Lovers & Madmen, Kids Save the Day, Radioactive Gals, & other highlights (and Gaslights) from DCRT’s 4th Season!

June 11, 2014 by dukecityrep

Well. Here we are. It’s June 2014, the sun is shining bright, and we’re still recovering from the Roller Coaster Adventure that was season number four in Duke City Rep Land. I use “Roller Coaster Adventure” in the best way possible. This season challenged us, pushed us out of our comfort zone, brought in some new blood and new audiences, and left us with the sort of tingling excitement that can only mean one thing: We cannot WAIT for next season!

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For me personally, this season brought on two particularly challenging positions: The first as an actor, where I was fortunate enough to take on some of the most difficult work I’ve ever encountered on the stage. The second, as the new Director of Media & Marketing (“new” meaning “combined” from other positions, with some created job positions spattered about), where I started to learn and appreciate the amount of work that goes into a position that’s highly influential in getting the word out about your theatre and then getting folks into the theatre.

Whew! I’d be lying (and laughing, hopefully, at this point), if I said that it was easy. This year was difficult, but as I said before, it was difficult in the best way possible.

So, what does that even mean, especially in Duke City Rep Land? Why are we always harping about “challenges” and “difficulties”?

Let me start off by saying that none of these words are BAD. In DCRT, we try to keep everything positive, because it’s within that kind of framework that the best work happens (and we mean this EVERYWHERE—the workplace, home, and your local coffee shop!) So when things are difficult, we embrace it. We welcome it with open arms and say, “Heck yes! Let’s take this on and see what wonderful things we can create out of it.”

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A perfect example, of course, was our opening show, Gaslight. This show was a tough one on many levels. But the idea of doing a Victorian Thriller excited us (and brilliant director Amelia Ampuero) because we wanted to push it beyond the story of a woman going insane by her murderous husband. So in came Charles Murdock Lucas, Scenic Designer Extraordinaire, with a set that defied what some might call your Typical Literal Set. Then there was Amelia who, with a fearless attitude and creative knack for thinking outside The Box, elevated the script beyond the text and into a realm of psychological exploration. Along with all of this, we had to shorten our rehearsal process. Typically, DCRT rehearses 80 hours prior to tech, usually working 20 hours a week for four weeks. Due to the addition of three new company members moving into town, we shortened the rehearsal process to three weeks, and rehearsed a mere 56 hours before jumping into tech. It was, along with the play, quite frightening, but liberating all the same.

548266_10151708204303802_1426339285_n I should also take this moment to mention those three new company members: Alicia Webb, along with her husband Coleman, and their First Mate Chubbs (a spritely long-haired dachshund) came out to join us as our Resident Stage Manager, and we feel like we gained a gold mine. Alicia’s sharp sense of humor and knack for keeping us in line and on track makes her one of my favorite people, not to mention favorite stage manager. We also welcomed the newly married (but always fabulous) Colonis—Ezra and Katie. While they had worked with us many times before (i.e. Wooden Snowflakes, Oedipus, and Poe), their move to the 505 made it official! They were not only members of the Resident Acting Company, but Ezra took on the role of Production Manager and Katie became our Director of Education and Development. Their enthusiasm, experiences in Virginia and Chicago, and incredible work ethic have helped push Duke City Rep many miles forward throughout the season! They also happen to be some of my favorite people. Well, basically EVERYONE in Duke City Rep is listed on my Favorite Person List. It’s what gets me going every morning!

So, now that our company was growing and we’d tackled our first show of the season, on came the next challenge—working with KIDS, and working with OUR LARGEST CAST TO DATE on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! This may sound overwhelming, but boy, was it a joy to work with some of Albuquerque’s Finest Young Actors. Even though the experience of our cast ranged from very little to a lot of stage work, they were all students to each other and all teachers to me! And I know that director Katie Becker Colón imparted a mountain of knowledge and experience to these kids, along with memories of fun and laughter. Watching Katie direct our cast and give them the tools and skill set to continue their path as actors after closing was awe-inspiring. I’d like to think that every single person who works with us leaves the stage a better human being (myself included).

While we’re gaining more and more wonderful patrons to our audiences, for those of you who have been with us for a while, I hope you’ve noticed the changes we’ve made with our ticketing system. It will always be a work-in-progress as we want to make it as easy and accommodating as possible for you to see our shows, but I must acknowledge Box Office Manager Janaiah Tanner for her work “behind the curtain” to support our patrons. She has spent countless hours designing, adjusting, and researching Eventbrite in order to make it accessible for you all, and she is committed to making your theatrical experience as easy-going and engaging as possible. Hooray Janaiah!

