Yes, it’s been awhile. We’re hoping that the new theatre season will give us a little more time for keeping up with the blog. Last year hit hard and heavy, and while this year looks to just as busy, this year we’re better prepared for it. We hope.
We’re going to try to start back up slowly – don’t look for review
roundups, but we’ll have your Monday reading list on, well, Monday, and
The Scene will publish every Thursday.
So here’s your Monday reading list:
Start of the Season
It’s a new theatre season, and for the Kravis Center, it’s their 25th Anniversary. The Shiny Sheet reports they celebrated with a festival of performances.
The Sun Sentinel posted their Guide the Arts, which includes a lovely spotlight on Niki Fridh and Matt Stabile. Of course, the Miami Herald also have their Season of the Arts Guide, and they list their Top Ten Theatre Events for this season.
Not to be left behind, Palm Beach Arts Paper also has their 2016-2017 Season Preview up.
Not to be left behind, Palm Beach Arts Paper also has their 2016-2017 Season Preview up.
Bringing it Home
When the national tour of RENT plays the Broward Center next week, it’ll be a homecoming for Christian Thompson, and the Sun-Sentinel speaks with him about it.
I've already warned my cast that I'll probably be sobbing all three nights. This is one of the best ways to say thank you to everyone who has helped me on my journey to succeed. To have those people ... see me succeed will be just a blessing…. I saw my first show at the Broward Center. I saw "Cats."
There will be a pre-show lottery for tickets, come early with $25 cash in hand. Or buy tickets at Browardcenter.org
Broken Dream
When The Naked Stage announced they would be building a permanent home on Clematis Street, it was a dream come true. Alas, it’s not meant to be. Florida Theater On Stage reports that the Amadeos will be moving out of state:“…as the complex realities of raising and focusing on our family intensified over the past year, it became clear that the massive undertaking that awaited us in the impending creation of the new theatre was going to make it near impossible for us to put the necessary level of care and attention where we really needed it: on our family. New goals and outlooks for our home life have shifted our perspective on things. And so, we have made the very difficult decision to halt the progress of The Station Theatre and lower the curtain on The Naked Stage.”
As for the space, the Palm Beach Daily News reports that the owner is undecided as to its fate.
Business Stuff Part 1
The Theatre League is hosting a workshop on copyright law. And you should probably attend if you’re producing, directing, or doing design work.
Cost for the Copyright Law and Its Application to the Theatre and Performing Arts Community workshop will be $10 for League members, and $25 for non-members. Tickets are available on line; tickets will also be available for purchase at the door, the day of the event. Please buy in advance -- if we do not meet a minimum number of ticket sales we will postpone the workshop to a further date.
Florida Bar CLE credits pending.
Buy Tickets Here: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/963921
You really should attend if you have ever written a play, or directed a play and wanted to make adjustments, or if you want to play specific music or snippets from movies. What is permissible? What needs to licensed, and what are the penalties if you don’t license? In this internet world of connectivity, you really need to know what you’re doing.
Business Stuff Part 2
The new Fair Labor Standards Act regulations are aimed at small business exactly like all of our smaller theater companies, and Butts In Seats has prepared The Talk for you.
The problem is that depending on stop-gap measures and pressure of organizational culture will no longer be viable in the face of this new salary threshold and expectations of a work-life balance that new employees are bringing to the workplace.
The article references another piece from American Theatre Magazine that you should also read. The salaries of most small theatre companies fall within the affected pay levels, and if you’re managing a theatre or sit on its board, you need to know this stuff.
Meanwhile…
…in Palm Beach, the Royal Poinciana Playhouse is still closed. While no firm plans have been made about when (or if) work will start, there’s some kerfuffle about the number of seats back in April, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
… in Coconut Grove, the Coconut Grove Playhouse is still closed. Back in July, the Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs reports there is progress:
Work on the site plan options for the Coconut Grove Playhouse is underway by the County’s design team led by Arquitectonica International Corporation. This process is being informed by the team’s theater consultants, Fisher Dachs Associates; structural engineer, Douglas Wood Associates; and historic preservation architect, Jorge Hernandez, among other design team members.
Fischer Dachs Associates worked on The Broward Center (both the original construction and the renovation), and Doug Wood was the structural engineer for the renovation of The Miracle Theater for Actors’ Playhouse, so the project is in good hands. But what that project will be is still under development.
And a few weeks ago, Miami Today News reports that it may finally be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
… In Broward County, the Hollywood Playhouse is now a church, so this is the last entry for it. But Abandoned Florida has a lovely history with photographs.
