At bat...
I am excited to announce that I am participating in Simon Casting's 14th Annual Monologues for Meals to help raise money for The Actor's Fund for COVID Relief. It is unfortunate how many people outside of the theatre industry do not comprehend how many people are truly impacted by theatres having to close their doors, and what is worse is that we are potentially going to be shut down until 2022. If you are able to, please join me in donating.
Like the rest of the world, I am living in limbo until there is a vaccine and everyone has access to it. I have been finding creativity in small projects, but more importantly, offering my skills as an artist and arts administrator to companies, schools and other artists who need assistance, working on grants and seeing what changes life will take.
Some of the current projects that I have been working on (not all names are able to be provided due to confidentiality reasons)
- Consulting on two pilot scripts, one of which is now a finalist in the WEScreenplay TV Pilot competition
- Editing and consulting on a theatre company's bylaws to create a comprehensive board member succession plan in Chicago, IL
- Grant research, website updates, addressing the living document of Dear WAT demands and creating a new Transparency page for Babes With Blades Theatre Company in Chicago, IL
- Presenting and serving as a reference for high school theatre students learning about stage combat within theatre at The Winsor School in Boston, MA
- Reading and doing my own person EDIA work, such as completing the Me and White Supremacy Workbook by Layla F. Saad, reading How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi, Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall and Black Theatre is Black Life: An Oral History of Chicago Theatre and Dance, 1970 - 2010 by Harvey Young and Queen Meccasia Zabriskie. I have also been doing watching presentations on land acknowledgement for the Indigenous People who inhabited the Chicagoland area before it was colonized, Transgender casting and theater for the disabled. Although our industry is dark, it is an incredible time for change and I am happy to have the time to start this work. I know the list above only scratches the surface, but it is more than time the we recognize the full scope of artists that truly help to make our industry what it is and continue to do so from now on.
"Be the change you want to see in the world," - a paraphrase of Ghandi, 1913
Like the rest of the world, I am living in limbo until there is a vaccine and everyone has access to it. I have been finding creativity in small projects, but more importantly, offering my skills as an artist and arts administrator to companies, schools and other artists who need assistance, working on grants and seeing what changes life will take.
Some of the current projects that I have been working on (not all names are able to be provided due to confidentiality reasons)
- Consulting on two pilot scripts, one of which is now a finalist in the WEScreenplay TV Pilot competition
- Editing and consulting on a theatre company's bylaws to create a comprehensive board member succession plan in Chicago, IL
- Grant research, website updates, addressing the living document of Dear WAT demands and creating a new Transparency page for Babes With Blades Theatre Company in Chicago, IL
- Presenting and serving as a reference for high school theatre students learning about stage combat within theatre at The Winsor School in Boston, MA
- Reading and doing my own person EDIA work, such as completing the Me and White Supremacy Workbook by Layla F. Saad, reading How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi, Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall and Black Theatre is Black Life: An Oral History of Chicago Theatre and Dance, 1970 - 2010 by Harvey Young and Queen Meccasia Zabriskie. I have also been doing watching presentations on land acknowledgement for the Indigenous People who inhabited the Chicagoland area before it was colonized, Transgender casting and theater for the disabled. Although our industry is dark, it is an incredible time for change and I am happy to have the time to start this work. I know the list above only scratches the surface, but it is more than time the we recognize the full scope of artists that truly help to make our industry what it is and continue to do so from now on.
"Be the change you want to see in the world," - a paraphrase of Ghandi, 1913
On deck...
Reading more plays, watching archival theatre performances and consulting...fee free to reach out if you have a script you are looking to have reviewed or theatrical administrative work you have questions on as I am happy to help. We all need each other in times like this.
I am also happy to say that I am connecting with different services to serve as an Executive and Public Speaking Coach. Zoom might be the way of the current world, but that doesn't mean that you are any less nervous when making a presentation to thousands of people. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a session!
I am also happy to say that I am connecting with different services to serve as an Executive and Public Speaking Coach. Zoom might be the way of the current world, but that doesn't mean that you are any less nervous when making a presentation to thousands of people. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a session!
Photo Credit: Idle Muse Theatre Company's production of GIRL FOUND, photo by Steve Townshend; Scenic Design by Sarah Lewis, Lighting by Laura J. Wiley