After the holidays, the entire Resident Acting Company met up with the wonderful Evening Star Barron and amazing newcomer Josh Heard to begin yet another strange rehearsal process for our Winter Classic, John Hardy’s adaption of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The show was slated to open in March, but due to Hardy’s schedule, we had to rehearse the majority of the show in January, use February to build the set and meet up once a week to revisit the play, and jump into tech on March 1st in order to open 5 days later. Insane? Not quite. Challenging? You betcha. A Roller Coaster Adventure of Shakespearean Awesomeness? OHHHH YEAHHH!!!

I must now give a big **high five** to Lighting Designer and Technical Director Anna Nichols, who has not only taken on both roles for every show since she joined on a few years ago, but whose work I ALWAYS admire. For this show, in particular, I felt as though her lighting design added an entirely new element to the world which we were building using the framework of Shakespeare’s words and Hardy’s direction. As an actor, working under her design was simply magical.

The other exciting and challenging part of this Midsummer process was our first official TOUR! In the middle of the run, we began to meet up in order to “tourify” the show—in other words, shorten it to 70 minutes and maybe alter some of the content to make it middle school-appropriate. We had the extraordinary opportunity to perform for the members of the VSA, middle school students at North Valley Academy, and patrons of the Albuquerque Country Club. Every performance harbored its own challenges and immeasurable rewards, and we left each space feeling as though we had influenced our audience who, in turn, reciprocated those influences. The mutual exchange of creativity and love was bewildering and lovely.

It was during Midsummer that we also launched the “DCRT Dialogue,” where third party members of the community moderated conversations with our audiences after each show. We were excited to ignite this idea for a number of reasons, including giving all of you an opportunity to chat about what you just experienced with each other! We are grateful for every person who came in to help us out as moderators, and we are continuing to move forward with these post-show discussions in order to make it enjoyable and engaging for our patrons.

Then came These Shining Lives. I had the wonderful opportunity to be able to WATCH a DCRT show for the first time in over a year and half. And it was quite the experience. This cast and crew faced a similar challenge to Gaslight—a shortened rehearsal period, with director John Hardy leaving after tech to head back to Virginia for a previously arranged engagement, along with a special performance at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.

Just to give everyone an idea, here’s how the second weekend of our run went with the special performance:

THURSDAY NIGHT: Performance.

After show, tear down set.

FRIDAY MORNING: Meet Bright and Early (hellooooo coffee!) to load up a truck with set.

Drive to Museum.

Unload set. 10173730_10152210801368802_8136992999079844642_n

Re-Build set.

Tech show in space.

Go home and shower (we were a little stinky by this point).

Come back fresh and clean, chat with our fantastic audience over food and drinks.

Performed show.

Had touching and enlightening Q&A with audience after show.

SATURDAY MORNING: Meet Bright and Early again (more coffee) to tear down set.

Load truck with set.

Drive back to The Cell. 10291073_10152194053398802_3045993334704665188_n

Unload set.

Re-Build set.

Go home and shower (stinky again).

Come back for another performance!

It’s here that I must also give a special shout-out to the Nuclear Museum. Not only were they incredibly accommodating, but enthusiastic to share this experience with us. It was pure joy to work with them, and we cannot wait to pursue further special performances in the future!

But I’m not done with this show. Not at all. Because I cannot think of a deeper and more engaging show to end our fourth season than These Shining Lives. As I said before, I not only got to watch and experience this touching, inspiring, and profound production from the audience, but I also got to hear what all of you had to say as you left the theatre. And your remarks, comments, opinions, and overall reactions touched me just as much as the play did.

Why? Because we fulfilled our mission. We served our audience—you all. Your responses to the show were thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, smile-inducing, and I relished each and every conversation with our patrons after every single show. So thank you.

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Wow. That was quite the season, wasn’t it?

And now…now what?

Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, while we may rest a little bit after every big project, all of us at DCRT don’t sit still for long. We’re eager with anticipation for the next thing from which we can learn and share something. So here’s what you have to look forward to:

Duke City Rep’s Inaugural Summer Academy

—We’re officially launching our first ever two week education program, led by the Resident Acting Company. In the mornings from 9am-noon, students will learn Life Skills Through Stage Skills through Acting, Improvisation, and Voice and Movement. All classes will take place at North Valley Academy, and if you’d like more information or a registration form, please visit www.dukecityrep.com or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DCRTacademy.

DCRT SA PC Front

5th Season Announcement Party! 947212_10151566653458802_1289886335_n

—Can you believe we’ve already been around for almost 5 years!? It seems like we just opened Trust at The Filling Station yesterday. But stay tuned for details on where, when, and how you can be the FIRST to know what exciting productions are in store for the 2014-2015 season!

