What Does It Cost, Man?

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Thursday, 28 January 2010 13:24

A couple of folks have asked how much the festival costs to mount each year, so I figured I'd post it for everyone to see. Below is the Alcyone 10 production budget:       

Performance Space Rental	(5,300.00)
Rehearsal Space (All but $500 was donated)	(4,500.00)
Audition Space ($160 worth was Donated)	(330.00)
Performance Rights and Music Rental	(1,060.00)
Postcard/Poster Printing (was donated)	(150.00)
Program Printing (was donated)	(500.00)
Mailing Costs-Postage	(140.00)
Advertising	0.00
Scenic Materials	(400.00)
Props	(200.00)
Lighting	(250.00)
Light Board Rental	(650.00)
Costumes	(300.00)
Sound	(40.00)
Scenic Designer (Tony did, so was $0)	(250.00)
Lighting Designer (Tony did, so was $0)	(250.00)
Costume Designers	(275.00)
Music Director	(200.00)
Sound Designer (Directors and Tony did, so was $0)	(200.00)
Stage Manager	(300.00)
Misc, Truck Rental, etc.	(125.00)
TD Fee	(300.00)
Total Production Expenses	(15,720.00)

The things in the budget like printing that were donated are noted beside it. I did the lighting design and coordinated the sets, so there was no designer fees paid there. We've been fortunate to get an incredible amount of support, including a lot of donated space.

The numbers for rehearsal space are estimated at $10/hr, which is just about the cheapest you can find in town. So in rehearsal space alone we received $4000 worth of support. Also the design budgets themselves are probably laughable to some folks, but we make do with what we have.

The scary thing for me is Jenn and I are backing the festival. So any funds that are not raised, donated, or made up through box office sales, we're on the hook for, for all intents and purposes.

A question we often get is do we pay actors. The short answer is: we want to. It's one of our top priorities, but the money isn't there yet. (Kids need diapers and all, so Jenn and I can't kick in anymore than we are.) What we try to do to bridge the gap between our goal and current reality is if the show breaks even, half of any net positive revenue is split amongst cast and crew. (It's not the 'Wolf's revenue sharing, but we try.)

Without 70-100 people donating their time, the Alcyone Festival couldn't happen. So it's pretty amazing that each year it goes better than the year before. And with all that support hopefully we are able to take one baby step closer to equality through quality. (and one step closer to paying everyone working on the shows.)



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A Correction from Mom

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Wednesday, 27 January 2010 12:34

In the comments to the last post. And as anyone whose met her knows, it's best not to argue.  Her response is below:

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Time for me to pipe in. Tony you're under the mistaken impression that my dream in life was to write. I did love to write. And write I did It was calming and peaceful and sometimes exciting. Somewhere there are probably notebooks of poems and short stories I wrote , but God only knows where.

And I loved story telling and fantasy , you kids suffered the brunt of that.

My only real dream was to be a wife and mother and raise great kids. It was what I always wanted. That probably sounds lame in this day and age, But I'm from a different generation. I wanted to be a stay at home mom, not very practicle because financially a 2 income family made much more sense. But every time I tried to work away from home I couldn't stand the thought of missing one of you kids taking your 1st step or saying you're 1st word or using the potty chair for the 1st time or get stung by a bee. Selfish I know but I couldn't give those spectacular events up to a babysitter.

Making up stories or poems never had to go to the wayside for me, I told you guys stories all the time, and there were always potty time songs and dittys to make up to keep you sitting there, of supper time stories and songs to keep you waiting till the food was done,car riding stories and bed time stories, stories to stop the fights, and stories to dry the tears and anger and storeis just because I loved to hear you laugh.

As you each grew up and left home you took a part of me with you, it was hard but now as I watch you all as adults I know it was worth the time and effort, my mistakes and anguish sometimes because each of you became individually amazing adults. It was hard sometimes to hold back and let you each become you're own person, but I'm so glad I found a way to do that.

My dream now is that you be happy, learn to see the hard times and mistakes you make as learning experiences, break them down if you need to and decide how important they really are in affecting the rest of your life and then let them go or let them become a part of your own future stories and ditties. All our lives are full of comedy, drama, action, and adventure.

Being there, watching my kids grow, learn new things, experience life and now watching them and my grand children continue to life life has and still is fulfilling the only dream I ever really had. You guys gave me more than enough pleasure to contermine anything that could have possibly been missing in my life through someone elses eye's.

Maybe ,They'll find the cure for cancer using me as a guinea pig or maybe I'll just end up being one of the lucky ones or maybe not. But regardless my dream's have been fullfilled and still are by , not through my kids .Your happiness and seeing you living your lives to the fullest you can make me happy.

