Matter Matter Matter

Drip, drip, drip... again.

2010-10-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

I happened to be down at the warehouse yesterday -- yes, the very same warehouse on which Lyric has just signed a new multi-year lease -- and found that even after the light rains of earlier this week, we once again have leaks in the roof, as attested by the return of multiple drip-catching trash cans in the boardroom:

As you can see, more seams along ceiling wallboard joints have begun to open up.

Up periscope!

2010-09-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

My, my. Can my last blog post possibly have been as long ago as April 11? Have I been "submerged" for as long as that?

Yep. That was also about the point at which the time I had previously been spending on Lyric Theatre evaporated, as the result of getting a full-time temporary job.

That job has now come to an end -- and, as you may have read in our newsletter, The Patter Post, so also has my tenure as President of this theater company (though I remain a member of the Board). There were several reasons for this development, some more interesting than others, but I'll get to those in another post.

I don't intend to stop writing about the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of San Jose. I'll just be doing it from a different perspective -- and pretty freely, too.

So please check back in from time to time, or better yet, include this blog on your RSS feed reader's tracking list. If you're a GMail user, that's as simple as clicking on the Reader link at the top of your GMail Inbox screen and then following the simple instructions.

Surface! Surface!

Sullivan speaks!

2010-04-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here's an 1888 wax cylinder recording of Sir Arthur Sullivan talking about Edison's recent invention of sound recording. His worries were well-founded!

Queen Victoria WAS amused, after all

2010-03-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

This photo is from the cover of Alan Hardy's 1976 book of (almost) the same name as this post's title. The gist of the book is that Queen Victoria, who was nearing the end of her long reign when Gilbert and Sullivan were collaborating, was not at all the sour-faced prude whose public image has been summed up for most people by her famous remark ,"We are not amused." I wrote at some length on this topic in our most recent Patter Post newsletter (which, if you don't receive, can be yours every quarter for a minuscule $25 membership in our organization).

I won't repeat all that now, but I did want to share one example that's just too good to keep to myself.

One of her grandsons told a story of the Queen's 1878 luncheon with an elderly admiral who came to report to her on the wreck and later salvage of HMS Eurydice:

"After she had exhausted this melancholy subject, my grandmother, in order to give the conversation a more cheerful turn, inquired after his sister, whom she knew well. Whereupon the Admiral, who was hard of hearing and had not caught the change of topic, replied in his stentorian voice: 'Well, Ma'am, I am going to have her turned over and take a good look at her bottom and have it well scraped.' "The effect of this answer was stupendous. My grandmother put down her knife and fork, hid her face in her handkerchief, and shook and heaved with laughter till the tears rolled down her face."

Not the reaction of a sour-faced prude, I'd say! For a pleasant evening or two of reading, look for Queen Victoria Was Amused next time you're in your local library.

The Rep and us

2010-03-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, many of us read a disturbing story in the San Jose Mercury News: "Rep's financial picture grows even grimmer: Auditors question if theater can last past the summer." That's "Rep" as in our city's splendid San Jose Repertory Theatre.

The collapse of an arts group that the city and private donors have poured so much money into would not be good news for anyone. The Rep was clearly selected as one of the flagship arts enterprises that were going to redefine San Jose's cultural character. And they've earned that distinction, every season.

But if even the Rep's well-deserved artistic reputation, professional staff, and lavish financial support have failed to keep it prospering, some might ask: what hope do the rest of us have? After all, the Rep has benefited from tens of millions of dollars from the city alone; in contrast, Lyric Theatre's annual city grant has hovered between $15,000 and $20,000.

But I think I have an answer to that question about hope. It's not a new one, but it bears repeating.

The word "sustainable" is much in vogue these days, and I think it's very pertinent to this topic. In the arts, we may be seeing evidence in the Rep's troubles that, in the South Bay region of our times, the stunningly expensive task of maintaining a professional theater company may not be financially "sustainable" when things turn badly sour for an unusually long time. Deplorable, if true -- but it would be no less true for being deplorable.

In contrast, a non-professional company like Lyric -- one that can provide quality entertainment to our valley for a tiny fraction of the price of an enterprise like the Rep -- is going to be quite sustainable. Like a hardy native tree, we haven't needed much in the way of resources to keep us going.

That's not happy-talk, nor just a theory; we've proved it over and over. Lyric was born in the middle of the deep recession of the early '70's, caused by the oil embargo after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war (remember those lines at the gas stations?). Then we survived the steep inflation of the late '70's, the recession of the early '80's and early '90's, and the dot-com bust of ten years ago.

And we'll survive this downturn, too, if we have the tenacity, self-searching honesty, and imagination of those who built up Lyric Theatre before us.

Finally, we need to keep reminding ourselves that our enterprise is inherently and permanently valuable for a much better reason than mere sustainability. All of us who make Lyric Theatre happen each year are local people who aren't satisfied just to be consumers of art -- we are makers of art, too. We give that art to our neighbors because we love making it. And when we do it well, we show that talented, educated, energetic citizens needn't depend on big handouts in order to fill their own community with beauty, wit, and music.

So, while we fervently hope that the Rep survives to continue making its superb contribution to the Valley's cultural landscape, we'll continue to plug away here at Lyric -- not, we admit, at their artistic level, but debt-free, dedicated to our art, and looking confidently -- with good reason -- toward the future.