Best of the City Voting 1476215_10151858464818802_368498878_n

—We’ve been voted “Best Theatre” in the city for every season we’ve been in existence. And we’re pretty sure part of that reason is because we’re here to serve YOU, our audiences. So be sure to let Albuquerque the Magazine know! You can vote for us for “Best Theatre” and “Best Actor” HERE!

Some recommendations for “Best Actor” include:

Amelia Ampuero

Ezra Colón

Katie Becker Colón

Frank Taylor Green

Lauren Myers

A moment to acknowledge the people who have helped us along the way, because Duke City Rep would not be what it is without the fabulous support from some fabulous folk:

Rick Galli: He’s the guy that takes all of our PR photos and production photos. Rick makes us look good, and for that, we are eternally grateful. He’s also shot and directed a few of our trailers on YouTube, which puts DCRT out into the electronic world in the coolest way possible!

Scott Milder: He’s another great director of our trailers, not to mention a great supporter, friend, and creative confidant.

Josh Heard: This guy not only did some brave and nervy work in Midsummer, but helped out with build for that show AND These Shining Lives. You rock, Josh!

The Cell Theatre: For giving us a lovely, clean, and creative space in which we can pursue elevated theatrical work!

Our Season Sponsors: Southwest Gynecologic Oncology Associates, Pay Day Inc, Renal Medicine Associates, McDonalds, the Scott Family Foundation, and Sheraton Uptown. Thank you for supporting live theatre in Albuquerque!

And, from Lauren’s File, the entire DCRT Company: Amelia, Frank, Katie, Ezra, Alicia, Anna, Janaiah (and John Hardy too) for being some of the greatest teachers I’ve ever known. I’ve grown immensely as an actor, artist, and person since I started working with all of you.

DID YOU KNOW?!

A few facts you may or may not know about the members of DCRT:

—Duke City Repertory Theatre houses the ONLY Resident Acting Company in all of New Mexico. Rad!

—Artistic Director Amelia Ampuero is freakishly flexible.

—Associate Artistic Director Frank Taylor Green came in runner up for “Best Actor” in Local iQ’s Smart List Poll.

—Two company members (Amelia and Lauren) are Burque natives. But the rest of the company comes from ALL over the nation! Including: Kansas, Missouri, Georgia, Washington DC, and Tennessee!

—Ezra and Katie exchanged their wedding vows in the same city they met—Abingdon, Virginia, which houses the Barter Theatre. This is ALSO where Amelia, Frank, and Anna met them a few years ago, and thus the seeds for Duke City Rep were officially planted!

—Box Office Manager Janaiah Tanner recently became an official Broker for One Stop Realty!

—Katie Becker Colón not only recently became an Area Manager for Arbonne International, but Anna Nichols, Janaiah Tanner, and Evening Star Barron are all consultants as well!

—Every single member of Duke City Rep is in love with their dogs. Except Frank, because he’s in love with his cat. And Katie and Ezra, because Katie’s allergic to canines. And Lauren, but it’s only because she plans on owning one very soon…

With that, folks, I hope you enjoyed Lauren’s first ever (but hopefully not the last) blog post for Duke City Rep. If you have an idea for a post that you’d like one of us to write (or if you’d just like to hear from a particular Company Member in general), feel free to let me know!

Adieu, patrons, and see you at the theatre!

~Lauren

Five Women…

April 25, 2013 by dukecityrep

We are right in the middle of rehearsals for our last production of the season, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball. I have been amazed at how much fun we are having in rehearsal! To give an audience the chance to go “behind the curtain” and see the inner workings of relationships between females is an exciting prospect. It also allows for a great deal of silliness. I can’t wait to see how the menfolk react to this production!

Another reason I’m so thrilled to be a part of this production is just the sheer number of women working on it. A cast of five women (obviously), female Stage Manager and Stage Management Intern, female Lighting Designer/Technical Director. DCRT is obviously a female friendly company but there’s something about working with this many women that’s just delightful. This process has, so far, been so exciting to me for many reasons. One, we get to work with some new blood. We’ve got plenty of familiar DCRT faces in the show but getting the chance to work with one actor we’ve only worked with once before and two other actors we’ve never worked with is galvanizing us all in the rehearsal space. The new blood is energizing everyone!

But the main reason why I look forward to going to rehearsal every night is getting to work under the direction of DCRT Associate Artistic Director Frank Green.

