I'm interested to know, from all of you non-theatre folks (and you too, Michelle, if you want to join in) what it would take to get you to go out and see more theatre.
All of you are very supportive of the work that I have done in Seattle, and come to see the shows I've acted in, the shows I've directed, and the shows of Emerald City Scene. But that is a very tiny percentage of theatre in Seattle. What I'm curious about is this:
a) if you enjoy the shows you come to see that I am involved in
and
b) if you do enjoy them, why not go see other companies productions?
and
c) if you have seen other companies productions, which ones? and did you like them?
and
d) how could a theatre company grab your attention and get you to come see shows, if you aren't affiliated with someone involved in the show?
If and When I come back to Seattle, I'll be working on forming a new "company" and I'm very interested in these responses.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A little levity, please...
I saw B-squared recently, but due to a rousing round of "The Farmer's Game," neglected to get a good explanation of the current financial buggery our country seems to be undergoing. I guess that will have to wait until next time (if we make it that long). But while I check CNN.com obsessively during class, I am always amused by the stock photos they use to describe the meltdown. They particularly enjoy to capture the angst of the poor brokers, sitting on the floor of the NYSE with their heads in their hands, amidst the litter of the tickertapes and whatever the hell else it is they throw around down there. Fortunately, somebody funnier than me has put together a collection of these sad brokers and, since this is the Internet, has added witty captions (image 15 is my favorite). Click any of the pictures to start the slideshow. Bonus: I also just discovered an entire website devoted to this emerging fad.
And to burnPTCruisers: I'm not trying to deviate from the desired format for this blog. I've got another bigger post in the planning states, but this blog has been quiet for a while so I thought I'd try to liven it up a bit :)
And to burnPTCruisers: I'm not trying to deviate from the desired format for this blog. I've got another bigger post in the planning states, but this blog has been quiet for a while so I thought I'd try to liven it up a bit :)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Why Drama Education? Part One: Creative Thinking
Preface:
At the moment I am employed by Seattle Repertory Theatre as their Education Intern. This means that I am spending most of my time these days bringing theater into the classroom, or bringing students into the theatre. But with all of the things that schools are expected to do these days – provide healthy lunches to students, educate them about substance abuse, teach sex ed (or “no sex!” ed), and provide after-school daycare, not to mention teach kids to read and write so they don’t fall through the cracks and math and science so we can keep up with China – what is the value of art? And do we have time in our busy schedules for Drama education? Why take a whole class period to do a prep workshop with a teaching artist, just to spend another full class period or two taking a field trip to the Rep to watch “The Three Musketeers”?
There are some very idealistic answers out there such as, “Art is what we live for!” or other things that invoke the soul, but I will leave metaphysics out of this discussion for now. Not because I disagree with the idealists about the power of art in the world, but because most educators I know (especially teaching artists) are incredibly down to earth about what they do. I’m sure if you asked each of them why arts in education is important, you would get several different answers. These are mine, and as I am a drama student/educator/enthusiast, they will be in the realm of drama.
DRAMA ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING
In many standard classrooms – teaching any topic – there is a propensity to encourage correct answers over incorrect answers. In basic studies, such as grade-school level math, geographic memorization, scientific principles, and historic facts, the model of “correct versus incorrect” makes a ton of sense. Because 1+1=2, no matter what any “decide-for-yourself Montessori mom” may say. (I love Montessori school, but seriously? Math is not very kumbaya!) Columbus ran aground in 1492, Baton Rouge is the capitol of Louisiana, and water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen.
However, as we all find out when we get older, most of the important problems in life that we will be expected to solve are not so black and white. What is the most effective way to combat an auto-immune disorder? What transportation modes will be best for the Puget Sound region in the next ten years? What are the best financial decisions that someone can make so that their kids can go to college in fifteen years? How do we get more butts into the theater? How can one person with a given skill set most effectively make a positive impact on the world? These are all complicated questions with no correct answers, and they all require some amount of creative thinking, experimenting, failing, being bold, and outlining objectives and tactics for achieving those objectives.
