The Drama over at Drama Rama
As all the thesps know things got wacky really fast over in Drama Rama this week with the discussion about my Sunday article on theater in Bakersfield. Much of the wackiness involved local actor, director and producer David Lollar's comments in my story. David sent me an e-mail today wanting to set the record straight on what he felt was some confusion and misunderstanding regarding his comments.
Since David's computer hates Blogger, he can't post his statement himself. Therefore, I'm posting it as an entry. Feel free to respond with your thoughts, feelings and questions but if you have anything of a personal nature to take up with David, please e-mail the man at dlollar@mail.djuhsd.org.
FYI: David's note is lengthy and I did some minor editing for errors and clarification.
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From: David Lollar
The fascinating yet predictable outrage to Danielle Belton’s article in Sunday’s paper on the state of community theatre came from one comment I made regarding “managing our emotions.”
Based on a 20 minute conversation, with me doing all of the talking and Ms. Belton doing all of the “mmm-hmmm (type-type-type) mmm-hmmm (type-type-type),” one quote has caused quite a stir.
Before I address it, let me first remind you that my main point throughout the conversation and the article is the problem in our theatre community, as I see it, is “audience development.” I spent most of my time discussing that both in the telephone interview and in print. To focus elsewhere distorts my message and has distorted the public perception of my character. I entreat you to reread the article as a whole once again and view this dialogue in context.
Dr. Fillbrandt and I agreed that ‘business’ is the missing ingredient in ‘show-business’ in our community. Emily Thiroux heartily agrees with me when she posted on the Drama Rama Web site that audience development is the key. Dozens of our theatres’ leaders agree with and support me on the tantalizing comment about “emotion management.” And yet, I feel I need to clarify the point further since the paper has printed the Web site today for the general public to see it in all its glory.
To begin, Ms. Belton wrote a wonderful, investigative piece on the problems inside community theatre. She is an insightful reporter, a stylish writer, and I am proud to have been a part of this article.
Ms. Belton's objective may have been to highlight the siren’s call to risk great odds and receive great (or no) rewards because of that risk; to succumb to the romance and appeal that tempts us to the theatre world and at times breaks our hearts and burns our wallets in the process. Or her objective may have been to highlight the flaws in the industry for the purpose of generating positive change. Whatever her objectives were, the one question she asked me was “what do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today? [ For the record, my exact question to David and several other people I interviewed for this story was, "What do you think are some of problems facing local theater today?" — Danielle ]”
She did not ask me to highlight the wonderful diversity of quality entertainment opportunities in town (of which there are many, and we should be proud of that, as Emily Thiroux put so well in her reply on the Web site). She did not ask me to talk about the wonderful experiences I’ve had in town or the great people I’ve worked with (of which there are countless, and I am grateful for each and every one of them). She did not ask me a warm, fuzzy question. She asked me “what do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today?” That is the one question I answered for 20 minutes. If you think about that question and your personal observations, your answer may differ, but you would still be talking about the problem, airing the dirty laundry as it were, by answering the one question “what do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today?”
Also, she asked me. David Lollar. Ms. Belton asked me. She didn’t ask Doug Cheesman or Jason Monroe or Roger Mathey or Bob Kempf or any other strong leaders in our community who produce great shows that are relevant and entertaining, as these gentlemen indeed are, or any of the strong women leaders in our theatre community either — she asked me for my personal observations and thoughts. Had she asked one of the above members of our community, she would have gotten a different answer, I am sure.
But Ms. Belton knows two things about me, based on our personal relationship — first, I have many successful experiences in all the local theatres with many local artists; second, I am highly qualified to talk about the theatre industry in general based on my background; and third, I am deeply passionate about the theatre and I don’t mind sharing my opinion, especially when I know I can back it up with corroboration six ways to Sunday if I have to. She made a very astute choice in asking me the question, knowing my answer would be opinionated yet truthful — and that’s a good thing for a paper to have in an interviewee, don’t you think?
Finally, with regards to the quote in question: people falsely accuse me of making a blanket statement, and since it is being misconstrued to mean I am talking about everyone, I want to clarify the point and put an end to the discussion about it and me so we can instead discuss solving our problems in the theatre world.
“We have young, single people all sleeping with each other” — To begin, “all” was used colloquially, as in “he’s all, she all, and then they all” … not in the sense that I am including by name and number “all” humans in my criticism. To write this in proper English would be to say, “Young, single people, sleep with each other (in the theatre community).”