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Now, the reason why I love working with Frank on this production is that I go in to that space every night and watch a man approach something that terrifies him with complete and utter bravery. I see a man, directing a show about women (a mystery for any person of the male persuasion), surrounded by women, with little directing experience and Mr. Green is running, RUNNING towards the unknown. Watching Frank direct this show is witnessing a master class in bravery. Every night I watch him discover a new and more efficient way to communicate with his actors, a better way to lay his preconceived notions aside. I watch him creating a new language for himself and his cast. He is a brilliant example of an artist experimenting with his art at every opportunity. And what I also see, the thing that makes my heart swell, is that Frank’s bravery and humility in the rehearsal room is inspiring the rest of us to rise to that same level of risk and lack of ego. Frank has set the bar. And it’s now up to the rest of us to meet him on that level. It’s a challenge and a struggle for some of us, I know, because it is never easy to do the scary/hard thing. But I see the fire burning in our eyes. I see the desire to be great.

And I know that this show, which could so easily be written off as a fluff piece, will be so full of courage and wonderful because we had a fearless leader in Frank Green.

What do you have for us today?

August 16, 2012 by dukecityrep

This Saturday, August 18th, we’ll be holding our third annual season auditions. I’m so excited!

I’ve seen my share of auditions and it always surprises me how nervous I get. My job is to sit in a room, watch people be very brave, make some suggestions, give some notes and I’m done. But I always get butterflies. I don’t know if they’re sympathy jitters or if I’m anxious about finding those hard working, eager, humble folks who will join us for the season.

Either way, I’m looking forward to Saturday and getting to watch a bunch of 90 second plays.

The latest installment of Meet the Company!

March 16, 2012 by dukecityrep

It’s time again for another round of Meet the Company! Today we take some time for Artistic Director Amelia Ampuero to interview Associate Artistic Director Frank Green, whose first question was “Can I smoke?” Of course, you can, Frank, as long as you do it outside!

DCRT: Alright, hooooray! We’re here for another installment of Meet the Company. Today our interviewee is Associate Artistic Director Frank Green. Hi, Frank!

Frank Green (FG): Hi!

DCRT: Hooray!

FG: Hooray.

DCRT: Yaaaaay!

(Laughter)

DCRT: Awesome. So, it’s been a while since we’ve done this, so just to sort of remember how this whole thing goes, we’re going to talk about you for a little bit and then we’re going to do 5 Questions with DCRT.

FG: (deep breath) Alright.

DCRT: Fantastic. So Frank, why don’t you start off by telling our readers a little bit about yourself.

FG: OK, I was born January 28th, 1978 to Frank Taylor Green III and Louise Angela Green-

DCRT: So that would make you Frank Taylor Green the Fourth.

FG: I am the Fourth. My Dad is the Third, his Dad is the Second and a man I’ve never met is the First.

DCRT: Do you think you’re going to have a Fifth??

FG: We’ve often debated that! Sometimes just to make everyone mad, I’ve said that if I do have kids, it won’t be until the second or third son that will get the Fifth.

(Laughter)

DCRT: Awesome. Awesome! So Frank Taylor Green the Fourth –

FG: Yeah…

DCRT: …That’s where we left off…

FG: Oh, OH! I grew up in D.C. Went to college in West Virginia. My high school at the time had a partnership with West Virginia Wesleyan College and so, uh, I joined the choir my junior year in high school. My sister was already in it and she was like “You can get a scholarship in the choir.” It was a while of doing that that I actually got the chance to actually act in things. My sister was in a group called Uprising back when we were in junior high school. And I used to go to her rehearsals and watch and that’s what kinda really got me interested in it. But it really wasn’t until high school that I got to do it a lot. The choir always did this musical, same premise every year – some guy gets, doing well in school and he’s either in sports or academics or something and he gets pulled by the lure of the streets and the school and the community has to pull him back.

And I went to school in West Virginia and, you know, spent way more time up there than I should have.

(Laughter)

DCRT: That’s alright! It seems that’s kind of the, uh, the motto of the DCRT leadership team –

FG: Uh, yeah.

DCRT: That it take us a little longer to finish cooking, degree-wise.

FG: Yeah! (Laughter)

DCRT: AWESOME! So being from back East, being from the D.C. area, New Mexico is quite a change of scenery.

FG: Yeah.

DCRT: What was your first impression of the Wild, Wild, West?

FG: Well I drove out here so it was kind of “normal road trip”. I don’t take a lot of road trips so, you know, it’s “Scenery’s changing, scenery’s changing” and then I passed the “Welcome to New Mexico” sign and I just remember gasping because it was like the whole world had dropped away and I was suddenly driving in what used to be an ocean? You know what I mean?