Kismet sets take shape

2010-02-03T00:47:00.001-08:00

Basic shapes from Baghdad's legendary past started to emerge in Lyric's set shop last weekend. C'mon now, doesn't this look like fun? Why not come down next weekend and help?

So... what do WE believe in?

2010-01-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Scanning the newspaper this morning, I saw this statement in the sidebar of a story about the buzz over today's product announcement from Apple. It's from Brian Lam of Gizmodo:

Jobs doesn't sell stuff he doesn't believe in.

True, I thought. Since the first iMac flashed its candy-colored case at the all-beige world of computing more than ten years ago, Steve Jobs has seemed genuinely delighted with each and every new product he has shown to the world. There's been a boyish enthusiasm about him at these times (even in later years when his health was iffy) that communicates itself directly to the Mac fan base, and then everywhere.

Yes, the bottom line is permanently important, and I'm not trying to romanticize a very hard-headed business. But there's something about Jobs that tells you that he does, indeed, believe in each product, and that you too would be delighted if you bought it.

Then I read Lam's statement a different way.

Yeah, Jobs doesn't sell stuff he doesn't believe in. And neither does anyone else -- because no one can sell stuff they don't believe in.

Now, any salesman with good technique can counterfeit some enthusiasm for a boring or inferior product. But in the long run, the people who sell like Steve Jobs -- that is, with crazy-brilliant success, over and over again -- can do it because they really do think that the thing they're offering you is genuinely marvelous and worth your attention and your money.

And people can usually tell when you've really got that passion, and when you're faking it.

We need that kind of real passion for our product at Lyric.

And where does it come from? At least in part, it comes from a wholehearted commitment to a clear mission that fires us up and makes us proud. Why is the world going to be better because of what we're doing? Or to put it the opposite way, what should Lyric be doing so that the world (or at least our patrons and our community) will indeed be better off if we do it?

In the next few days, I intend to give a good deal of thought to all that in these pages. But from right now, I'm also asking you to contribute your thoughts through the Comment link, especially if you actively participate in Lyric's operations or are a concerned Lyric patron. What would inspire that Steve-Jobs-like passion in you, when you're telling a friend about our next production, or about why we're here?

Cleanup day

2009-11-16T23:48:00.001-08:00

A bunch of very fine Lyric volunteers came down to the warehouse on November 1 for a day of much-needed cleaning. I mean, we clean up our rehearsal hall every four or five years whether it needs it or not!

Here's Sonja Biggs wielding the Lyric vacuum cleaner, which had grown exceedingly lonely over the past year or two. In the background is the shy, retiring ringleader of the effort, Cara Arellano.

Here's Atom Biggs, Sonja's husband, doing the previously unthinkable: shampooing our carpets. Turns out the carpet is not actually the color of three seasons of cookie crumbs and Coke spills!

Above is the downstairs hallway, after an encounter with a bucket of TSP and a floor scrubber. The dark streak down the middle is the former color of the floor. The actual clean color is on the sides.

Linda Reininger, longtime Lyric orchestra member, thought the cleanup day was October 31, came down to the warehouse, found no one there, and instead of giving up and going home, scrubbed the stairway handrail white again -- and then cleaned up the green room's bar area for good measure. And then came back on Sunday to help scrub stubborn spots out of the carpet.

Marilyn Wong and Steven Herzberg from Milpitas were our enthusiastic volunteers from the community, and we thank them for their hard work. Bob Reininger, Don K., Larry Byler, and yours truly also came to help.

Co-ringleader Sonja Biggs explained the importance of this effort well:

We are creating WOW moments for people when we have beautiful environments that we live and work in. People love giving to organizations that create wow moments whether it is in the look of our warehouse or the production on stage…beauty and quality bring forth the giving spirit in people!

Words to remember, don't you think? Well done, everyone.

It didn't take long after all...

2009-11-16T23:23:00.000-08:00

In the last Patter Post, I lauded the achievement of selling out not one but two performances, in early August, of our most recent Discovery Series production, Florodora, and called on us to do it again sometime. Some scoffed, on the grounds that I was comparing apples to oranges: Florodora had had only two performances in a small theater, and we could never sell out our much larger main venue, the Montgomery.

And then came the final matinee performance of Cinderella on October 11. Packed to the rafters, parents and tearful children being turned away at the door because we had no more seats to sell.

See that photo at the top of this post? That's what a sold-out Lyric Theatre show at the Montgomery looks like.

Let's do it again!

This is getting old...

2009-10-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

When I saw how hard it was raining this morning, I was curious whether we were going to get any new leaks at 430 Martin Avenue. Besides, I had to fetch my photo gear from our last round of headshots, so I drove down today shortly after noon. The good news is that our roof is "only" leaking from all the A/C vents, as it has for quite a while. Don K. was there already and had set out the usual buckets and wastebaskets to catch those drips.

The other tenants, in the downstairs front offices, were not so lucky. The first photo, above, shows where a few square feet of ceiling gave way in the hall just inside the street door. Water continues to leak steadily into the hallway:

...and there's an inch or so of water in most of their offices:

And here's the view out our rooftop door, showing part of the reason why this is happening: two or three inches of standing water on the roof of those offices. In the lower left corner, you can see a few inches of extension cord, which is running out to a sump pump that's pumping its little heart out trying to keep up with the deluge. The water level is about an inch below the top of the door sill. If the water rises significantly, it will start draining into our upstairs offices.

