Have Theatre Tickets Become A Luxury Item?

There's no denying it - theatre tickets in America are expensive!  This, of course, is expected from Broadway shows, where the only goal is profit; however, this is becoming more and more true of regional theatre as well.

With rising costs of productions and little to no government funding, theatres look to box office sales for fuel to continue their productions.  While this is understandable, what results is theatre becoming more of a privilege for the wealthy than a cultural staple for all society.  A sad fact to be sure, considering how we champion theatre as a relevant and possibly life-changing organism that should be enjoyed by all, especially the average Joe who needs it most. 

The responsibility to change this sad fact relies on us theatre professionals, since we are the ones who ultimately control our budgets. We must find ways to lower our costs of productions and lobby our government for better funding.  Perhaps regional theatres can begin by ceasing their attempts to rival million dollar Broadway productions, or perhaps theatres could not attempting to make their "overall experience" so lavish with over-the-top and extraneous accommodations and houses. Maybe someday we can return theatre to its status as an engine of the people.

The overly lavish Los Angeles theatre.

Non-Traditional Casting

The debate over non-traditional casting has become more heated in recent years.  Non-traditional casting, of course, is "defined as the casting of ethnic minority and female actors in roles where race, ethnicity, or sex is not germane", according to Actor's Equity Association's collective bargaining agreement with Broadway producers. 

A non-traditional cast of Okalahoma in Washington D.C.

For some, the debate is centered around equal opportunity employment for ethnic minorities and female actors, who obviously have much less opportunity for employment than white male actors in traditional theatre.

However, for some individuals, non-traditonal casting is not the answer.  In 1996, a prominent black playwright by the name of August Wilson stated that he saw non-traditional casting not as a favor but an insult to black Americans:

"(A)n all-black production of a Death of a Salesman; or any other play conceived for white actors is to deny us (black people) our own humanity, our own history, and the need to make our own investigations from the cultural ground on which we stand as black Americans."

Perhaps Wilson has a point - perhaps we should not look to turn a blind eye to a black or hispanic woman portraying a role intended for a white actress, but instead provide more opportunity for the culture of all minorities to be represented in full beauty onstage.  Film certainly had done so in recent years, and we as theatre professionals should be ashamed that we are so far behind.  After all, are we not overdue for such a brilliant production like A Raisin in the Sun?

Productions like A Raisin in the Sun are far too rare.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Damn Stage Lights!

We are all familiar with the most controversial production to ever hit the Broadway stage, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.  From heated artistic differences, to cast injuries, lawsuits, firings and more, Spider-Man may have contributed at least one, albeit unintended, benefit to American theatre - it became a microcosm of relevant issues of show-business.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was without question the
most controversial show in Broadway history.

Perhaps the most infamous controversies to surface from this show was the producers' decision to fire Julie Taymor, famous director of the hit Broadway adaptation of Disney's The Lion King.  The absolute specifics of the dispute are still unknown, but the effect was a huge debate over who should hold the final say in artistic decisions of a Broadway show and who has legal rights to its material and profits.  It should be noted that Taymor was not only the director of this show but also co-writer of the book, so this was indeed a special case.  Many of Taymor's colleagues suggested that the main dispute centered over Taymor's refusal to let anyone besides her make changes to the show.  That fact is not completely clear, but although Taymor and the producers came to a legal settlement, the debate goes on.

Julie Taymor became infamous for being
fired from the most expensive flop in
Broadway history.

Many strongly feel Taymor deserved her fate, not for being a perceived artistic dictator, but for the danger she posed to her actors.  At least six major injuries and multiple legal cases resulted from her ambitious vision, and it raised great ethical questions surround artistry versus safety.  It is quite interesting to note that countless injuries have resulted from theatre throughout the centuries, but (perhaps due to its grand scale) Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark has definitely become the most infamous.

Too add insult to injury (pun intended), Spiderman had the most previews in Broadway history, destroying the reputation of the Broadway preview.  Then, when it finally opened, it was a critical catastrophe.  The poor soul must be embarrassed...

Curtains?

Is theatre a dying art?  Are we as artists soon doomed to perform only in the chorus line of unemployment?  Theatre experts have debated for centuries whether or not theatre is becoming more and more irrelevant.  With the coming of film and television in the last century, that debate is more fervent than ever.

According the more passionate and perhaps cynical theatre lovers, film and television have robbed our beloved world of drama of countless dollars and opportunities for growth and expansion.  

However, some experts state that such fears are mere histrionics.  Let's look at some numbers:

Find more statistics at Statista

According to a study from The Broadway League, gross revenue on Broadway has increased from 938.5 million dollars in 2006/07 to 1.1 billion dollars in 2012/13.  This is an increase to be sure, however slight, but let's look at the film industry.

According to Forbes.com, the gross revenue of box office sales alone have increased a whopping 24%, not to mention the widespread innovations of DVD, Bluray, and royalties from streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime.  Consider as well that the highest grossing film in history, James Cameron's Avatar, was enough to gross $760 million dollars in US box office revenue - one film alone falling only roughly $300 million dollars behind an entire season of shows in the same year in the most profitable theatrical medium in the entire world.

James Cameron's Avatar as one film grossed
the equivalent of over 75% of Broadway's
annual income in the same year.