DCRT: Yeah, Yeah!

FG: It really felt like I was on the ocean floor and I could not keep my mouth shut. It just kept hanging open and I could just see forever. And I sped quite a bit. (Laughter) Because I could see, you know, for what felt like, a day, down the road (laughter) and there was nothing there.

DCRT: Yes!! Though we don’t advocate speeding. It’s against the law.

FG: It was a little weird at first, the scenery never really bothered me, you know. I know for some folks the, all the brown got to be a nag but for me the brown means less snow, less cold which means my back and joints don’t lock up as much – (LAUGHTER)

DCRT: Because you’re OLD.

FG: Because I’m OLD. (Laughter)

DCRT: Frank, how old are you??

FG: I’m 34.

DCRT: Nice!

FG: I just turned 34 this past January.

DCRT: How’s 34 treating you?

FG: Uhh, so far pretty good! With 33 I felt like I went through a phase where my body reminded me that I couldn’t do the things I did when I was in my 20s and now at 34, for some reason, I feel a slight rejuvenation.

DCRT: AWESOME! It’s your third wind!

FG: Yeah.

(Laughter)

DCRT: So what the hell drove you to come out to Albuquerque, NM?

FG: I think the biggest thing was fear. I had gotten very comfortable in Virginia. I felt like the roles I was getting, it was no longer…when I first got there, when I joined the Resident Company at Barter, I felt that the roles I was getting were very challenging and I would get them and say “How the hell am I going to be able to do this??”…

Can I say hell??

DCRT: Yeah, you can say “hell”!

FG: “How in the hell am I going to be able to do this?” and by the third year going into the fourth year, I just didn’t feel like that anymore. So we’re sitting out there that day during the party on the hood of that car and we were talking about it (the idea of DCRT), and I mean, I’ve said this to you, with everything that had gone on, I still didn’t – I was like “I don’t know why I trust her in this!” This was quite possibly the scariest thing and I felt like it would be a real challenge for me as an actor, as a man, and as a human being to drive across the country by myself, to work and live with people that I really didn’t know that well. Like I knew you but –

DCRT: Yeah, but that was it!

FG: I didn’t know Kristi very well, I’d met her, I’d met Janaiah but so… when I first got out here, it was a little rough. I was like “I wanna go home! I miss the comfort!” (laughter) But once I got over that, it’s been truly a joy out here… I really dig it out here.

DCRT: And we’re unbelievably happy and honored to have you out here! And now it’s time for 5 Questions!!! These are the questions that we ask everyone during 5 Questions so uh, we’re going to get started! If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

FG: Uhhh…probably right here.

DCRT: NICE!!!

FG: To be honest!

DCRT: Solid answer!

FG: Yeah.

DCRT: Ok, what is your least favorite household chore?

FG: Wow. My least favorite household chore, I would have to say, would be cleaning the bathroom.

DCRT: Mmmm.

FG: I really hate cleaning the bathroom because I feel like just going behind the toilet is asking for ebola.

(Laughter)

DCRT: That seems to be a popular response. However, mine is still taking out the trash.

FG: Awww… I like doing that! It lets everyone know that I’m not a hoarder.

DCRT: That’s always good to know!

(LAUGHTER)

DCRT: Ok, what is your favorite word?

FG: Ugh.

DCRT: Uh-oh!

FG: My favorite word is one that I cannot say on Meet the Company. It starts with the – A, B, C, D, E, F – starts with the sixth letter of the alphabet and ends with – G, H, I , J, K – and it ends with the eleventh letter of the alphabet. I enjoy it because you’re going to get a response, no matter what. I feel like even if you’re used to hanging around people who say it all the time – there’s so many different ways you can use it: as a noun, as a verb, as an adjective, as an adverb.

DCRT: It’s the Swiss Army Knife of words!

FG: It is! It really is!

DCRT: Nice, nice. What is-

FG: There’s a dictionary!! Barbara Jones: Give it BACK!!!

(Laughter)

FG: She has my dictionary of the F Word.

DCRT: Ohhh…Really? There’s a dictionary for that?

FG: There is.

DCRT: Amazing! What is your favorite thing about working with Duke City Rep?

FG: My favorite thing about working with Duke City Repertory Theatre is the willingness of everyone to say “Yes”. Even when we disagree and we may not always – I’m going to repeat myself –

DCRT: That’s alright.

FG: We may not always agree with everyone’s ideas but it’s like “Ok. This is the route we’re going. Yeah!” and everybody goes after it, whole hog. A lot of times you get into that situation and someone will begrudgingly do it and-

DCRT: And half ass it.