I've covered this in a little more detail than I otherwise would because the Board is currently considering whether to sign another five-year lease on this property. This annual failure of the roof, accompanied by annual excuses and annual patching, has been going on for as long we've been here, and personally, I'm out of patience. Gentle readers, what do you think?

Been a long time...

2009-09-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

It's not good form for a blogger to be "gone" for ten weeks, which is about how long it's been since my last post on July 12. Apologies to everyone.

The reason's simple: the rest of life -- or rather, a very specific portion of it -- grabbed center stage and kept it. Shortly after my last post, my 96-year-old mother had a fall in her retirement center apartment, and has been in skilled nursing ever since, declining slowly but pretty steadily ever since. Compounding that was a large and sudden crisis over the quality of care she was receiving, during the first week of which we pulled her out, and she was living in my home with me as sole caregiver. Those of you who have directly cared for a frail parent or loved one of your own know just how all-consuming that sort of activity can be.

Things are better now, with her nursing home staff bending over backwards to do everything quickly and right, which is how I can begin keeping this journal again today.

I have two things on my mind (well, OK, not just two, but you know what I mean).

First, if you haven't yet bought your tickets for our upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's delightful Cinderella, opening next Saturday evening at the Montgomery, use the link here to do it! Among other pleasures, such as some really wonderful music, Cinderella will be a great chance for you to hear some of the fine new performers who have been attracted to our company by the inclusion of some classic Broadway shows to our repertoire this year. (Of course, our not-so-secret agenda is to get some of them interested thereby in our beloved G&S core repertoire, too).

Second, if you're a Lyric volunteer and you have a couple of hours to give to help finish up some technical details in preparation for opening, please contact us through the volunteer page on the Lyric website.

Buddy, can you spare a dime?

2009-07-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea:

Get a piggy bank.
Put a dime in it every day of the next twelve months.
At the end of that time, take out the money and give it to Lyric.

Would you miss ten cents a day? Probably not.
Would Lyric be ecstatic to get $36.50 from you? You bet we would!

What makes G&S special?

2009-05-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

As a big fan of the Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire, I ask myself what it is about G&S that keeps people so fascinated with it, and what gives it such unique value.

I ask myself that because I want to know how we can prove to the tens of thousands of people in this area who don't think they like G&S -- or may not even know it exists -- that they'd like it if they tried it. How do we teach people how much fun it is?

I said I've asked myself that. Now I'm asking you that. Anyone still out there who reads this blog, and would like to weigh in?

A business? Really?

2009-05-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

Around Lyric these days you'll often hear people say that we should run our organization "more like a real business", or words to that effect. I've also heard that some other Lyric folks are alarmed that this will mean the end of the friendly atmosphere that's always been one of the company's most attractive characteristics.

I can only tell you that the ways in which I think we ought to run more like a business have nothing to do with any change that needs to kill that cherished atmosphere.

For instance, I think we ought to improve our internal financial controls so that we understand exactly where we are versus our budget, every day of the year. No surprises should ever strike us again.

I think we should test everything we do in Marketing against this simple standard: does it make money for us? Does it at least pay for itself? Right now, we can't measure things well enough to answer that question. Real businesses -- OK, successful real businesses -- don't spend money on any marketing technique without being able to measure its effectiveness.

I think we should be constantly asking our most loyal members, performers, volunteers, and donors what will keep them coming back in the future -- and then do those things.

I also think we need much clearer job descriptions, much clearer expectations for every Lyric functional area, and a much more detailed statement of our purpose as a theater company -- one that can guide and inspire us, and bring us back on course when we've strayed.

So when I think of Lyric operating more "like a business", the common thread for me is only this: as much as we can, let's incorporate all the smart things that good for-profit businesses do in order to thrive. Let's learn to do each job so well, so professionally, that we'll leave people saying, "You do this with an all-volunteer organization? No way!"

Boxed in

2009-03-25T15:41:00.001-07:00

If you've visited our main meeting room upstairs at the Martin Ave. facility anytime in the past few years, you may have noticed how our valuable collection of scores and sheet music was rather haphazardly stored in random cardboard boxes. You may also have noticed the nearby spot in the ceiling where water leaks in every winter when there's a heavy rainstorm.

Now, water and musical scores don't mix well. Actually, I guess you could say they mix too well -- and turn into mush. And cardboard boxes don't provide much protection against that happening.

So a few months ago, Jennifer Martin located some nice plastic boxes on sale at Office Depot, Lyric bought a bunch of them, and she has been organizing those vulnerable paper resources into those new boxes (pictured above), and getting them attractively and uniformly labeled. It's a good thing she did, too: shortly after she finished, we had those big storms several weeks ago, and we had ceiling leaks all over the place.

But thanks to Jennifer's initiative, not a page of our collection was damaged.

Thanks, Jenn!

It's curtains for us!

2009-03-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

No, it's not what you think. After years of bare windows at our Martin Ave. location, Joan Young ran us up a set of curtains and she and (I think) Don Krajewski put them up. Nice curtain rods, too.