“One minute you get one person breaking up” — What may have been left out of the quote is “and that hurts us when one of those people is in a position of authority and uses their emotional baggage to hurt their ex-boy/girlfriend to the detriment of the show and the theatre itself.” [ David did say this to me, but I felt it was too specific and did not put it in the story. — Danielle ] I didn’t say that part because I thought it would be assumed, based on the tone and context of the article. No fault of Ms. Belton, I just didn’t clarify for those of you who enjoy deep critical analysis.
By the way, the reason no names were used in any part of my answer to Ms. Belton was to save any embarrassment to any party that I was discussing, based on my personal observation. When accused of not telling the truth on the Web site, I offered to “name names” in private, personal email if that would help satisfy someone’s curiosity, but I won’t do it on record in a newspaper. That’s ungentlemanly to say the least.
“Add to that, you’re not dealing with the most sophisticated, educated people” — Based on my personal experience both in and out of Bakersfield, I have seen bad decisions in Bakersfield affect the outcome of theatre because the decision maker was either ignorant of what works, uneducated in the way to make a successful show or business plan, or playing dumb to get their own way at the detriment of their show, their fellow actors or their company. I won’t be any more specific outside of private email, but if you read the subtext, you can see the solution is to go see professional theatre in other cities and bring back what works and stop doing what doesn’t. To all the actors who are offended, thinking I called them dumb, I apologize. You are not even included in the people I’m talking about when I make the above statement. And because “audience education” was a part of my answer to Ms. Belton, I was also speaking of the frustration in putting on great theatre when the general audience would rather be watching "The Simpsons" or "Napoleon Dynamite" at home. I said it in the article, and I will repeat it here: that’s great if you’re selling double-wides, not if you’re producing great art. Audience development is the key.
“They don’t know how to manage their emotions” — See my reply to the “breaking up” quote, this one’s the same.
When you are running a business, you have to know how to run a business. When you are making cold, clear cut decisions that affect the quality of life in Bakersfield based on how good your show is, how developed your audience is, how well your employees do their jobs, and how happy the IRS is with your output, you do NOT let your emotions get involved. You do NOT let young, inexperienced people run it for you.
Actors and directors and lighting designers should be allowed to do their job — act, direct or design. When those people have to also take on the responsibility of grant writing, networking with major financial investors and socialites, satisfying corporate paperwork for the governments local and federal, marketing and advertising to the community of Bakersfield in a way the citizens understand and comprehend it, hiring the right artists to do great theatre (in short, run the business); and they have little to no experience in the working world as leaders, and little to no formal education, and little to no role models to mentor them; and they are living the lifestyle of teenagers on Spring Break … you create a recipe for disaster. I’ve seen this, in part, during my experience in community theatre in Bakersfield. It is why I’ve spent many hours shaking my head in amazement in the past two years. And it’s probably why Ms. Belton knew I’d be a good person to ask of this question.
Finally, I have been a part of great theatre in town, I have made wonderful friends at every theatre. I will keep doing my best in every job I take, I hope the theatre community grows stronger and more prosperous for all, and I will continue to criticize when I see people, places, and things that hurt a person, damage a show, or poison a company.
So, I put it to you, Bakersfield: think about the following question, give an answer to the blog or the paper or the Web site, and let’s make this a better world where we can all not only get along, but also do great work that affects the lives of Kern County’s citizens’ in a positive, relevant, and life changing way. Here’s your question: “What do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today?”
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Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
Since David's computer hates Blogger, he can't post his statement himself. Therefore, I'm posting it as an entry. Feel free to respond with your thoughts, feelings and questions but if you have anything of a personal nature to take up with David, please e-mail the man at dlollar@mail.djuhsd.org.
FYI: David's note is lengthy and I did some minor editing for errors and clarification.
----
From: David Lollar
The fascinating yet predictable outrage to Danielle Belton’s article in Sunday’s paper on the state of community theatre came from one comment I made regarding “managing our emotions.”
Based on a 20 minute conversation, with me doing all of the talking and Ms. Belton doing all of the “mmm-hmmm (type-type-type) mmm-hmmm (type-type-type),” one quote has caused quite a stir.
Before I address it, let me first remind you that my main point throughout the conversation and the article is the problem in our theatre community, as I see it, is “audience development.” I spent most of my time discussing that both in the telephone interview and in print. To focus elsewhere distorts my message and has distorted the public perception of my character. I entreat you to reread the article as a whole once again and view this dialogue in context.