FG: Yeah! And that doesn’t happen here. It’s nice to work with a group of people that… we’re always willing to set aside our own personal preference and feelings for the greater good of what’s going to be best for the company, for the community, the state and the country and so on. And that is a very nice thing.

DCRT: Aww. Ok, finally… does this teak patio furniture make me look fat?

(Laughter)

FG: Like… am I asking myself that or-

DCRT: No, I’m asking you that question about me!

FG: No. No. Teak is very slimming. Not that you need slimming- (Laughter)

DCRT: Alright, folks, that’s a wrap on this session of Meet the Company. I’d like to thank Frank Green for his honest and heart-warming answers and I’d also like to say that the teak patio furniture did not make Frank look fat either. Until next time!

Oh, is THAT how we save non-profit theatre?

March 11, 2012 by dukecityrep

Running a non-profit theatre company in today’s economy, with increasing belief that the “Arts” are a luxury and not a necessity and where the work we create has to compete with the likes of “Jersey Shore” and “The Bachelor”, is unbelievably hard. And those of us who do it, and I mean, really do it – We pay our artists, we cultivate the cultural landscape of our cities and states and we risk, risk, risk in order to serve our audiences – we do this because we love it and we believe we provide a valuable service to our cities, states, country and world. Nothing about what we do here at DCRT is easy and we wouldn’t want it to be. There are no easy fixes. There is no fool proof method to success in the theatre arts or any medium, for that matter. Although, many people seem to feel differently…

A few weeks ago, during the closing weekend of Oedipus, the following article was making it’s way around the DCRT company and cast. We took some time to read the article, entitled “Ten Things Theatres Need to Do Right Now to Save Themselves” and it spurned some lively discussion among our ranks.

I’d like to use this post to discuss Mr. Kiley’s article with some help from Resident Company Member Lauren Myers and Wooden Snowflakes director and Oedipus cast member Katie Becker, point by point. Ready? Off we go!

“Enough with the goddamned Shakespeare already.”

Amelia Ampuero (AA): Oof. The author of this article calls for a five-year moratorium on the Bard’s work. He pleads that theatre artists and producers s t r e t c h ourselves, to find new, weird plays and not play it safe by producing the works of Shakespeare. This is something we at DCRT have heard from a reviewer a few times (during Taming AND Oedipus) and I have this to say to critics of the classics: Stop being so lazy. It’s become fashionable to hate on the classics and to a certain extent, I get it. There is A LOT of bad Shakespeare going on. So how about that instead? As matter of fact, how about we call a moratorium on lazy, self indulgent theatre of all genres?

Lauren Myers (LM): Aside from the fact that Shakespeare is royalty free and so the mere financials of it make it great to produce, I do find it interesting that the author didn’t mention the other classics. It could very well be that there’s a ton of Shakespeare going on in Seattle and he’s sick of it. But overall, I disagree. Shakespeare will always be awesome if it’s done right. That’s why there are certain Shakespeare-only companies that are still going strong all over the US and the world.

Katie Becker (KB): There seems to be an essential question not being asked: Why have these classical plays have been produced for hundreds (or thousands!) of years and how can we do them well? The author states “Teach your audiences to want surprises, not pacifiers.” I agree. Especially when they expect a Classical play to be one thing (bad) and it turns out to be something else entirely (engaging and evocative).

AA: I’d also like to take this opportunity to give a rebuttal to the idea that there is an infinite number of BRILLIANT contemporary plays out there that aren’t being given a fair shot because everyone keeps doing the classics. Let me say this: That’s not true. It’s absolutely not true. It’s my job to read plays and I can tell you without any doubt that there is a bunch of badly written tripe out there. Plays that read like episodes of prime time soap operas, plays that consist of several horrible people being horrible to one another for two hours, plays that are about nothing. To the proponents of forsaking classical work for the contemporary, I ask you this: Should we produce bad work simply for the sake of producing new work? I cannot and will not do that to our audiences.

“Tell us something we don’t know.”

AA: Mr. Kiley suggests that everything theatres produce should be a new work. A World premier, an American premier at the very least a regional premier. He calls out directors, actors, playwrights themselves and even the Actor’s Equity Association as culprits in creating a theater community who is reluctant to produce new work. Sigh… please see my above response to this point.

Oh, and by the way, Duke City Rep did the New Mexico premier of LaBute’s reasons to be pretty, the West Coast premier of Catherine Bush’s Wooden Snowflakes, our adaptation of Oedipus has only been done once before and we will yet again have another West Coast premier with the final show of our season, Phoenix by Scott Organ.