Thanks Joan! Thanks Don!

Thanks are on the way

2009-02-17T00:59:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished signing about two dozen letters acknowledging contributions that Lyric had received, mostly right at the end of the year. Time and time again I'm just taken aback a little with the generosity and goodwill toward us that's out there.

Trickle, trickle...

2009-02-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

I happened to be down at the warehouse this afternoon to pick up some documents, and heard a sound we've learned to dread at 430 Martin: a drop of water hitting a hard surface. Further investigation revealed that rainwater was dripping out of every air conditioning vent in our second floor offices. Not a torrent, just a moderate drip. We borrowed a half dozen empty paint buckets from the set shop and had the water corralled soon enough. Only a few unimportant items got ruined, but a folder full of irreplaceable archive clippings, documents, and photos from the early years of the company, back in the 1970's, narrowly escaped. Not so good. Makes me wonder what's going to fall off this building next.

Don K's on the case, and will get the landlord working on it.

So far, so good

2009-02-10T17:14:00.000-08:00

Steve McQueen as Vin and Yul Brynner as Chris

The process of producing Yeomen is recalling to mind one of my favorite movie scenes, from The Magnificent Seven, as two of the Seven discuss their chances against the 40-or-so bandits:

Vin: Reminds me of that fellow back home that fell off a ten story building.
Chris: What about him?
Vin: Well, as he was falling, people on each floor kept hearing him say, "So far, so good." Tch... So far, so good!

Actually, things are going well. We're getting a very good response on auditions already; the only hitch up to now is the same hitch as always -- we could use more men. It would be great to have a really solid chorus of halberd-wielding yeomen warders. There are even some solo vocal lines for one or two yeomen. So come on, guys!

Auditions are open for "The Yeomen of the Guard"

2009-02-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

"The prisoner comes to meet his doom", one of the many gorgeous paintings of G&S scenes by H. Russell Flint

The official announcements are going out very soon, but readers of this blog may want to know that we finally have audition dates set for "The Yeomen of the Guard", and the web page for requesting an audition appointment is up and running (thanks, Sara!).

Lyric went a-caroling!

2009-01-21T17:36:00.000-08:00

Back on December 6, a group of Lyric regulars got together to do something Lyric people haven't done in ages: Christmas caroling (and yes, this qualifies as singing choruses in public). And as you can see, they did it in style! Through the work of the redoubtable Joan Young, who sewed additional pieces we didn't have in our costume shop, everyone was garbed in very fine-looking Victorian attire. And as good as they looked, they sounded even better.

Here they are out in front of the Pacific Hotel at the San Jose History Park:

The effort was organized by Richard Duce, who chose the music, ran the rehearsals, and conducted. The carolers were (soprano to bass): Kathy Kriese, Dana Tomasino, Shirley Benson, Connie Kleinjans, Joan Young, Carol Daly, Michael Ewaska, Michael Lund, Daniel Smith, Larry Tom, Dennis Gaushell, and Bill Krivan.

Earlier in the day, the group also sang at the Almaden Parents' Preschool.

I'm really delighted they all made this happen, because it represents the kind of getting together outside of Lyric productions that helps make us into a real community -- people who know each other and like doing music with each other -- not just people who like to do musical theater and find themselves thrown together. That's essential if Lyric's going to flourish.

May this be the start of a long tradition!

Ideas wanted

2008-12-31T12:03:00.000-08:00

As I've been thinking about how we can make Lyric prosper through what look like some economically challenging times ahead, it occurred to me that there may be some potential income in expanding the items we sell through the Lyric Store, when that's up and running again. (Following unfavorable changes in the Yahoo! Store service we had been using, we've stopped using them, and are considering other options).

Not everything we sell needs to be Lyric-specific. For example, while paging through a catalog a few years ago, I saw some handsome coffee mugs bearing old portraits of Sullivan on one and Gilbert on the other. When I called the catalog order line to get some, the mugs had been discontinued. The artwork was public domain, I'm sure. Why shouldn't we get some income from offering such wares, when others won't? Online services like CafePress.com could do all the ordering and fulfillment on a wide range of merchandise, for a nominal fee.

Anyone out there have some other ideas for stuff we could sell, that goes along somehow with our mission and our repertoire?

Are you a Lyric evangelist?

2008-12-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

Today I went downtown to attend a "new member briefing" held by the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. I'd been invited by Ken Kelley, a CofC member who had noticed Lyric's booth at the Tapestry in Talent festival last summer and talked with Cara Arellano.

Well, it's pretty clear that linking up with the Chamber could lead to some good things for Lyric -- e.g., business sponsorships, joint marketing, and just generally making lots of well-connected people aware that we exist, and that they or their customers might enjoy our kind of theater.

In order to make it worthwhile for Lyric, however, it can't just be me doing all the schmoozing and networking. Too many events, not enough me. So I need about half a dozen other Lyric enthusiasts to help -- I'll call them "evangelists", remembering that that was Guy Kawasaki's job title at Apple in the early days. People who are moderately lively, like to meet and talk with some other pleasant and outgoing people, and will help look for ways to advance Lyric's welfare through stronger contacts with the San Jose community around us.

Might you be one of those people? Or do you know someone who might be? If so, let me know.

