All Around the Edge

Friday night’s theme is “Before the Edge”,  with art and performances with sexual themes that are playful and teasing, such as a Atomic Cheesecake Pinup Pageant and performers such as

• Eliza Charming
• ShortStaxx
• Lee Luscious/Lee Harrington
• Coco Mource
• Dix Washington

and other art and performances on the site. The headliner is the famous sex educator, performance artist, and feminist Annie Sprinkle.

Saturday things get a bit darker, with performances featuring more BDSM and kinky themes such as flesh pulls, rope bondage, and poetry.  Some performers like Lee Harrington and Annie Sprinkle will be reprising appearances with a more explicit theme, and they will be joined by fetish performers such as Klawdya Rothschild, Julie Simone, Graydancer, Sacred Mark Sanctuary,  and more.

It all takes place at the Load of Fun gallery, 120 W. North Ave in Baltimore, beginning at 7pm. Admission is $15.

image used permission of Suzannah Gerber

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The problem lies in the fact that there is both a state law in Illinois and a city of Chicago law, and the latter is forbidden from making the former any weaker. This means that an exemption for theater can be tricky – lest Chicago fall to the thespian hedonism currently infesting Minneapolis.

Before the Ban, With a Cast of Thousands

Thanks to a comment by Karl, I learned that in Minneapolis there are many bars getting around the smoking ban by declaring their bars  theatrical venues and the cigarettes props. The actors, of course, are the customers, “playing themselves before the ban on cigarettes.” It’s a pretty ingenious little loophole, and while it may seem ridiculous, so does the idea that people need that much babysitting.

Alderman Brendan Reilly, who is fighting to get an exemption for Chicago theatre, realizes that this is not a great example for the opponents of smoing in any form. Still, as he fights for the rights of the Jersey Boys and others to light up, he is confident it can be overcome. ” “The Department of Public Health will know the difference between the Chicago Theater and Joe’s Pub.”

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That’s right. Jersey Boys, currently playing in Chicago, had portrayed the doo-wop singers accurately – that is, singing on the street corners with cigarettes hanging out of the their mouths. But since Chicago has a city-wide smoking ban, an “irate theatre goer” complained to…well, to someone, but no one seems to know who, or where the complaint originated. However, the play has removed the butts from the production (ifs & ands seem to be safe, for the moment).

Think of the Stagehands!

…or something like that. The city aldermen aren’t saying that an actor lighting up a butt on stage is going to actually give anyone cancer (kind of reminds me of when I was juggling torches and I’d reassure the audience that it was ok, I was using stage flame). But still, Health Committee Chairman Ed Smith says, “”We would be duplicitous if we say it’s alright to allow people to smoke on stage. … It’s an adversity to people who come to see those plays and the stagehands.”

As for those plays where lighting up really is written into the script, his advice is that they “modify the lines of the their plays to strike references to smoking and smoke-filled rooms.” Yeah, just change those lines. And by the way, it’s rather bad to show killing, and high heels kill your back, and do you realize what ballet does to your knees? It’s an adversity!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be improving. Alderman Bernard Stone, one of a couple who tried to get an exemption from the city-wide ban on smoking for theatres, said “”When you take it out of the production, you’re changing history. If you want to be true to the times, you’ll allow them to smoke on stage. To do otherwise is like blue laws in the Puritan times.” But apparently everyone else on the council was afraid to sign for smoking…and so, the Jersey Boys, and the rest of the plays, will have to leave their lighters at home.

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I feel that – it warms my heart, actually. At age 18 I started on what I thought was going to be a career in musical theatre, but got a bit sidetracked, and didn’t end up getting my degree in dance until the venerable age of 29. Ten years later, I have taught ballet to three year olds and the rumba to 70 year olds, worked with world-class dancers like Heidi Latsky, presented before World Dance Symposiums, and danced on stage to “Let’s Get Physical” with Foxy Veronica’s Peach Pies at a goth club.

Because in the end it’s not about the movements or the technique, Milia. It’s about your movement, your technique, and your body moving. You want to dance? Dance, then. If you make the movement authentic, it will be good.

