Wonderful Workshops, Lyrical Lines and a Super Show

This past week was very busy and the term shows no sign of slowing down. Tuesday I headed back to ITC (Independent Theatre Council) for an all day workshop in leadership and people management. Alasdair Cant was our instructor and was absolutely brilliant. Mr. Cant is a workshop leader and consultant that specializes in training managers to create positive work environments, bolster morale, improve communication and resolve conflicts in the workplace. The students departed the workshop with a renewed sense of confidence and a selection of "go to" tools to help them in a variety of workplace situations.

Thursday the producing course had a session on fundraising in the morning that really broke down some of the fundraising options for shows and companies. In the afternoon, we headed to Southbank Centre to meet up with one of our regular lecturers, Sunita. Sunita ran a session on leadership and management adding to a really helpful week of "boss training". As producers, we will manage employees and contracted artists and we will be responsible for making major decisions that will effect the future of our companies. Exploring different management styles and leadership methods is essential to our training.

Friday brought the return of the musical theatre writing class. Over the course of the week we were instructed to write a song inspired by an assigned painting. I had great fun creating the lyrics in an AABA song format and incorporating some of the "must haves" needed for a song in the musical theatre context. There is another song due this week, this time based on a Tennessee Williams play. I can't wait to see what my writing partner and I come up with.

Friday evening I met my friend Remi and we went to a play called Ken at Hampstead Theatre. Ken is a biography play about Ken Campbell, a legendary theatre maker on the British cultural scene from the 70s until his passing in 2008. Remi wanted to go because he previously worked with the actor who played Ken. Plus, we heard the show was fantastic and it was! Ken was a colorful character and it's always fun for those of us in the industry to hear about the industry and the exploits of our predecessors.

Another full week lies ahead. Coming up, the production team of 8Squared: A Night of New Writing will wrangle all the script submissions from the writers and send them out to our team of script evaluators for feedback. Thursday we will have some student led sessions where our peers will share some of their knowledge and experiences. I'm really looking forward to Thursday because so far this year, we haven't had much opportunity for sharing sessions.
I'll let you know how it all goes. In the meantime, spring has sprung and outdoor summer theatres will be in operation. Have a look and see what outdoor arts presentations are available in your area.

Take care!
-m