Wow, guess all the drama doesn’t just happen on stage, huh?
Anyway, I’ve just started subscribing to the Washington Post and have noticed quite a bit of hype about the 8th annual Page-to-Stage festival at the Kennedy Center, which is happening this weekend. Now THIS sounds like a great idea! What hole have I been living in that I hadn’t heard about this before?
Sure, as others have said, a peer-led awards recognition type thing for Richmond theater would be awesome. The challenges to creating something like that are daunting, however. I’ve corresponded with people who have set up recognition vehicles in Washington and Chicago and, to make it work, you have to have a LOT of people who are HIGHLY motivated to do it. Certainly not impossible, but daunting.
But really, the whole point is to generate interest, right? Turn mildly interested citizens into ticket-buying audience members, right? And something like this Page-to-Stage thing would be just the ticket. It essentially means taking something like the CenterStage grand opening / open house and doing it every year (oh, and not charging admission for it; oh, and inviting performers outside the resident companies; and probably some other things too…)
To me, if anyone wants to generate more interest in Richmond theater and if anyone at CenterStage is reading and wants ideas for making their new venue beloved and popular, they might do well to have a conversation with the folks behind “Page-to-Stage.” Just a thought.
6 comments:
This program looks AMAZING!
I wonder if we have enough "new work" in Richmond to sustain such an event, but I think the idea of that sprinkled in with open rehearsals and what-not is really stimulating! And what an educational experience if students were brought in to watch this kind of stuff!
(so many exclamation points...I'm trying to not put one here...I'm really trying)
!!!
I don't think Richmond is ready for any kind of peer awards ceremony. The same ugliness, and bullshit would take place with those as well. Once a year at this point is enough. I just want to remember how fun last year was, and how NICE everyone was to each other. And we got free mayo.
and a lifetime supply of hair products
i've always loved the page to stage idea...
BC: i wonder if we would (should we all get on board to make something like this happen in our region) need to stay focused on new works?
what if we combined this idea with something similar to TCG's free night of theatre, and create a three-day span at the beginning of all of our seasons where each theatre opens their doors to the community to allow 'the process' be experienced by everyone...
i know not everyone has the same season, but it's this time of year when everyone's really getting back into the swing of things that i find the most exciting...
david, you may be onto something!
Thanks, kb! I guess I was thinking along similar lines: not necessarily just new works but whatever each company is working on for the fall (or the spring for that matter). I think I'd prefer it in one location like with the Kennedy Center event, someplace big and central where many things could be going on simultaneously, like CenterStage. Or maybe Acts of Faith could bring in each show on its slate for a weekend run at CenterStage so it'd almost be like rep. Logistically challenging but still, I think there are many interesting possibilities along these lines of exploration...
Such an event would also provide the chance to film these scenes or excerpts to use throughout the run-up to the full production. These "trailers" could be posted by each theater company on YouTube and other websites, and/or perhaps a trade could be arranged with a local TV station---air time for program ads, etc.
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