Now I'm going to go sprinkle a l'l hot sauce on my scrambled and slightly scorched brains and put them away in dreamland for awhile. It's exhausting being brilliant all the time not to mention the radiation is starting to make me glow and glare off my bald head hurts my eyes Þ

Love you
Mom Add a comment

Mom and Charlotte

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Tuesday, 26 January 2010 11:21

There are many reasons for the fest and our work on gender equality in theater. Data and stats abound showing the need. But for me there's a deeper reason, as I've said before. The thought of doing some small part to link my mom's dream and my daughters potential. Jenn showed me the new pics on our computer she moved over from the camera last night and I saw this picture of Mom and Charley from Christmas.

Mom told us on Friday that the tumors in her lungs are growing again, there's new lesions and it has spread to her brain. With each new round of bad news it gets harder to hope. I still have hope, but in the back of my mind that hope is colliding with the knowledge that when my Granny battled cancer, that was the point of no return, when it spread to her brain. Medicine has come a long way since Granny passed, and Mom is in the running for some new trials that have a lot of promise. Hope is an incredible thing, but some days it's pretty fucking hard to have.

I haven't been writing as much lately, partly due to schedule, mostly due to not being up to it. When I read someone like Thomas Garvey and his blatant misogyny, gleefully bashing women, I have to get over my initial reaction and desire - to hop a flight to Boston and knock his teeth in. Acting out doesn't help. Anger doesn't create change. It can be a driving force if channeled correctly, but unchecked it does more harm than good. It does more harm than doing nothing would. So I waited until my head was more clear before writing more.

But if you're reading Thom, I ask again: Can you (or anyone) show me any facts outside of the flaws in Sands' undergraduate senior thesis that disproves the existence of gender bias in the American (or Canadian or English) Theatre? Any actual facts and data that disproves gender bias? Anyone? I would love to see them.

If not, can we move past acting like it doesn't exist the second people start getting paid, and just work on fixing it?

As for whether it exists at the storefront level, that discussion has started, and I just got access to a ton of data that will be a good starting point at sussing out whether it is as omnipresent at smaller theatres that exist on donated time.

I should probably put a plug in here somewhere, but it's pretty hard to put the producer cap on today. Add a comment

Fornes in Chicago

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Monday, 25 January 2010 15:23

As part of my research for curating the festival, I compiled a production history of Fornés in Chicago. Four of her works (Summer in Gossensass, Manual for a Desperate Crossing, Sarita, and Letters From Cuba)  are playing for the first time in Chicago, What of the Night was previously produced here in 2001. Below is every local production of Fornés I could find.

The Reader's Archives and Conducting a Life, were the two best sources I found when looking. If you know any I missed, let me know in the comments. (UPDATE: this list doesn't track college/university productions, which seem to be pretty impossible to track.)

The Successful Life of Three
1968- Baird Hall
1975-The Orphans
1987-Lakeside Players

Promenade (Music by Al Carmines)
1972-Kingston Mines

Dr. Keal
1997-Goodman Theatre

Fefu and Her Friends
1984-The Blind Parrot Company
1990-Arts Alliance

The Danube
1988-Organic Theatre
1993-Links Hall

Mud
1986-Court Theatre
1988-Element Theatre Company
1991-Big Noise Theatre
1992- Piven Theatre at Victory Gardens
1998-Collaboraction
2007-The Hypocrites

The Conduct of Life
1988-Organic Theatre
1994-Pillar Studio
1997-Frump Tucker Theatre Company
2009- Tooth and Nail Ensemble

Lovers and Keepers (Music by Tito Puente and Fernando Rivas)
1988-Blind Parrot

Abingdon Square
1990-Next Theatre
2003-Piven Theatre

What of the Night
2001-Inequity Theatrical Collaboration

Enter the Night
2001-Will Act For Food

UPDATED: Delicia sent a couple over on the facebook that I had missed. Collaboraction's Mud in '98 and Frump Tucker's Conduct in '97. They're added above. Any more I should add?
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Tango Update

Life of a Theatre Wife

Written by Jennifer Adams Monday, 18 January 2010 00:47

During rehearsal today, it became apparent to me and my cast that there was no way that Tango Palace could go up safely on two weeks rehearsal. So it will not be part of the festival.

There were so many elements that were not going to be able to be addressed in such short notice. Swords, heels, a reenacted bull fight and that's just a start. Though we tried to recast and get it up to speed, it ended up not being possible on that time frame.

There are times when a show is just too much to take on, and it was just not going to be safe for anyone, physically or mentally, to continue pushing ourselves to "get it done."

"Get it done" should have been the first indication... it always seemed to be a battle between "Give it your all" and "Get it done."

What would happen if we were able to give all of our shows the chance to really bloom BEFORE we show them to people? What would happen if we always knew when to say "Enough."

In the words of María Irene Fornés, "You must relinquish what you want, or you will never have it."

The other five shows in the festival I think are going to be incredible. I'm excited to see them, and hope to see you there. Add a comment