Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 16:25:04 -0400
From: Andrew <puppetvision-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Free Shows, etc


Thanks so much for sharing all your great insight Christopher. Just to
clarify, the specific goal of the "showlettes" (I like that term!) is to
sell more tickets to shows that are already booked. Our show is really
designed for studio or proscenium theatres and is not really appropriate for
smaller venues like daycare centres, but we're doing these short
stripped-down shows at public events and malls where we are already
presenting shows in order to (hopefully) boost sales.

- Andrew

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 5:07 PM, <puptcrit-request-AT-puptcrit.org> wrote:

>
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 12:53:09 -0400
> From: Christopher Hudert <heyhoot-AT-mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Free Shows, etc
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Message-ID: <1fdf809fb37155ff77e6dc1ad964376b-AT-mindspring.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> On May 20, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Andrew wrote:
>
> > to help promote our summer shows, we're doing free showcases (15-20
> > minutes long) at well-attended local events a
> > couple weeks before each show to help drum up interest and hopefully
> > sell more tickets
>
> Andrew.
>
>   Please clarify. By doing these showcase are you hoping to get more
> bookings, or get more people at your shows, or both?
>
>   IMHO, you are not likely to pick up more bookings that are going to
> happen between the showcase and the couple of weeks before the booked
> show. Most venues are going to need more than a couple of weeks for
> their planning, budget, and promotion. You might, however, build the
> audience for the show that is already booked and, through doing the two
> events, pick up some future bookings.
>
>   If you are trying to pad out your schedule on short notice, you might
> try doing some "paid publicity" events. That's a term I use for a
> deeply discounted showlette (not the regular show - sounds like what
> you mentioned) that I might do at a senior center, day care, children's
> hospital, library or other venue where the press is invited (and likely
> to attend because of the human interest angle) a few days before the
> scheduled event. Work with your venue to send a press release and to
> schedule places that will not conflict with their client base. It's a
> win - win situation. The press comes (sometimes) and covers the event
> plus plugs the upcoming event, you get paid a little bit to pad out
> your schedule, and you get to do an introduction to a venue that might
> book you in the future (at full price, rarely should you do the same
> free venue twice - unless it's at a children's hospital or other place
> you choose to "give back" to).
>
> Christopher
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 13:04:25 -0400
> From: "Puppet People" <puppetpeople-AT-nycap.rr.com>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Summer internship
> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
> Message-ID: <001b01c8ba9b$8ec8ca40$ec6b464a-AT-YOUR4353FC193C>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>        reply-type=original
>
> Hear ye, Hear ye;
>    The Puppet People, a touring puppet company located in Schenectady NY
> (that's up by Albany) is looking for a  intern for the summer: June, July
> August 2008. This will be a payed position
>    We are looking for someone with  pupperty as well as art experience, but
> we are willing to train the right person. Both performing and puppet
> building (mostly repair actually) will part of the required duties. must be
> energetic and willing to learn. Also must like cats.  Room and Board is
> available
>    This internship may turn into a full time postion come the Fall.  For
> more info (like how much we are going to pay & ect..) please contact The
> Puppet People at puppetpeople-AT-nycap,rr.com or go to our website
> www.thepuppetpeople.org or call 518-393-2268
>
> Thanks
> Mark Carrigan
> Michelle Smith Carrigan
> The Puppet People
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 13:49:42 -0400
> From: Christopher Hudert <heyhoot-AT-mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Free shows
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Message-ID: <b60972ba82324c7a7d868002c14ed4b8-AT-mindspring.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
>
> On May 19, 2008, at 6:07 AM, John Dudley wrote:
>
> > Bob,
> > I also had the same thing happen years ago for a charity dinner dance.
> >  I asked if the caterers were giving their services - NO.  The band -
> > NO,they had to be paid as they were members of the Musicians Union.
> > Decorations and gifts for the ladies - NO.  I asked why they expected
> > me to provide entertainment for no fee.  Answer: because there will be
> > some important people present.  Needless to say I told them politely
> > what they could do - get the local Drama Society  or a Church choir to
> > help out!
> >
> > John Dudley
>
> John, (et al),
>
>   If someone were to give a reason like this, wouldn't a better answer
> be: "There will be important people there? Then all the more reason
> that you should hire a professional entertainer like myself. After
> putting all of that money into your event, you wouldn't want it marred
> by an amateurish show, would you?" If done without a sarcastic tone
> (which would be extremely difficult for me at that point) it would put
> you in a positive light while pointing out the error of their logic.
> They wouldn't be doing you a favor by letting you perform, you'd be
> doing them a favor by performing a professional show - and you wouldn't
> even charge extra just because of their important guests. Isn't that
> big of you!
>
>   We used to have a used car dealer here in Richmond who's motto was
> "Dapper Dan, the Used Car Man. I'd give 'em away, but my wife won't let
> me!" I think I'll adapt and adopt that motto myself: "Puppet shows: I'd
> do 'em for free, but my wife won't let me!"
