PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 58 & 59

Day 58 & 59: Wedding Anniversary, Pow-Wow, & our travels to Portland, Oregon

Three years ago on April 28, 2007 Brad and Amy got married on Sanibel & Captiva Islands in Florida. The entire day and week in Sanibel was UNBELIEVABLE. And if you haven't seen the wedding toast from their wedding yet... check out "The Best Wedding Toast Ever! This week it passed 1 million views on You Tube!



We spent the day in Grapeview, Washington celebrating 3 unbelievable years! And we had a major pow wow assessing the data from our trip, compiling lists of the most common challenges that we have heard during our meetings, and brainstorming our steps for the future. We will be extensively assessing all of our data upon our return to Los Angeles, but it was critical to take a day on the road to begin this extensive process.

The next day we headed on the road to Portland, Oregon for our meetings on Friday with PICA (Portland Institute of Contemporary Art) and Portland Center Stage.




We grabbed some dinner on Alberta Street. It was a very cool artsy part of town and also an incredible place to snap some really awesome photographs! We even saw a rainbow and an awesome sunset!






After a great evening, we settled in for a night at the RV park and we are beyond excited for our meetings in the morning! Another perfect day on Project Knowledge!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 57

Day 57: ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) of Seattle

Seattle here we come!

We woke today to the calm of fresh and crisp Washington air. About a week ago or so we solidified plans to meet with ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) of Seattle. When we met with Mike Daisey in Dallas, (which feels like forever ago at this point!) he recommended us checking out ACT because he was excited about the work that was going on there. We also read a bit about a model they were using for "subscriptions" that was an alternative to the traditional season subscriber model, so we were excited to see what was going on there.

We pulled into Seattle a little early to grab a bite to eat and brainstorm questions for the meeting. We had a bit of time to wander down Pike Street and around the water and while there, we stocked up on some incredible vegetables from local farms. In short, we fell in love with Seattle and the more we explored, the more the sun poked out from behind dark clouds. Seattle is vastly green- with life everywhere- and at the same time, it has a sort of San Francisco meets Maine type of feel. What a town!




Before the meeting we also met up with Sonia Michaels, a specialist from The Transcendence Artist Project in Punta Banda, Mexico. Sonia came down to Mexico back in 2009 to talk to us a bit about creative writing, and during the beginning phases of the development of the company, she helped Amy a lot in website verbage, sponsorship writing, and press releases. She gave us a quick tour of Seattle and it was great to catch up. Thanks Sonia!



After our introduction to Seattle, we headed down the street to ACT, centrally located in downtown Seattle. We were quickly greeted by Nicole Boyer Cochran, the Artistic Manager and Executive Assistant and Harlie Rees, Audience Services Director (isn't that a great title...you don't see that too often!). The two of them gave us a remarkable tour of the historic building, which formerly served as a gentlemen's club for the Eagles. The building was built in the 1920s and was historically preserved by ACT when it was restored in the late 1990s.



The history of this building made for a thrilling experience in just walking through the space. Pictures and sculptures of eagles littered the walls and floors and protruded from every corner, and the stories of a lost tradition seemed to leak from every hidden corner of the building.

Four theatres are housed by the building:

1. The Falls Theatre- a more traditional proscenium-like stage, with audiences on three sides, seating roughly 400 people.

2. The Bullitt Cabaret, a "modest" and vastly interesting space with a small stage, cabaret tables and chairs, and an upstairs balcony that circles the room with a master staircase that luciously swirls down toward the first floor. The room used to be a speakeasy during prohibition and there is an exit/entrance that leads to the street and 15 other exits that allowed for a fast evacuation in the event of a raid or similar obtrusion.

3. Buster's, a similar proscenium-like stage with a smaller house.

AND

4. The Allen Theatre, possibly the most fascinating theatrical space in the United States. Describing the space here will most likely fail to give the space the full appreciation it deserves but nevertheless: The space was a master ballroom with many entrances, a second floor wrapping balcony, and even a modest traditional proscenium stage. Rather than take the expected route and keep the proscenium structure, ACT did something quite remarkable. Inspired by a visit to a meteor landing site, they dug a hole into the central space of the ballroom, preserving everything else around it. There they created a "theatre-in-the-round" that's built right into the floor and seats 400 people. They then rigged a state of the art sound and lighting grid and suspended it from the ceiling. The "theatre in the round" however is more like a polygon of sorts with many sides, all unequal in length. The result is breathtaking and makes for an absolute must-see.

