Indie Theatre Week

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INDIE THEATER WEEK is here!  With 3 can't-miss events!


First up, it's the  

LIT Mixer

Are you ready to party?

We in the Indie Theater Community work hard. Very hard.

But we're also the most fun.

Let's prove it.

Come to the LIT MIXER!
As part of the undergroundzero Festival at PS 122
And Indie Theater Week
www.ps122.org

Friday July 16th
11:00pm - 1:00am
PS 122 - 150 First Avenue

Join your favorite indie theater folks for a night of drinks, dancing, and mingling.
See you there!

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Next, join us for the -

Innovative Theatre Awards Nominee Announcement Party:

at the historic Off-Off-Broadway Venue
Demo Hall / Carmine St. Center at Our Lady of Pompeii
located at 25 Carmine Street (corner of Bleecker)

Monday July 19th
from 7pm to 10pm

For more information, please visit http://www.nyitawards.com
 

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Finally, please join The Community Dish, The Innovative Theatre Foundation,
The League of Independent Theatre and United Stages

for the
2nd Annual Indie Theatre Midsummer Classic
(Softball Game and Picnic)

Saturday, July 24th
noon to 4pm
Field #1 of the Great Lawn in Central Park

Picnic (bring your own) - noon to 1:00pm
Softball Game - 1:00pm to 4pm
Drinks at a nearby pub TBA - 4pm til they run out of beer & hot wings

Your team captains Tim Errickson and Michael Criscuolo ask that if you have equipment to please bring it and to be prepared to share a glove with a neighbor.

It is a great way to celebrate the summer, share community spirit and engage your fellow OOBers in a little friendly sporting rivalry. 

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2nd Annual Indie Theatre Midsummer Classic

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Please join The Community Dish, The Innovative Theatre Foundation,
The League of Independent Theatre and United Stages 

for the

2nd Annual Indie Theatre Midsummer Classic
(Softball Game and Picnic)

Saturday, July 24th
noon to 4pm
Field #1 of the Great Lawn in Central Park

Picnic (bring your own) - noon to 1:00pm
Softball Game - 1:00pm to 4pm
Drinks at a nearby pub TBA - 4pm til they run out of beer & hot wings

Your team captains Tim Errickson and Michael Criscuolo ask that if you have equipment to please bring it and to be prepared to share a glove with a neighbor.

It is a great way to celebrate the summer, share community spirit and engage your fellow OOBers in a little friendly sporting rivalry.

Please SAVE-THE-DATE!

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Title: Crash Test Smarties

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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jonathan Reuning.


My brother-in-law has a degree in economics so Ian and I consulted him when we started  United Stages.  He said the first and most important thing to do was to write a business plan – a crash test, so to speak – A way to imagine your company’s journey and anticipate potential potholes along the road. 

Does your company have a crash test? How do you envision your company doing two years from today? Three years? A decade from today? Grab a pencil with a non-dried out eraser and a stack of scrap paper. It isn’t real unless it’s written down. Who is your current audience? No, really, be specific. What things are you doing to make your audience grow? If you had to, who could you share resources with? (Who are your natural allies?)  Don’t know? Luckily you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There is an amazing amount of crash test advise to be found right here on this site.

This is my final guest blogger post and I just wanted to say thanks to the IT Foundation for the opportunity to enter the conversation. I’m obliged also to the NYC producers and artists who each day chime-in, remain curious, make connections with one another,  respect their audiences, and grow and thrive in the business and art of theater.

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Ford Tough

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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jonathan Reuning.


Last year, because the mortgage market collapsed and it seemed our country was facing the next Great Depression, many theater companies stopped producing shows and started producing fundraisers. Some trimmed their expenses by showcasing work in festival venues that offered brief but less expensive performance opportunities. Some abbreviated their regular seasons while others suspended operation entirely to wait out the recession. Some took a gamble and charged up their MasterCard and took advantage of industry discounts. A year later these combination of strategies allowed ailing OOB a chance to rebound.

I recently read how Ford Motor Company’s reputation for fiscal conservatism was popularly ridiculed for being out of touch with the day’s risk rewarding financial strategies. Of course we now know that Ford was the only US automaker able to decline government bailout money. Their reluctance to outsmart their own balance sheets rewarded them with a huge advantage over their crippled competition. What’s more, instead of being complacent at the top of a shifting heap Ford heavily promoted the value of their products. Some experts believe that Ford’s momentum will keep them dominant for decades.

“OOB and the recession” is my guest blogger topic which sounds pretty ominous but I’m excited to explore it. I think there are probably some lessons to take away from our experiences. It is hard to imagine any small venue theater professional unaware of the negative impact the economy has had on small (and large) theater companies, but you know….It might surprise some to learn that during these most challenging 12 months there were some companies that did more than survive. They flourished. I can’t talk about specific US clients but I’ll say it again, many companies brought in record audiences. They maintained or increased their financial stability during our worst economic year in memory.

How were they able to stay in the game? Did OOB companies that also operated as fiscally conservative businesses take leaps forward? How much luck is involved vs. strategic planning? Aren’t Indie companies supposed to be art smart but maybe a little business-stupid? Possibly, but I’ve never seen it. Would love to hear how you are outsmarting the recession. Also, what you would have done differently if you’d had a year or two with advanced knowledge of the economic downturn.

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Guest Blogger next week: Jonathan Reuning

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We would like to thank Tim Errickson for his humorous and oh so accurate blogs from last week.

We are so happy to announce that next week's guest blogger is Jonathan Reuning.

Jonathan Reuning was born in California but spent most of his life in NYC. As a child he was sort of an actor and singer. As a young man he studied acting and playwrighting at Syracuse U, NYU and Playwrights Horizons. His first play was self-produced in a downtown space right next to an active firehouse. His second play was produced by Emerging Artists Theater Company (EAT) in a building that doubled as a Masonic Temple. From that he lucked into running the EAT playwrights unit for a few years and also got experience as a company manager. He had more work produced at EAT and in other venues including PSNBC and Lincoln Center Director’s Lab at HERE space. He had the opportunity to do most all of the typical New York survival jobs including short order cook/bouncer and his favorite, elevator operator. Jump a little bit ahead in time, he currently is co-founder of United Stages which is a six year old playbill company mainly for NY producers (OB/OOB/Indie) looking to present small venue as a unified professional industry. He met his business partner Ian Marshall because their moms knew each other and Ian ended up directing one of Jonathan's plays and then moving into his apartment building with his bride to be, Loribeth, who graciously allowed herself to be roped into doing huge amounts of work to help get their business rolling. Today Jonathan spends most of his time promoting theater companies through marketing and publishing. He's also published some really good playwrights which he says is an amazing privilege. Finally, he is currently trying to get back into the swing of writing plays again, an ambition he had shelved for half a decade to concentrate on the playbill. He says he's a little nervous because "I’m not entirely sure I remember the drill."

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