>
> Christopher
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 12:00:44 -0700
> From: "Randy Ross" <gloreeeah-AT-gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Puppetry as a Real Career
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Message-ID:
>        <e3e6c7150805201200t1de44a8fla3ddcd1574250c17-AT-mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> in response to why is it so difficult...
> "if you  have talent,.... then one must also work hard." simon cowell
> "the struggle is the blessing . " lauryn hill
> y'know.
>
> i must work and step away from this computer.
> thank you puptcrit. for the dedication to the art of puppetry. every body
> wonders when is the next show. and we will all rise up to thier query im
> sure.
>
> carnival sized cinnamon hearts
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 11:44 PM, Mathieu Ren? <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
> wrote:
>
> > In true Hallmark fashion, she passed away a few months later- some
> > opportunities you just don't get twice. As Michael wrote in, "there
> > are worlds without money", and that one was very rich for me. I think
> > I will remember that show long after the 3 school assemblies in West
> > Covina. So while I can't always pay bills from every show, I am OK
> > with that. Art is sometimes separate from business.
> > Greg Ballora
> > --------------------
> >
> >
> > Such a wonderful inspiring story (shared in the thread entitled "Puppetry
> > for Seniors")
> > thanks for sharing!
> >
> > While I agree with the above statement you made Greg, and I love those
> > extra
> > experiences that can count more than money, I want to express an idea
> that
> > has been bugging me for a while now.
> >
> > How come Artists "have to" separate their art from their way of earning a
> > living?
> > How come we "have to" work twice as hard (if not more) to get less than
> > half
> > of what "safe positions" make?
> > How come our work is so often considered as "less important", "less
> vital".
> >
> > What I mean to express by this is my inner outrage at an ongoing
> injustice.
> > I used to make a lot more money as a part-time janitor than as my main
> > career, the one that called upon all my talents and knowledge. I'm not
> > putting down any career, but I wish to see reasonnable pay for the work
> we
> > do.
> >
> > We are not "lazy" and we are not "just dreamers".
> > If anything, all of the puppeteers and puppet makers I've met were very
> > hardworking, passionnate people dedicated to their work. And most of them
> > seemed (to me) to experience a lot of emotionnal and physical fatigue
> from
> > the struggle of just staying financially afloat. I congratulate those few
> > of
> > us who are experiencing the exception, and ask if they can share what
> tips
> > might help the whole business rise above the current position.
> >
> > I do not believe in dwelling upon the negative, nor in perpetrating the
> > victim mentality. I just wish to understand how come things are like
> this,
> > and what we can do to improve them.
> > I merely seek to have proper recognition of our Field of Work as
> > legitimate,
> > completely and by the whole of society.
> >
> > One day we might be seen as essential respected (at least financially)
> > profesionnals just like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers...
> >
> > One day we might no longer be forced to work two or three jobs to fuel
> our
> > true Art career.
> >
> > One day, I might stop getting irritated (inward) at the second most
> > frequent
> > question I get asked:
> > "You make a living out of it?"
> >
> >
> > PS: The most frequent question I get asked is probably: "Do you have the
> > Air
> > Miles Card?".
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> > Archives: http://www.driftline.org
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 14:01:28 -0700
> From: Bruce Chesse <brucec-AT-chesseartsltd.com>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Puppetry as a Real Career
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Message-ID: <p06230900c458da1f2486-AT-[10.0.0.4]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed"
>
> Puppetry as a real career has certainly never
> been portrayed with any degree of reality in the
> history of film except in a few Chinese films.  I
> went to see Juliet Binoche in The Voyage of the
> Red Balloon in hope of seeing something of the
> magic found in 1956 Film The Red Balloon to which
> this film is dedicated.
>
> Well forget it. Binochet , fine actress that she
> is, portrays a woman who is extremely stressed
> who happens to run a puppet theater but she seems
> to find no joy in it to help relieve the stress
> of real life.
> We are given no idea why she is a puppeteer
> except to be shown brief films of her father
> jiggling a puppet for her when she was a child.
>
> Scenes of her working in the puppet theater are
> relegated to her sitting in the audience with a
> musician reading from a script  as puppeteers
> within the stage manipulate to the dialogue. They
> are  doing a play about the Chinese Dragon King
> who lives under the Sea but we never get any idea
> of what the play is about. At one point she goes
> to Charleville Meizerre to pick up a Chinese
> puppet Master who briefly gives us a
> demonstration of his art form. We see nothing of
> Charliville to indicate that it is a center for
> Puppetry. We see nothing to give us an idea of
> her commitment to puppets. Her child is relegated
> to a Chinese nanny named Song who is a film
> student yet no real communication seems to go on
> between any of them. The pacing is abysmal
>
> A red balloon floats in and out of the film
> supposedly following Song and the boy but mostly
> as reflected  or seen through glass.  The
> Director likes to shoot through windows lot to
> the point of redundancy. So much so that  I
> wanted to throw something at the screen.
