men, a country western parody, a crazy ass light opera, Tracy Letts in his underpants, cabaret, improv and on and on… and you can have your holiday show any way you want it – mean old Scrooge, radio plays, Nativity, Reindeers in drag and much much more. Oh holy night indeed.
Deb
Wait, what? You went to Donny and Marie, and you liked it? Yup. They happen to be great old-school entertainers and they put on a great show. Sometimes I might not like a show, but the audience loves it and that makes me happy. This show I genuinely loved because Donny and Marie are for real. They understand who they are and how they got famous and why people come out to see them and they own it and respect it and you do too.
And you know what, that’s what makes theatre in this town so great. We got it all and we own it all and we respect it all. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to make a decision about what show to see. Tonight alone you could see: a magic show, the virgin queen, Ibsen, Blue Men, a country western parody, a crazy ass light opera, Tracy Letts in his underpants, cabaret, improv and on and on… and you can have your holiday show any way you want it – mean old Scrooge, radio plays, Nativity, Reindeers in drag and much much more. Oh holy night indeed.
Deb
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