These numbers cannot be overlooked.  Statistically, film is growing at a much more rapid pace than theatre.  Also, considering the rate of inflation, could we truly say these slight increases of profit on Broadway over the years is even growth at all?  We certainly cannot draw the conclusion that theatre is dying.  From these numbers, it would be more accurate to say that it is currently in a state of stalemate (at least regarding Broadway).  Perhaps Jay McAdama, co-founder and Executive Director of the 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles put it best: "Theatre will never be completely dead in our lifetime, but it's moved from Intensive Care to a ventilator."

Drag: Theatre or Flop?

A jaw-dropping and very difficult performance art, drag has recently come very close to my art.  My drag persona, Emerald Van Cartier, is barely even a year old yet she has already opened me up to an entirely new and exciting world of performance.

Many opinions surround the world of drag.  Putting the obvious bigotry aside, those who accept it are still torn on many questions.  For myself, I am an actor first and a drag queen second; however, I personally see no difference.

There are many individuals both in and out of the theatre community who would very much disagree with me.  In fact, a prolific theatre artist very close to me whom I respect dearly once told me that no casting director would take me seriously if I told them I was a drag performer.  This is was both shocking and terribly offensive - as I have dedicated so much of my time and money to this under-appreciate art form.

The more I have discussed this matter with others and researched the topic, the more I have come to realize that this misconception is widely spread within the theatre community - a fact I find quite shocking, considering the history of gender-bending in theatre (e.g. the potrayal of female roles by males during the time of Shakespeare, the modern day British tradition of Pantomime dames, the recent success of drag-centered Broadway shows such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Kinky Boots).

In Shakespeare's time, female roles were played by men.

Such disrespect goes beyond simply hurt egos.  Due to the lack of appreciation of drag and its segregation from more traditional theatrical arts, drag performers are grossly mistreated.  As previously mentioned, many in the theatre community hold prejudice against drag performers and therefore discriminate against them in the casting process, while the venues that do hold drag shows get away with paying their performers little to nothing.  This means that it is next to impossible to make a career from this beautiful and complex art form.  Indeed, there are no unions for drag performers - the very thought of such a thing is enough to incite laughter and ridicule in the theatre community at large.  A true shame, since in our current world, if a drag performer wants to become a career professional, she must make it nationally on RuPaul's Drag Race, or sache away!

The famous RuPaul is one of the far too few drag performers
who have been able to make a career from their art.

Grad Schools

Through my recent work in theatre, I've discovered I have a talent and thirst for directing.  Although I've always thought of myself as an actor, but directing has become a new-found passion of mine.  It is for this reason that the MFA in Directing program at the University of Texas at Austin is appealing to me.  The Directing program usually only admits one or two candidates at a time, so it is highly competive; however, coming from one of the most well-respected undergraduate programs in acting and directing in the nation would certainly heighten my chances.  This would have to be somewhere down the line, however, as the program only admits students with professional directing experience after their undergraduate program, so I would need to work a bit before applying. The curriculum for students in the program is well worth it.  It is a three year, 60-hour program designed to shape students as well-round artists.  Students develop skills in script analysis, playwrighting, design, dramaturgy, composition, working with actors and more.  The curriculum also allows students to take multiple electives which gives them room to tailor their own path as artists and scholars.

A more idealistic, yet most likely unrealistic, program would be the MFA in Acting program at Yale University.  For the most serious and promising actors, this program has long held a reputation as one of the most respected in the nation.  It's easy to see why, as it boasts such an illustrious assortment of alumni, including powerhouse Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, and the recent Tony Award winner for Best Actress Lupita Nyong'o.  Perhaps the most appealing part of this program for me is the amount of actual production work each student has the opportunity to perform.  Quite unlike many undergraduate and graduate programs, in which most students spend multiple semesters without the opportunity to work on actual productions, students in the MFA program at Yale are guaranteed to begin performing at the end of their very first semester.  The program is very intensive and elite, so much so in fact that students are strictly prohibited from performing in productions outside the university.  Once students leave the program, however, they can be confident that they now hold the reputation of the creme of the acting crop and therefore enjoy highly rewarding careers.

Teaching

In order to get traditional teaching certification from SHSU, a student must spend at one semester in Methods, where the student learns the tools of teaching, and one semester in Student Teaching, in which the student takes the knowledge learned to an actual school to apply their knowledge, supervised of course by an actual teacher.  After these courses are completed, the student must take two exams.  One, known as the content exam, covers the student's speciality, like theatre for a theatre education major.  The next, known as the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) exam, covers general education expertise and methods.  This is not a viable option for me as teaching is not currently in my life plans.

However, to receive alternative certification, a candidate must already hold a BFA and apply.  The student goes through an intensive Alternative Certification program that usually can be completed within a year.  Similar to traditional certification, the candidate must pass a content exam and the PPR exam.  This route offers an accelerated path for those wanting to teach after already having completed college.  If I were to decide to teach, this would obviously be the option for me.

As for community college positions, there is actually a position available at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri for the Dean of the College of Performing Arts.  I would obviously need an MA or MFA to begin with, and most likely quite a bit of experience of teaching at a college level.  I would also surely need a bit of administrative experience as well.

On the university level, Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts is looking for a temporary full-time Professor of Theatre and Speech with the potential of becoming permanent.  As with the previous position, I would need a higher degree, but one that is terminal since this is university level, so either a MFA or Ph.D. This position interests me because, honestly speaking, it's Salem, Massachusetts and I'm into its history and its a very short drive to Boston!