Dr. Fillbrandt and I agreed that ‘business’ is the missing ingredient in ‘show-business’ in our community. Emily Thiroux heartily agrees with me when she posted on the Drama Rama Web site that audience development is the key. Dozens of our theatres’ leaders agree with and support me on the tantalizing comment about “emotion management.” And yet, I feel I need to clarify the point further since the paper has printed the Web site today for the general public to see it in all its glory.
To begin, Ms. Belton wrote a wonderful, investigative piece on the problems inside community theatre. She is an insightful reporter, a stylish writer, and I am proud to have been a part of this article.
Ms. Belton's objective may have been to highlight the siren’s call to risk great odds and receive great (or no) rewards because of that risk; to succumb to the romance and appeal that tempts us to the theatre world and at times breaks our hearts and burns our wallets in the process. Or her objective may have been to highlight the flaws in the industry for the purpose of generating positive change. Whatever her objectives were, the one question she asked me was “what do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today? [ For the record, my exact question to David and several other people I interviewed for this story was, "What do you think are some of problems facing local theater today?" — Danielle ]”
She did not ask me to highlight the wonderful diversity of quality entertainment opportunities in town (of which there are many, and we should be proud of that, as Emily Thiroux put so well in her reply on the Web site). She did not ask me to talk about the wonderful experiences I’ve had in town or the great people I’ve worked with (of which there are countless, and I am grateful for each and every one of them). She did not ask me a warm, fuzzy question. She asked me “what do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today?” That is the one question I answered for 20 minutes. If you think about that question and your personal observations, your answer may differ, but you would still be talking about the problem, airing the dirty laundry as it were, by answering the one question “what do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today?”
Also, she asked me. David Lollar. Ms. Belton asked me. She didn’t ask Doug Cheesman or Jason Monroe or Roger Mathey or Bob Kempf or any other strong leaders in our community who produce great shows that are relevant and entertaining, as these gentlemen indeed are, or any of the strong women leaders in our theatre community either — she asked me for my personal observations and thoughts. Had she asked one of the above members of our community, she would have gotten a different answer, I am sure.
But Ms. Belton knows two things about me, based on our personal relationship — first, I have many successful experiences in all the local theatres with many local artists; second, I am highly qualified to talk about the theatre industry in general based on my background; and third, I am deeply passionate about the theatre and I don’t mind sharing my opinion, especially when I know I can back it up with corroboration six ways to Sunday if I have to. She made a very astute choice in asking me the question, knowing my answer would be opinionated yet truthful — and that’s a good thing for a paper to have in an interviewee, don’t you think?
Finally, with regards to the quote in question: people falsely accuse me of making a blanket statement, and since it is being misconstrued to mean I am talking about everyone, I want to clarify the point and put an end to the discussion about it and me so we can instead discuss solving our problems in the theatre world.
“We have young, single people all sleeping with each other” — To begin, “all” was used colloquially, as in “he’s all, she all, and then they all” … not in the sense that I am including by name and number “all” humans in my criticism. To write this in proper English would be to say, “Young, single people, sleep with each other (in the theatre community).”
“One minute you get one person breaking up” — What may have been left out of the quote is “and that hurts us when one of those people is in a position of authority and uses their emotional baggage to hurt their ex-boy/girlfriend to the detriment of the show and the theatre itself.” [ David did say this to me, but I felt it was too specific and did not put it in the story. — Danielle ] I didn’t say that part because I thought it would be assumed, based on the tone and context of the article. No fault of Ms. Belton, I just didn’t clarify for those of you who enjoy deep critical analysis.
By the way, the reason no names were used in any part of my answer to Ms. Belton was to save any embarrassment to any party that I was discussing, based on my personal observation. When accused of not telling the truth on the Web site, I offered to “name names” in private, personal email if that would help satisfy someone’s curiosity, but I won’t do it on record in a newspaper. That’s ungentlemanly to say the least.
“Add to that, you’re not dealing with the most sophisticated, educated people” — Based on my personal experience both in and out of Bakersfield, I have seen bad decisions in Bakersfield affect the outcome of theatre because the decision maker was either ignorant of what works, uneducated in the way to make a successful show or business plan, or playing dumb to get their own way at the detriment of their show, their fellow actors or their company. I won’t be any more specific outside of private email, but if you read the subtext, you can see the solution is to go see professional theatre in other cities and bring back what works and stop doing what doesn’t. To all the actors who are offended, thinking I called them dumb, I apologize. You are not even included in the people I’m talking about when I make the above statement. And because “audience education” was a part of my answer to Ms. Belton, I was also speaking of the frustration in putting on great theatre when the general audience would rather be watching "The Simpsons" or "Napoleon Dynamite" at home. I said it in the article, and I will repeat it here: that’s great if you’re selling double-wides, not if you’re producing great art. Audience development is the key.
