Friday, August 14, 2009
Onstage / Politics / Arts / Clout City Rocco Landesman to visit Peoria
Posted by Albert Williams on 08.14.09 at 05:26 PM
Earlier this week, I borrowed an old vaudeville expression to ask whether newly installed National Endowment for the Arts chair Rocco Landesman "will play in Peoria." Apparently he's going to try. On Tuesday, August 11—his first day on the job—Landesman contacted Kathy Chitwood, executive director of the Eastlight Theatre in East Peoria, responding to her invitation to him to see her company's production of Rent, which closes this weekend.
I made my comment while blogging about a comment Landesman, a veteran Broadway producer, made in a New York Times interview. "I don’t know if there's a theater in Peoria, but I would bet that it's not as good as Steppenwolf or the Goodman," Landesman told the Times. Landesman's comment struck me as ill-advised—the kind of thing that can foster an elitist image and provide ammunition for critics of arts funding, especially in the present highly charged, highly partisan political climate.
"When I read what he'd said, my first reaction was WHAT?!, with lots of exclamation points," Chitwood told me. "I called the executive directors of the Illinois Arts Council and the Illinois Arts Alliiance. We talked about this, and after they'd calmed me down, I realized this is a teachable moment. So I sent him an e-mail inviting him to come see what we're doing here. When he called me on Tuesday, he was very gracious. He explained that since this was his first week on the job he wouldn't be able to get to Peoria this weekend. But he says he does intend to come visit us, and we're working that out now. I just talked to his chief of staff, and she said as soon as they have a date open on the calendar they'll let us know." Working with Chitwood on the Landesman education initiative is Suzette Boulais, executive director of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois, a consortium of arts organizations in the region.
Writing on the Reader's Onstage blog, Chitwood elaborated: "Our goal is for Peoria to represent all of the smaller communities in the nation that are doing worthy and worthwhile work in the arts. In homage to 'The Beer Summit,' we are lovingly calling this visit, 'The Lemonade Stand' . . . not because that is what we drink, but because that is what we do in Peoria—we take lemons and turn them into lemonade."
Chitwood is very proud of Eastlight, an amateur company with only two paid staffers—herself and technical director Steve Cordle. "Eastlight was created in 1992 through an . . . agreement between the city of East Peoria, Fondulac Park District, and East Peoria High School. This wasn't just a bunch of people who wanted to do theater getting together—it was a community coming together to say, 'We want a theater here.'"
I haven't seen Eastlight's work, but it sounds like exactly the kind of company the NEA was established to help. The sometimes controversial agency was created in 1965, in large part through the efforts of U.S. Rep. Sidney R. Yates (D-Illinois), who represented Chicago's north lakefront and the North Shore suburbs in Congress for almost 50 years. The NEA's mandate is to stimulate a regional arts, not merely to reward the best artists in cultural capitals like Chicago and New York. It plays an important role in stimulating state and regional arts funding by organizations such as the Illinois Arts Council.
"Most of the theaters at our level don't get direct NEA funding," says Chitwood, who sits on the IAC's theater panel. "We don't have the kind of staff you need to write an NEA grant or to raise the matching funds NEA grants often require. Our money comes mainly from the Illinois Arts Council, which gets some of its funding from the NEA." With state arts funding on the chopping block in a bad economy, Chitwood's concerned that arts education and community arts organizations will wither unless the NEA takes a role. "Look our way, Rocco," she says, anticipating the chance to bend the NEA VIP's ear. "Not just at me, or at Peoria, but look our way—the community-based arts world. We're really, really hurting."
Comments (20)
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I hope Mr. Landesman ha read the NEA's mission statement, which says in part:
"The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases."
I think that includes Peoria.
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Theatre tends to be better the higher the density of potential audience. It's a social form. It's why the best has almost always been associated with major cities -- Athens, Paris, London, New York, Chicago. Or when the city folk go to the country in the summer -- eg., Stratford, ONT. This isn't snobbery, it's just the nature of the form. It requires enough people to make up enough audience for it to make sense to do a run. This is why, too, playwrights -- at least early in their careers -- are almost always associated with cities. Novelists and poets can work anywhere; playwrights have to go where the theatres are and the theatres are where the potential audiences are. Yup, cities.
