Sunday, November 29, 2015

Pitches in Plural and Duel Delights on the West End

It's hard to believe there are only two weeks left in this term! But then, it is easy for time to sneak away when the schedule is this full. 'Intense' is the word for this past week. Two major presentations were due at the end of the week.

On Thursday, we traveled to Southbank Centre again and met up with the wonderful Sunita, one of our lecturers (that's British for professor or teacher). We met in a beautiful boardroom with the most amazing view of the London Eye and Big Ben. But sightseeing was not our mission. We were there to make our first independent business pitch to our classmates, Sunita and Jessica (our head lecturer). This was our first solo venture and we were required to support our verbal pitch with a homemade poster with visuals explaining our concept. We have been learning tools and methods for thinking through and planning our business ideas. I have included some evidence of my work in photos below. All those post-it notes are part of working through how the idea relates to the market. They were my wall decoration for a few days. Also below, is my poster as I was figuring where to place all my bits and pieces. I feel good about my work and my pitch. All of my classmates should feel good about their work as well. Everyone did a great job and we had some really clever business concepts come out of the exercise.

On Friday we had another assignment to deliver. This one was another group project that spanned two different Masters' courses. On Fridays this term, the Producers have a shared class with the Advanced Theatre Practice students. In the early part of the term we divided into groups of six with each group made up of students from both courses. In these groups we worked on a project that was finally presented on Friday. Or concept was to produce a micro-festival focusing on the subject of invisible disabilities. In a thirty minute, Power Point supported presentation, the six of us had to pitch our festival concept and detail all aspects of the festival planning and program including marketing strategies and budgets. It was a major undertaking that ended in a grand finale on Friday. We did well with our presentation and had no technical difficulties with the Power Point. Yay! So, check that one off the list.

To conclude the week, I saw two West End shows this weekend. On Friday evening, a group of us from the course went to Showstopper!, the improvised musical. One of our lecturers is a producer on the show and we wanted to see his work. Back in my New York days, I took a couple of musical improv classes so, I know how hard it is. Making up songs on the fly based on audience suggestions is no easy feat, but this team was fantastic! I oscillated between laughing out loud and being stunned silent in awe of what they were inventing right there in front of me. Showstopper! was a wonderful way to end the workweek.

On Saturday I saw Billy Elliot the Musical. Some of you may remember the film that came out in 2000. It is the story of a boy from a mining town in England who discovers he is a naturally gifted ballet dancer. This meets with turbulence in his small town where the arts are non existent and boys are supposed to learn to box and prepare for a career in the coal mine. It was an enjoyable show but no doubt, the main attraction was the boy who played Billy. He was an incredible dancer! The audience leapt to their feet in applause in the middle of the show after one of his phenomenal numbers. It was worth going just for him! But the whole show was very well done.

Next week brings more projects. It's not over yet! But, it will be Christmas before we know it. December is here! For now, however, back to work!

Tune in next week to see what pitches and projects this producer is preparing. In the meantime, see what special Holiday shows are coming up in you area and go see a couple!

Take care!
-m



Post-it Mania


Poster in Progress


Classroom View


Showstopper!


Billy Elliot






















Sunday, November 22, 2015

Retail Road and Return to the Roundhouse

I am thrilled to announce that my laptop is home safe and sound! After spending just over a week at Selfridges department store she's back in action. No, I did not run into Jeremy Piven but nonetheless, Selfridges is a fun place to visit. If you watch the television series Mr. Selfridge (ITV-UK, PBS-US), you may understand my reference to Mr. Piven. Piven stars as the store's founder Harry Gordon Selfridge in this docudrama that depicts the founding of the store in 1909 when a businessman from Chicago moved London and revolutionized the world of retail. Selfridges carries a huge assortment of high end goods and has several departments and vendors for everything a shopper could need. This includes the vendor Compu B, a certified Apple retailer and repair service who took excellent care of my most vital tool for modern day life.

Selfridges is on Oxford Street in London. Oxford Street is a shopaholics dream. It must be one of the busiest streets in London with tons of locals and tourists engaging in retail therapy. Nearly every major UK department store can be found on Oxford Street and of course, a large array of speciality shops. It being November, the strip was all gussied up for the Christmas season with thousands of lights twinkling bright. I took a couple of photos but if you get the chance to experience Oxford Street in person, check it out. But, make sure you rest up before you go because the intense energy, high volume atmosphere requires some stamina.