If you are ever in the area, stop by to check out the place. I'm sure they would be equally as warm and welcoming as they were with us. The building houses a bunch of treasures beyond just the space (including a preserved vault in the basement of the building!) and is a landmark in itself.

Following our tour we headed to a conference room where we were joined by ACT Artistic Director Kurt Beattle and Managing Director Carlo Scandiuzzi. We talked for more than two hours with them about the history of their company, the "rebirth" of ACT a few years ago, and the introduction of a Netflix-like subscription model that offers an alternative to the standard season subscriber model. For only $25 (or $20 if you are under 30) you can get access to the entire year round-programming that ACT has to offer.

While the economy slowed and most companies cut the amount of programming they offered, ACT actually increased it from just 5 mainstage shows, to around 45 different events that are entirely "free" to a monthly subscriber. We talked at great length with them about the logistics of this and how it has helped them as a company solidify their artistic goals and ambitions and bring play back into the process of making theatre. We were all quite literally on the edge of our seats.

Kurt and Carlo are beyond inspiring. Sitting across a table from them is a very unique experience. Their passion for theatre and their captivating ability to articulate that into words and action left us all thrilled for the future of our own company. They offered a great deal of business advice, but more importantly, some wonderful principles regarding the moral sustainability of a theatre company and the purpose of cultivating fine art that serves the current world. If you get a chance, check out the ACT Manifesto, written by Kurt.

Today was, just like so many, the best day ever.

Thank you immensely to ACT for your unprecedented hospitality: Nicole for your enthusiasm, Harley for your warmth and ingenuity, and Kurt and Carlo for your inspiration!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 56

Day 56: Missoula Children's Theatre and on the road to Seattle

Today we had an inspiring visit with Jim Caron, the CEO and founder of Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) at his beautiful theatre in Missoula, Montana. Jim has an amazing story about how his theatre began… he was traveling from Chicago to Oregon for a wedding when his car broke down just short of Missoula. While he was getting his car fixed by a local mechanic he happened to see an audition posting for a local production of "Man of La Mancha", so while waiting for his car he auditioned. He ended up getting cast as Sancho in the production, becoming close friends with Don Collins who was playing Don Quixote, and when the show closed the two of them decided to start a theatre of their own in town (you can read about it here on their website).

What started as a children’s theatre company, evolved into a company that goes to towns and casts local kids in their show, rehearses for a week, and then puts on a performance for the local community. It took them a while to grow in size (after doing 1 town the first year, and 3 the second, they gradually began to build), but since they have a staggering rate of retention (98% of their towns ask them back), this year they are performing in over 1,500 towns in the US and around the world (which will be putting over 70,000 kids on stage!). One of the most amazing things about MCT is that they are able to derive 90% of their yearly operating budget from their initiatives, so that only around 10% of their budget comes from donations, foundations, and grants (which is an astonishing accomplishment in the non-profit theatre world).

Along with their children's shows MTC also hosts 3 summer camps (for 3 different age groups), produces community theatre productions every year, and in the last couple years they launched Next Step Prep which is a summer training school for high school musical theatre actors. Last year was the first year for Next Step and they managed to bring some respectable musical theatre names in to teach classes and workshops (including Jason Robert Brown, Alan Campbell, & Alex Gemignani). It will be fun to follow how their programs continue to grow and succeed.

It just so happens that today was Jim's birthday! We had a fantastic conversation with Jim about the challenges and experiences he's had in his years with MCT, we met a bunch of the staff, and he gave us a tour of their beautiful theatre and office spaces. He also gave us some great advice as we start building the infrastructure of our company and he was very excited to throw out quite a number of potential cities for us! He's excited to see where we will end up... and so are we!!!!

