[Date Prev][Date Next]
[Chronological]
[Thread]
[Top]
Re: RAT Marx in Soho (in LA)
Melissa-
Not that this would be a new idea for you, but what are the opportunities
for non traditional space in Berkeley?
The envionmental
just-in-front-of-the-gentrification-theater-as-bell-wether-for-corporate-att
ention sort of spaces. I ask this generally of you but also because I am
moving to that area this fall and will be looking for places to do theater.
Jack
----- Original Message -----
From: <Impacttheatre@aol.com>
To: <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 10:13 PM
Subject: Re: RAT Marx in Soho (in LA)
> We just raised our ticket prices from $10 general, $5 students to $12 and
$7.
> It wasn't an easy decision, but one we had to make. We do 4 shows a year
on
> a 20K budget. We have no space of our own (obviously) and donated space
is a
> pipe dream out here, as space in general is a huge crisis in and of
itself.
> There are more opportunities and rentable spaces in San Francisco, but
we're
> committed to staying in Berkeley. Right now, there are 2 affordable
rental
> spaces in Berkeley. Yes, 2. There are two more spaces that rent for
about a
> grand a performance, and that's just out of our league. The lack of space
> situation could change within a year or so, but suffice it to say that
it's a
> tough deal right now. We may have to cancel our usual August show for
lack
> of space. We're attempting to find alternatives, but the choices are ugly
> and few. And expensive.
>
> As we're strongly committed to keeping ticket prices low (comparable to a
> movie), we rely heavily on audience donations and we've just started
applying
> for grants. The grant application process is arduous- but hey, I don't
have
> to tell YOU that. We have one actor/crew benefit performance per
production
> and we pay our designers a pittance. No one in Impact is paid, which
> necessitates us all having other sources of income, which impacts our
ability
> to find the time to apply for the grants that could partailly alleviate
this
> problem.
>
> It costs money to do theatre, especially if you'd like to pay the artists
for
> their time and talent, which I do. It costs money for publicity, flyers,
> postage, not to mention costumes and sets and the occasional playwrights'
> stipend or rights fee.
>
> I really don't want to raise prices again for a long, long time. So I'm
> hoping that some of those grants come through and that not all of our
> audience members' potential donations cash went down the dotcom drain.
>
> Clearly I don't know what the answer is. Granting organizations have
their
> own agendas, and the application processes are extremely time-consuming
and
> mysterious to me. Corporations have their own ideas about the kind of
> theatre they like to fund, which is not usually new plays by emerging
> playwrights, something we're totally committed to. We have a dedicated
> audience- we average about 500 people per production- so it's not entirely
> impossible to secure some sort of grant/corporate funding. I guess. I
guess
> what I mean is that we're small, but perhaps we service enough people to
> count on someone's radar. Maybe. I hope. I'm open to suggestions.
>
> Melissa Hillman
> Artistic Director
> Impact Theatre
> P.O. Box 12666
> Berkeley, CA 94712-3666
>
> (510) 464-4468
> http://www.impacttheatre.com
>
> "Planet Janet" opens May 11th!
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> To [un]subscribe to the rat-list, send an email to
"majordomo@ratconference.com"
> with [un]subscribe rat-list" in the body of the message.
> For information on other functions send a message containing the word
> "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
> ---------------------------------------
> You may also [un]subscribe on the web at
http://www.ratconference.com/cgi-bin/web_domo.pl?list=rat-list
>
---------------------------------------
To [un]subscribe to the rat-list, send an email to "majordomo@ratconference.com"
with [un]subscribe rat-list" in the body of the message.
For information on other functions send a message containing the word
"help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
---------------------------------------
You may also [un]subscribe on the web at http://www.ratconference.com/cgi-bin/web_domo.pl?list=rat-list