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Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:51:13 -0500
From: Radio Boston radioboston@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Re-send Idea for story

Dear Mr. Stark:
Thank you for this email. I'll make sure Mark sees it when he gets back from vacation (he's off this week).
Many thanks,
Jessica Alpert
Assistant Producer

Monday, 4 January, 2010 - 9:38 p m:
"Take Back Your City!"

Boston Is A CITY OF THEATER

Open Letter

Mark Navin, Senior Producer
Radio Boston
c/o WBUR-FM
890 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Though I have lived here for over fifty years, every week when Radio Boston comes on, I learn things about Boston; often things so eye-openingly new and important I'd refer to them as "news". I thank you for teaching me what many things I don't know about my city. and, since you've asked us to "Send us your thoughts and story ideas!" I thought I'd ask you to turn your excellent staff of reporters loose to discover just how much you all don't know about the scope and vigor of Live Theater here in Boston. To entice you, let me enumerate a few things I know myself --- many of which I'll bet the many people who actively Make theater here don't even know themselves.

There is, of course, the shady history that kept plays out of Colonial New England --- though I think General Burgoyne Acted in plays when he held the city in the Revolutionary War. Everyone knows that a "museum" called The New Exhibition Room had to call productions of Shakespeare "lectures" because theater was illegal. But when flaming radicals calling themselves Actors' Equity demanded people actually get paid not just for performances but for Rehearsing, producers started "rehearsing" here in Boston, trying-out shows in front of the most intelligent and enthusiastic audience in America.

They may not know that when he became theater critic for the Boston GLOBE at first Kevin Kelly refused to "waste his time" reviewing even The Charles Playhouse's or the Theatre Company of Boston's plays, because making or breaking shows on their way to Broadway openings was more important. (At that time a producer who wanted a two-week run here had to reserve a slot in one of the three big playhouses here A Year in advance, so many came through town.) They may know, though, that visiting playmakers took much more seriously the words and advice of their friend Eliott Norton, who worked for the RECORD-AMERICAN and, when they bought it, the HERALD.

When I wrote reviews (circa '67 - '72), aside from the three Broadway houses and TCB and the Charles I found ten tiny companies that down in New York Brooks Atkinson was calling "off-Broadway" theatres. About the time I started my website (The Theater Mirror), including theater-schools and a healthy necklace of suburban Community Theatres I found 48 with local addresses. In 2001 I printed a little guidebook to 93 working inside the Boston city limits.
And how many do you think there are now?

Well, in 2009 you could see more than 200 shows --- I saw 194 of them myself. If your WBUR reviewer, or the critics "covering" live theater at the GLOBE did a decent job, they'd have a lot to talk about. In fact, there were about 111 different companies working here --- not including ELEVEN MORE that began performing in 2009 alone.

And the good news is that, though the financial attrition that the current recession wreaks has created revenue drops at sports and movies and concerts, attendance at live theater has not dropped at all; it may even be growing.

So there's a lot of "news" to report, isn't there?

If you're interested, I could get you started investigating:

1) the CENTRAL SQUARE THEATRE just opened the first new performing-space in years, now the home for two healthy, long-itinerant "homeless" local companies.
2) THE FACTORY THEATRE only seats 50, but every single week-end has been book by "fringe" theater-companies through all of 2010 already.
3) THE FOOTLIGHT CLUB in Jamaica Plain long ago lost count when after 100 years it became the oldest continually producing Theatre Building in America.
4) COMPANY ONE, the youngest "resident company" at the BCA is starting it's TENth season; WHISTLER IN THE DARK, now using The Factory, it's FIFTH; IMAGINARY BEASTS and The F.U.D.G.E. THEATRE COMPANY are a little younger.
5) THE BOSTON PLAYWRIGHTS' THEATRE only does New Plays, but they have to have Two stages there to accommodate all of them every year.
6) THE TURTLE LANE PLAYHOUSE in Newton has been doing award-winning productions of musicals in an intimate setting since 1981. The atmosphere after the shows in the bar (inches from the auditorium) is sublime.

I could go on; I'd love to of course, but I won't. Your crew are really good at digging into a subject and turning up things people never knew about the city they live in. I look forward to hearing what surprisingly new things you will find. I'll bet even the the people who Make theater here will be surprised --- they're too busy doing their thing to realize what a vast theatrical Explosion they're part of.

If you DO turn your excellent spotlight on the local theater scene, probably you'd like to co-ordinate airing it with one of the two major events that bring the entire "theater community" of Boston together under one roof:

In March or April, the IRNE Bash

(Each year "The Independent Reviewers of New England" give awards for excellence to both the Equity companies and the local Fringe companies in town. Ten years ago they started in a Chestnut Hill common-room; then in a larger upstairs function room at the Massachusetts College of Art. Outgrowing that they used the Rotunda Room at the Hotel Essex until they outgrew That, and now the event fills the Cyclorama Building at The Boston Center for The Arts. Even if you don't do a show, I recommend you attend this lively event.)

In April or May, The Boston Marathon

(Beginning at noon fifty different local companies perform fifty new 10-minute plays by fifty different playwrights, five an hour --- followed by the most hectic party full of cross-congratulating you can think of, after which everyone goes home to sleep for a week. It also outgrew the Boston Playwrights' Theatre (who still coordinates this extravaganza) and now takes place in the Wimberly Performance Space at The BCA. It is no longer confined to the Sunday before that silly footrace that stole its name.[Insert wry emoticon of your choice here!])