Two people who deserve recognition

2008-12-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

A lot of us enjoyed The Rose of Persia. But as you may know already, mounting that production involved a lot of special musical development work that most of our shows don't. Scores, parts — all the performing documents that we relied on were the product of hundreds of hours of labor on the part of two people in particular: Greg Anderson and Larry Byler.

So gentlemen, take a bow.

FishRap

2008-12-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I'm not a fan of rap music, and that I find the following sentences from Mark Steyn absolutely delicious:

Rap is the logical consequence of promoting social over musical content: the reduction of the tune to a banal stationary backing track, the debasement of lyric-writing to a formless pneumatic laundry-list of half-baked hoodlum exhibitionism.

Call me old-fashioned.

Thought for the day

2008-12-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames, and that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.

-- Charles Kuralt

Small can be beautiful...

2008-12-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

American Musical Theatre of San Jose has announced that it is closing up shop and filing for bankruptcy. You can read about it here, though the story may have been replaced since I saw it yesterday. Anyway, there's a version of the article on the front page of the Mercury this morning.

This is a terribly sad day for theater in San Jose, and for those whose lives and livelihoods were connected to AMT. Many employees are going to be thrown out of work at a really really bad time to be looking for a job, and many performers who had counted on AMT roles this spring to put bread on the table, or add to their resumés, are going to be disappointed. And San Jose audiences are going to have fewer chances to see live musical theater, so the art form we all love will have that much less chance to remain a living part of local culture.

Two immediate lessons occur to me.

First: it's possible to fail. As in: die. There are no "Save" or "Restore Game" buttons. So watch out, and have a backup plan.

Second: being us -- a small theater company that can be run cheaply, yet bring good shows to the stage year after year -- may well turn out to be a big advantage with the economy the way it is.

Look at it this way. We do all that we do on about $200,000 a year. That counts both earned income from ticket sales and unearned income from donations and grants. In 2006, AMT needed five times that much from the city just to stay afloat for a while — and then, sadly, sank anyway.

Yes, I know AMT was a professional company, and mounted productions that in some ways we can't match. But do you think it might be an appealing point now to potential donors to be able to say, "You know, you could keep our high-quality live musical theater going for four or five years with a small fraction of what the city poured into AMT?"

I do.

Rose did well!

2008-11-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

Readers of this blog might be interested to know that Lyric's recent production of The Rose of Persia did much better than expected. Almost 1,100 patrons saw this beautiful, well-executed and rarely-seen show; for a comparison, the last time we produced Die Fledermaus, a much better-known piece, we had only 100 more in the audience.

Several folks were predicting the smallest crowd ever for a Lyric mainstage production. They were wrong.

The conclusion I draw is this: we should do the productions we think are important to do. That can't be our only guiding principle, but it sure ought to be "up there".

Everyone who participated in Rose can be justly proud.

A musical theater giant

2008-11-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

George Abbott, at about 70

Mark Steyn's Broadway Babies Say Goodnight is a gold mine of good stories about musical theater. The book ends with an essay about George Abbott, the producer, director, playwright, etc., whose 70-year career spanned the rise and fall of Broadway, and who was still working on a rewrite of Pajama Game the day he died, at age 107. Here's one story about him.

At a 100th birthday seminar, an earnest drama student asked him, 'Mister Abbott, when did theater first become tainted by commercialism?' '1601,' he replied, 'when Shakespeare said to Burbage, "Now let's get this show to a bigger theater."'

And then there's this comment, which we ought to take to heart when things don't seem to be going our way:

Come hit or flop, his reaction the morning after opening night was always the same: 'What's next?'

Camelot auditions

2008-10-30T23:42:00.001-07:00

On the off-chance that anyone reading this blog isn't on the Lyric auditions mailing list, I'll just mention that auditions for our March 2009 production of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot are coming up in November. Go here and click on "Request an Audition" to sign up.

Not interested in performing in this one? Then please consider trying your hand at one of the technical positions. We need you there, too.

Florodora has a blog!

2008-10-30T23:30:00.001-07:00

I'm delighted to note that Marc Kenig has started a blog that will let us all follow the development of Lyric's upcoming Discovery production of Florodora. Already I've learned quite a lot from it about this show, which was so popular and even ground-breaking in its impact on then-popular culture. Dummy that I am, I had no idea Florodora even existed just a few months ago. Just what I've learned so far is making me darned proud that Lyric is doing it this season.

A treat in every pack

2008-10-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1920's, when collecting stuff was even more popular than it is today, and marketing was just as much a challenge, John Player & Sons lured customers by tucking a small collector card into each pack of their cigarettes. One hundred of these cards depicted characters from the G&S operettas in the costumes then in use by the D'Oyly Carte company. They're really kind of charming, and have become part of G&S lore. I scanned my own copy of the Jack Point card that you see above, and you can see the rest at the Gilbert & Sullivan Archive website, here and here.

Getting youth involved

2008-10-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Sabrina recently suggested that we consider some ways to include more young performers in our productions. So I was intrigued to read in Lamplighters' latest newsletter that they're thinking -- and acting -- along the same lines.

They collaborate with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music every summer in putting on a Gilbert & Sullivan Scenes program, involving 25 to 30 children ages 10 through 18. They also work to find places in the choruses and sometimes lead roles for some of the singers they find through that program. The article goes on to give quite a few examples of young singers whose performing careers have gotten a boost from their involvement with Lamplighters.

