Solo shows

Interesting post on 2AMt about what people think about when they hear the word solo show: "the implication, without further context, can be that the purpose of the show is ego on display, a virtuoso display of craft, or a virtuoso display of confession." 

This has been on my mind since I think Erin's show (which is playing in Portland through Sunday!), and my show too, fall outside of what most people think of as a "solo show". But what, then, do we call these shows? Do we just not mention at all that they're solo? If my memory serves, that's what Odin Teatret does -- they make no distinction between shows with one performer or shows with five.

What do you think? Those of you who have seen My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow or Undine: what would you call these shows? Or do you think it's 100% accurate to call these solo shows?

National Gathering for New/Devised Theatre Makers

Just read this amazing convening coming up in late January at the Arena Theatre in Washington D.C., with 100 makers/shakers of new work gathering to talk about the ABUNDANCE (the convening is called 'From Scarcity to Abundance', referring to the new blush of focus on new work in the theatre/performance world) of new work in the US now.

Read about it here on the New Play Institute's blog

Read about the convening, and who is coming, here.

Mind Meadow in the news!

My Mind Is Like An Open Meadow opens in one week, y'all!

This is incredibly exciting. And we're not the only ones who think so.

Check out Erin Leddy and Fertile Ground in the January issue of American Theatre!

Also, Culturebot:

A glance at the line-up suggests that Fertile Grounds is almost like a Portland fringe fest, but there’s at least one show I know is a stand-out: Erin Leddy’s My Mind Is Like an Open Meadow.  

And you can listen to Erin, Camille Cettina and Susan Mach chat with Dmae Roberts on KBOO's Stage & Studio.

Meanwhile, other events in Fertile Ground are getting ready too. Among the many fine shows on display, we recommend checking out Theatre Vertigo, Portland Playhouse, Action/Adventure and of course the mighty Mary Oslund at White Bird. 

If you want to buy a Fertile Ground pass to see all these fine shows, you can buy one here. Or if you just want a ticket to Erin's show, why, buy one here!

Yay! One way or another it looks like we're going to be seeing a lot of each other this month.

what we could learn from the music industry right now

The dude from Ok Go (who did that awesome crazy rube goldberg video) has a really interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal -- a lot of what he says coincides with what we here at H2M industries talk about a lot, though the field we're in is different from the music industry in that it never had a version of the big recording studios -- unless you count film. That's a whole different topic though.

Some choice quotes:

"Music is getting harder to define again. It's becoming more of an experience and less of an object. Without records as clearly delineated receptacles of value, last century's rules—both industrial and creative—are out the window."

"The unsigned and unmanaged Los Angeles band Killola toured last summer and offered deluxe USB packages that included full albums, live recordings and access to two future private online concerts for $40 per piece.... What Killola is learning is that making a living in music isn't just about selling studio recordings anymore. It's about selling the whole package: themselves."

And then at the bottom of the article they talk about some other bands:

"A clever music-video concept can be a band's best marketing tool, and savvy acts apply their creativity to their videos as well as their albums. For its song "We Used to Wait," the indie-rock band Arcade Fire collaborated with Google Web developers to create an online video that incorporated customized maps of the viewer's hometown into a dreamscape that spilled across multiple browser windows."

Including JONATHAN'S FAVORITE: the band from those annoying hyundai commercials!

"Pomplamoose, a San Francisco guy-girl duo, has a repertoire of its own endearingly warm pop songs and videos, but it was their homespun versions of hits by Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson that raked in millions of views on YouTube. Then the group broke into the mainstream with another set of covers: performing holiday tunes such as "Deck the Halls" in TV ads for Hyundai"

Workshops Galore

We've just annouced the line-up of teaching artists and workshop descriptions for our New Work Workshop Series happening Jan 22 - 30. The group looks excellent and we're excited to offer a chance for people to work with a variety of Portland performance makers. The series is happening concurrently with the Fertile Ground Festival so you can see new work locally and then work with local artists to make your own.

Saturday, Jan 22: Tools for Generating New Work with Jonathan Walters (Hand2Mouth)
Sunday, Jan 23: Ensemble-based Text Generation with Rachel Fachner (Collective Dance NY)
Saturday, Jan 29: Creating with the Nomadic Theater Co! with Heather Pearl (Nomadic Theater Co.)
Sunday, Jan 30: Devised Theater: Discovering Creative Process with Kate Sanderson Holly (Fever Theater)

For full workhop descriptions and teaching artist bios, visit hand2mouththeatre.org/nww.html
Workshops are $20 each, $15 each with Fertile Ground Festival Pass, $15 each for two or more.
Register HERE. Space is limited.