KB: Again, the essential question is missing: Why is it important to do new work? How does new work serve the audience? I’ve seen a lot of bad and underdone plays at theatre, big and small. They turn off an audiences just as quickly as a bad production of Midsummer or Death of a Salesman.

“Produce dirty, fast and often.”

AA: Ok! Does this writer have hundreds of thousands of dollars to give our company so that we can makes that happen? I ask because we don’t make our artists work for free. They all get paid. And once again, I am not interested in doing bad work just for the sake of being prolific. That’s not what this great city needs or deserves. They deserve the best and that’s what we are trying to give them, even if it’s by doing only four shows a year.

“Get Them Young.”

AA: Absolutely! Yes! I truly have no argument to this point. Cultivate young audiences and you cultivate the audiences of tomorrow. Yes! And provide audiences of all ages theatre that is thought-provoking, engaging and bold. Don’t talk down to your young audiences or your old audiences or ANY of your audiences, for that matter.

“Offer Child Care.”

AA: Yeah, no.

This is a great idea, don’t get me wrong. But it requires several things that don’t make it practical. It requires a large space, away from the main performance space in which to wrangle the kiddos. We produce our work in a refurbished service station. Our dressing rooms are an old Airstream Trailer. We simply do not have a location on site (or off, for that matter) in which to hold a bunch of playing children.

There’s also the small matter of liabilty. And no matter what you say, this isn’t an area where I’m willing to ignore the rules. What if one of the kids gets hurt? What if some kid comes in with lice or chicken pox or pink eye?? Seriously. What then? My employees aren’t CPR certified, Mr. Kiley! How can you realistically tell theatre companies to set up a ramshackle day-care?!? That’s just irresponsible, in my humble opinion.

LM: I’ve never heard of this and I think it’s brilliant! HOWEVER – there are so many legal issues to look into. Do the people watching over the kids need licenses? Background checks? Watching kids becomes so much more complicated than people anticipate. BUT the thought of having kids play theatre games while waiting for their parents and thus waiting for the day they get to see the play with Mom and Dad just makes me smile.

“Fight for Real Estate.”

“Push government for cheap artists’ housing and hook up with CODAC, a committee that wants developers on Capitol Hill—and, eventually, everywhere—to build affordable arts spaces into their new condos. (CODAC’s tools of persuasion: tax, zoning, and business incentives.) Development smothers artists, who can’t afford the rising property values that they—by turning cheap neighborhoods into trendy arts districts—helped create.”

KB: Mr. Kiley makes lobbying sound like this easy thing – write a letter, change something. I’m curious – what sort of arts lobbying already exists in New Mexico? How successful are they?

“Build Bars.”

“Alcohol is the only liquid on earth that functions as both lubricant and bonding agent. Exploit it. Treat your plays like parties and your audience like guests. Encourage them to come early, drink lots, and stay late. Tax, zoning, and liquor laws in your way? Change them or ignore them. Do what it takes.”

AA: Hahahaha!! Sure, why not! Liquor liscenses, be damned! I know that there are plenty of companies out in the world who won’t think twice about serving beer, wine, and liquor to their patrons “under the table”. We are not one of those companies. We’ve worked really hard to be taken seriously and no member of our company is willing to throw that all away in order to have a socially lubricated audience. I also don’t believe that a drunk audience = a good audience.

LM: I also think this is awesome, but I can’t help but wonder how zoning and liquor laws in Washington differ from those here. But, dude’s got a point.

“Boors Night Out.”

AA: Again, a nice idea. This is something that would be very easy for DCRT to do because so much of what we do is based in serving our audience and we like hearing, good or bad, how we’re doing. We’re not afraid of hearing constructive criticism. (Constructive being the operative word.) And I, frankly, like the idea of getting immediate feedback from those we serve. Maybe not a “boors” night, necessarily but our Director of Marketing had actually suggested some time ago that we do the whole gladiator “thumbs up, thumbs down” thing. It is absolutely something to think about and let’s the audience know that when we ask how well we’re doing our job, we are truly asking. We want honest opinions, not ego stroking.

KB: I’m also interested in how to encourage audience participation beyond being a boor. Talkbacks? Pre-show discussions? Season selection focus groups?

“Expect Poverty.”

“Theater might drown without its unions, but it will certainly drown with them. And actors have to jettison the living-wage argument. Nobody deserves a living wage for having talent and a mountain of grad-school debt. Sorry.”

Unacceptable. Sorry. I have made a living wage as an actor before and yes, Mr. Kiley, I can expect to do it again. I also know many people who make their living in the arts: Actors who work at regional theatres and earn enough to have families and buy houses stage managers who are calling shows in major venues around the country, technicians who have gotten to see the world working for years on touring productions of Rent, West Side Story, Wicked. It’s not a pipe dream.

