Over this past year, I have been very disappointed with the theatre world. I am told that I am a very good actor, yet I cant seem to get good roles. I never even get call-backs (I either get the role right away or, most of the time, I am one of the first told "sorry"). Of my auditions last year, five of my rejections I can point to something very tangible: my skin is brown.
A few months ago, the thought occurred to me: why don't I start my own theatre group? With my own theatre group, I can take the time to look for plays with minorities in lead positions. With my own theatre group, I can take the time to change plays so to give more opportunities to minorities (it would take only a handful of changes, for example, to stage "A Streetcar Named Desire" with an all-minority cast). But, the prospect of doing this is so daunting. Of course, I would be so busy with running the group that I would likely not be able to act. My girlfriend suggested something, however: what if I tried just producing one show.
I found a web site called "Dramatists", where I saw information for licensing a play for performance. For "The Laramie Project", it would cost $75 per performance. That seemed strangely doable. Three performances per week, three week run . . . $675. If tickets cost $12, seven people per performance would mean we get a profit.
My first thought is to propose this to Viviana. Viviana does musicals, which require costumes, sets, sound systems, and lighting. I don't know their financial situation, but I get the impression that these expensive shows mean that they don't make a whole lot of money. I plan on writing a proposal: "Laramie Project" can have a cast ranging from five people to twenty or thirty people. Costumes? Don't worry about it. Sets? I performed it with a bunch of chairs and not a whole lot else. Props? Bare minimums to suggest characters (a doctor might carry a stethescope). Lighting? Bare minimum. Sound system? If the cast can project well, we don't even need that. With appropriate outreach to high schools (bullying gay and lesbian students is very much in the news now) and to GLBT groups, it should get an audience. This play will generate revenue with very little overhead.
I don't actually know how Viviana will respond to this. So far, looking at the plays they have performed, "Laramie Project" is everything they don't do! Also, Viviana has its own board of directors that determine performances . . . would they be open to an "outsider" proposing they do something very different?
If Viviana rejects my proposal, maybe I might want to do this myself. And that would require finding my own venue.
Last night, I went to an SCA social at a place called "Stage One". This is a fairly generic hall, but it has a green room, chairs, and parking. It also wasn't all that difficult to locate. It's price? $30 per night, $150 per week, $550 per month. Same price for performances/showcases.
So, my estimation? "Laramie Project" royalties will cost $675 for a three week run. Two months of rehearsal plus nine performances, comes to $1370. $2045 to put on the show. If I can get a cast of, say, 15 people willing to pay $50 fee, this gives me $750. Of course, I need to put out "feelers" to see if people would be interested in putting out $50 fee! This leaves $1295. At $12 per ticket, we would break even if we manage to get 12 people per show.
That all seems very doable. I wonder if I could get some of my uncles and aunts to invest in this.
By the way, I found the group that handles the royalties for "Angels in America". They don't have a fixed per-performance price, but my estimation of royalties (assuming we only get $12 per show and tickets are $12) is $130. The price, then, for "Angels in America" would be $1500, but "Angels in America" has a smaller cast and will require sets. Of course, I could do a "staged reading" of "Angels in America" for no royalties, so long as it was one performance only and we didn't charge anything. That would mean paying for "Stage One" for the performance and for the rehearsal time (for a "staged reading", that could be as little as a week).
This sounds very doable. I need to come up with excuses for why I won't do it!!!
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