Pina Bausch and Tanztheatre Wuppertal

I’m having trouble finding the documented evidence, so this is anecdotal, but when I was at one point doubting my ability to dance when compared with the 18 and 19 year olds I was training with, my mentor Douglas Rosenberg told me about Pina Bausch. Aside from being a fantastic dancer and choreographer herself, he told me that at certain points in her career she’d refused to have any dancers younger than…oh, 35 or 40, I don’t remember which…in her company. They hadn’t lived enough life to put the meaning that she wanted into the movements.

Now, this may be an unfair comparison – many young dancers are exquisitely expressive, and age is no virtue – but it has served as inspiration to me as my movements change with age. The legs do not lift me as high, but the intention behind the leap has more depth now than it did before. And in the end, there is always a new Spring in my step.

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The Bard for Our Time

As the Spanish speaking segment of the U.S. (as well as the rest of the world) continues to grow, it’s no surprise that the great playwrights such as William Shakespeare would be translated into that language. Indeed, it has been for ages; other languages, as well (I saw Othello in Japanese once, and got chills).

But here’s a twist on it: Romeo y Julieta is a staged reading of the famous play created by Karen Zacarias, directed by Henry Godinez, has live music by Luna Blues Machine and features Elizabeth Peña (four-time American Latino Media Arts Award winner) . The most incredible part? It’s bilingual. Not all in English, not all in Spanish, but a mixture of the two, and I wish I could see the way the story unfolds with more than just politics separating the two houses. It will be playing July 25 & 26 at Little Village Lawndale High School in Chicago.

Schadenfreude at Theater on the Lake

Yes, I know, that’s German, not Spanish. But the sketch comedy troupe of the same name was brought to my attention via the blog of Ben Bass & Beyond. He gives an interesting view of the troupe’s distinguished history, and congratulates them on headlining Theater on the Lake this week in Chicago. He tops it all off with a video segment of a short called Crazy Pants, “which they translated into Spanish for some reason (apparently boredom with the tiresome exercise of getting big laughs in English).” Watch Loco Pantalones and see how, in any language, good comedy is still good:

Loco Pantalones from Schadenfreude Media, LLC on Vimeo.

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But since this isn’t my usual audience, I can make a confession here that I wouldn’t make there. I’m actually very shy. Few people believe me, even among my closest friends, but I identify as an introvert. I’m an introvert who can address an audience of 20,000 people every week, speak with spontaneous panache at a convention, and talk your ear off at a party. This is not a paradox. Shaking a stranger’s hand, I’m simultaneously relaxed and confident, and anxious enough to chew my own arm off to get away. The trick I’ve learned is simply faking it well; often well enough to forget that I’m faking it myself. And how did I learn to fake it?

Improv comedy.

I think everybody should learn to do improv. Especially the people who know with total certainty that they could never do improv. I had my formative experience with it in Georgia Tech’s theater group, DramaTech. We started with a few weekends’ worth of workshops, which became a performing troupe, the Let’s Try This Players — they’re still around 15 years later. Tech’s an engineering school; I’m not the only geeky introvert this troupe converted to a social mayfly.

The thing about improv is that it always looks much harder than it is. In truth, the hardest part of it is simply letting go of the belief that it should be hard. Once you learn to allow it to be easy, to let it flow, it’s easier to keep it going than to turn it off.

I learned two basic principles in improv that can be applied to any social situation anywhere. Together they’re enough of a social toolbox to defuse any social fear. They are spontaneity and acceptance.

Spontaneity simply means living in the moment. The surest way to freeze on stage in improv is to spend time planning your next line. You’re in a dynamic environment, the other people are constantly changing the context, and by the time you get to your clever line it simply isn’t relevant anymore. You can’t plan the scene, just as you can’t plan good conversations. Other people are too independent. The only thing you can do is open your mouth at the right time, and trust that whatever comes out will be the right thing. If you’re truly living in the moment, fully aware of your context, and confident enough, it will be. And when it is, that builds your confidence and awareness. It’s a self-reinforcing feedback loop once it gets started.