The group projects continue at school. Tuesday took our class to the Roundhouse, a performing arts venue and creative center. The producing course presented pitches of potential themes and programs for a festival that is scheduled for June. A shout out now to my classmates: the pitches were very well done! Go team CP! The Roundhouse staff chose one of the programs pitched from our presentations and will work in conjunction with our course to develop and produce the festival. If you are near London, come on over to the festival in June. As more details come in, I will keep you posted on the particulars.

In the coming week, we have more group project work to do with Friday being a major thirty minute presentation for one in particular. There is also some individual work coming up this week with our first solo pitch on the horizon. If all goes well, I may even try to catch a show. So, full steam ahead my friends!

Oh and just a suggestion, theatre tickets and season subscriptions make excellent Holiday gifts. Look into what your local theatres offer and stuff some stockings!

Until next week...
Take care.
-m


Selfridges Department Store - Oxford Street, London




Oxford Street shopping district dressed for Christmas





Sunday, November 15, 2015

Caffeinated Collaboration and Heavy Hearts

It is hard to believe in less than a month first term will be but a memory. Many of our assignments focus on group projects and as a result this past week involved a lot of tea and coffee consumption at a slew of planning meetings. I have four group projects in various stages of progress. This certainly does shine the light on the skills of collaboration. With time at a premium and delivery deadlines looming, there is no time to be precious about one's own desires and agendas. Quality and efficiency are the name of the game. Not everyone is going to agree all the time but with every meeting we learn how to resolve issues fast and keep our focus on the goal. These are, of course, excellent skills to develop for anyone going into the fast paced, high stakes world of showbiz.

In other news, I am still short a computer. A part was ordered and I hope to see her home in the coming week. The challenge is working primarily off of my phone. I am writing this blog entry on my phone. It's amazing if you think about what we can do with these little devices. However, there are still many limitations and I am looking forward to using a laptop again.

The world news this weekend has been a major concern for us here in London. One of my hallmates is from Beirut, Lebanon and our proximity to Paris makes these tragedies very real and personal to us. Our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones. The best we can do is keep living our lives and pursue the education and liberties we have available to us.

Until next week...
And in the meantime, make sure you tell those you care about how much they mean to you.
Take care.
-m

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Mac Mayhem

Harken back dear readers. Some of you may remember a time before we were always attached to technology. For a short while I will need to return to the early 1990s, when computers were desktop devices in libraries and computer labs. My Mac is out of commission and is in for repair. She shouldn't be gone for more than a week. However, in the meantime, I have restricted access to my blog and this week's entry must be brief.  I will post an update as soon as I can.

Stay tuned!
-m

Sunday, November 1, 2015

New Work and New Directions


It is Sunday evening and I am still trying to recover from the delights of this past week. The schedule was filled to the brim with happenings at school. Monday and Tuesday were all day workshops on focusing our desires and goals and the networking needed to achieve them. Our guest lecturer, John Webb, introduced us to some wonderful tools and new ways of thinking about how to make our way through the industry.

Monday and Tuesday evenings brought tech rehearsals for the Writers’ Night showcase of new works by students on Central’s script writing course. New writing has always been a passion of mine so when the opportunity came around to help with the showcase, I was excited to participate. My fellow producer classmate, Trish and I ran the tech elements of sound and lights for the show. Trish also took on the task of stage manager, and with her undergrad degree in the subject, she made a great one.

The Writers’ Night showcase opened Wednesday evening to a sold out crowd and continued on for another full house on Thursday. It was a thrill to see the evenings so well attended and received. Central has some mighty fine new writers and of course, many talented actors and directors.

Thursday, during the day, we had another session with the brilliant Sunita Pandya who took us through the nuts and bolts of the different types of company management matrices, budgets and other producing practicals.

Silvia Mercuriali spoke to us on Friday about her experiences creating directive theatre. Directive theatre is a new style to me and after hearing about it; I hope I get the chance to see a directive production. Directive theatre incorporates the use of a volunteer, usually pre-selected in advance of the show and most often, not a performer. They come on stage unrehearsed and are given a series of directions to follow during the course of the performance. The interest for those watching is to see how the volunteer interprets the directions. This can be done in conjunction with rehearsed actors, other volunteers or solo. I will keep a look out for shows in this genre and let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, if you find a directive production, go see it and let me know what you think!
Take care!
-m