Take Direct Action, Get More Benefits

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Take Direct Action, Get More Benefits

There are two things I’ve been hearing a lot during this quarantine. One is a question and the other is more of an uncertain statement:

“I feel lost, unmotivated, unsure what to do.”

“How can I help the struggling people/organizations that I love not go under?”

I must admit - although these are both tinged with the sadness and anxiety of our present moment - I’m heartened by the love and care that has poured out of our communities online. A desire to do something at all is a marker of self-care, and a desire to give is a marker of care for others.

And that is beautiful.

But acknowledging that beauty doesn’t provide an answer to the above queries, both of which are searching for fulfillment.

So, how can we take some direct action - for ourselves and those around us - that will provide fulfillment? And are there other benefits as well?

Here are some thoughts.

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Tighten The Net

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Tighten The Net

No doubt about it, these are uncertain times.

The world has been thrown for a loop - one that we had not properly prepared for - and “normal life” as we know it is going to be put on hold for some time.

Is this going to suck?

In a lot of ways, yes.

Is the mass chaos and fear warranted?

For us in the US, caution is certainly warranted, but perhaps not the extreme fear (and let’s hope it never gets to that point).

Do we know what’s going to happen moving forward? What that will look like?

No, not yet.

“So, everything’s terrible and all hope is lost???”

Not at all!

These precautions and life interruptions are necessary to prevent the wide spread of an illness that could see our entire health system overrun. That’s when the real trouble would start (look to Italy if you’re unsure what I mean).

This is going to hit a lot of people hard - not the least of which are artists, entrepreneurs, freelancers, small business owners, and all non-salaried/non-insured employees - but we can still support each other.

As Amanda Palmer says in The Art of Asking: Tighten the net.

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Just The Perfect Blendship

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Just The Perfect Blendship

One of the absolute best parts of the theater that I feel people don’t talk about enough is the people - the community.

Sure, every June as we all get ready to sit down together in NYC and across the country to watch the Tony Awards, or are preparing for one of the major benefits like Broadway Bares, or even just during Pride Month in general, theatrical and non-theatrical publications will talk briefly about how Broadway is a community. And it is! It’s a fantastic community with the same pros and cons that any community might have.

But only “Broadway” is discussed as being the community itself.

And as soon as you call something the “Broadway” community, there is an innate elitism to that term - whether geographically or in terms of production budget - which gets thrown into everyone’s minds.

But what is this Broadway community? Is it just the thousands of people actively working in NYC’s largest theatrical houses? Just those who contribute to the city’s multi-billion dollar industry?

I don’t think so, no.

I think the Broadway community is far larger than that. Personally, I would consider the Broadway community to include anyone and everyone working in theatre across the entire country. I would even consider the Broadway community to include the multitude of theatre lovers - those who don’t necessarily work in the industry, but participate through other means by supporting those who do, or even just attending all productions they can and keeping tabs on what’s happening in the industry.

In my opinion, it is crucial to consider everyone involved in the theatre everywhere as part of the Broadway community.

“But why?”

Allow me to explain!

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There's A Place For Us...

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There's A Place For Us...

I was at a networking event earlier this week and got into a conversation - one that I’ve had countless times with theatre professionals and audience members alike - where the central questions are:

“Should Broadway shows be about the art or the money?”

“Is there a place on Broadway for shows that are only light and feel-good? What about dark, depressing shows?”

“How do you expect to get new audiences if all shows look, feel, or sound alike?”

Now, I don’t find the mere asking of these questions to be problematic, but I do find the heart of this oft-had conversation to be problematic. Whichever side you fall on - and yes, there do ultimately seem to end up being two sides to this conversation - there is an insinuation that one type of theatre should exist on Broadway and another type should not.

But my big question is: Why?

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