NYIT Awards UPDATE: showcase code & Spaces Report published

Our update went out this morning: sign up for it here if you're not on our list. Some highlights:
NYIT Awards present study findings to NYC's joint Theatre Task force

"A joint Theatre Task Force meeting with Community Boards 3, 4 & 5 was held on October 29th to discuss the role the cultural sector plays in the city and way in which it can expand. According to Paul Nagel, Arts and Culture Liaison for the New York City Council, 'arts and culture have a central role in business, education, community, and government, yet cultural policy in the United States has not moved beyond a 1970s model of allocating and distributing grants to not-for-profit organizations.'

At this meeting, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation presented the findings from a 5-year study, "Report of Off-Off-Broadway Performance Venues," which analyzed data from September 2004 through the present."

Highlights of the report:

• Over 25% of OOB venues in both the West Village and Midtown area have either been demolished or re-purposed into non-performance spaces in the last 5 years
• 43% of all OOB venues are located in the West Side Midtown area of Manhattan
• There has been a sharp decline in the number of OOB productions presenting work in the Theatre District
• The East Village, which only accounts for 14% of the overall OOB venues, is currently presenting 30% of the OOB productions

Read the rest of Doug Strassler's story on our Space report & the Theatre Task force...

and Matt Freeman reported on the AEA Showcase updates:

"Short version: if we want to change the Showcase Code, we need members of the union to speak on their own behalf to the union, and ask for changes in the code that will allow smaller theaters to grow and provide better opportunities for actors. Playwrights, producers and directors may have opinions, but only the voices of actors will make this change happen."

Read his full story...

A big thank you to Doug, Matt, Emily and all of our contributors.

Good news: OOB publishing events!

Spreading the good news! Indie playwrights get their due in November reading & book signing events.

United Stages celebrates their newest play titles November 23rd 2008, 3-5 pm at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle NYC with original cast readings of plays from today’s hottest Indie/Off-Off playwrights. Book signing will follow the performances.

United Stages book titles will be available on their web bookstore at the beginning of 2009.

Sunday, November 23, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Barnes and Noble, Lincoln Triangle
1972 Broadway, New York, NY 10023, 212-595-6859

THE TITLES:
Hey You Monster, part one, Derek Ahonen, paperback, $11.50
Hey You Monster, part two, Derek Ahonen, paperback, $11.50
Sisters Dance, Sarah Hollister, paperback, $11.50
En Avant Playwrights, The best of, (var. authors*) paperback, $11.50
Eatfest, The Best of, Volume one, (var. authors+) paperback, $11.50
Eatfest, The Best of, Volume three, (var. authors+) paperback, $11.50
Eatfest, The Best of, Volume four, (var. authors+) paperback, $11.50

*Best of En Avant Playwrights: Ed Valentine’s Women Behind the Bush, Maz Troppe’s How Mona Lisa Got Her Smile, Chance Muehleck’s Tagging April, David Marrero’s Incident Near Chaco, Tom Dillehay’s Blue Grass, Dan Shore’s Travel, and Kathleen Warnock’s Not at Home.

+ Best of EATfest 1,3 &4 (3 volumes): Mark Lambeck’s Lucky Day, Bekah Brunstetter’s Mom, Stoned, Joe Godfrey’s Clapp Trapp, F.J.Hartland’s Postcards from a Dead Dog, Frank Higgin’s The Questioning, Greg Kalleres’ Forgetting to Remember and Help Thyself, Karen Schiff’s Recoil, Aoise Stratford’s Our Lady of the Sea, Kathleen Warnock’s Some are People and Chris Widney’s One of the Great Ones.

United Stages publishes original scripts from today’s Off-Off-Broadway/Indie theater scene. US scripts are a smart resource for theater companies looking to present the vanguard of plays and playwrights. For actors they offer fresh material that casting agents and teachers haven’t seen time and again. Our play catalog celebrates the unfolding of NY theater history from Caffe Cino legends to emerging indie stars.

AND the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of NYTE’s Plays and Playwrights continues with a free staged reading of Daniel Reitz's Fall Forward.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 @ 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 East 4th Street, New York, NY

You can check out all of the Plays & Playwrights details at NYTE Small Press & Check out the Facebook invite for this event.

Piggybacking arts organizations?

According to the Chicago Tribune, New York isn't the only theatre scene with space issues.