I'll drink to that

2008-10-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

Oscar Hammerstein (on the right in the photo above, with Richard Rogers), quoted in Mark Steyn's Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now:

I see plays and read books that emphasize the seamy side of life, and the frenetic and the tragic side, and I don't deny the existence of the tragic and the frenetic and the seamy. But I say that somebody has to keep saying that that isn't all there is to life... We're very likely to be thrown off balance if we have such a preponderance of artists expressing the "wasteland" philosophy.

One of the reasons I like the kind of musical theater Lyric produces is that it says to each person in our audiences, "You know that thing that's troubling you? That isn't all there is to life."

And that strikes me as a real public service.

We're on for ArtsWalk 2008!

2008-10-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned several days ago, Lyric had a stroke of good luck when the date of the 2008 Santa Clara ArtsWalk was moved from right in the middle of the run of The Rose of Persia, to November 8.

What is the ArtsWalk? It's a fundraising event for Santa Clara Valley fine arts groups of all kinds, hosted by the Orchard Valley Fine Arts Foundation. People sign up to walk a short course in a nice park in Santa Clara to benefit a specific organization they like (oh, for example, Lyric Theatre), and ask friends to sponsor their walk with a donation. The Foundation takes a small cut to pay expenses, and re-donates almost all the funds to the target arts groups (oh, for example, Lyric Theatre).

Does it work? You bet it does! Last year, at the first-ever ArtsWalk, we had only a handful of walkers -- about a dozen -- and raised $3,400. That's a lot of money for a group like ours, whose annual budget is just under $200,000.

Lyric is all registered now, and ready for you to sign up as a walker. Just go here, click on "Arts Walk Registration", and fill in the information asked for. Only takes a minute, and costs nothing. Then, you use the tools the ArtsWalk site provides to contact people you know and ask them to make a donation to Lyric by helping to sponsor your walk. They can give online in all the usual ways, or send a check if they're internet-shy.

Whoa, you say. I could never do that asking-people-for-money thing, you say.

Yeah, that's what I thought, last year. Believe me, you can't possibly be more sheepish about asking people for donations than I was in 2007.

But you know what I found? People were actually eager to give something. Was it the eloquence of my request? No. It was simply that people wanted to give to Lyric just because I said it meant something to me.

I think you'll find the same thing with people you know. They like you, and they'd like to help a group that you think is worthwhile.

If only half the people who've participated in Lyric productions over the past couple of years were to sign up and raise only a small amount each, we'd easily break $5,000 this year, and maybe even hit $10,000!

So c'mon -- go there and sign up now! And I hope to see you at the park on November 8.

A production to be proud of

2008-10-15T17:49:00.001-07:00

At the finale of The Rose of Persia

The curtain came down on the final performance of The Rose of Persia last Sunday afternoon. What a wonderful production it has been! In my opinion, this will go down as one of the most artistically worthwhile repertoire choices Lyric has made in recent years. We didn't just do the expected or the predictable; instead, we breathed life back into a neglected but deserving piece of theater.

All of you who were involved will be able to look back with plenty of pride on this accomplishment for many years to come.

The "Wizard of Menlo Park*" weighs in

2008-10-07T15:37:00.001-07:00

It's pretty hard to tell what's going to happen to our economy these days, but chances are, it ain't gonna be good for a while. That means that Lyric is going to have to cope wisely with whatever comes down the pike. Does this discourage you, as you think about Lyric's future? Then read this little bit of perspective from Thomas Edison, when he was a very old man watching our country descend into the Great Depression:

My message to you is: be courageous! I have lived a long time. I have seen history repeat itself again and again. I have seen many depressions in business. Always, America has come out stronger and more prosperous. Be as brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward.

I wouldn't mind hearing that kind of talk from some of our leaders right now, come to think of it.

* The Menlo Park in his nickname was Menlo Park, New Jersey, not our neighbor suburb to the north. Too bad!

What a show!

2008-10-05T00:50:00.001-07:00

Our two lovely leads, Rose-in-Bloom (Ali Kendall) and Heart's Desire (Indre Viskontas)

I was in the audience for opening night of The Rose of Persia, and I've got to tell you, if you don't see this show, you'll miss one of the most entertaining productions Lyric has put on for quite some time.

Rose-in-Bloom, Heart's Desire, and Scent-of-Lilies (Jennifer Martin)

The Sultan (Mike Cuddy), in disguise, satirizes the froth and dregs of his society.

Singing, acting, costuming, comic timing, sets, lighting, choreography -- it has all come together just magnificently in Rose!

Magic (and hard work) in the costume shop

2008-09-27T14:26:00.001-07:00

(L ro R) Joan Young, Teri Lockhart, Lisa Lowe

I dropped by the warehouse yesterday, and let me tell you, The Rose of Persia is going to be one beautifully-costumed show!

Lisa Lowe, our costume designer, has developed a raft of gorgeous costumes, and has kept the construction effort magnificently organized. Why, just look at this: there's even a place to note the inevitable daily crisis!

I took a few more photos to share with you a little of what I saw.