Rocco's off-the-cuff comment may have been ill-advised, but I'm going to bet that an amateur production of RENT -- because it can't draw on a large talent pool -- while being heartfelt probably isn't going to be in the same league with a professional production staged in a community where experienced players make their homes. Note I say "experienced," not "talented." Talent can spring up anywhere. Experience requires places where you can GET that experience and requires contact with directors, actors and writers who know more than you do and can teach by example through collaboration.
My hope for Peoria is that, instead of putting on hit musicals familiar from movies, they find their own stories in Peoria and find what specific about that town they can express. Yes, it's useful for young people to become familiar with the canon by putting up productions (it's great to experience THE GLASS MENAGERIE, RAISIN IN THE SUN and OUR TOWN by putting up a school or amateur production), but theatre was born out of the impulse for a community to gather in a public space to see stories told by their neighbors about their community. So I'd be a lot happier if, instead of RENT, local actors, directors and writers built stories about what is unique to Peoria.
But then I'm not working for the NEA and Peoria doesn't have to make me happy.
Mr. Sweet is right. Peoria doesn't have to make him happy. Thank God! I hope he's not an example of the kind of people who make decisions at the NEA. I hate it when some New York playwright or D.C. bureaucrat starts preaching about what we in the heartland should be doing. RENT opened a lot of eyes and got a lot of families talking about issues that don't usually "play in Peoria" -- gay and lesbian relationships, AIDS, drugs, urban poverty, etc. It's not a show most people here are able to see unless they drive up to Chicago to pay ridiculous prices for Broadway road shows.
And anyone who really cares about theater knows that high school or amateur productions are often the WORST way to be introduced to plays like OUR TOWN and THE GLASS MENAGERIE -- plays whose richness and complexity are often reduced to sentimental cliche in well-meaning school and community presentations.
In attempting to insult me, Mandy misunderstands me. OK.
I'm not saying general audiences will have the best experience of the classics from high school performances, I'm saying the STUDENTS will. In putting up these shows, they have to learn more about acting, research the backgrounds of the play, learn empathy.
Since I come from the heartland and have worked long and hard in the regional theatres, I think Mandy's comments are kind of ill-informed about me personally. Did he/she bother to research the work I've done or the part I've played in launching new playwrights and inspiring the creation of new theatres? No? Thought not.
I'm not interested in cookie-cutter mass culture in which smaller markets try to put up their replicas of Broadway stuff. I'm interested in learning about what is unique about different towns from the stories they tell about themselves. Part of what was thrilling about the initial burst of the regional theatre movement is it discovered playwrights outside of New York City and brought to national consciousness stories set outside of New York and L.A. Marsha Norman came from Louisville and started by telling stories set there, the late Preston Sturges reached a wide audience telling tales of his native Texas, David Mamet started by telling Chicago stories in storefront theatres. Do I prefer this to an amateur production of RENT? Yes.
Theatre was born out of people in a community telling stories of their community TO their community. And the best of these then reached other stages. And yes, I'd prefer an NEA that emphasized the individuality of communities' voices rather than the homogenized and compromised replicas of New York stage successes. Sorry if my celebration of a town's uniqueness strikes some as snobbism. I think it's the reverse.
Mr. Sweet must have had more illuminating experiences putting up shows in high school than most people do. Most high school productions of classic plays (assuming you even GO to a high school with a decent drama program, and there are precious few of those) teach only the worst, most superficial understandings of those plays--both to the audiences and to the kids who participate in them. "Research the backgrounds of the play?" "Learn empathy?" When did YOU go to high school, Mr. Sweet? It must have been long before the cutbacks in arts education that have culturally impoverished this nation.
I had terrific high school teachers and valuable experiences putting up INHERIT THE WIND, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU and THE LARK. I write a monthly column for DRAMATICS, which goes out to thousands of high school students across the country and is sponsored by the International Thespian Society which has an annual convention of high school productions. I went to one of the conventions and was startled at how very good some of the productions were, including some challenging straight plays. I'm going to suggest that possibly I have seen the best side of high schools and Mandy has not, and maybe the bulk lies somewhere between. Kind of curious why Mandy is so determined to pick a fight.