The funny thing about school is that we begin to encounter gray-area questions at different points in each field. As soon as we have mastered grammatical rules, grammar class turns into a creative course on writing styles in prose and poetry. But at what point in business classes is there more than one right answer? College? 3rd year of college? Dave is in 2nd year medical school and there’s still a predominant culture of having the right answer. When med students turn into doctors they need to make judgment calls on which of several treatments will be most effective, and “being right” is more about finesse and je ne sais quoi than it was in school.
Drama education prepares students – even those who never plan to pursue drama as a career – to think creatively in these gray areas. Forgetting drama history classes for a moment, there are no correct answers in the acting classroom. There are bold choices that you need to justify. There are characters and situations you need to establish. There are requirements to think on your feet. You need to know your strengths and the strengths of your scene partner. And Drama education, unlike most other areas, does not require as much in-class foundation building as the rest of education. You have experience living in the world? Great! You get to think creatively about how you are going to approach a problem – or in drama terms, what is the tactic you are going to apply in order to overcome your obstacle and get to your objective?
And this is the first of many reasons why I believe Drama in education is valuable. It trains students to think about the various ways to creatively tackle a problem – without fear of getting marked down for being wrong – well before other areas of study have built a base upon which students can be creative. And to tell you the truth, I desperately want my future scientists to be bold in their hypotheses, I want my future geographers to seriously consider character and setting when they study distribution of wealth, and I want my business execs to think on their feet (not to mention be killer public speakers!). Drama builds these foundations.
At the moment I am employed by Seattle Repertory Theatre as their Education Intern. This means that I am spending most of my time these days bringing theater into the classroom, or bringing students into the theatre. But with all of the things that schools are expected to do these days – provide healthy lunches to students, educate them about substance abuse, teach sex ed (or “no sex!” ed), and provide after-school daycare, not to mention teach kids to read and write so they don’t fall through the cracks and math and science so we can keep up with China – what is the value of art? And do we have time in our busy schedules for Drama education? Why take a whole class period to do a prep workshop with a teaching artist, just to spend another full class period or two taking a field trip to the Rep to watch “The Three Musketeers”?
There are some very idealistic answers out there such as, “Art is what we live for!” or other things that invoke the soul, but I will leave metaphysics out of this discussion for now. Not because I disagree with the idealists about the power of art in the world, but because most educators I know (especially teaching artists) are incredibly down to earth about what they do. I’m sure if you asked each of them why arts in education is important, you would get several different answers. These are mine, and as I am a drama student/educator/enthusiast, they will be in the realm of drama.
DRAMA ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING
In many standard classrooms – teaching any topic – there is a propensity to encourage correct answers over incorrect answers. In basic studies, such as grade-school level math, geographic memorization, scientific principles, and historic facts, the model of “correct versus incorrect” makes a ton of sense. Because 1+1=2, no matter what any “decide-for-yourself Montessori mom” may say. (I love Montessori school, but seriously? Math is not very kumbaya!) Columbus ran aground in 1492, Baton Rouge is the capitol of Louisiana, and water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen.
However, as we all find out when we get older, most of the important problems in life that we will be expected to solve are not so black and white. What is the most effective way to combat an auto-immune disorder? What transportation modes will be best for the Puget Sound region in the next ten years? What are the best financial decisions that someone can make so that their kids can go to college in fifteen years? How do we get more butts into the theater? How can one person with a given skill set most effectively make a positive impact on the world? These are all complicated questions with no correct answers, and they all require some amount of creative thinking, experimenting, failing, being bold, and outlining objectives and tactics for achieving those objectives.
The funny thing about school is that we begin to encounter gray-area questions at different points in each field. As soon as we have mastered grammatical rules, grammar class turns into a creative course on writing styles in prose and poetry. But at what point in business classes is there more than one right answer? College? 3rd year of college? Dave is in 2nd year medical school and there’s still a predominant culture of having the right answer. When med students turn into doctors they need to make judgment calls on which of several treatments will be most effective, and “being right” is more about finesse and je ne sais quoi than it was in school.