After grabbing a bite to eat, we hopped back in the RVs and got on the road out of Montana, through Idaho, and into Washington to get close for our meeting tomorrow with ACT in Seattle.

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 55

Day 55: Our friend the peacock & our journey to Missoula, Montana

Today we woke up to find a peacock in our campsite! Strangely enough, it decided to circle around our RVs a few times before disappearing into the distance. We're not even sure whether or not they are indigenous to the area, but a peacock in Montana seemed pretty random and awesome to us!

We then got on the road to Missoula, and what a nice drive it was! We went through some beautiful terrain as we got closer and closer to the mountain range.

And seven hours later we arrived at another camp KOA. It appears to be quite the successful business chain when it comes to RV camps! We then proceeded to convene around the campfire to prep for our meeting with Jim Caron at Missoula Children's Theatre tomorrow afternoon!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 54

Day 54: From Fort Collins, Colorado to Billings, Montana

Last night was an tough one for us at our RV camp north of Denver, Colorado. Although the bathrooms were closed at the RV site and although we had very heavy winds rocking and shaking our RVs all night (which Stephan was sure was a tornado), we managed to wake up feeling positive in the morning as we began on our two day drive to Missoula, Montana to meet with Missoula Children's Theatre.

And what a drive we had! 8 hours through Colorado, Wyoming, and finally Montana. Robert & Brad did a masterful job getting us there through some heavy winds and icy roads. The weather was fluctuating the entire time which made the ride very interesting. Check out some of the sights we saw in one day! It was quite an adventure!



Snow...



Snow...



... and no snow!







In Billings we stayed at the historic first KOA RV park ever created. KOA is the name of the Camping Company that has provided a bunch of the campsites we've used along our way. Known for their golf-cart riding camp helpers and managers, we've stayed at KOAs so much now that we are members of their discount group. Junior loved our campsite because there was a dog run to play with other dogs. After a group workout, dinner, and a campfire (that got cut short because of a surprise spring rain), we did some work and went to bed. Tomorrow we have a 5 1/2 hour drive through the mountains to get to Missoula!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 53

Day 53- Our meeting with Anthony Radich of WESTAF in snowy Colorado

We saw our first snowstorm today as the endless rainstorms in Denver morphed into beautiful white flakes. Somehow in all our traveling during these primarily winter months, it's taken 53 days to see snow. I guess we were lucky enough to escape any sort of terrible winter weather!

Check out the snow capped mountains! SO cool!



We left the Denver RV park this morning and convened at Water Course Foods to have a brainstorming session in preparation for our meeting with Anthony Radich of Westaf. Westaf (an acronym for Western States Arts Federation) is a non-profit supported by the NEA that is "dedicated to the creative advancement and preservation of the arts." Westaf serves thirteen states in the western region and has a variety of programs and grants that help artists and arts institutions thrive. Check out their website to see all of the unique and creative offerings they have.

Stephan discovered Westaf during our initial searches via an interview with Anthony on Barry's Arts Blog. In this interview (which was a round table with some Western states art agencies) Anthony talked a lot about the tides of change in the structure of the theatre model and mentioned that the challenges of the 501 (c )(3) were present long before the financial recession. Naturally our interests were peaked and after contacting him, Anthony graciously agreed to meet with us.



This was, undoubtedly, an incredible and inspiring meeting. We met Anthony at the Westaf offices and walked to a coffee house around the corner. Anthony shared the history of Westaf and he articulated, in greater detail, many of the points he mentioned in the Barry's Blog interview. He validated a lot of our concerns and showed enthusiasm for our ideas, challenging us to think deeper about a more self-supportive and income-earning theatre. He also offered some advice and collectively we came up with a few ideas for creating a more community-based business-aware theatre company.

Thanks Anthony for the insight, the enthusiasm, and for the tea!

