In this article from Tufts Daily, Tufts University’s drama department is igniting conversation due to the casting of their production of RENT. They explain how they went about choosing the cast for RENT and the problems the department faces regarding diversity in the program. Read the article here.
Author Archives: admin
Arts Marketing: Why I Hate Comp Tickets
In a blog post on his arts marketing blog, Chad M. Bauman, managing director of Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, talks about why he dislikes comp tickets and how theatre companies can be more thoughtful about their comp policy, so they don’t lose revenue. Read the post here.
HowlRound: What Makes an Artist Qualified to Tell a Story?
In this post by Anjali Bhimani, an actor and singer, she gives her thoughts as to what makes someone qualified to tell a story that is not his or her own and what the most important elements are in telling a story that is not from your own experiences. Read her thoughts here.
Performing Bum: Why “Our Audience” Needs To Die
In this blog post on Performing Bum, theatre artist Starr Hardgrove explains why the term “our audience” is ineffective and general, and he offers suggestions to make audience interaction more personal. Read the blog post here.
HowlRound: Race and Representation in American Theatre Series
On HowlRound, there is an interesting and relevant conversation happening regarding race and representation in American theatre. This conversation was largely spurred by the new adaptation of The Jungle Book, which opened in Chicago this past summer. This is a link to all articles involved in the discussion.
The Bay State Banner: Company One Raises the Curtain for Student Jobs
Company One is featured in an article in The Bay State Banner for our Stage One program. The article highlights the apprenticeship program in addition to our programs in local Boston area schools. It also talks about the work the students do as well as the impact the program is having on those who participate. Read the article here.
New York Times: It May Be a Nonprofit Theater, but the Tickets Look For-Profit
This article from The New York Times talks about how nonprofit theatres in NYC are resorting to raising ticket prices and collaborating with commerical producers in order to recoup financial losses. The latest nonprofit theatre company raising ticket prices is Roundabout Theatre with their restaging of Cabaret, which originally ran from 1998-2004. Read the article here.
Whistler in the Dark Closes After Nine Seasons
Boston theatre staple Whistler in the Dark closes its doors after nine seasons of shows. Artistic Director Meg Taintor wrote a letter to those who’ve supported the theatre company since 2005. Here is her letter:
Dear Friends,
We’ve been singing the beautiful Irish folk tune The Parting Glass at rehearsals for Far Away and it has taken on a certain extra amount of poignancy for me.
In the late summer of 2005, three college friends came together to dream up the idea that would become Whistler in the Dark Theatre. The dream was to gather together an ensemble of artists who were interested in growing together over time and producing challenging texts that celebrated a poetic exploration of life.
Over the years, the company has shifted and re-arranged itself organically, with new collaborators joining us each season even as old partners-in-crime move on to other ventures in other places. And as the ensemble has grown and evolved, so has our community of audience members. It has been a joy to work and grow with our audience, and to always know that whatever challenges we put forward with the work we produce, there is a vibrant community ready to watch and respond and challenge us right back.
It is with gratitude to this amazing community of collaborators and audiences that I announce that after our upcoming production of Far Away – after nine season, 25 productions and hundreds of artistic collaborations – Whistler in the Dark will be disbanding and closing our doors. The artists who have made Whistler their home continue to work, both in Boston and other cities around the country, but this phase in our lives in ending.
We are in a very special place right now – a place that few companies get to inhabit. While we look towards the future and see the closing of the company, we still have three months of work – months filled with our most challenging production to date as well as a series of radio plays performed live – and so we are in this unique moment of getting to be both generative and nostalgic at the same time.
Please join us in celebrating all the work that has gone before – and all of the memories you have of our time together – and then join us in the theatre for this one last production. Following the close ofFar Away, we plan to host a wake of sorts – a celebration where we gather our community to tell stories, and to relive the good, the bad and the truly transformative. I’ll keep you posted on plans for this as they solidify.
Thank you for your belief in and support of our company. It has been a true joy to create work together over the past nine years.
Good night and joy be with you all…
Meg Taintor
Artistic Director
Boston Globe: Op-Ed Letter
This op-ed in the Boston Globe calls for expanded buildings for Boston Arts Academy under the leadership of a superintendent who supports arts education in schools. Read the op-ed here. Full text is below:
THE NEW Walsh administration and the School Committee desperately need to hire a school superintendent who is a strong advocate for the arts as essential to the educational success of young people. One very visible way for the city to show its commitment to the arts would be to fully endorse an expanded new facility for the Boston Arts Academy, the city’s high-performing public school for the arts that has excelled in spite of its dilapidated facilities.
For over a decade, advocates for arts education, including parents, teachers, administrators, and the presidents of the six major arts colleges in Boston, have worked hard to fulfill a vision of a school for the arts that rivals those in major cities across the nation and is worthy of Boston as a cultural and educational center. Now is the time to make it happen.
Kay Sloan
President emerita
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Boston
American Theatre Magazine: The Technical Answer
An American Theatre Magazine article, The Technical Answer, talks about the advances in technology in theatre and how (or if) we are training the next generation of theatre makers in this new technology. Jared Mezzocchi (Astro Boy and the God of Comics) is interviewed in the article and talks about the multimedia class he teaches at the University of Maryland. Read the article here.