RANDOM THOUGHTS/RANDOM FEARS

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Fiscal responsibility is a value that I hold as closely as artistic excellence. My commitment to balancing the 2009 budget is keeping me awake at night and it is consuming my concentration. How will the current economic crisis impact our upcoming season? Will the price of gas continue to go up as we approach our summer production schedule? Will this impact attendance and therefore impact our projected “earned income” from ticket sales? As of yesterday our early ticket sales are doing better than expected…but I am concerned about future ticket sales.  I am very concerned that our contributed income from individual supporters is lower than last year at this time. And we have experienced significant cuts in funding from grants…and we expect even more cuts in the future.  So we are meeting daily to adjust our budget to prepare for difficult days to come. 

We are all living in uncertain times. Those of us who produce theater…non-profit theater… are frightened and full of fear and uncertainty…just like all Americans. BUT… because we are artists…we are emboldened with a new sense of spontaneity and creativity. We will not shy away from doing important work that matters. We will not shy away from the deepest questions and our search for meaning in life. We will continue to make art that is like life itself: unrepeatable, illuminating and unforgettable. We will continue to create opportunities for risk taking and reinvention. We will continue to dream with ambition, creativity and a dedication to excellence. But I am going to need you help, your support, your advice… and… your attention. Because I believe that the strength of our plays lies in what happens in the “dark room”, the space, between the performer and the audience. You and I crave the “immediacy” and the “aliveness” that keeps CATF a vital part of our community and industry. So I invite your comments…your counsel…and I invite you to help me nurture new work and innovative artists. I invite you to join me in this conversation:

How do we respond to these difficult economic times?

How do we provide a better living wage for our theater artists?

How do we stimulate more people to see contemporary theater…and can they even afford to attend?

How can the THEATER FESTIVAL make a difference in our community?

How can we develop theater/patron evangelists… who place a high value on the FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE…and then “spread the word” throughout the region?

How do we motivate our “base audience” our “tribe” to communicate the value of new plays… the importance of our our mission: “to produce and develop new American Theater”?

We all realize that the American Theater needs more funding, more adventurous new work, more diverse artists and audiences and more affordable tickets.

 The Contemporary American Theater Festival is offering our patrons a rotating Repertory of Five new American plays at affordable ticket prices…including PAY WHAT YOU CAN PREVIEWS and SUNDAY NIGHT DISCOUNTS. We are producing new work that is exciting, adventurous and relevant. I believe that the 2009 Repertory will stimulate public discourse…by continuing to make noise…cause a ruckus…and make waves.

Producing a new play festival is like going on an uncharted adventure. We are at the beginning of our adventure… and I have dreams about what we may discover. Please join me…please help me…Lets make a difference…Lets make it happen.

I welcome your comments:

Ed Herendeen

CASTING 2009

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Today is the final day for local AEA (Actors Equity Association) actors. Equity actors from the Washington/Baltimore Metro area are auditioning for the 2009 Repertory Acting Company. I had a full day of auditions yesterday and today’s schedule is also full. On Wednesday I will audition local “non professional” actors for the CATF Intern Acting Company. The intern actors will understudy the Equity Company and they will perform in a special Intern Showcase during the summer Festival.

After I complete the local casting call I will go to New York on Monday to continue casting with our Casting Director, Pat McCorkle, at her studios in Mid-Town Manhattan. We will have two full days of auditions and hold “call backs” on Thursday and Friday. Pat McCorkle will set up ten minute actor appointments. The actors will read from prepared “sides” from selected scenes from the five play repertory. Pat provides an actor/reader to read with the actors. I will have only ten minutes to decide to pass or call back the actor. It is all about trusting my intuition…Over the years I have developed a strong intuitive response to auditions. I will see very talented actors…and make choices based on my “gut instincts.” It is an exciting process.

Casting is the major decision that a producer/director makes. If I cast correctly, I have done about eighty percent of my work. This is why casting is so very delicate. It is critical to get it right. The question occurs in casting: Do I cast for “type” or do I cast for skill? My answer is, always hire the skilled actor. The skilled actor will always pull you through! Pat McCorkle always provides me with talented, skilled actors. She provides me with lots of great choices. It is one of the reasons that I enjoy working with her.

On Friday I will meet with the McCorkle Casting staff and we will put actors on hold and begin to make offers. Peggy McKowen, CATF Associate Producer will contact the actors’ agents and begin the contract negotiations. Once the negotiation process is completed I will announce the 2009 Acting Company.

I am looking forward to introducing you to the 2009 Acting Company.

Ed Herendeen

Angela’s Mixtape

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If you are in New York April 6TH through May 2nd go see ANGELA”S MIXTAPE by Eisa Davis Directed by Liesl Tommy. I am looking forward to seeing this wonderful new work when I am in New York casting the 2009 Theater Festival in late April.  As you know:  Liesl Tommy will be directing The World Premiere of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT by Eisa Davis at The 2009 Contemporary American Theater Festival in July. —Ed Herendeen

Just your average black macrobiotic revolutionary dancing family.
New Georges and Hip-Hop Theater Festival present
angelalogofinal
by Eisa Davis
directed by Liesl Tommy

with   Kim Brockington     Denise Burse      Eisa Davis       Ayesha Ngaujah      Linda Powell
design Clint Ramos, Jane Shaw, Sarah Sidman, Jessica Jahn

APRIL 6 TO MAY 2      8pm
Mondays through Saturdays
opens 4/9 at 7pm
special student matinee 4/25 at 3pm

OHIO THEATRE   66 Wooster Street  (between Spring and Broome)
$20 general admission   /  $35 premium seating (reserved)
Mondays pay-what-you-will (at the door only)
tickets 212.868.4444 or www.smarttix.com
info/group rates 646.336.8077

“On this mixtape, style will dictate, we bounce back and forth in time…”

Using the rhythms of music and memory, Eisa tells the story of a radical upbringing on the dividing line between Oakland and Berkeley , California– in a family that includes her aunt, professor and activist Angela Davis.

Time shifts between the 70s, 80s, and 90s as smoothly as a DJ fading from song to song.  Each track, each memory, has a built-in switch to the next, for theatrical momentum that keeps on building.

The music crosses styles and decades, but it’s hip-hop and a b-girl stance that keeps the piece bouncing in the present.

more info + events: www.newgeorges.org

Casting the 2009 Repertory Acting Company

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One of the most important decisions that I make as the Producing Director is casting. Each year I assemble an acting company to perform five plays in rotating repertory. This means that I am looking to cast actors who will perform in more than one play. Rotating rep is very exciting. Our patrons look forward to seeing some of the same actors appear in different plays throughout the Festival. It is a real challenge and a real opportunity to cast a rotating rep acting company. It is a responsibility that I take very seriously.

On Monday and Tuesday we will hold Equity Auditions in Shepherdstown for local Washington/Baltimore metro area Equity actors.

On Monday April 20th I will go to New York to hold Equity Auditions. Pat McCorkle Casting handles our NY auditions. I will be in NYC for the entire week…casting the 2009 Acting Company. We hope to make offers to the actors on Monday April 27th.
I will announce the 2009 Acting Company later that week.

This is a process that I look forward to every spring. I am looking forward to introducing you to the 2009 Acting Company.

—Ed Herendeen