After the interview, we fueled up, retreated to the warmth of the RVs and hit the road. We have a few days of traveling ahead of us to get to Missoula, Montana, where we have a meeting with Missoula Children's Theatre on Monday. We will be doing our very best to avoid the snow and brutal winds! Wish us luck!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 52

Day 52: Our meeting with Lee Worley at Naropa University

We were put to sleep last night by the calming sound of rain on the roof of the RV. (Maybe you caught that on Amy's status update on facebook!) We seemed to have entered Denver, CO in the midst of some serious rainstorms. It was a nice way to end the night, but the sounds of rain this morning was a little less exciting. Fortunately it cleared up halfway through the day!

Today we took a trip into Boulder to meet with Lee Worley of Naropa University.



We were introduced to Lee and her book "Coming From Nothing, the sacred art of acting" through one of Amy's dear friends Meghan Fahey. Meghan and Amy were heavily and ecstatically involved in high school drama together and in recent years Meghan has been a student at Naropa University. Amy had read part of Lee's book in 2007 and her ideas were some of the initial inspirations that sparked the idea of for our company. So it was wonderful for us to finally be able to meet Lee in person.



Boulder is a wonderful city with some great vibes. It's relatively intimate and serene while maintaining the sort of energy and briskness of a typical Colorado ski town. I think we all fed a bit off that energy when we pulled up to Naropa's campus.



We arrived at Lee's office and, unable to all fit inside, we moved to a classroom around the corner that she had reserved for us. We talked a great deal about the history of Naropa, which started in the early 70's as an institution providing a really unique liberal arts education inspired by Buddhism. How interesting is that?

She also shared her journey from New York (where she was born) to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Apparently Lee also felt a disheartening incompleteness as an actress in the Big Apple. Even though she got much of what she wanted out of a career in the arts, she likened the experience of getting these things to "banging your head against the wall." We couldn't have agreed more. Inspired by the notion that art can be anywhere and by a desire to have a life that could be financially stable and include a family, she moved to Santa Fe and got involved in some local theatre.

She described to us the contemplative education programs she helped to create at Naropa and also gave us a history of the development of her approach to theatre and performance. We also talked about the students that find success at Naropa versus the ones that don't. Lee stressed that the ones who are looking to see only how the program can serve them, tend to lack harmony within the program.

This was, of course, very interesting to us. We often mention the challenges of mindset among actors. Our industry seems to promote a strive toward only fame and fortune as a measure of success. This conversation with Lee was very similar to the conversation with the faculty of Wichita State two days ago. The teachers there also mentioned that students in this generation tend to see their theatre education as a means to an end. In other words..."I am here to learn what I need to learn to become very successful in my career." We all understood to varying degrees this mentality and the challenges of where it leads you.

Check out a link to Lee's article, The Contemplating Teacher: Taking the Long View

Inspired by our wonderful conversation with Lee, we headed out to explore Boulder and we first ended up stopping at a "fast food" vegan restaurant down the street called VG Burgers. They had an array of vegan burgers, salads, wraps and the like and it was a delicious experience!





Then we walked the streets of Boulder, enjoying the eclectic and peaceful nature of it all. Brad and Amy grabbed a quick haircut (RV hair is a challenge) and we headed back just in time as the rain clouds followed us back to Denver.

Tomorrow we meet with Anthony Radich of Westaf! Looking forward to that one!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- Day 51

Day 51- TRAVEL DAY to Denver, Colorado

It's hard to believe that we have been on the road for 52 days. It's gone by so very fast and our travels are now taking us back west! We got a jump start on our journey to Denver following our meetings at Wichita State University and ended up seeing a mind blowing sunset from our RVs before we stopped for the night at The Sundowner West Campground in Salina, Kansas.

The pictures don't really do the sunset justice, but it was one of the most amazing sunsets that we've ever witnessed in our lives!





After a night of work and sleep (and FINALLY doing our laundry!), we hopped into our RVs and departed on our 7 hour drive to Denver, Colorado. Our ride was nice and peaceful. The planes are beautiful and the Rocky Mountains are mesmerizing. We arrived in Denver and parked for the evening at The Dakota Ridge RV Park. We spent the rainy evening prepping for our two important meetings over the next two days.