Lisa Lowe puts in one of many hundreds of hand-stitches

Rose is requiring almost 100% new costume construction, so there has been a ton of sewing happening over the past several weeks, all done by Lisa and Lyric's dedicated band of volunteer "tailors," including the three who were there that day.

Teri Lockhart embellishes a costume.

Joan's "in the pink" while adjusting a cuff.

Kelly does more hand-sewing

Lisa found this perfect bracelet to go with Rose-in-Bloom's costume

And here's Rose-in-Bloom's costume, minus Rose, of course

Now, if you want to see this already-sumptuous costume occupied by the beautiful Alexandra Kendall as Rose-in-Bloom, you'll just have to buy a ticket!

The new Patter Post is out

2008-09-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

The newest issue of the Patter Post, Lyric's newsletter, should have hit your mailbox by now if you're a member of Lyric Theatre. If you're not a member, you can download a PDF version here. When you next see Bruce Herman, the Patter Post editor, thank him for doing such a nice job on this issue.

There are terrific articles by Barbara Murray and Greg Anderson, the directors of The Rose of Persia, about the background of the show and of our upcoming production. You'll enjoy the show quite a bit more — and appreciate what goes into breathing life into a theatrical rarity like Rose — if you read their articles before you come to see it.

You ARE coming to see it, aren't you? and bringing two other people, as I suggested a few days ago?

Good!

Santa Teresa CommunityFest

2008-09-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

L to R: Cara Arellano, Mark Blattel, & Sara Smith

Last Saturday the 19th, Lyric once more was in the public eye, with a booth at the Santa Teresa CommunityFest, a small neighborhood festival in south San Jose. A band of our volunteers handed out more of that delicious flatbread donated by Wheat Valley Bakery, and got quite a few new names for our mailing list in return. Many season brochures also changed hands.

I notice that many people suddenly look more interested when they see the "Gilbert and Sullivan" on our booth banner. Maybe the area isn't quite so unaware of the dynamic duo as we sometimes think!

I'm also told that Forrest Williams, the member of the San Jose City Council for district 2, stopped by and seemed really interested in our organization's welfare, and might even be persuaded to join our Board. Wouldn't that be something?

The 2008 ArtsWalk just got easier for us

2008-09-23T13:54:00.001-07:00

I've been wondering how to solve the problem posed by the scheduling of the 2008 ArtsWalk in Santa Clara, which had long been planned for October 11, right in the middle of the second weekend of The Rose of Persia. It seemed that many people who might otherwise take part in this event would already be fully engaged in putting on Rose, and we'd have a very small turnout—and consequently, a very small amount of money to add to Lyric's coffers.

Well, I just received a message from Michael Morris, one of the leaders of the organization that puts the event on. Turns out that they realized that that weekend was going to involve hardships not just for Lyric but for several other arts groups that participated last year, and so—it's been rescheduled for November 8! And there we are, out of our difficulty at once.

This is great news for Lyric because it allows us to get fully ramped up for this fundraiser. With fewer than ten walkers representing Lyric last year, we generated well over $2,000 in donations. Imagine what we could do if a really sizable proportion of Lyric well-wishers walked for us on November 8—say, fifty. Is $10,000 out of reach? I don't think so!

I'm in the process of getting Lyric registered as a participating organization. I'll let everyone know when it's time to go to the ArtsWalk site and get started.

Who else thinks our offices are ugly?

2008-09-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Besides me, of course.

Actually, several people have expressed an interest in sprucing up our warehouse offices, so I think it's really going to start happening as soon as Rose closes. Already mentioned: replacing the black curtains in the boardroom (actual reaction: "How ghetto is that??"); painting; doing something to cover the huge magenta paint stain on the carpet in the entryway; and hanging lots of photos.

Have some ideas? Want to help when things get going? Then leave me a comment!

UPDATE: I've taken down the "ghetto" curtains. Next stop: civilized window coverings!

Hitting the luncheon jackpot

2008-09-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

I liked the way that Rose of Persia photo made the blog look so much that I've been reluctant to do a new post, which would necessarily push it down below first-screen level. (Besides, it's been a very busy week). But it's time.

Last Thursday, I attended the annual Fête the Press luncheon organized by the Silicon Valley Arts Coalition, of which Lyric is a member. I was the first to sit down at my designated table, and as other tables filled and the minutes ticked by with no new table-mates for me, I was beginning to worry that I would have to carry on all sides of the conversation during lunch. Not that I don't love to talk to myself, but that wasn't why I had come.

Then, to my surprise, a genial-looking guy sat down next to me and introduced himself. It was Charlie McCollum, the columnist from the Mercury News.

I had hit the table-mate jackpot.

Turns out Charlie used to do tech work for CMT. We had a good chat about CMT and Lyric, and I had a chance to explain what Lyric's about and what we're trying to do, and why we think it's important to keep on doing it.

Who knows? Maybe I can get him to help when we strike Rose of Persia! OK, not likely for such a busy guy.

But as this experience reminded me, you just never know who might show up.

Help us sell "The Rose of Persia"

2008-09-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

Left to right: Indre Viskontas as Heart's Desire, Mark Blattel as Hassan, Alexandra Kendall as Rose-in-Bloom

The Rose of Persia is opening three weeks from now.

