Greetings all...well, I'm officially "on the back side of 30" , to quote an old county song...or the tail end of it, to be more precise. But, according to John Mellancamp, a man's not really worth a damn till he;s in his forties, and ole Johnny Cougar's NEVER wrong, is he?I'll say this...I wouldn't want to be any other age at any other time, cause right now is pretty good, from where I'm standin'...thanks to all who came to the b-day bash at el toro. NOW I remember why I stopped drinking Tequila!
AND , on a serious note, a shout out to any and all DIVAS in the Gulf Coast area. Baton down the hatches and God bless...I've been through one Hurricane (well, numberous, if you're counting the Pat O'brien types! lol) and I know how devistating they can be. Our thoughts and prayers are with the DIVAMASTER and all our South Mississippi folk...
So, for those of us on higher ground, here's a new topic to ponder...in your experience, what's the best town/city for theatre? and no, we won't count NYC or LA LA land as that would be too easy...and the points game is getting interesting, with Mike T. joining the fray by nailing the last lyric right out of the gate. This one is my little shout out to the folks on the gulf...
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16 comments:
riding the storm out, speedwagon.
i'm on the backside of thirty, and back on my own, -john conlee. what about chicago? lot of theatre without all of the n.y. and la-la baggage. steppenwolf, second city, a lot of good stuff comes out of chi-town.
Indeed it does, as CHI-town is probably option #3 for most actors wanting to hit the "big time"- and any town that foisted David Mamet upon us is Gold in my book.
For my 2 cents, I really like whats going on in Austin TX. As many of you know, many of our diva brethren have made it a home at one point or another (with Bobby Fisher and Joey Hood REALLY carving out a name for themselves in that scene) Austin has LOTS of theatre...according to a late 90's Austin Chronicle story, there were over 75 producing organizations in the city, ranging from Avant Garde to Women's theatre, to Hispanic Theatre, and all points beyond. PLUS, their city is a model of how theatres should stay connected and work together. It's not uncommon to go to a Rude Mechanicals show and see and insert for a Salvage Vangard theatre play in their program- or to see the AD of organization A direct for theatre b, and so forth...they also have an organization in town called the Austin Circle of Theatres (check them out on the web- very cool) that serves as a connecting body for all the companies in town. They print a newsletter, help fledgling organizations get started (primarily by allowing them to use their tax exempt status), advertise for jobs in the area, and generally aid in the promotion of all things theatrical in A-town. And don't forget that the U of Texas has one of the finest college theatre programs in the nation (saw their Suzuki-based KING LEAR back in the mid-90's. It was AWESOME- three years later, I noticed one of my Grad school texts was BASED on that production...)All that spells a pretty good theatre town to me...
and btw anon- SPEEDWAGON it is- AND I'm gonna give you 2 extra bonus points for getting the JOHN CONNELY "Backside of 30" reference...ROCK ON!
Minneapolis, MN.
Chicago, Ill.
Madison, WI.
Austin, TX.
Seattle, WA.
I've heard great things about each of these cities.
Ultimately, I'd probably pick Minneapolis or Chicago.
Of course, I'd go anywhere Dakota Fanning told me to go. She finally got her braces. She's in pain, but she wants me to let you all know she is doing fine. She's teaching Katie Holmes how to act (and how to find a REAL MAN) so she's staying REALLY busy.
Uhh...jal? The Dakota Fanning thing is starting to get just a tad disturbing...
BUt yeah, I've heard great stuff about Minn., it's just so damned COLD up there...
Don't you DARE try to take Dakota away from me! You're just jealous! She's MINE! I FOUND HER!
How about Minneapolis in the Spring and Summer, Austin in the Fall and Winter? Then you get the milder of the two extremes. Of course, Dakota will take the chill off anywhere I go.
LAY OFF HER! SHE'S MINE!
I dont know any great theatre towns. Just where to stay away from. Cincy is ok if you know the right people. Its really hard to break into the circle there, since the circle is so small. But to work in Cincinnati would require living in Cincinnati, and who wants that?
