i’m not ashamed to admit that some of my crazier new year’s eves were spent in the company of the Grateful Dead. Those were some trippy, goofy fun times.  Here’s some YouTube video of NYE 1985 into 1986, narrated by Father Guido Sarducci and Ken Kesey:

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Color me impressed. Createquity pulled together his best quotes from the past year and put them all in one big end-of-year post. Very cool and lots of good ideas. Check it out here.

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Looks super fun!

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Neighbors, forthcoming at the Public), director Gavin Quinn (PanPan Theatre), and dramaturg/producer Allison Lyman (NYC Players) are currently developing an adaptation of nineteenth century playwright Dion Boucicault’s famous melodrama THE OCTOROON for Performance Space 122 (to premiere June 2010) and could use your help.

They’re having a sort of super-last-minute workshop/lab on January 5 and 6 (Next week! Whoops?!), during which a group of actors and artists will read out loud together all or parts of Boucicault’s original THE OCTOROON–with a bit of light direction from Gavin–followed by a brief, informal, artist-led discussion. Pending available time, rough pages from the new adaptation may also be read.

more info on fb.

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What do our CO2 emissions look like in tangible, spatial form? Leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Change talks, San Francisco based Millennium Art had an answer. They teamed up with the United Nations Department of Public Information to create a global installation–a collection of three-story-high digital multimedia cubes, each representing the one metric ton of carbon dioxide the average human in an industrialized country produces every month.

from refresheverything.

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I’m still digging around  but with Pepsi Refresh and Coke’s Live Positively campaigns we’re seeing a distinctly different tone and approach towards giving. On the heels of the Chase Community giving campaign (which has taken some heat recently) I think we’re definitely seeing a trend. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how each of these initiatives works.  What do you think? Is it a new way of giving money to causes that doesn’t require vast philanthropic infrastructure and gatekeepers? Or is it a cynical ploy that ends up making people run through hoops in a popularity contest with little chance of winning? Does it reduce Social Innovation through philanthropy to a popularity contest?

Sustained social innovation through philanthropy requires a lot of time and commitment, research and planning. On the other hand, it can get bogged down in bureaucracy and lose sight of the changes it was trying to effect.

What will be the outcome of this new way of crowdsourcing philanthropy? Will it further these brands aims? Will it make a difference socially?

And how will this affect arts groups? Does it change the way we look at the arts, fundraising and social responsibility? Hmmm…

I want to know what you think! Please comment with links, etc.

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I was just checking out the IETM website and ran across this news item/call for support:

A prominent actor and producer, Mohammad Alamzeb fled Pakistan in May 2009 following kidnapping and threats by the Taliban. Alamzeb is now in Malaysia with his family, facing financial hardship and fearing for his safety as he awaits UNHCR refugee status and possible resettlement.

According to the actor, on January 12, 2009, he was kidnapped by Taliban agents at 11:00 am as he was on his way to work. Alamzeb was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken at gunpoint to a unknown location. After holding him hostage for five days, the actor’s family produced the ransom to secure his release on the condition that he leave the entertainment business. He was told to call a press release to announce his retirement from the industry publicly, which he did, unwillingly, on January 16, 2009 (“Popular Comedian Quits Showbiz,” The News International, 1/17/09). He was also told to attend Tableegh meetings and grow a beard, which he did not do. Though he agreed to quit showbiz, he continued to work to complete some projects for which he had already received payment. At this point he continued to receive threats and decided to flee the country. Malaysia was his best option at the time.

More info here.

Via FreeDimensional which is a fascinating organization that advances social justice by hosting activists in art spaces and using cultural resources to strengthen their work.

And here’s an article in the UK Telegraph about the Taliban threatening Pakistani artists.

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Outrageous Fortune: The Life And Times Of The New American Play by Todd London, with Ben Pesner, and Zannie Giraud Voss, examines the “collaboration in crisis” between the contemporary American playwright and the varied people who fund and produce new work. Published this month by Theatre Development Fund, the study draws on six years of research, including interviews and surveys with hundreds of playwrights, artistic directors and theater professionals. I was one of the playwrights questioned for this book and want to share how this work translated to me. This is not a book review, but rather a personal response to the study.

