Filed by Lance at 10:22 pm under General, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Today, the applicants for early admission at the Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship had our auditions and interviews.

In case you haven’t heard me preach about the IAE, it’s simultaneously the missing ingredient that artists of all disciplines have been searching for, a part of a larger discussion of the future of American work, and a promising path to a thriving creative economy. The thing I was always missing in school was any business or entrepreneurial sensibilities. I trained in both the hard sciences and theater arts, and no one ever told me it was possible to do anything but rely on someone else for a paycheck.
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Filed by Lance at 12:57 am under General
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The cast of Wild Flowers during the reading

The cast and author of Wild Flowers discussing it with the audience

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Filed by Lance at 4:06 pm under General, Social Issues
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My roommate Rob and I ditched the Grammys to go see The Kings Speech. I loved it.

For hundreds of years, people have been debating stories about those in power versus stories about the working classes. Oedipus, Hamlet, and King George VI versus Everyman, Willie Loman, and Lionel Logue. The Kings Speech was really interesting because it displayed both types of story, and the interaction between the two distinct worlds of have’s and have-not’s.
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Filed by Lance at 6:52 pm under General, Love, The Arts
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It’s amazing, what happens to you doing nothing.

2011 will forever be the year without a January: I fell ill… really ill… on January 4, and returned to life on January 31.

I feel great now, and am back on the job. Last night, I had a really wonderful evening attending the Chicago Independent Artists Network, and work on Launch Pad Casting Workshop is coming along.

So now that it’s Valentine’s Day (bah humbug), Happy New Year, everyone!

Filed by Bil at 9:22 pm under General
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I’m both extraordinarily tired and highly motivated these days. I want to do too much and I have neither the time nor the energy. It’s quite the conundrum.

Currently, I am in rehearsals for “The Devilish Children and the Civilizing Process” over at Dream Theatre. Rehearsals are turning out to be as much fun as I have had with a show in a long time. This particular rehearsal process is a little more interesting than usual, and this cast is a riot.

However, all this rehearsing on top of a full-time day job leaves little room for anything else, and certainly doesn’t leave me with much energy to make the time. But there is so much else I want to do…

And do I shall. I don’t have any Dream Theatre shows lined up right away after “Devilish Children” and I have plans of all sizes I’m eager to start working on.
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Filed by Lance at 3:48 pm under General, Hatemail, Shameless Plugs
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…if we only gave you one thing to do with your hate.

Here are two:
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Filed by Lance at 4:40 pm under General, Pop Culture, The Arts
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Through my work with the Bite Size Arts Ensemble, I came up with this idea to get kids actively involved in creating theater.

I came up with a simple “script,” really just a bullet point list of the flow of a scene. I usually based this off of some ideas they had, or fleshed out a story they told me. I then came up with a list of assignments, i.e., Director, Art Director, Cinematographer, Actors, and gave them specific assignments, then turned them loose, guiding them and making suggestions as the “Producer.”

Here’s the results, I’m really proud of these kids:

Filed by Lance at 2:01 pm under General, Hatemail, Pop Culture, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Start time: 1:00 PM
Media Personnel in attendance: 1
Pounds of Flesh consumed: 15
Kegs we polished off: 1, plus how many bottles??
Hatemail pieces we recorded: about 5
Pounds of vegetables we grilled: 6
True stories about Kelsey Grammer I heard: 1
New friends I made: 3 or 4
Friendships I deepened: several
Cups of coffee we served: 20
Cups of coffee I drank: 3
Twitter updates we sent: 7
End time: I left Trevor’s at about 1:30 AM

Congrats to you, Bil, and to you, Trevor, our gracious host, for another amazing Hatemail Recording Session! The next one takes place just before my birthday, Sunday, August 29th. Be there! Add to the numbers!

Filed by Lance at 2:45 pm under General, Hatemail, Shameless Plugs
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6:50 PM

DINNER’S SERVED!

6:35 PM

Kathryn Daniels just told us the story of the time she interned for the Boston company doing MacBeth (you can’t type that on a theater-ish blog, can you?). The press night party was in the real Cheers, Kelsey Grammer was playing MacBeth, and Diane Venora, playing Lady Macbeth came up and laid one on her. Hot. This is why I love actor stories!

6:10 PM

We’ve had this wonderfully simple, heartbreaking Hatemail in the stack for a long time called “Dear Rapist.” It’s one of those Hatemails that’s so personal, so frighteningly real and simple that it’s difficult to approach. Sher Sheets stepped up, had the courage, and did a great job of giving it a straightforward, uncomplicated reading. Congratulations to her!

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Filed by Lance at 10:31 pm under General, Love, Pop Culture, Social Issues, The Arts, The Media
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In honor of our British opponents in today’s World Cup match, let’s start with some 90’s BritPop:

She’s in a family full of eccentrics
She’s done things I never expected
And I need more time

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