I see I cited Preston Sturges as a Texan. I meant Preston Jones. Preston Sturges was a playwright, too, though he ended up bein more famous as one of the great directors of film comedies in the thirties and forties.
In New York City and I am sure most larger cities, Peoria, IL represents Small Town USA. So is he right when Mr. Landesman doubts that there are any theatrical ventures in small communities (specifically Peoria, IL) that can compare to the artistic and educational acheivements of Steppenwolf or The Goodman? Professionally, I think that is incontrovertable. I don't believe that his statements negate the worthiness of amateur community theatres or educational theatres of a university, college, or high school level which of course are needed and worthwhile. He was simply drawing the line as to what type of projects will be funded by the NEA. For my money, I would like to see the direct grants of federal taxpayer dollars allocated to the NEA going to projects that encourage artistic merit, creativity, and innovation as oppossed to involvement. Worthy community endeavours like Eastlight Theatre are certainly entitled to apply for support from the Illinois Arts Council which is in part funded by a grant from the NEA. In fact, on their website Eastlight Theatre says that they are receiving IAC funding. Not to be crass, but since they are already receiving funding, I am not sure exactly what "lemons" Ms. Chitwood is referring to when she is making her "lemonade".
I am sure that RENT at Eastlight Theatre was a good show to see for those attending and a wonderfully rewarding experience for those involved. Does that mean that it is even remotely comparable to AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY which originated at Steppenwolf before moving to Broadway and winning the Tony and Pulitzer Prize for Drama or THE COLOR PURPLE at the Goodman. Projects like those are what merit the NEA's direct attention and support.
I regret that Mr. Landesman was unable to attent the performance of "Rent". He would have realized within 10 minutes of the show, that YES, we not only have a theatre, we have AWESOME talent that, IMO, rivaled the broadway touring company I saw perform a few years back. I sincerely hope he is able to see a show in the future, and be impressed with the talent in downstate Illinois!
In response to JRWFB's comment above: as an earlier post noted, the NEA's mission is in part "bringing the arts to all Americans." It achieves that mission not only through grant giving but through advocacy of the importance of the arts across the country. Rocco Landesman's comment in the New York Times smacked of elitism and suggested that the NEA would be paying scant attention to the heartland while it focused its gaze on urban centers.
The issue isn't "involvement," JRWFB. The issue is access. If anything, Small Town USA is in greater need of NEA attention than the urban arts capitals, in order to broaden the minds and opportunities of the people stuck in Small Town USA.
By the way, THE COLOR PURPLE did not originate at the Goodman. And "opposed" is spelled with only one "s."
Eric Weiss
Small Town USA does indeed need the arts. I look forward to when small town boosters plug their high school programs with the same energy they do their football programs. When it comes to arts vs. sports in most schools (small town or large), it's almost always sports that get the resources and the support. Can you imagine a great high school theater director being courted, supported and paid as much money as a high end football coach? Towns demonstrate what they value by what they choose to support, and the local money rarely goes into the arts with as much enthusiasm. Though I've heard tell of some VERY fancy community theatres with budgets and facilities that would make some professional operations gorp in envy.
The best way to support small-town arts is to support small-town arts education rather than cutting the arts budget first, which is pretty much the way it goes when belt-tightening kicks in.
Re my friend Jeff Sweet's comment above:
A publicist friend of mine -- the late great Michelle Madden -- once told me that when she was complaining to a daily newspaper editor about the imbalance between space allotted for sports coverage vs. arts coverage, the editor told her: if you can figure out a way to get people to bet on theater they way they bet on sports, you can have your extra space.
The point is, it's all about money. The reason school sports get more resources than school arts programs is that sports is more appealing to a greater number of alumni who are likely to give money to the school. Think about it: when was the last time your high school or college had a Theater Homecoming?
Albert is right, of course. Alumni get more worked up over their teams. Except at the High School of the Performing Arts.
