Intersections

And so we have come to this. Here we clearly sit at the intersection of "Be Careful What You Wish For Boulevard" and "The New Reality Lane". And all that is left is to try and create a new workable vision of the future.

So on the former street we believed that things would be so much better if only the major festivals would hire more minority actors. If they did that then everything would be coming up roses or maybe this coming up roses
Either way they are and it is not quite what we expected. First off the long seasons pull so many great performers out of the working pool that if you want to use them then you are looking a very restrictive time frame for production. And then now that performers know that the festivals are a calling they are now being quite reluctant to commit to any projects that are 8 - 14 months away.

And yet here on "New Reality Lane" time frames have totally changed over the last few years. As the available venue space has diminished the pre-planning has lengthened. We now book spaces a year to a year and a half in advance. Designers and Production Managers are booked at least that far in advance as well. In fact the entire industry has had to move towards these kinds of time lines except I daresay actors who in hopes of that elusive festival gig are refusing to commit.

Now this wouldn't be much of a problem if the role you are looking for is one that there are a number of choices for. However if it is a very specific role due to age/background/gender then all of a sudden you are in an ugly producing box. If the actors won't commit do you cancel the show? Or go outside the country?

If you don't do the show then there goes your co-pro and your season. If you go outside the country then I think that some goodwill just left the building.

I am not sure how to solve these issues. All I know is that this particular intersection has the same freezing aspects as Portage and Main in January.