Drama education prepares students – even those who never plan to pursue drama as a career – to think creatively in these gray areas. Forgetting drama history classes for a moment, there are no correct answers in the acting classroom. There are bold choices that you need to justify. There are characters and situations you need to establish. There are requirements to think on your feet. You need to know your strengths and the strengths of your scene partner. And Drama education, unlike most other areas, does not require as much in-class foundation building as the rest of education. You have experience living in the world? Great! You get to think creatively about how you are going to approach a problem – or in drama terms, what is the tactic you are going to apply in order to overcome your obstacle and get to your objective?
And this is the first of many reasons why I believe Drama in education is valuable. It trains students to think about the various ways to creatively tackle a problem – without fear of getting marked down for being wrong – well before other areas of study have built a base upon which students can be creative. And to tell you the truth, I desperately want my future scientists to be bold in their hypotheses, I want my future geographers to seriously consider character and setting when they study distribution of wealth, and I want my business execs to think on their feet (not to mention be killer public speakers!). Drama builds these foundations.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Most Awesome Thing Ever!!
Ok, so maybe that's a little overboard. But, in the financial world, a Roth IRA is the most awesome thing ever. A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account that you fund with after-tax money. The current amount that you are allowed to fund is $5,000 per year. So what's so great about this thing?? Because Roth IRAs are funded after-tax (you have already paid the taxes on your income), when you take the money out when you retire, the money is taken out is not taxed. Because our government has a progressive tax structure (lower income pays a lower tax rate than higher income which pays a higher tax rate) and we are in our mid-20s, hopefully earning the least amount of money in our career, this becomes a no-brainer. Your current tax rate is somewhere between 15% and 25%, however, when you're older your tax rate could be 38% or higher (depending on who becomes president between now and then). That means the cost to you is 15% now, but could be 38% later. I say pay the taxes now and reap the benefits later.
So why doesn't everybody do this? One is that you have to be under a certain income (I believe it's $100k). Second is that you cannot take the money out until 59 1/2 years old. If you take out the money before then, then you will be major penalties. So, even if you can only put in $200 a month or whatever, set up an account with any brokerage firm (T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Scottstrade, etc).
Best of luck and keep saving!
B-Squared
So why doesn't everybody do this? One is that you have to be under a certain income (I believe it's $100k). Second is that you cannot take the money out until 59 1/2 years old. If you take out the money before then, then you will be major penalties. So, even if you can only put in $200 a month or whatever, set up an account with any brokerage firm (T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Scottstrade, etc).
Best of luck and keep saving!
B-Squared
Monday, September 8, 2008
Fannie, Freddie and our Bloated Government
The mess that is Fannie and Freddie is extremely confusing and honestly can't be explained in a blog setting. The next time we all meet up I'll explain. I'm sorry but I've tried to write this twice and it is just so complex that I can not write this and have it make any sense.
B-Squared
B-Squared
Sunday, September 7, 2008
What does it all mean?
Can I make a humble request to out resident financial expert, b-squared, to explain what is going on with Fannie and Freddie? It's all over the news and seems like sort of a big deal... so the government is taking them over, but what does that mean? For those of us who don't have a mortgage, should we care?
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The Artist & The World
(A Monologue)
Nathaniel: (to the world)
It was dinner time, August 31st, 2008. There I was with my family: my mother, my father, and my brother, with the cat Doctor perched at the window behind. You see, I was shortly leaving for Paris, my father had come up from Texas to spend time with me before leaving, and we were having our last supper as a family for a while (of course, typically all of our dinners fall under that category, so this was not such a tremendous occasion, yet it had the feeling of a tremendous occasion both because of my upcoming departure and that of my brother going back to school for the 4th time). My mother posed the question to us both why we made decisions that are so different from what normal people do. I was shocked. A bit confused, you see. I didn't see my decisions as being altogether that strange. Granted, moving across the sea without much of anything over there is strange, but the other decisions in life I had made, decisions that led me to that place, etc...I didn't find those very strange. What she meant was, why do I not care about money...or, more of the effect of, why do I continually put myself in a place where I cannot make any money. Normal people care about that. Given my actions, I do not, she insinuated. So why is this?