Acceptance was our most unbreakable rule in improv: never say no. “No” kills the scene. Failure to collaborate kills. If someone asks you to hold steady the invisible ladder they’re climbing and you say “No,” there’s nowhere to go from there. It’s not funny and there’s no plot that comes out of “No.” The correct answer is “Yes, and…” Accept and validate the point of view that the people around you are building — and then add to it with your own ideas. The same is true in any group dynamic. You have the power to change anything around you, but only if you accept the power of everyone else to do the same. This doesn’t mean having no boundaries; but if you’re doing improv (or life) and people are constantly pushing your limits and making you say “No,” you’re probably on the wrong stage.

These ideas are not unique to improv, and I know I’m not the first person to talk about socializing effectively with them. You can read the same stuff in How to Win Friends and Influence People. But improv is where it sunk in for me. Making it funny, having fun, is how I fully absorbed it. If you ever find yourself in my shoes, think about improv yourself. It’s worth a try. (And then can I please have
them back? I like those shoes.)
–
Have Fun,
Steve Eley (sfeley@gmail.com)
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
http://www.escapepod.org

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© 2008 Michael J. Wallach – Used by Permission of the Author

It used to be simple. You met an agency that you liked and you were presented with an agency contract that you could comfortably sign.  But, it doesn’t work like that anymore. What do I mean by that?  In the old days (not more than approximately five years ago) there was basically just one contract that an actor was given to sign. You were presented with a SAG Franchised Theatrical Motion Pictures and Television Contract. No problem. Signing it was easy because there were safeguards built into the agreement which guarded the actor from giving away important rights. But, it’s not quite like that anymore. Approximately 50++% of all talent agencies are no longer SAG franchised. In fact, as a personal manager of twenty years, I was comfortable allowing my client to sign such a SAG franchised contract without scrutinizing it because I knew that SAG had guidelines built into the contract that would protect my client.

What’s changed?  Most agencies are no longer franchised by the Guild and therefore are not bound to sign a potential client to a SAG Franchised Theatrical Motion Pictures and Television contract. So, what kind of contract does a non-franchised talent agent sign an actor to these days?  The answer is an agreement called a General Services Agreement. Is there a difference in the two contracts?  Absolutely.

Let’s talk about the basic differences. These differences can change your entire relationship with your agency. For example, it can keep you stuck in an agreement that you have learned was a mistake to enter into in the first place.  It can cost you more than ten percent…

So, before being specific about the different agency agreements, let me say that in spite of the agreement you sign, you can still turn a General Services Agreement into a positive move for your career!  (I’ll explain later in the article.)

OK, let’s examine the safeguards that a SAG agreement afforded you. First off, SAG didn’t allow an actor to sign an initial agency contract for more than one year.  This meant, of course, that the agreement’s term was relatively short and an actor knew that if it didn’t work out, after the year was up, he or she could move on to another agency.
But, with a General Services Agreement, an agency can sign you for up to seven years. (Yes, seven years because the state of California controls a general contract and the state rule is that a personal services agreement is enforceable for up to seven years.  It’s the same as signing a personal services contract to perform as a series regular on a series where the producer/network can sign you for up to seven years!)

What else does a SAG franchised agreement protect you with? It protects your right to get out of the agency contract if it’s not working and you’re not satisfied.  Specifically, you can get out of the agreement if you haven’t worked 15 days in the first 151 days.  How is this different than with a General Services Agreement?  Since such an agreement is only regulated by state law, you can only get out if you haven’t worked one day in the last four months!

Another important distinction between the two contracts that you may be presented with involves the type of representation that the agency will have over you. Simply put, when you sign a SAG franchised agreement, the only kind of representation is for theatrical motion pictures and television (and sometimes commercials). However, if you sign a General Services Agreement, you will likely be represented as not only an actor but also as a director, producer, writer, choreographer, and many more capacities!  So, you will not only be paying a commission as an actor but also for other fields should you happen to produce or write something that gets sold. In other words, was it your intention to give an agency a commission for something other than as an actor?