Tomorrow we will be meeting with Lee Worley who founded the Theatre Studies Program in 1972 at Naropa University in Boulder. She was also a founding member, actress and teacher in Joseph Chaikin's Open Theater. On Friday we are very excited to meet with Anthony Radich who has served as the Executive Director of the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) since 1996. WESTAF is a 13-state regional arts organization that sponsors programs and projects in the areas of cultural policy, diversity, technology, arts research and state-level arts advocacy.

We are looking forward to learning some incredible knowledge during our stay in Denver!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE Day 50

Day 50: Faculty and Student Talks at Wichita State University

Our first meeting of the day was with Amy Baker Schwiethale and the wonderful faculty of the Performing Arts Department at Wichita State University. We had a very enlightening conversation about the challenges that arts programming faces at the University level. It was interesting to hear their projections about where the programming will be in the next 10 years as well as their own department's goals for the future. We also discussed the mindset of the younger generation and their attitudes and expectations regarding education. This meeting gave us a lot of great insights that we will take into consideration as we continue defining our holistic technique for artists. Thanks to all the faculty for participating in the discussion! It is incredibly helpful for us to hear the perspective of the educational leaders who are training the future of American Theatre.

We then met with a collection of students in various disciplines (dance, musical theatre, tech). We had a conversation that centered on why they love what they do and what their goals are for the future. It was wonderful to share our experiences with them as well, and to impart some words of advice as they get ready to begin their exciting professional careers!

Thanks, Amy, for organizing such a special couple of days. We gained so many incredible insights during our time in Wichita and we'll miss you!

So off we hopped into our RVs with Junior. It's time for us to head off to our meetings in Denver, Colorado!!!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE Day 49

Day 49: Music Theatre of Wichita & talking theatre with The Schwiethale's

In our exploration of different theatrical models, we knew it was important to take a look at the structure of the traditional summerstock theatre. Thus, on our way through Kansas, it made perfect sense for us to make a stop at Music Theatre of Wichita, one of the best theatres of its kind. We had a great meeting with producing artistic director, Wayne Bryan, who gave us a full tour of their incredible space, as well as invaluable insight into how they succeed at producing five shows with overlapping rehearsal schedules summer after summer. The theatre is a well-oiled machine in the churning out of successful quality productions that employ close to 200 technical staff over the summer and about 10 salaried employees year-round...a pretty incredible feat! Another thing that Music Theatre of Wichita prides itself on is its apprentice program, which provides the opportunity for young people in the region to take a first step into the world of professional theatre. Many alumni go on to have hugely successful careers in the field that may not have been possible without such an opportunity.

MTW, however, is not without it's challenges. The summerstock formula creates an inability to take risks in programming because of the short show runs. Longer runs provide lesser-known shows or new works with the opportunity to spread and sell through word of mouth. The challenge for summerstock then becomes to produce old classics in a fresh way. MTW is doing an exceptional job of that. We had an incredible time discussing the future of musical theatre with Wayne. It is so exciting to discuss new ways of engaging young people and communities with this powerful art form. We all agreed that the years ahead will be a very vibrant time for the creation and production of musicals.

Many thanks to Wayne for sharing his wonderful work and passion for musical theatre with us!

This is a photo from our tour of the facilities! Musical Theatre Wichita can paint very large back drops in their paint shop. So cool!



After our lovely meeting with Wayne, we headed to see Amy Baker Schweitahle who will be choreographing Music Theatre of Witchita's performance of Gypsy this summer. She is also the Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at Wichita State University. And to top it off, Amy danced together with our Amy on The First National Tour of 42nd Street in 2003-2004.



It was wonderful to meet up with Amy and her AWESOME husband Nate. We had the most amazing time visiting with this incredible couple.



We were also happy to have another 42nd Street reunion when Tom Frye suprised Randi at Amy's home. Tom is a native of Wichita, an actor, and a theatre professor. Randi and Tom played Anytime Annie and Bert Barry on the 42nd Street tour!



After the most perfect evening, we returned to our RV camp to get ready for our meetings at Wichita State University in the morning. We are very excited to speak to the theatre faculty as well as Amy's students. It was another best day ever on Project Knowledge. We are learning so much!