I should expect to be paid because I provide a service to my community. This argument is ridiculous, disrespectful and offensive. This is the equivalent of saying “Pfft! Doctors! You expect to make a living wage because you memorized a bunch of facts and like to cut things?” or “Teachers, you need to stop expecting to earn a living just because you learned your colors and letters in school.” It greatly simplifies what we’ve dedicated our lives to. What theatre artists do need to jettison is the idea that they should work for free. What they need to do away with is the idea of the “starving artist”. It serves no one, the artists included. Ohhhh, I could write an entire post on this topic alone as it really melts my butter.

KB: But a skilled artist DOES deserve to earn a living wage. The only city where I know of where AEA and Non-Eq earn a living as theatre professionals (mostly acting and teaching) is Atlanta. So I’d be curious to see a similar article from the Atlanta comunity.

LM: That union rant makes my head hurt.

“Drop out of grad school.”

LM: This one made me giggle simply because I auditioned for grad schools before I found out I had to come home to have jaw surgery and I couldn’t have been more happy with the way things turned out. MFA programs are a league of their own. I still don’t know what I think of them (and to be perfectly honest, have never ruled them out entirely for the future) BUT what’s funny is that a lot of commenters of the original article reacted to this one in particular. People got ALL defensive!

AA: Well, no one likes to be told they’re wasting their time and money to be taught by a bunch of has-beens or never-weres. Ha! I think the point to remember about grad school is that it doesn’t have to necessarily be the next step. And what you learn in grad school or undergrad or wherever is not gospel, it’s not the final word.

*These are, obviously, only our opinions on these matters and while we disagreed with some of the things Mr. Kiley says in his article, we are grateful for the discussion it spurned and the thoughts it generated. Readers, we would LOVE to hear your thoughts on Mr. Kiley’s article, so if you have the time, please read the original article and tell us your opinions in the comments!*

And the winner is…

January 2, 2012 by dukecityrep

It’s been a while since our last post and there’s so much to catch everyone up on!

Albuquerque the Magazine holds a contest every year to decide the Best of the City. This year, only 1 and half seasons in, Duke City Repertory Theatre was named “Best Theatre Troupe in the City”!

We happen to take this award pretty darn seriously. To those of us at DCRT, we take this to mean that we’re keeping our promise to the audiences of Albuquerque. That we’ve been serving you all and that you’ve decided to bestow this honor on us because you’re responding to our work. That seems really freakin’ cool to us! And we want to thank those friends and families and patrons who got out there and voted for us. And we expect to continue being held accountable to you. We rejoice when we receive emails and phone calls from our audiences telling us that they were moved by one of our shows. And we contemplate the feedback from you all as well about what you didn’t like, what you thought didn’t work. We take it all to heart and we listen to it. We’ve had the good fortune of having almost all positive feedback but that doesn’t mean we take the constructive criticism any less seriously. We try so very hard to make our art accessible to all of the communities in this great city and that means constantly evaluating our work and ourselves.

Occasionally, we get asked “Why another theatre company in Albuquerque? Don’t you think there are enough of you? Aren’t you worried that you all are cannibalizing your audiences?” To which we always answer: No. Since when has any city suffered from having too much good art? We don’t ever want to take away another theatre company’s patrons. We do, however, believe that theatre is a community art form and we can only become better if we are surrounded by other companies who are always striving to make tomorrow’s work better than today’s. Art cannot exist in a vacuum.

In addition to being named “Best Theatre Troupe in the City” we were also listed in the “Best of the Rest” for “Best Spot for Live Theatre”! And we are the only professional company, as opposed to venue, to make that list.

As we move into the second half of our Second Season, we are also asking our fans and supporters to consider a small donation to our current cause: A Kickstarter Fundraiser that will, hopefully, aid us in raising enough money to purchase a much needed truck. Click the link below to learn more and, hopefully, make a contribution.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1339717003/truckin-for-duke-city-rep

( A big thanks to Rick Galli and Lauren Myers for making that awesome video for us!)

On the topic of fundraising, we’d like to let you in on a little secret. Any dollar amount helps a non-profit organization like ours. Of course, of course we want those big ticket donations! But the truth is that we are just as grateful for $10 as we are for $10,000. The reason is because we see each check, each dollar in our donation jars as an indication that you believe in us and the work we are doing. And how could we not be grateful for that faith that is placed in us by you, our patrons?

Until next time, thank you all again for your beautiful support of our company and we’ll see you at the theatre!

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