And another distinction is that the SAG franchised agreement limits the commission one pays to ten percent.  A General Services Agreement (controlled by the state of California) does not limit your commission to ten percent!

There is a positive way to approach the above situation. Let’s discuss. What is one to do when presented with a General Services Agreement?  Do you sign it out of desperation? Or, do you try to negotiate the terms with the agency trying to sign you?  The answer is the latter.  When an agency wants to sign you, the playing field has leveled out. While it may seem that they have all the cards, the fact is that you are wanted and needed by the agency that wants to sign you. So, discuss the terms. What do I specifically mean by that?  For example, tell the agency that you only want to sign for one year; that you want the same out clauses that a SAG agreement gives you; that you only want to be represented as an actor; and that the commission should not exceed ten percent.
Remember, the agency wants you – probably as much or more than you want the agency – so negotiate!

Michael J. Wallach, a manager and attorney for more than twenty years has written a book entitled “How To Get Arrested®”: A Motivational Story For Actors Breaking Into Hollywood. It answers many questions and does it in story form as opposed to it being written in text book style. Wallach also created and teaches a course for UCLA Extension called “This Business of Acting” which was offered in the Winter Quarter ’08.

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Making the Dream Real

Much to my joy, I find that Jeanne is making the dream real, putting Stardance into movie form. The complications of choreography in zero gee are immense, and not the least of it is the problem of, well, getting into zero gee in the first place. However, she and her main choreographer, Kathleen McDonagh, managed to get up in one of the zero gee planes and…well, they did it. They danced. They began a zero-gee movement vocabulary. And I can’t tell you how amazing I find that. It’s the most inspirational thing I’ve seen…well, ever.

Thank you, Jeanne, for making me believe in dreams yet again.

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All About Numbers

As the video on their site will tell you, in the past 9 years Artistic Fraud has called for:

• 81 school desks
•  32 flourescent semaphore flags
• 790 maps
• 36 vibraphone keys
• 2400 square feet of polyester wedding dress lining
• Over 300 performers.

You can see a short film about the relatively small production Fear of Flight on YouTube now, and hear the ensemble as they blend and create their vocal stagescapes (score by Jonathan Monroe). It’s fascinating how the score backs up the dramatic collaboration of the characters on the stage…

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Scoping the Arts

In the same vein, I thought I’d mine the Arts and Entertainment section of the local newspaper as the
basis of my post on the Eastern Time Zone, the Lewiston Sun Journal which serves the Central Maine area.

The website itself is pretty standard for its type, nice to see it’s keeping up with the times and not all
blink tags and comic sans font. Nothing surprising in the headlines:  someone plagiarized off the Internet (sigh, so 1999), some notable local court cases, and some discouraging news about homeless crackdowns and shelter protests.

But, there is the “Encore” arts section under Entertainment in the left navigation menu. And under
that, a link to the World Refugee Day in Kennedy Park. And that does a lot to lift my heart. You see, while there were a lot of nice small town aspects to the Lewiston/Auburn area that I left as a child, I also recall that on the whole it was extremely conservative, extremely religious, and very ethnically uniform in its Franco-American Heritage.

A Hope for Cultural Maturity

As I said earlier, I’ve peeked in from time to time over the years. There was a Harry Potter book burning in the same park some years ago that I still shake my head about. But on the other hand, I’ve also read about the migration of Somalis refugees to the area. I have to admit at first I was skeptical, but this festival gives me hope that the area as a whole is slowing joining the world around it. Hope, which while not universal to all art (nor should be, I’d be the first to admit), is certainly one of its best abilities.

So, if you’re in the Eastern Time Zone today, in Central Maine in general, and Kennedy Park in Lewiston in particular…please go to the World Refugee Day festival. Listen to their experiences, enjoy their local foods and drinks, and as you listen to their music and watch them dance, look up or sideways. With hope, I’ll see you on Google.

Refugee festival set for Friday

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