Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 14:11:15 -0400
Subject: hello hello - Theatre Channel info


Hello hello one and all -

this was forwarded to me, and though I don't have TV, I thought that of the
180 billion channels out there, this one actually sounded like it has
potential to be interesting.  In any case, if you have the time, look it
over, take the survey, contact your cable company, and pass this along to
friends and the theatre friendly crowd.   If this channel can help stir
more interest in theatre at any level, it can't be that bad.
thanks for your net-time

Subject:       Dear theatricals....

So here's the story.  I've been in contact with this woman for the past
year who is trying to launch an all-theatre cable channel.  I won't
pretend my motives are entirely done for love of the stage; my hope is, of
course, that once she has it up and running she has a place for a charming
yet raffish theatre reviewer somewhere on the staff.  Regardless of the
apparent lack of wisdom inherent in such a venture, she has pressed
forward and now has a company interested that has recently come into
rather a tidy sum as a result of the recent AT&T merger.  They want her to
show them what sort of support such a channel would have, however, and to
this end she has built a website that outlines her plans and includes a
survey as well.  The hyperlink follows:
<A HREF="http://www.theatrechannel.com/">The Theatre Channel</A>   All I
ask of you is that you go to the website and complete the survey.  It's
innocuous... the only personal information they ask is your e-mail
address, and that's optional.  I doubt that you'll end up on any sort of
mailing list.  I believe she has until October to complete this survey, so
if you can think of anybody else who might be interested in participating,
please forward the address.  (If the hyperlink doesn't work for some
reason it's at theatrechannel.com.)

As a personal indulgence, I would request that under the section asking
"What would YOU like to see on a theatre channel" you dutifully check the
box "theatre reviews."  There is, alas, no box where you can suggest
specifically who might most delightfully fill this particular bill.  If I
can figure out a way to do so, I'll let you know.  Advancing age brings
with it many mercenary qualities, I find.  Thanks.

Wenzel

23 responses total.

The following is what i entered in the comment section of the survey:

  I have mixed feelings about presenting live theatre via the 
medium of television.  There is significant technical 
challenge in presenting theatrical work on television while 
preserving the essential elements of live theatre.  Not only
is the audience bereft of the direct interaction with the
players, but the players are bereft of the direct feedback
from the audience.  Then there are the challenges to the 
camera to capture the entire stage while still showing 
sufficient detail, and to allow the audience to focus where
they will as opposed to being directed in their focus by
the camera.
  Then also there is the conflict between
bringing theatre to the people (via tv) and bringing people
to the theatres.  Will theatre on television bring more
people out to the theatres to see, hear and feel what they
cannot on television?  Or will televised theatre look simply
dull and stilted by comparison to the highly produced, 
technically manipulated images which are the bread and butter
of television today?

  As a theatrical professional, I would love to increase the
exposure of my art and that of my colleagues, but I also want
to accurately assess the costs of that exposure.  Will Athol 
Fugard and Avery Hopwood survive the age of Andrew Lloyd 
Webber, RugRats (The Live Adventure!) and James Cameron?

-Eric R. Bassey
other@cyberspace.org

due to complete lack of participation in this item in arts, can we link it
to agora, please?

The fw of Agora would have to do that. I'd suggest emailing Katie
with the link request, as I don't know if she reads this conference.

(I'm reading this in Agora now, so it's been linked.)

   I thought Bravo covered the arts such as film and theatre. 

   Correct me if I am amiss here.

they should do behind-scenes stuff..like show scene shops and techies and
stuff...it would be amusing..(and fun to watch a harried performer attack an
annoying reporter ;> )

That would be rather cool.  I'd suggest setting up an independent theater
company specially geared toward the medium to deal with some of the unique
problems inherent in showing productions on television.  There are lots of
ways you could adapt things, and it would be a good vessel for increasing
national appreciation for theatre as an art form.  Eric raises some good
points, and I think they're points that can be compensated for.

Specialty shows would be cool.  Weekly half hours of "Special Effects with
Phil" or "Backstage Tricks" or somesuch.  Turn the channel into its own little
theatre company

(you forgot 'How to costume anything thatr moves') :)

That too.

Speaking from the actor's perspective, I suggest a couple other shows:
 
"Remembering The Actors Still Need To Fall Into The Category of 'Anything
That Moves' Even After The Costume Has Been Applied"
 
"Realizing How Little Time An Actor May Have For Costume Changes, And No
Matter How Cool The Costume Is, Nobody Will Ever Be Able To Appreciate It
If The Costume Change Cannot Be Accomplished In That Amount Of Time".
 
I've worked with some costumers that desperately needed to watch those shows.

Actors don't necessarily need to move in costume.  Depends on the role.  And
the actor is quite capable of making quick costume changes if they try hard
enough.  I can give several examples.  You're on the losing end of this one.

To quote Mike W. Clark, No-Ah-Ah.
 
If the actor has choreography, then, yes, the director would generally like
him to do it. "Cool Costumes" become less so if they stand in the way of 
the performance.
 
Recently I was asked to change from a floor-length cape with Elizabethan 
collar, a studded black bustier, a lace skirt, spandex bike shorts, black
hose, opera length gloves and 3" stiletto heels, into a t-shirt, cutoff
jeans, no hose, which meant no shorts, no gloves, and flats.
 
I was asked to descend a flight of stairs, make a microphone change, cross
behind the stage, and make the change in one minute. One sixty-second minute.
And still have enough breath left to play the trumpet when I got there.
 
The costumer wanted to make my getup even more outlandish yet.
 
The director, being the one who cast me, wanted me to be on stage.
 
The director won.

I've had 45 second costume changes and one that we never got to time because
we never got to have a 'real' run of the show before we went on...that was
amusing...but it was all layered rathe rwell, and I had people shoving hairpis
into my skull for me

An *intelligent* costumer can do a great deal to make a change go faster
(rip-apart seams that he'll re-stitch before each show, for instance), 
and a well-practiced "pit crew" can work wonders (assuming the actor isn't
too modest...).  But it sounds like somebody being in charge of producing
real results is the secret here.  

Your'e in the wrong company.  You should have seen some of the stunts we
pulled off to get our actors where they were supposed to be.  

Ever changed elizabethan costumes in less than a minute before?  I have some
advice:  Don't watch others do it.  They have a tendency to get upset.

if you get upset stripping in front of a tech crew at lightning speed, tehn
perhaps you're in the wrong business :P I"m fairly modest in real life, but
shows take presidence, and if the audience needs to see me half-dressed
running offstage, tehn so be it

Pulease.  Its all because of The Theater that I have lost my modesty.  I can
take off a person's corset in less than a minute.  And I used to be really
good at putting them back into one in less than 5 minutes.  We did a few
Moliere plays where I was going to school.  

And yes, I have actually ripped people's stiches out...
ahh, the theather...

Ripping stitches is fairly common practice.

I never had a lot of modesty to begin with. Instachanges got rid of that
altogether.  
 
Ripping stitches got to be fairly common for me, too. And the costumers were
pissed when the found out about it.

(thaty's where you find yourself a needle and thread afterwards and fix it)

And who do you think *had* the needle and thread?

piffle...bring your own, they're cheap :)

Heh.  Okay, I have something for the system problems item.

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