Staying positive from the past to the future
BREAKING NEWS!
Ladies and gentlemen, the long wait is finally over! We finally know who the next Artistic Director of the Guthrie will be! We are now released from the horrible limbo that has held us mildly at attention since Dowling announced his impending retirement. It is a hell that only the good people who regularly attend the Shaw Festival in Ontario can know and may God have mercy on their souls.
Well, actually, I don't know who's taking over the Guthrie. The theater announced that they know who it is, but they're not telling until after 10:00 AM this morning.
Oh, they're such coy little minxes. This means that while I write this, I literally have no clue who will be stepping into Dowling's shoes (though I have my opinions on who it should be); but you, the reading public, will most likely know by the time you happen to see this published on Minnesota Playlist. So, congratulations you future people! You know something I don't. Now you can hold that over my head.
Remember
But turn your gaze back to the past, friends. Back in the hazy mists of time, before the Guthrie, there was the Old Log. Opening in 1940 and still operating today, the Old Log Theater is one of the oldest continuously operated theaters in America. The theater went from just another run-of-the-mill summerstock to a local powerhouse that jumpstarted the theater scene in Minnesota. It's said that Tyrone Guthrie brought his new theater enterprise to the Twin Cities based on the ground that the Old Log had laid before him. It's a scary possibility that, had the Old Log not prospered, this large and unique theater scene in what is considered flyover country might not exist today.
You have one man to thank for that: Don Stolz. Stolz joined the Old Log as a bright-eyed college graduate just a year after its inception and went on to buy it in 1946 and run it for over six decades. Even though the Old Log was sold in 2013, Stolz's mark on the theater is indelible to this day.
Don Stolz dies this past weekend, and the theater scene that we all cherish owes him a huge amount of respect for all that he wrought. Without him and everything that he did before us, there's a good chance that we might not be here now making Minnesota a great place to do theater.
We all owe him a a debt that we can't hope to repay.
Except, we can repay it in a small way by doing everything we can to keep this community vital and vibrant. So, to that end, I'm going to spend the rest of this week's News and Notes being as positive and upbeat as possible, even though it's killing me inside. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice.
I Got 99 Problems, But a Seat Ain't One
So, we're coming right out of the gate talking about the 99-seat plan? Theater news is really testing my positivity. All right, let's dive in.
Some of you may not be endlessly fascinated with the arcane, byzantine intricacies of AEA's various regional contracts (but, really, who isn't?), but you should know a little bit about the 99 Seat Plan for Los Angeles theater. In short, it allows small theaters to hire union actors without paying them the standard union wages, as long as the theater seats 99 patrons or less. It's an old compromise that exists in no other market for reasons that are unique to LA, but now that AEA is opening up a headquarters in the city of angels, there's a move afoot to revise it. Specifically, AEA has offered up a proposal to amend the Plan so that Equity actors receive at least minimum wage for their work.
It may seem like a small concession to us, but it could have huge ramifications for LA, and people are lining up angrily on both sides. Because the current compromise was born out of what was dubbed "The Waiver Wars", and I'm trying to stay positive here, all I can say is that there are good arguments on both sides. Yes, small theater producers, there is a possibility that it could decimate the Los Angeles theater scene, but there's also a major philosophical hurdle to overcome when you're arguing that "professional" actors can be denied the right to a wage that Wal-Mart cashiers make.
Oh, man, I only see this devolving into another protracted fight between AEA and its members, in which everyone loses.. but, damn it, I'm trying stay positive here. So, I'm going to step away from picking sides and let Twin Cities theater artist Carl Atiya Swanson tell everyone why we're all better off when artists don't work for free.
So, now that this bit of unpleasantness is behind us, let's move on to a topic that I find more amenable…
Broadway Musicals!
What?! No! Why?!
Shhh… just find your happy place. It's full of singing and dancing. There you go.
OK. As we move forward, being even more boldly positive with every step, it's time to talk about what Broadway touring shows will be gracing us with their presence next year. The Hennepin Theatre trust, which benevolently oversees most of the big, grand old theaters in downtown Minneapolis, has just announced their lineup for the 2015-2016 season. The most exciting news is that Minnesota will get to see three shows that won Tony awards in 2014.