At the airport, before checking in, after being dropped off by my mother and brother, I went down to have a cigarette. It would be my last for several hours (thankfully in Copenhagen, they have smoking stalls installed in the airport). A man came up to me while I was smoking outside of the SeaTac airport. Of course, he asked me for a cigarette, which I gave him one. He offered me a Marilyn Monroe Zippo Lighter in exchange for three more cigarettes...but as you can imagine, I declined. I told him I had to save my cigarettes, I'm moving to Paris! He asked what I do. I told him, "I work in the theatre." "Where?" he asked. It looked like he hadn't heard me. This man was not "all the way there" you see. "I work in the theatre," I repeated. Am I insane? Is this not a normal response to someone who asks where you work? Well, he still couldn't get it. I told him I was an actor, a lie, of course, but better than trying to explain Director or Production Manager. For God's sake, he must know what an Actor is! How could you not? He didn't. He asked if I was a double...or...or...something something something. I told him, "No, I act in small plays. Nothing too big, I'm not famous" (Though, I was wearing a fashionable outfit and could've been mistaken for celebrity, should've been mistaken for celebrity if this man was not out of his wits). "Of course not, no, not yet!" He said and finally, I thought that he understood what it meant that I work in the theatre. And then he asked me, "Where do you work?"
These two encounters, linked together so close in time, along with the "indefinite hiatus" of Emerald City Scene caused me to really think again about art's position in this world. You see, there's almost nothing that gets more attention and is thought higher of than art. When you really think about it, that is what gets all of the attention. Not even a man or woman who has led a country out of nothingness into prosperity receives the kind of attention that Halle Barry receives (She's only half-black, by the way, did you know that? So is this Barack Obama. Who does he think he is claiming to be the first Black Presidential Nominee?) Why does this happen? Because so few actually reach the level of recognizable. Most are left behind in the gutter...due to NO MONEY BEING AVAILABLE IN THE ARTS. Sure, once you reach the higher levels, your Opera's, Regional Theatres, big Museums, and so forth, you've got tons of money...far more money flows into those organizations than most small-mid level businesses, is my guess. But until you reach that level, you're all alone, pal. And to tell the truth, most just can't make it. In other business, other fields, if someone wanted to spend a little time not making a whole lot of money, soon they'd be slowly moving up the ladder into a place where they are making a comfortable amount of money and then, if they have the ambition to, they keep on rising to make a significant amount of money. Here is where most of the world, most of my non-artist friends will be. They will be lying in heaps of money. I, on the other hand, must make the choice. Make Money, Do Art. Make Money OR Do Art. I can EITHER Make Money OR Do Art.
And what I find to be the real pincher of it, is that without art in this world, there'd be nothing to make money for. Survival takes very little. It's the artistic ventures that we want to enjoy, that have the life in them. For every person out there working for some truly insignificant product and making more than enough for survival, there are a handful of artist out there hoping they can continue to do what they love and continue to provide entertainment and knowledge for the world without a scrap of money out of it. But hours and bills rack up.
To answer my mother's question, I don't think that I've made such different choices. The truth of myself and most other artists is we follow the same formula. We start in lowpaying positions and hope to move up the ladder of recognition to someplace where we can truly be comfortable financially and doing the job that we were trained and born to do. Unfortunately, in this field, it's very difficult to make it up to that second rung...and from there, ten times harder to make it to the third rung, and so on. It's very easy to just go back down to the bottom, though, and find a new ladder to climb.
