One Producer in the City

800

Today marks my 800th blog post. 

Hard to believe that when I started writing this blog, that I would hit this number of posts but here we are. 

I wanted to thank all of you who have read, commented, and passed the info along to your friends. I'd also like to thank all the folks who have reached out to me via the blog and connected with me about producing, entrepreneurship, new projects etc. 

I'd also like to thank my Mom who faithfully reads this every time I post.

Hi mom. 

Feel free to comment below if there is something you'd like me to write about this week, questions you have, or something you'd like to discuss. This blog belongs to all of you too.

Thanks again for reading and here's to another 800!

Exceslior!

 

A busy weekend

This past weekend a lot happened that was exciting.

1. I launched Finding Center for the first time and it was really cool. My favorite part of teaching is watching my students have A ha! moments and this class was filled with them. Among the notable quotes of the day:

"I'm a technician and I'm valuable"

" I just realized I'm an entrepreneur and that is very freeing" 

" There are people out there who can help me execute on my vision" 

The class was filled with so many great statements and great people and it was really exciting. I just launched info about the next one and you can grab your tickets HERE. 

2. You may remember Emily Ray Reese and her team from her Awesome Person Thursday post. They are at the tail end of their Kickstarter campaign and are getting very close to being funded. You can go HERE to help them get over the last hurdle! 

3. I started reaching out to apprentices for the summer. You can still sign up HERE if interested. 

4. There are still seats for this weekend's Solving for X and you can grab seats for that HERE. 

Thanks to those of you who made the first Finding Center a Success and to everyone else who has been reading and supporting this blog. It's always appreciated. 

Excelsior! 

Today was a good day

Many of you probably remember my blog post about the early exit of this show which I could not have been more proud of. 

Today was another moment of pride as this announcement hit the internet.

The lesson here for producers and entrepreneurs:

Some things you produce and create will not last as long as you may want it to, but if you make something truly incredible, it will not be forgotten. 

Never underestimate the power of people to rise up when it counts. 

Count em. 

12.

It was a good day to be a producer on The Scottsboro Boys.

Excelsior!

Tomorrow is Band of Gypsies 2! Get your tickets here!

 

 

I said I would do it... So I kinda had to..And I DID

Today marks another milestone for me in my producing career and I couldn't be prouder.

My first Above the Title credit will be for the Broadway show; The Scottsboro Boys.

And as I have mentioned before, none of it would have been possible without a team.

My team was R2D2 Productions and was formed by a group of people as passionate as I was about doing this.

So Thank you to my investors, producing partners, and the general partners on the show.

We made History.

Excelsior!

My new Class has Class

So the latest: My computer had a virus, so I was battling that all day, but now things are working. I also had some internet problems, so I'm typing this from a Starbucks. Thank god for free wifi!

Last night was the third version of PLAE's first class and it was very exciting. The group this year is as varied as last year with participants doing everything from making films to teaching and coaching music! I was reminded yet again, how powerful it is to work with people in small groups. It allows for so much exploration and a chance to really dig deep into the hopes and dreams of the entire group. If you have never tried to set up an event with a limited number of participants, I highly recommend it.

I will most likely ask some of the participants to share their experiences on the blog from time to time, so you all can get to know them.

Ok, gotta get back to work playing catch up from all the emails missed during the virus.

Excelsior!

A little inspiration

Yesterday, when this article hit the Times, I was very excited. 

Why?

Producing a musical about issues like this takes guts and determination. It's not an easy sell or an easy process. You hear plenty of other stories about shows that deal with serious issues that never recoup, but you rarely hear about the ones that do.

This also should remind us all of the hard work that goes into a show like this. There were multiple development steps in the show's long road to Broadway and each one was essential.

I think all producers can take a lesson from the pages of Mr. Stone's book in terms of determination and drive. He believed in this show so much and he worked incredibly hard to get it to this place. 

I'm sure this must be as exciting for him as when he realized he had this hit on his hands. 

Congrats Mr. Stone.

I take this as inspiration to find more daring work. What does this inspire you to do? Feel free to comment below.

Excelsior!

Third times the charm!

This makes the third play that I have published in this anthology! Very exciting stuff.

I wrote this show when I was in undergrad at Rhode Island College in a playwriting class that focused on structure. The assignment was associative structure.

It's a lot of fun.

Check it out here.

Now off to celebrate!

Excelsior!

W.I.T.

Whatever it takes.

This is one of the themes of ROOMS which opens tonight at New World Stages.

A year ago, when I was in New World listening to producers speak at CTI, I never would have imagined that I'd be an associate producer on a show there and here I am.

It's exciting. And I'm looking forward to it.

The producing team raised the money in this economy and we got it to this point and I'm very proud.

We did whatever it takes.

If you want to see it, I still have a discount for blog readers.

See you at the theatre.

Excelsior!

Proud to be Fractured and Featured!

Small Pond is featured on the Fractured Atlas blog! Check it out folks. And if you don't know about Fractured Atlas, they have an amazing fiscal sponsorship program as well as numerous support services for producers and arts companies.

Check them out on MySpace and Facebook too!

Wonder if they know about BroadwaySpace yet? hmmmmmm....

Excelsior!

I'm published!

About 10 minutes ago, I got a text from my friend Lenny telling me that my mom just came into his store and bought a copy of the anthology of short plays that I am published in. Granted, I didn't do as much as this guy, but I'm pretty excited none the less. I think the most interesting thing about how I ended up here is that it was the direct result of networking. I would have never known about this anthology had I not met the editor when I was judging the Sam French Off Off Broadway play festival that year. How did I meet her?

I just struck up a conversation because she was a fellow judge sitting next to me.

In the world of theatre, you never know who you're sitting next to. This guy was at one of my shows and chatting folks up at the bar after and I didn't even realize it until he left and someone told me who he was. I once almost told B.D. Wong his name wasn't on the list for a reading because I thought he was spelling his last name Bd until I looked up. It really is a small world and there are a lot of opportunities out there . . . if you reach out and grab them. Had I decided to keep to myself that night at the festival, I may never have met Barbara or found out how to submit for this anthology.  As producers, make sure you're taking advantage of every opportunity to meet someone you can and see shows!

My show is still running two more shows, and a great show I saw yesterday afternoon called Exodus, has one more showing so check it out if you can and next time you're in a lobby sitting next to someone, say hi. You never know who you might make friends with and who knows maybe some day those relationships will land you here.

Excelsior!