But, of course, it sucks that alumni giving drives what gets funded in a school. That fine TV show, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, last year dramatized a school that had to lay off teachers but had a community willing to dig into its pockets to buy a fancy new scoreboard for the football field.
I wish more celebrated theatre and film alum paid attention to supporting their high schools' arts programs. I only occasionally hear of stars returning to their high schools to make pitches to the alumni associations.
Following up on Jeff Sweet's last comment: the only reason a well-known film or theater person would return to his/her high school to make pitches to the alumni association is if the school (or at least a teacher there) had played a significant role in that person's artistic and professional development -- i.e., if the school had a good arts program already. So it's kind of a vicious circle.
But all this "it sucks," "I wish" whining underscores my earlier points: (1) the importance of community theaters like Eastlight, which are often the only forum for developing a taste for the arts in small heartland communities like Peoria; (2) the need for the NEA to pay attention to--and stimulate funding for--such community theaters; and (3) the need for advocates of community arts programs to respond rapidly when a figure like Rocco Landesman makes comments that suggest the heartland is less important than the big urban arts capitals.
I would say it depends on the community theatre. Some of them are the playthings of rich people who use their dough to cast themselves and their kids in the parts they want to play. They are also notorious for making unlicensed changes in texts so as to remove "offensive" content. I saw a community theatre production of one of my plays and they CHANGED THE ENDING without consulting me. Hard to monitor this stuff when they mostly aren't reviewed by people who know the originals. I am less than thrilled with the idea of supporting this stripe of community theatre because there is no professional ethic at play, and I'm not nuts about putting public money into places that abuse the writers in this way.
I've seen plenty of professional theaters guilty of the same things Jeff Sweet complains about in community theater--directors who toy with scripts, board members who use their money and influence to force their will on the companies they're supposed to serve, etc. Of course public funding of both professional and amateur theaters should involve monitoring the quality and integrity of those theaters. Duh.
I'm more likely to hear about the unauthorized fiddling of text in professional theatres. (Witness the trouble those folks in Florida had with screwing with SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM. When SS was finished with them, all that was left were bones.) They frequently are covered by critics who know the original works or their stagings so they're in a position to blow the whistle. (Of course, if something's in public domain, you can rend it to your heart's content. Nothing like a KING LEAR ending with a happy musical number.)
We've had a rash of intrusive board members in the professional theatre in recent years. The devil plague them (arrrrr).)
Because they fly under the radar, I'm betting the community theatres get away with more, and more frequently. It is the community theatres (and high schools) that are most likely to censor language for fear of offending friends and neighbors. I think NEA money should be directed to companies that support professional standards of conduct vis a vis writers. (They should treat actors and directors well, too, but, being a writer, this is where I'll pitch my flag.)
I'm all for local charities supporting community and ed theatre, though. Went to a benefit for an ed theatre on the North Shore a few months back that raised money in such amounts that would make most off-Loop theatres weep.
Mr. Sweet, I live in the greater Peoria area and have taken part in multiple productions. You are entirely correct that that we do not get the actor-base that would produce an entirely professional performance.
BUT. The cast of RENT includes actors who have performed in L.A., New York, and yes, Chicago. There are a few main roles that are played by local talent. Yes, we are just a community theatre, BUT, since Eastlight was one of the first community theatres in the region to do RENT, they did it right. They wouldn't have picked actors if they wouldn't do a good job.
Maybe, Mr. Sweet, you should come watch the show for yourself. I invite you to come see it. They're going to sell out the house that night, as they did most other nights. Here is the link for tickets http://www.eastlighttheatre.com/ but they do not go on sale until October 28th. Please come see "what plays in Peoria".
And Mr. Sweet, I realize you have good causes, I appologise if I sound rude, but this is not some high school production. Eastlight DOES do high school productions, but this is not one. All actors are over 18... most much older. As I said before, please judge from what you see HERE, not what you've seen elsewhere.
Frankly, I'm amused by Mr. Sweet's assumption that (1) Peoria lacks a quality talent pool and (2) we will "mid-westernize" any quality artistic material. Clearly, you're limited in more ways then persuading you on a message board is capable of fixing. I agree with KSH92. Come see the show, and view our "limitations" in ability.