>
> I don't know about all of you out there but
> puppetry for me has always been a refuge from a
> sometimes hostile world where I can communicate
> to and with people in a magical setting that
> delights and comforts. There is a joy in being a
> puppeteer which comes from building and
> performing that is never expressed in this film I
> think they missed a great opportunity to show how
> an art form can be a means to finding a personal
> control that often escapes  us in the real world.
> Has anybody else seen this film?
>
>
> Bruce Chess?
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 21:05:16 GMT
> From: "Alan Cook" <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Puppetry as a Real Career
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Message-ID: <BLU111-DAV909169B82A0AFE221F380BCC40-AT-phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Randy Ross & others wonder why it is so difficult to make a living in the
> arts?
>
> Remember, Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime. The
> equivalent amount USED to be approximately $24, but with the falling Bush
> Dollar it would be closer to $250 today or a bit better that. Vincent earned
> so little from his only sale; The "Starving Artist" myth is still not
> helping artists to survive without outside help.. Still, to think that
> Vincent's work now sells in the millions of dollars, shows that Vincent did
> something right---he created great art in spite of endless limitations. That
> is a lot more delayed success than I like to think about.
>
> We live in such an overly commercialized society, where the buck seems to
> be the only yardstick for too many people. I often wonder how many of them
> look back on silly lives from their deathbeds and ask if any of it meant a
> damn thing?
>
> So bravo to all the artists who persist in looking for meaning in their
> lives through their puppetry and other artistic & cultural endeavors.
>
> One thing for sure, I think most of us knew when we started that it was
> going to be anything but easy.
>
> The Andy Warhols and Dalis and Picassos figured out how to work commerce to
> their advantage, to work the publicty mills in their favor. Just think what
> Van Gogh might have earned if he had had a press agent/publicist/manager.
>
> ALAN COOK
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Randy Ross
> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:00 PM
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Puppetry as a Real Career
>
> in response to why is it so difficult...
> "if you  have talent,.... then one must also work hard." simon cowell
> "the struggle is the blessing . " lauryn hill
> y'know.
>
> i must work and step away from this computer.
> thank you puptcrit. for the dedication to the art of puppetry. every body
> wonders when is the next show. and we will all rise up to thier query im
> sure.
>
> carnival sized cinnamon hearts
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 11:44 PM, Mathieu Ren??? <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
> wrote:
>
> > In true Hallmark fashion, she passed away a few months later- some
> > opportunities you just don't get twice. As Michael wrote in, "there
> > are worlds without money", and that one was very rich for me. I think
> > I will remember that show long after the 3 school assemblies in West
> > Covina. So while I can't always pay bills from every show, I am OK
> > with that. Art is sometimes separate from business.
> > Greg Ballora
> > --------------------
> >
> >
> > Such a wonderful inspiring story (shared in the thread entitled "Puppetry
> > for Seniors")
> > thanks for sharing!
> >
> > While I agree with the above statement you made Greg, and I love those
> > extra
> > experiences that can count more than money, I want to express an idea
> that
> > has been bugging me for a while now.
> >
> > How come Artists "have to" separate their art from their way of earning a
> > living?
> > How come we "have to" work twice as hard (if not more) to get less than
> > half
> > of what "safe positions" make?
> > How come our work is so often considered as "less important", "less
> vital".
> >
> > What I mean to express by this is my inner outrage at an ongoing
> injustice.
> > I used to make a lot more money as a part-time janitor than as my main
> > career, the one that called upon all my talents and knowledge. I'm not
> > putting down any career, but I wish to see reasonnable pay for the work
> we
> > do.
> >
> > We are not "lazy" and we are not "just dreamers".
> > If anything, all of the puppeteers and puppet makers I've met were very
> > hardworking, passionnate people dedicated to their work. And most of them
> > seemed (to me) to experience a lot of emotionnal and physical fatigue
> from
> > the struggle of just staying financially afloat. I congratulate those few
> > of
> > us who are experiencing the exception, and ask if they can share what
> tips
> > might help the whole business rise above the current position.
> >
> > I do not believe in dwelling upon the negative, nor in perpetrating the
> > victim mentality. I just wish to understand how come things are like
> this,
> > and what we can do to improve them.
> > I merely seek to have proper recognition of our Field of Work as
> > legitimate,
> > completely and by the whole of society.
> >
> > One day we might be seen as essential respected (at least financially)
> > profesionnals just like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers...
> >
> > One day we might no longer be forced to work two or three jobs to fuel
> our
> > true Art career.
> >
> > One day, I might stop getting irritated (inward) at the second most
> > frequent
> > question I get asked:
> > "You make a living out of it?"
> >
> >
> > PS: The most frequent question I get asked is probably: "Do you have the
> > Air
> > Miles Card?".
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> > Archives: http://www.driftline.org
> >
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> Archives: http://www.driftline.org
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> Archives: http://www.driftline.org
>
> End of puptcrit Digest, Vol 43, Issue 49
> ****************************************
>
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