I found myself disappointed that I wasn’t disappointed in the books data and conclusion, and writing that is disappointing. The book is a postmortem on what the American playwright was and the realization that in free market capitalism the bottom line is the emphasis for the contemporary stage, something most playwrights learn quickly. This is seen not only in a statistic on page 24 that the average number of new plays per year from 1980-2000 was only 14, but also that grants and foundations (the major funders of my own work) are looking for “results”, such as how many people came to see the show and what was the impact. The question of playwriting commissions is brought into light, as one playwright speculates that a commission is designed to placate the writer, and not to produce the play in question. This is an idea that has been on my mind for some time and has only been reinforced by the study. Producing a new play can be risky business for theatres, but no theatre wants to be negligent of playwrights.

In the study the authors are discreet when attributing quotes (anyone who has meet London would expect nothing less), using “PLAYWRIGHT” or “ARTISTIC DIRECTOR” and “DRAMATURG” instead of real names so not to ruffle features or make the findings personal. I found this amusing, at times, as I was able to identify the author of several quotes by word selection alone.  A quote at the top of page 216 comparing bread and butter to the theatre must be from the artistic director of INTAR. A comment on the death of Houston’s Infernal Bridegroom (one of this nations most aggressive theaters before closing it’s doors after, allegedly, not paying the bills) is a friend and famous site-specific specialist from New Orleans. I found this comforting that some of my disheartened thoughts and feelings on the state of the American stage were being echoed by people I like and respect.

The most telling matter in the study includes the rise of the MFA program as a minor league for the writer to shape their voice and style and gain connections. Once a literary manager told me he wouldn’t even look at a play if the letters “MFA” weren’t on the writers credits. Although becoming increasingly important for a younger playwright to get noticed, MFA programs are expensive and writers often go into a lifetime of debt for graduate opportunities. I hold an MA from the University of New Mexico and an MFA from Columbia University and expect to have my loans, which are half that of others I know, paid by the time I am sixty. For the record, I am 34. On page 49, the authors wisely use the notorious Robert Anderson quote “You can make a killing in the theatre, but you can’t make a living”. To emphasize this point, I’ve made more money as a short story writer and blogger (where I’m nothing more than a jerk with an opinion at federal prisoner 30664) than as a playwright. After all, you are reading this on Culturebot, bless your heart. However, in this frank study, the authors end with a chapter entitled “Positive Practices and Novel Ideas”. They address how we can re-think our approach to play development, and, most importantly, audience. How do we connect with an ever-aging theatre audience? What the authors do with this book is start a conversation on where we have been and where we need to go. And that is a conversation long over due.

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Just a random observation that the phrase I seem to have heard the most in 2009, and don’t recall hearing too often before, is ”The perfect is the enemy of the good.” It seems like I’ve been hearing it about health reform recently, but I’ve also heard it in software development workshops, in artistic enterprises and in random conversation. The original quote in French is “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.”, from Voltaire’s Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764) Literally translated as “The best is the enemy of good.”, but is more commonly cited as “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  I feel like that’s as a good a catchphrase as any for a pretty lousy year.

Like most people, I’m glad to see 2009 go away. Far, far away. What a crap year. Once the “Obama rush” wore off we were left with a monumental suckfest of a year. Good riddance to bad rubbish, that’s what I say. [NB: I'm still accepting invitations for NYE, hint hint].

I’m hoping 2010, more than anything, will bring with it a sense of possibility that I’ve been sorely lacking most of this year. And I’m ready for changes in all aspects of my life that will bring excitement, engagement and change. To be honest, I think I’m not alone when I say that I’ve just been hunkering down and trying to get through. I’m ready for a New Morning, ready to reawaken and plunge back into this crazy thing. Maybe even take a risk or two.

But on the topic of the decade, I have to say, it was pretty monumental. Apart from the horror of 9/11 and the ongoing evil of the Bush administration, personally, the first decade of the 21^st century was pretty transformative. The early 2000’s, post-9/11, were amazing. I made tons of friends in the early blogging days, got to co-found the WYSIWYG Talent Show with Chris Hampton and Dan Rhatigan, had amazing unparalleled adventures at PS122. I did several solo shows and ran for Mayor in 2005, I wrote for Nerve.com and other places. I traveled a bit around the world, which was fun. I’d say from 2002-2007 I had a pretty good stretch. And then I got to curate the PRELUDE Festival for three years and, of course, the past few years I have been working exceptionally hard on this here blog, Culturebot.org, and am proud of what we’ve built here. So – 2009? 2009 sucked donkey. But the entire decade? I have to say it was a wild, wild ride with some horrible downs and some transcendent ups.

