Sebastian Cummings has always been a little edgy. A military brat, a black man in the white suburbs, a Jamaican American in African American black society, a gay…
View More Sebastian Cummings talks about LIFE ON THE FRINGECategory: Features
Sustainability and the Artist
Lately I’ve been thinking about that “worthwhile strategy” in regards to making a living as a theatre artist. Too many of my colleagues can’t afford to get sick, and certainly can’t afford to start a family. An interview with Charlotte Ford (revealing she’s stepping away from theater to go back to school for speech pathology) seems to have sparked a vigorous public debate about how difficult it is to make a living as an artist, and what can be done about it.
View More Sustainability and the ArtistThe Ups and Downs of Success: Theater artists between jobs
“There aren’t enough cocktails to help me understand why I continue to be an actor! This shit is for the birds!”
Thus begins the Facebook entry by Joey, a dancer-actor-singer who played many roles along the U.S. east coast, but recently did not get hired for a new musical.
View More The Ups and Downs of Success: Theater artists between jobsPhilly Performing Artists Discuss their Untenable Careers: Video from the Philadelphia Artists Summit
Josh McIlvain’s interview with Charlotte Ford “The untenable career of a successful Philadelphia theater artist” sparked some soul-searching among Philadelphia performers. They met on June 23rd to discuss.
View More Philly Performing Artists Discuss their Untenable Careers: Video from the Philadelphia Artists SummitAsaki Kuruma on Writing, Immigration, and the Racial Dynamics of Philadelphia Theater
“It’s really hard to do acting and make a living unless you’re really good—and a Caucasian man.”
View More Asaki Kuruma on Writing, Immigration, and the Racial Dynamics of Philadelphia TheaterFull House (Quince): You deserve a cabaret!
Downtown theater company Quince Productions – the punchy, LGBTQ-leaning bunch that puts on GayFest! every August – opens their sixth annual Full House cabaret series this Thursday in its ancestral home, the Red Room at the Society Hill Playhouse, and it’s looking as wicked, delightful and boozy as ever. (Boozy because your ticket includes the price of a drink.)
View More Full House (Quince): You deserve a cabaret!MICHAEL THE REBEL (Humble Treasure): Tearing up the German Society library
Director Manon Manavit had not heard of Heinrich von Kleist when she found a copy of his Michael Kohlhaas on a street in Montreal. It’s easy to understand why she was attracted to the text.
View More MICHAEL THE REBEL (Humble Treasure): Tearing up the German Society libraryManon Manavit: Taking Philadelphia by Sturm und Drang
Phindie talks to Manon Manavit, a future star of Philadelphia performing arts, before her debut show in the city. She just relocated from Montreal, where she worked with Cirque Du Soleil.
View More Manon Manavit: Taking Philadelphia by Sturm und DrangPhiladelphia Misses Kate Brennan: Interview with the now NYC-based actor and producer
Kate Brennan lit up the Philadelphia stages for years as an actor and producer for BCKSEET Productions. Now NYC-based, she’s back in town this summer for an offbeat theater camp. Phindie asks her about this and her memories of Philly.
View More Philadelphia Misses Kate Brennan: Interview with the now NYC-based actor and producer30/30 Vision: Tamanya Garza on Latinos in Philadelphia theater
Phindie talked to Tamanya Garza, a longtime leader of the Philadelphia Latino theater community and director of EL NOGALAR, part of the three-play 30/30 series exploring Latino theater.
View More 30/30 Vision: Tamanya Garza on Latinos in Philadelphia theaterPutting the value on the art of performing art
The support for performing arts organizations and artists, of all sizes, pales in comparison to the type of funding that art museums obtain. It is time to start placing more value on the “art” part of performing arts.
View More Putting the value on the art of performing artInterview with Charlotte Ford: The untenable career of a successful Philadelphia theater artist
Philadelphia’s theater scene is better than ever—haven’t you heard? But so few of its practitioners can eke out a living wage from it. This interview Charlotte Ford takes a serious look at how poor the health of the theater industry is in this city.
View More Interview with Charlotte Ford: The untenable career of a successful Philadelphia theater artistTHE FUTURE has arrived: Interview with Peter Gaffney, musical creator of BRAT’s latest production
In ALWAYS COMING SOON: THE FUTURE, BRAT Productions takes another look at what the future holds, and the auguries are not pretty: Derelict clowns, aggressive barkers, and obscene control culture. But THE FUTURE is funny and fun: It’s another of the entertaining rock cabarets which the company has launched in recent years,
View More THE FUTURE has arrived: Interview with Peter Gaffney, musical creator of BRAT’s latest productionThe fault, dear Brutus, Act III: Makoto Hirano interviews Lantern AD Charles McMahon about “Super Racist” Julius Caesar
Makoto Hirano asks Lantern artistic director Charles McMahon some tough questions about the “Super Racist” Julius Caesar. And a clearly contrite McMahon does his best to explain the process that lead to the company’s misguided choices.
View More The fault, dear Brutus, Act III: Makoto Hirano interviews Lantern AD Charles McMahon about “Super Racist” Julius CaesarCommunitas Organizer: Interview with Ben Grinberg about his dance circus theater
Together with collaborator Nick Gillette, Ben Grinberg founded Almanac Dance Circus Theatre to offer production of his unique brand of acrobatic theater. Almanac’s inaugural show, Communitas, launches this May 22-24 at Christ Church Neighborhood House. Phindie asked Ben a few questions about the show and his new company.
View More Communitas Organizer: Interview with Ben Grinberg about his dance circus theaterChecking in with Adrienne Mackey: Musing on the future of theater arts and artists
Adrienne Mackey, 32, is the artistic director of Swim Pony Performing Arts, a performing arts company that prides itself on presenting work that is “loud, strange, and never seen before on earth.”
View More Checking in with Adrienne Mackey: Musing on the future of theater arts and artistsNo regrets in Roni Koresh’s PROMISES
At rehearsal last week putting the finishing touches on his new dance piece ‘Promises I Never Meant to Keep,’ choreographer Roni Koresh was bleary eyed, wondering if the coffee he was drinking was from three days ago, but otherwise thoroughly engaged
View More No regrets in Roni Koresh’s PROMISESIs there money in theater? Where does it come from? Who gets it?
Phindie looks at tax returns for local theaters to see how much they brought in from what sources. We also look at who the best paid employee was for each “non-profit”.
View More Is there money in theater? Where does it come from? Who gets it?The National Water Dance
A typical concert dance performance does not usually conjure up thoughts of social justice and governmental reform. At first glance, dance and politics might not seem to go together. That is not to say that the art form is entirely apolitical – different genres of art can certainly serve as a persuasive medium for declaring political statements. From a historical perspective, analysis of the arts can be used to study social change and political reform, and dance is no exception to this.
View More The National Water DanceJohn Donges Photographs THREE DAYS OF RAIN (Quince): A Double Assignment
In shooting Richard Greenberg’s THREE DAYS OF RAIN, my first photographic challenge was to capture the unique structure of the play: the first act is set in 1995 and involves a brother/sister and their old friend – the son of their father’s architecture partner and oldest friend. In Act II, the three actors play the parents of their Act I characters. So it was a dual challenge to photograph basically two casts instead of one, and to try and paint a visual portrait of what is both similar and different between each character and his/her parent, and to portray the look of two very different decades.
View More John Donges Photographs THREE DAYS OF RAIN (Quince): A Double Assignment