“They don’t know how to manage their emotions” — See my reply to the “breaking up” quote, this one’s the same.
When you are running a business, you have to know how to run a business. When you are making cold, clear cut decisions that affect the quality of life in Bakersfield based on how good your show is, how developed your audience is, how well your employees do their jobs, and how happy the IRS is with your output, you do NOT let your emotions get involved. You do NOT let young, inexperienced people run it for you.
Actors and directors and lighting designers should be allowed to do their job — act, direct or design. When those people have to also take on the responsibility of grant writing, networking with major financial investors and socialites, satisfying corporate paperwork for the governments local and federal, marketing and advertising to the community of Bakersfield in a way the citizens understand and comprehend it, hiring the right artists to do great theatre (in short, run the business); and they have little to no experience in the working world as leaders, and little to no formal education, and little to no role models to mentor them; and they are living the lifestyle of teenagers on Spring Break … you create a recipe for disaster. I’ve seen this, in part, during my experience in community theatre in Bakersfield. It is why I’ve spent many hours shaking my head in amazement in the past two years. And it’s probably why Ms. Belton knew I’d be a good person to ask of this question.
Finally, I have been a part of great theatre in town, I have made wonderful friends at every theatre. I will keep doing my best in every job I take, I hope the theatre community grows stronger and more prosperous for all, and I will continue to criticize when I see people, places, and things that hurt a person, damage a show, or poison a company.
So, I put it to you, Bakersfield: think about the following question, give an answer to the blog or the paper or the Web site, and let’s make this a better world where we can all not only get along, but also do great work that affects the lives of Kern County’s citizens’ in a positive, relevant, and life changing way. Here’s your question: “What do you think is wrong with community theatre in Bakersfield today?”
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Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
posted by Danielle Belton @ 1:34 PM
3 Comments:
At 1:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
First, let me say, David, that I appreciate your attempt to rectify this situation that has developed as a result.
Second, I would like to point out that the only problem I have ever really had with your blurb was calling the theatre community uneducated and unsophisticated. I can understand your observations and might tend to agree with some of them (to a much lesser extent) if I had been in your shoes. Meaning specifically, I am unaware of what you have witnessed as I am not you.
Look, David, I lost any respect I had for you the minute I read those words. I was astounded that someone who says they care as much about Bakersfield Theatre as you say you do would openly slam it in the face. Again this is solely in reference to the education comment. Education is not school. It is anytime you learn something new regardless of the source. Sophistication is not "Pip, Pip old chap!" It is anytime you are able to see something without the blinders on.
With your new post, I gained back the respect I previously held for you. I still think you go about it the wrong way, but I think we feel that the end result should be the same: better theatre and more people seeing it. Let bridge the gap. I know that there is some place you will not work ever again. That is unfortunate, but the coin has two sides. Maybe dulling the other side isn't the ay to make your side look better.
PS I don’t know who the "Names" would be, but I appreciate that you didn't post them. That shows some character.
At 11:29 AM,
Anonymous said…
BGP, you should teach classes in bitchy sarcasm. lol...
At 2:39 PM,
Anonymous said…
David..you call some uneducated... who in any professional or other ranks, hires on to direct a play and in the midst of rehearsals, flakes out to another theatre to star in a musical? I would say that is uneducated in many levels. As the old saying goes, "people in glass houses..."
We do need to work to upgrade our audience appeal...but sometimes it would pay to have some idea of our audience. One of the first things they teach in graduate directing is to pick a play that matches your interests, the theatre's ability to do the play and know your audience, so that you are playing into something they might want to see, or might be something you can incinerate interest among them. In other words, you don't play a Roman comedy in the original Latin to a crowd in Norway.
Let's think some when we go to do productions in this town...who is the audience? What is our technical and artistic capabilities? And really important...is this really a play worth doing? Face it, there is a lot of crap that gets published by the play services...there is also a lot of really good stuff. Sometimes the difference between a play being successful, is the play itself. Is it a piece of art?
You do find that often real art will draw people because of its quality.
The groundlings at the Globe weren't educated...but they packed the place to see Shakespeare's work. They knew quality when they tasted it and heard it. Let's play up to our audience's...not down to them.
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