Greening our theaters
March 28, 2008
Mo`olelo launched a greening initiative in 2007. Check out the March 2008 issue of DramaBiz for a great article on some of the green theater work being done nationwide: http://www.moolelo.net/press/press.html
Going Green Can Mean Saving Green
for Innovative Theatres
From new building construction to making small changes in daily operations, theatres are saving money and gaining positive reactions from patrons and the press
The sort of people who ply their trade in the theatre are generally the same sort who embrace conservational and environmental causes—people seeking to enrich human understanding and make the world a better place.
Exactly how to go about embracing these goals while plying one’s trade, however, can be a bit of a conundrum.
“Right now, the way theatre production exists in the world is built around an ecologically unsustainable model,” notes Ian Garrett, a student at the California Institute of the Arts who is helping develop a sustainable theatre curriculum. “Things go up for such a limited time that it becomes more about ‘I need it for this amount of time, and I need it to be cheap.’ Looking at things that last a long time doesn’t necessarily factor into it.”
As if to underscore our discipline’s potential wastefulness, England’s The Guardian newspaper ran a story last year about the ecological damage caused by theatrical tours that asked if theatre may not be “the eco-vandal of the arts world.”
Read the rest of the article here: http://www.moolelo.net/press/press.html
Feedback
March 26, 2008
We love hearing feedback from our audiences…. Here’s what some of them wrote about Permanent Collection:
[The play] did more to illuminate the core of why the concept of diversity can not only address the negatives of racism but how it might be explored creatively, positively and through the eyes of the general Arts community.
“I saw Permanent Collection last night…Some of the play I liked a lot. Some made me want to scream. That of course was the dialog with which I disagreed, a lot. But then, as the play suggested, I reckoned that was part of the purpose of the play – to see things, at least for a few moments, through the eyes of others. I think that makes for a really provocative evening at the theater. You and Mo`olelo do good work.”
Loved it! Strong, dynamic and diverse opinions spawned great communication!
Great pre-show workshop – also gets kids opportunity to “care” about future production – meeting director is special.
If you have feedback, send it on over. We’d love to read it.
The week after
March 22, 2008
Mo`olelo’s next production, Susan Yankowitz’s NIGHT SKY, will run this August/September. People often ask us, “What are you going to do in your downtime?” Which makes us all chuckle at Mo`olelo…. there really isn’t any downtime. We just switch from 17-hour days to 12-hour days in our “downtime”. So here are some of the items on the Mo`olelo To-Do list over the next few months before the public sees NIGHT SKY:
- Write project reports and grant reports for PERMANENT COLLECTION
- Send thank you notes to key stakeholders involved with PERMANENT COLLECTION
- Write and edit our next Newsletter, scheduled to be online by mid-April
- Update our fundraising brochure
- Teach a playwriting class
- Hire the artistic team for NIGHT SKY, and begin developing the design concepts
- Apply for grants and funding support for NIGHT SKY — need to raise approximately $40,000 more
- Develop the education outreach program for NIGHT SKY
- Write the teacher study guide for NIGHT SKY
- Book groups, businesses and associations for NIGHT SKY
- Dramaturgical research for NIGHT SKY
- Work on miscellaneous things that I’m not allowed to discuss publicly yet 
egads! What am I doing writing this post? I better get to work…
Permanent Collection- It’s a wrap!
March 21, 2008
Post Permanent Collection Aftermath…Say, anyone want a piece of fake African art?
Mahalo to all of you who made Permanent Collection a smashing success! We are thrilled to have had half of our shows sold out for this compelling drama. We must thank the playwright Thomas Gibbons for writing this play as it was a timely opportunity to explore the racial situation in this country in a way that is rarely brought to the stage.
The experience of promoting Permanent Collection was truly remarkable. We had the unique opportunity to share the experience of Permanent Collection with members of the ACLU, National Conflict Resolution Center, Sudanese Refugee Network, the Executive Staff of the San Diego Museum of Art, and many other guests.
Here are the final numbers…read ‘em and weap!
1,800 Reservations
427 middle and high school students reached
108 individual donors supporting the show
30 volunteer ushers
10 sold out performances
10 paintings hung in the ARTE NEGRO exhibit (1 sold!)
7 actors and stage managers paid Equity wages
1.5 administrative staff (.5- Hey, that’s me!)
It took us five days to load-in lights, sound, costumes and set into 10th Avenue Theatre… and only three hours to load out!
Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes coverage of our next production of …Night Sky
San Diego Magazine Link
March 11, 2008
More press!
Permanent Collection is the lead story in Don Braunagel’s column in the March 2008 San Diego Magazine. You can find it here: http://sandiegomagazine.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/March-2008/Examination-Intentions/
Diversity Workshop
March 11, 2008
The weekend was fabulous. There were tons of groups in the house. Thank you to Professor Farrell Foreman of San Diego City College and his students, The Humanistic Jewish Congregation, Roteract, and a very special thanks to the Commission for Arts and Culture. Permanent Collection set the stage for a Diversity Workshop in which real life issues race, politics, and conflict resolution were discussed.
On Sunday, March 2, we held a post-show discussion with ACLU Executive Director Kevin Keenan about issues of racial descrimination, civil rights, and the legal issues brought about by Permanent Collection. We thank Mr. Keenan, and all who came to the show from the the ACLU.
Thanks to Last Night’s Panel!
March 2, 2008
Last night, those who attended, had the pleasure of hearing the perspectives of museum curation, editorial ethics, and the historical imporatance of art from our three distinguished panelists: Robert Pincus (Art Critic from the Union Tribune), Derrick Cartwright (Executive Director of San Diego Museum of Art), and Vas Prabhu (Deputy Director of Education at the San Diego Museum oF Art). The discussion was facilitated by our very own Seema, and was very well attended and much appreciated! Thanks to our guests! See Mr. Pincus’s article in today’s tribune for a glimpse of what was discussed last night. If you don’t read the paper…you can download it here! tribune-pincus.pdf
Art for Whose Sake? A Review by Pat Launer
March 2, 2008
“On the surface, the play is framed as a head-to-head confrontation between two obstinate, mulish men, with a couple of women caught in between. But the underlying themes involve art, race, media and multiculturalism…” Read on here… http://sdtheatrescene.com/Curtain%20Calls.htm