Depressing? yah.

What interested me was the mention of the Children's Theatre that is piggybacking on a museum for their space. It didn't seem to be an ideal situation for them and I'm obviously not a fly on the wall at their board meetings, but I wonder why these organizations are working against each other?

Which makes me wonder: in hard economic times, is there a place in New York for larger non-theatre institutions to develop collaborative fellowships to emerging artists from different mediums that deal with the same issues? How much would you benefit from being able to develop and present a multimedia ensemble piece with the Museum of Photography, for example? Does this already exist somewhere?

2007 Cafe Cino winner Rising Phoenix Repertory gets Off-Broadway run!

Was reading over at The Clyde Fitch report that another NYIT Award recipient is crossing over to Off-Broadway! Rising Phoenix Repertory (2007 Cafe Cino Fellowship award), and will present TOO MUCH MEMORY at the East 4th Street Theater in December.

Congratulations, Rising Phoenix!

AEA Showcase Code reform begins at home

In the spirit of change, community motivation and hard work ahead, I’m happy to spread the word that the AEA showcase code reform movement is again receiving attention. On Theatre and Politics has great information linked to his post regarding this issue.

The showcase code is being re-evaluated by Equity, and Michael Bell - a member of the AEA Off-Off Broadway subcommittee - has announced that he'd like to hear thoughts from code participants on how the AEA Showcase Code works (or doesn’t) for them.

If you've had experiences with the AEA Showcase Code, your voices are instrumental in moving this forward. Share your experiences and suggestions by emailing him or by commenting on his announcement.

The Sexy, Small World of Off-Off!

Have you ever been walking in Time Square and bumped into an old schoolmate or a neighbor or relative? Its crazy, but it happens. I've seen the most random freaks and friends riding the subway in New York. It is amazing that in such a big city, the world around you can feel so small.

And the theatre community? Fogetaboutit! The more you work, the more the Theatre starts to feel like a large, extended family. Only it's the family you actually LIKE and WANT to see often.

You can pretty much play the "Do You Know" game with an actor you just met and eventually there will have a director or a designer or a stage manager in common! That commonality, feeling like a family, like a community feels good! At least to me. Makes me feel like I know who I am, like I was meant to be here, doing what I do, even when it is tough.

Like: I was introduced to the venerable New York Neo-Futurists by my dear friend from college and IT Award maven, Shay Gines. That's why I saw their show, and why I ended up auditioning 2 years ago. When I entered that ensemble it didn't take long to learn that my new friends like Erica Livingston and Kevin R. Free knew and had worked with people from all OVER my life!

I know it sounds corny but as I near Thanksgiving, I truly am thankful for friends like Shay and Erica and Kevin and the NYNF ensemble, and the Emerging Artists Theatre and the larger and larger family making art around me in New York. I am happy to be here. And that family is a big reason why I am glad to be a New York actor.

So, on Monday, the Neo-Futurists are having this cool, little benefit for our autobiographical, full-length, multi-media show in November called "(Not) Just A Day Like Any Other." The show is about a real-life day in the life of me and 4 others that took our lives in a new direction. So, for the benefit, Neos will be auctioning off an experience that they will share with the winner, going somewhere, doing something.

I'm imagine my friends coming to the benefit to bid on a day spent with my Neo family...seems a little incestuous, but it is actually awesome! They get to know more about each other without my awkward introductions and my web of friends becomes tighter! So...what?...big city...small world...big family...small theatres....its a good life.

Hey here is the informaton on both the Benefit on Monday and the Show in November, come be a part of my family!

1. Here is the BENEFIT info:(Not) Just A Benefit Like Any OtherMonday, October 276:30 - 9:30 PMThe Ailey Studios, Joan Weill Center for Dance405 West 55th Street @ 9th AvenueNew York, New York 10019Suggested $5 donation at the door there will be refreshments! and unusual ART!

2. Here is the SHOW info:(Not) Just A Day Like Any OtherNovember 6 - 22Thur, Fri, Sat 8:00 PMThe Red Room - 85 East 4th Street (near Second Avenue)Tickets are $15 and are available at Theatermania.com

(here is a link to a weird little promo video I did for the show (Iʼm vlogs #9 and #2) ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMx7oko_X-8. and you can check out tne Neo website on www.nynf.org.

Borg out!

Christopher Borg, Communications Manager