Love,
===Anon.
( a k a larry stark)

December 19, 2009

Dear Friends:

Some of you have seen me quite a bit this year. Some of you will be wondering, "Who the heck is David Costa?"

For those of you who don't know, I won the IRNE for "Best Actor in a Musical this year. It was without a doubt, the highlight of my year.

I wanted to send yopu all a quick note once again to thank you. 2009 has been a difficult year for me. Throughb it all, however, when something bad happened I could say "But I won the IRNE." I cannot tell you how many times winning the IRNE got me through a tough time.

I was driving today and thinking about the past year and feeling a little down. Then I remembered....the April 14th IRNE awards.

So rather than remembering it as the year I was "homeless," or the year the theatre closed, or the year I fractured 11 bones in my face, I will remember it as the year I won the IRNE. When I feel down because Boston theaters don't seem to want to hire me, I remember "I won the IRNE."

Thank you. You have no idea how much that has meant to me in so many ways. I greatly appreciate all of you.

Sincerely,
David Costa

Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:11:38 -0500 From: Debra Wiess djwiess@msn.com Subject: URGENT Call for Director !! Please Pass the Salt at Turtle Lane Playhouse Newton

Hi,
I just found out that my short play PLEASE PASS THE SALT, which was selected to be presented in the Teen Play Winter Festival at Turtle Lane Playhouse this Jan, needs a director. I wanted to see if you might be interested or know of someone who would be able to take on the directing reins of this 4-character comedy that makes fun of our high-tech society now so dominated by the presence of cell phones and other conveniences that are to improve quality of life. The 10-min play is about a "typical" nuclear family (ie. father, mother, and teen-aged son and daughter) at dinner time. It is an award-winning play that has gotten a number of productions around the country. It is a fun piece that should pose some nice challenges tho there are minimal props and simple set up.

Here are the details about the festival:

The Winter Festival runs from Thurs-Sat, Jan 21-23, starting each night at 7:30 pm at Turtle Lane Playhouse, Melrose Street, Auburndale (Newton), MA (near the Newton Mariott). All plays are performed the 3 nights. Tech rehearsals are January 19 and 20th. There is a stage manager, lighting person and audio person. These are the people who usually do productions at Turtle Lane. There will be full sound, with sound cues and music, if provided by the playwright/directors.

I think they may have actors lined up already for the play, but they may need assistance with that. And for those of you who are actors there may also be opportunities whether in my play or in others in the festival.

Anyone interested in this directing opp or in inquiring about open roles should contact Regina Ramsey as soon as possible at elram0416@comcast.net (my message is addressed to her). She can also answer any questions or respond to any concerns, as well as provide you a copy of the script to read.
Thanks for your help!!
Happy Holidays!!
Debbie

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:48:30 -0500
From: Debra Wiess djwiess@msn.com
Subject: Call for submissions of short pieces by Boston-area Female Authors -
March Madness SWAN Day 2010!!!

Hi!
Hot off the press attached below is the call for submissions for the 2010 SWAN Day Boston! Regina Ramsey is producing the event for 2010 and I am lending her a hand. All the details are outlined in her announcement notice. Submissions of short plays/scenes/monologues should be sent to her email address, noted in her message. She is asking that submissions be sent after Jan 4 and by the Jan 16 deadline. Only ONE submission per author. This year Regina is going to try to have a short talkback for authors after the readings with a party of light refreshments capping off the afternoon.

Please share this notice with women authors you know to get the word out about SWAN!
Best,
Debbie

Dear Female Authors (sorry guys!)

SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) DAY IS BACK. SAVE THE DATE Saturday, March 27th at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Time of performance 2:00-4:15 p.m. This year, I'm going to try to have a talkback session with the audience after the performance, if time permits. I also plan on handing out evaluation sheets to audience members. Feedback is important.

I will be accepting submissions of short plays (running time no longer than 10 minutes) and monologues (no longer than 5 minutes). A scene or scene(s) from a longer work can be submitted but it has to stand on it's own. There will be no theme this year but the play must have a female antagonist or protagonist and there must be conflict. For monologues, there also should be conflict or tension of some kind going on and the speaker must be a woman. Humorous plays/monologues are encouraged.

Plays must be submitted in either Times Roman or Courier with a font size no smaller than 12 point. Samuel French submission style is preferred. Playwrights can submit only one play.

The submission must have been previously unproduced and unpublished. I want fresh material. It can and should have received a reading some place, either at the Platform, Write On, Shadow Boxing, or some other writing group.

These are readings, the level of staging is up to the playwright. We will have a stage manager and a lighting person but it's just lights up and down. There will be no audio or sound equipment. Please remember that. I also will not consider plays that require a lot of props or set pieces. Nor will I consider works that have too many actors. KEEP IT SIMPLE!!! There is no rehearsal space. Playwrights are responsible for finding their own directors and actors, as well as rehearsal space. We will run tech before the performance on Saturday morning, time to be determined.

The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2010. Please do not submit anything before January 4th, 2010. Selected playwrights will be notified by February 1, 2010.

Submissions can be sent to elram0416@comcast.net.

Happy Holidays to Everyone (and that includes the guys),
Regina

 

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