Here’s hoping 2010 brings everybody whatever they wish for and maybe a few great surprises. A few moments of enlightenment and transcendence would be nice. To get things started on a pop-tastic note, here’s a fun song from the end of the last decade:

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Also part of APAP is Japan Society’s 13th Annual Contemporary Dance Showcase featuring work from Japan + East Asia.

One of the most anticipated dance programs in New York, this year’s line-up includes:

from JAPAN
• Company Derashinera, acclaimed for its surreal take on everyday life and led by mime-trained choreographer Shuji Onodera (formerly of Company Mizuto Abura).
• The funky, playful company KIKIKIKIKIKI, led by butoh-trained Kitamari, presents Omedeto (Congratulations) [U.S. Debut]
• Masako Yasumoto’s coquettish and frenetic male/female duet slap, pat, suck. [U.S. Debut]

from KOREA
• The hip-hop inspired LDP (Laboratory Dance Project), with their deliciously dynamic and unruly all-male group dance No Comment [U.S. Debut]

from TAIWAN
• WCdance, led by choreographer WenChung Lin, a former dancer with Bill T. Jones, with their fusion of traditional Chinese music and intense movement in the romantic Small Nanguan. [U.S. Debut]

Friday, January 8, 7:30 PM
Saturday, January 9, 7:30 PM

TICKETS
$22/$18 Japan society members

APAP Presenters please call (212) 715-1276 for industry reservations. Tickets are not guaranteed until confirmed.

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Name: David Cote
Title: Theater Editor
Organization: Time Out New York
URL: www.timeoutnewyork.com/theater

1. Where did you grow up and how did you end up where you are now?

Born and adopted in New Hampshire. From the age of four I grew up in a small town, population 2,200. Since I was 10 I wanted to live in a city and sure enough, I ended up here after going to Bard College. I didn’t always know that NYC was where I wanted to be, but after graduation, Eric Dyer of Radiohole –fellow Bardian a year ahead of me — said come to New York, we’ll make theater. So I did and stayed.

2. Which performance, song, play, movie, painting or other work of art had the biggest influence on you and why?

I watched way too much TV as a teen but a lot of it was good, so I’ll just say the following programs had a big impact on my brain, in addition to reading Shakespeare, Dickens, Ray Bradbury, and assorted sci-fi, fantasy and comic books: The Singing Detective, The Prisoner, Doctor Who and lots of other BBC import stuff. I’m a big geek.

3. What skill, talent or attribute do you most wish you had and why?

A photographic memory, especially for quotes and imagery. I feel like everyone else remembers pithy little applicable quotes or can summon up very vivid mental images of certain painters or objects. I’m very textual and forgetful…not a total moron, but I have to work hard to commit things to memory. I envy people who have memorized large chunks of poetry.

4. What do you do to make a living? Describe a normal day.

I’m a desk monkey by day and a glamourous Theater Critic by night. I basically work 10-6 supervising TONY’s theater section, which includes assigning freelancers, writing blog posts, editing reviews and articles, planning the next few weeks of the section, writing my own reviews and articles and making sure the print and online components are moving along smoothly. Three or four times a week (maybe more if it’s really busy) I see a show, either to review to keep up on what’s out there.

5. Have you ever had to make a choice between work and art? What did you choose, why, and what was the outcome?

When I got the job at TONY in 2000, I was keenly aware that I was stepping over a line and might not go back. Meaning: I had spent the previous eight years as an actor and director doing Off-Off Broadway work at various venues (La MaMa, P.S. 122, HERE). Although I had dabbled in theater journalism by putting out the zines OFF and EdgeNY, those publications were on the advocacy side, not “impartial” journalism. So I was going to become a dreaded “crrritic.” Still, I had seen plenty of theater and had lots of opinions and thought I could do some good in addition to starting a new career. And so I have. I make a living by writing. I’m paid to watch theater. It’s pretty sweet. The outcome? I love what I do and in the last few years I’ve tried to step up the institutional criticism and emerging-artist advocacy. And in the last two years, I’ve been working on extracurricular projects. I’ve been commissioned to write a play for the Gingold Theatrical Group’s Press Cuttings program (http://www.projectshaw.com/BeyondShaw.php). End of December, I will have an invited dress. I wrote the libretto for a one-act play called Fade (fadeopera.com) with composer Stefan Weisman. I’ve got lots of little creative irons in various fires and it feels great. So I was able to choose work, then choose art.

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