Nathaniel: (to the world)
It was dinner time, August 31st, 2008. There I was with my family: my mother, my father, and my brother, with the cat Doctor perched at the window behind. You see, I was shortly leaving for Paris, my father had come up from Texas to spend time with me before leaving, and we were having our last supper as a family for a while (of course, typically all of our dinners fall under that category, so this was not such a tremendous occasion, yet it had the feeling of a tremendous occasion both because of my upcoming departure and that of my brother going back to school for the 4th time). My mother posed the question to us both why we made decisions that are so different from what normal people do. I was shocked. A bit confused, you see. I didn't see my decisions as being altogether that strange. Granted, moving across the sea without much of anything over there is strange, but the other decisions in life I had made, decisions that led me to that place, etc...I didn't find those very strange. What she meant was, why do I not care about money...or, more of the effect of, why do I continually put myself in a place where I cannot make any money. Normal people care about that. Given my actions, I do not, she insinuated. So why is this?
At the airport, before checking in, after being dropped off by my mother and brother, I went down to have a cigarette. It would be my last for several hours (thankfully in Copenhagen, they have smoking stalls installed in the airport). A man came up to me while I was smoking outside of the SeaTac airport. Of course, he asked me for a cigarette, which I gave him one. He offered me a Marilyn Monroe Zippo Lighter in exchange for three more cigarettes...but as you can imagine, I declined. I told him I had to save my cigarettes, I'm moving to Paris! He asked what I do. I told him, "I work in the theatre." "Where?" he asked. It looked like he hadn't heard me. This man was not "all the way there" you see. "I work in the theatre," I repeated. Am I insane? Is this not a normal response to someone who asks where you work? Well, he still couldn't get it. I told him I was an actor, a lie, of course, but better than trying to explain Director or Production Manager. For God's sake, he must know what an Actor is! How could you not? He didn't. He asked if I was a double...or...or...something something something. I told him, "No, I act in small plays. Nothing too big, I'm not famous" (Though, I was wearing a fashionable outfit and could've been mistaken for celebrity, should've been mistaken for celebrity if this man was not out of his wits). "Of course not, no, not yet!" He said and finally, I thought that he understood what it meant that I work in the theatre. And then he asked me, "Where do you work?"
These two encounters, linked together so close in time, along with the "indefinite hiatus" of Emerald City Scene caused me to really think again about art's position in this world. You see, there's almost nothing that gets more attention and is thought higher of than art. When you really think about it, that is what gets all of the attention. Not even a man or woman who has led a country out of nothingness into prosperity receives the kind of attention that Halle Barry receives (She's only half-black, by the way, did you know that? So is this Barack Obama. Who does he think he is claiming to be the first Black Presidential Nominee?) Why does this happen? Because so few actually reach the level of recognizable. Most are left behind in the gutter...due to NO MONEY BEING AVAILABLE IN THE ARTS. Sure, once you reach the higher levels, your Opera's, Regional Theatres, big Museums, and so forth, you've got tons of money...far more money flows into those organizations than most small-mid level businesses, is my guess. But until you reach that level, you're all alone, pal. And to tell the truth, most just can't make it. In other business, other fields, if someone wanted to spend a little time not making a whole lot of money, soon they'd be slowly moving up the ladder into a place where they are making a comfortable amount of money and then, if they have the ambition to, they keep on rising to make a significant amount of money. Here is where most of the world, most of my non-artist friends will be. They will be lying in heaps of money. I, on the other hand, must make the choice. Make Money, Do Art. Make Money OR Do Art. I can EITHER Make Money OR Do Art.
And what I find to be the real pincher of it, is that without art in this world, there'd be nothing to make money for. Survival takes very little. It's the artistic ventures that we want to enjoy, that have the life in them. For every person out there working for some truly insignificant product and making more than enough for survival, there are a handful of artist out there hoping they can continue to do what they love and continue to provide entertainment and knowledge for the world without a scrap of money out of it. But hours and bills rack up.
To answer my mother's question, I don't think that I've made such different choices. The truth of myself and most other artists is we follow the same formula. We start in lowpaying positions and hope to move up the ladder of recognition to someplace where we can truly be comfortable financially and doing the job that we were trained and born to do. Unfortunately, in this field, it's very difficult to make it up to that second rung...and from there, ten times harder to make it to the third rung, and so on. It's very easy to just go back down to the bottom, though, and find a new ladder to climb.
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