Now, you might be recalling right now that I've said some not-so-nice things about the Tony Awards, and I'm going to pretend that you didn't bring that up, because I'm being positive. (I'm maintaining that positivity in the face of the Tonys by remembering when an award for theater was not a gold statue, but a live goat.) Thanks to a recent article from my favorite theater writer, the Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones, I now understand the necessary balance between safety and danger in the arts, and I welcome a return of the safely subversive Book of Mormon to the Twin Cities.
It is nice to know that Minneapolis is considered enough of a theater market by the Broadway industrial complex that we're getting these tours so soon after their parent productions blew up in New York. Do you know how long we had to wait for The Lion King to come back to Minnesota, even though it premiered here? (Also, The Lion King is coming back to Minnesota next season. You might want to book your tickets now.) And, in the interest of pointing out he positive, we're getting the touring production of If/Then, a musical that was snubbed by the Tonys, but holds the distinction of being one of the only completely original productions on Broadway in recent years. And, as an added bonus, we get another local production from Theatre Latte Da on one of the Hennepin Stages.
And we get all that without anyone having a protracted argument about who has the right to buy a Broadway theater. See? Hennepin Avenue is just like Broadway, without all the hassle.
At What Cost?
Michael Rushton is a trained economist who found himself working in the arts administration world. While the rest of his colleagues fret about what is and is not art, he's made it his mission to fret about what is and is not the right price for that art. His blog For What It's Worth has become one of my required readings as of late. Even though his economist brain has argued for price discrimination in the theater and has cast a dubious eye on "pay what you decide" schemes, I admire his gusto at being a number-crunching wonk in a sea of sentimental artists.
This week, Rushton got on his high horse about price discrimination again, this time praising our own Mixed Blood Theatre for its price discrimination scheme. What?! Price discrimination?! That's outrageous!
Yes, I know, "discrimination" sounds like a bad word, which is probably why Mixed Blood calls it "Radical Hospitality" (economists are not known for being savvy wordsmiths). As Rushton describes it, "price discrimination" is a conscious move away from the "one price for all tickets" model and toward offering a range of prices that can appeal to more audiences of different income brackets. In his eyes Radical Hospitality (which does allow you buy a ticket if you want to guarantee a seat) is actually a smart form of this discrimination that allows market forces to push up the income for a hot show while still allowing people who have more time than money a fair shot at getting in the door.
So, hooray for Minnesotan innovation!
Speaking of Innovation…
We have a yearly event where anyone and everyone in the theater world has a fair shot at showing the world their own mind-blowing theater innovations. It's called the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and I am excited to finally be able to attend the annual Fringe lottery on February 23. This year, our great big messy festival broke its own record for applicants (477, just barely edging out last year's record of 476). It's always fun for me to see how this shakes out, since entrance to the festival is decided by lottery, and I love it when random chance shakes things up.
We have another yearly event where anyone and everyone in the theater world has a fair shot at meeting their state legislators. That's right. Minnesota's Arts Advocacy Day is this Thursday. Since this year is a big one in which the next biennial budget is being decided, it would be a good idea to have as many theater people out there at the capitol as possible. You might have noticed that I am a big proponent of people actually participating in their government, and I can be pretty damn vociferous about it; but I will let Leah Cooper from the Minnesota Theater Alliance tell you why you should go instead. It's important for us to stay visible as our representatives grind out the legislative sausage, and if there's one thing you theater people are good at, it's demanding attention. So, get out there and put it to good use.
The Future Is Now
The world is always moving forward, and that's a good thing. We come from a long tradition of theater here (Thanks again, Don), but there's no reason we need to be beholden to it. We can appreciate where we came from, while still finding ways to move forward into the current century. I'm genuinely excited about whoever it is that you already know is the new Artistic Director of the Guthrie.
Why?
Because the odds are pretty good that he or she will be young enough to know how making theater in this new century can be bold and innovative, but old enough to appreciate how much the internet age has changed the rules for how art succeeds.
Or, at the very least, they will know what are the best and worst words to put in the subject line of your theater company's newsletter.
At any rate, it's going to be really interesting for me to read this tomorrow morning after we find out who's replacing Joe. Maybe I'll be less positive then. We'll see.