-Phil
Check out the link to ACOT (austin circle of theatres)
VERY impressive!
http://www.acotonline.org/Pages/Paynes.html
I LOVE Austin!!! I will live there before I die! I didn't realize the theater scene was that big.
I don't get out much these days, but I did have one hell of a time searching for a job anywhere in the U.S. a couple of years ago. I can tell you this:
Dallas, TX does not have as much as you would think.
Rochester, NY is the armpit of the north. And, the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre is a mole in that armpit. A malignant blight.
My one true love (as she likes to be called) has been to Chi-town many times and been to a bit o' theatre there. She herself is a theatre-type and we saw a revival of Glengarry at the Steppenwolf a couple of years ago. Nice town. I love the El. Wouldn't live there at this stage in my life, but then again I'm ga-ga over babies and family cars right now.
(Psst. Regarding that "dyke" comment from before... it was flooding that night, if you recall, and I was thinking about that poor little dutch boy with his finger in... ewww, nevermind.)
That's right and I'll have NO SLADERING DUTCH BOYS on this site!!!! Haven't those poor people been through enough, what with Van Halen breaking up and all?
Chicago is a great town, and seems to be one of the clear favs so far. Only been there once, and unfortunately didn't get to see any theatre, but DAMN! Seeing GLENGARRY at the 'wolfe, baby! That's the real deal!!!!
Hawaii. Because....uh...cause it's Hawaii!
New Orleans. They got Bourbon St., the French Quarter, casinos, a big movie industry (casting agents included) right now. Hell, they even have serial killers! Seems like homegrown theatre could be birthed there. I even think I've seen Dakota Fanning eating begnets at the Cafe Dumond, jal6.
Sigh. That is just like her.
How did I just KNOW that the Diva Master would get in on the Dakota Fanning stuff? You'd THINK there would already be a good theatre scene in NO (and I think there was at one time) but it's been greatly reduced in recent years. Wanna open a theatre there Millsy? I'll start working on a Mardi Gras play!! They do have a HELL of a developing film industry there. I think I read that their film production increased something like , no joke , about 1000% percent over the past 5 years. They are, in fact, the ones who stole alot of SEABISCUIT from us here in lexville, cause the filmmakers found it was cheaper to work there. Smashcut, you're the film dude...if you're trolling around, please chime in with your thoughts...
chicago is great, but so much of the theatre there is definitely heavily influenced by the improv scene, so if that's not your gig, then your options are a bit limited. it also tends to be mostly lateral movement for actors, from what i've heard, with limited options for union actors.
i'd have to say san fran...partly because i'm smitten by ellen gavin of the brava theatre co and her ideals and partly because the community definitely embraces diversity and this must carry over into their theatrical values thus enabling mmore risque choices.
also in the running are minneapolis and seattle, as the communities are big enough to sustain a living in, and adventurous enough for my taste.
i really have to throw in a word of defense for ny, though, being that its home and all. there's a ton of theatre here (and a lot of it sucks, but some of its phenomenal) and miraculously, there's an audience too. its a part of what people do - i've heard the most unlikely suspects at the stupid day job talking about what shows they want to see. the downtown crowd wears their avant guarde playbills as badges of honor. my deli guy who comes outside to check on me every night as i pass by on my way home went to see an off off show and he doesn't speak a whole lot of english. it is exciting to be in a place where the arts are in integral part of daily life and i wouldn't trade that in, despite the fact that its really freakin hard!
Yeah, there's absolutely no slight to NYC, as we all know that it is the Theatre capitol of the US, I just think alot of folks don't realize that towns like Chicago, Austin, Minneapolis, etc also have really strong theatre communities. I gotta say, even though it's been ten years since I've been to NYC (used to go all the time and even lived there for one of my patented "semesters off") about 90 % of what I saw there kicked ass. Everything from the original GRAPES OF WRATH (stright from chi-town, if I remember right), the original run of the NERD (with LUKE SKYWALKER in the lead! Totally cool) to a young Sam Jackson in JOE TURNERS COME AND GONE...loved it all and I love the city. And who knows? When my son's in college, I may just move up there, retire and be a character actor for the rest of my life!
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