From: Fred Greenspan <greenspan-AT-earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:16:37 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Preparing a production


One thing I forgot to explicity mention, although we have all  
inferred it, is the need to transport the show to different locations  
when you are doing your break-in performances and experience the  
setup and packup to find glitches that you won't find if you're just  
polishing and rehearsing in you home studio.

Fred

Fred Greenspan - Traditional Puppeteer
Ossining, New York
http://www.traditionalpuppetry.com

On Feb 13, 2008, at 1:51 PM, Fred Greenspan wrote:

> It seems we are pretty much in agreement Christopher. We both agree
> that a set deadline for an actual performance forces the initial
> completion of a new production. Our only difference is that you like
> to book a paid date out in time and I prefer an unpaid private test
> performance as my deadline. I agree that the original poster wrote
> that she was lost in detail and having trouble completing the
> production. I guess my angle would be that, especially for a newbee,
> an unpaid gig might be safer than a paid one.  Like you, my average
> is a new show every two years although I have been slowing down on
> this with my 7 or 8 current shows and I have been concentrating more
> on marketing and trying to get new venues that don't compete with my
> regular ones.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Fred
>
> Fred Greenspan - Traditional Puppeteer
> Ossining, New York
> http://www.traditionalpuppetry.com
>
> On Feb 13, 2008, at 12:49 PM, Christopher Hudert wrote:
>
>>
>> On Feb 13, 2008, at 12:17 PM, Fred Greenspan wrote:
>>
>>> Different strokes for different folks. I know a number of  
>>> pupperteers
>>> do what Christopher suggested - book it to force yourself to reach
>>> some level of completion. I personally can't work that way. I  
>>> have to
>>> feel really good about a show before I will offer it for booking.
>>>
>> True, Fred, true. But her main point (as I read it) was that she was
>> getting lost in the detail, never getting to the point of doing the
>> show for anyone. She could easily book it for a small private party
>> like you suggest - even one made up of friends invited to just see  
>> the
>> premier of the show - but until she HAS to do it, it sounded to me
>> like
>> she will continue to "perfect" the details until the cows come home.
>> Being a beginning puppeteer my opinion was that she needed to set a
>> deadline to be initially done enough to do the show, which a deadline
>> would help with.
>>
>> I know people like yourself who work something until they are
>> satisfied
>> it is ready for an audience, sometimes taking months or even years to
>> get something ready before even considering a public debut. I,
>> personally, can't work that way. In short, typically I find a  
>> story or
>> subject area I want to do, then I find someone who will pay me to do
>> the initial run of the show (usually a year or more out, and rarely
>> enough to actually pay for the creation of the show, but I know
>> I'll be
>> able to book beyond that run), then I actually do the writing,
>> building, and so on. That may mean a show is in slow development for
>> several years, doing research, rough ideas and maybe sketches, and so
>> on, before I sell and begin the physical writing and building. But
>> without that deadline most projects stay exactly that -  a project  
>> and
>> not a show. I currently have at least 6 projects in development. I
>> don't have any currently in sales stage, much less building stage,
>> as I
>> try to average one new show about every two years and I debuted my
>> latest show last January.
>>
>>   I add on to the above that somewhere back in my career with the
>> circus, I reached a point of confidence in my abilities (and knowing
>> what they were and were not) that I don't have much of a fear of
>> failure anymore. I know that at times something that I do won't be as
>> good as it could be, but I seriously doubt it will be an utter
>> failure.
>> Take risks, but take calculated risks. Fail, and occasionally fail
>> big,
>> but not so large that you can't get up again. (I needed to learn that
>> before doing a comic ariel act 25 - 45 feet in the air with no safety
>> net or wires.)
>>
>> Christopher
>>
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