Gleanings from 2009

The first year of producing has not only been a tremendous experience and one full of blessings (check out the Highlights blog entry here) but it has also been one where - through trial-and-error, feedback sessions with the artists, sage advice from our mentors and parents, and reflection of our own - we have learned A LOT! And we are working hard to apply all these lessons learned and continue to grow from all of it.

The most significant change is that we took the mission we started with and all the points we kept stressing throughout the experience and decided that we needed to rework our mission and state our goals more clearly. If you want to read the whole thing, click here.

But the tweaks we made include:

**First, we acknowledged the key phrase that we have been using - "making the luxury of the arts more accessible to all" - and realized that we needed to figure out how to really do that.

• Our target audiences will remain those who find themselves with little or no access and 90% of our shows will tour, for free where we are welcomed in.
• The other 10% is where our PWYC public shows come into play. If you followed us last year you saw that Bethesda Theatre donated their space and we offered 3 public shows for anyone and everyone. We saw this as a fluke; but then realized that if we are making the arts accessible to everyone then these performances are also a part of what we want to provide. Because there are plenty of people who could benefit from having access...they may not rely on shelters or live in a nursing home or attend an underfunded school....but there are still many reasons why they might not be able or choose not to attend arts events. Maybe they have a home but have had to cut extras, perhaps they have had very little exposure growing up and this might be a gateway into the arts... or there could be any number of reasons.
• SO, we will endeavor (if space permits) to also offer a handful of performances which are indeed open to everyone.
• PWYC for us means truly anything...dollars will help fund the program so we can do more; but if what you have is food or clothing or toys to donate, then we will happily collect for neighborhood organizations.

** Second, we thought and talked and reexamined the entire process of putting together a show. What we learned was....

• The show needs to be captivating and easy to relate to....duh....right? We knew this before...but it does not hurt to reinforce it AND make it a primary concern
• Our rehearsal process needs to do three things:

1. bring the ensemble together as quickly as possible
2. be about the the actors and their holding of the story and
3. ensure that the actors are ready to walk into any and every situation...even one where something doesn't go quite as planned.

• We have shortened the running time of programs, for 2 reasons: we want our performances to captivate and entertain. In addition, it is important to us that we develop a relationship with our audiences as well as perform for them. We want to make sure we have time to achieve this.
• JJ and I can't do everything. We need more hands in every aspect... and we need to figure out how best to delegate tasks & responsibilities.
• We are interested in building an ensemble of artists which means we have to figure out what artists most want in their work and how we can help them achieve it.
• We're working on the funding...but what else is new?

All of this is leading us to a different kind of rehearsal process this summer...


**Third, we need hands, minds, hearts. What is that Dirty Dancing Song? "Voices, Hearts and Hands" - that's it. We want to expand in so many ways including: co-productions, working with playwrights, providing a place for artists to create projects they have been thinking about, provide more than 1 tour a year, expand into other art forms....and this requires people. Funds too. But let's start with people...maybe, who can help seek funding. Primarily though we are looking for those individuals who are dedicated, excited and eager to help make the arts more accessible to everyone. Is that you?

** There's more....but for now that's where I will end. More soon as we learn.