Rose is a fantastic show that few theater companies anywhere in the world would dare to mount. That's because it's a gamble. Few potential patrons are familiar with it. It deserves a big, expensive marketing effort to overcome that barrier.

Trouble is, we can't afford that big, expensive marketing effort. So it's time for some guerrilla marketing.

Do you wish Lyric well? Do you want us to keep on doing shows that others won't? Do you want us to be here in the years to come so you can perform?

I hope your answer is Yes.

If it is, then promise me this: you will find two friends who might enjoy an evening of rare musical theater by one of the masters of the genre, and you will get them to buy tickets for Rose. If they're reluctant, you will offer to feed them a nice barbecue dinner beforehand, or take them out for dessert afterwards, or house-sit their eleven cats the next time they go on vacation -- or whatever else it takes to get them to come. But please, get 'em there.

Some people think the only way to fill a theater is with that big, expensive marketing campaign.

Prove them wrong.

Another way to help Lyric: Maatiam

2008-09-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

And it doesn't cost anything, either.

The next time you're thinking about buying something online, visit lyrictheatre.maatiam.com first. See if the online vendor you want to use is among the more than 200 businesses listed there. If so, click on their icon. You'll be redirected to the vendor's website and from there on everything's the same as if you'd gone directly to the vendor's website. Prices, ordering, everything.

The big difference is that when you shop that way, the online businesses you buy from will send a contribution to Lyric through the Maatiam organization -- as much as 10% of the amount you spent -- without it costing you one cent extra.

If we could get even a fraction of Lyric's well-wishers to use Maatiam for a fraction of their online purchases, this could be quite a shot in the arm for our finances. Won't you give it a try?

Somebody comment!

2008-09-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

So far, no comments from any readers of this blog. I figure you're all too shy.

See down there below each of my posts, where it says "0 comments"? Click on that and express yourself!

An easy way to help Lyric

2008-09-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

... and it doesn't cost a thing, other than a moment's thought.

Just encourage somebody.

I think we're all here at Lyric to have an enjoyable experience doing musical theater. (It's sure not for the pay!) Even people doing the more fun jobs get re-energized from having someone show appreciation occasionally for what they're doing, and that goes double for those who are toiling away at some of the more tedious or out-of-sight tasks.

Don't make up stuff, and don't thank people if you don't sincerely think they deserve it. They'll see right through you, and the result will be worse than if nothing had been said at all. But when you see a real opportunity to give a well-deserved pat on the back -- do it.

Tapestry Arts 2008

2008-09-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, twenty-one stalwart volunteers braved the heat to represent Lyric at the 2008 Tapestry Arts Festival in downtown San Jose. Pictured above are four who were there when I was, on Sunday afternoon: (l to r) Jim Martin, Shirley Benson, Cara Arellano, and Jennifer Martin. (See the complete list at the end of this post). Tapestry Arts is a huge annual event that draws tens of thousands of visitors with its hundreds of displays covering just about every imaginable corner of the local arts world, live music, dancing, and lots of good food.

Through Cara's efforts, Wheat Valley Bakery of Gilroy donated hundreds of packages of their delicious Middle Eastern flatbreads for us to give out to people who visited our booth and filled out an address card -- a perfect edible tie-in with our upcoming production of The Rose of Persia. Next time you're at the supermarket, BTW, look for Wheat Valley's products — that would be the best appreciation all of us could give them for their generosity.

As an incentive for those visitors to try out Lyric Theatre, we also included a 2-for-1 coupon for tickets to Rose.

Here's the display of breads in the back of our booth:

Here's Cara explaining the 2-for-1 coupon to a couple:

We also provided materials that kids could use to make their own brown-bag costumes. Here are a couple of them working on theirs:

Cara tells me that we came out with about 150 names to add to our mailing list who really seemed like potential future patrons, and of those, almost a third were interested in more than just coming to shows -- they wanted to help! There were some potential new orchestra members, several people who wanted to help with sewing, and of course lots of people were interested in auditioning — including some men. We need them all!

Most encouraging of all was this from Cara:

There were AT LEAST 20 people who came up during the weekend and said, "I used to go/help/sing with the GSSSJ, I didn't know you guys were still around" and seemed happy to reconnect.

She added:

My volunteers were AWESOME!

And to that I will add that Cara herself fits that description. So much of Lyric's success at this year's Tapestry Arts was due to her inexhaustible energy, savvy, and enthusiasm that I think I'll just keep thanking her until she punches me out of sheer annoyance.

My personal thanks also go out to these volunteers who gave Lyric its lively presence that weekend:

Shirley Benson
Joan Young
Larry Tom*
Curtis Jones
Trudi Gearhardt
Monica Sawyer
Cheryl Blalock*
Teri Lockhart
Greg Anderson*
Sabrina Cuddy
Mike Cuddy
Elinor Gates
Suzanne Gordon
Marc Kenig
Sara Smith*
Jennifer Martin
Jim Martin
Mark Blattel
Kathy Kriese
Chris Frye*

* Board Member

First poll!

2008-09-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

I decided to tinker with Blogger's standard simple polling "gadget". The first one's about the kind of repertoire you like to perform in (not the kind you'd like to watch, although the two could be the same), and it's over in the right-hand column. Just vote once, etc. But do vote!

UPDATE: Don't click on the Show Results link. It makes things ugly, and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn it off.

Short and sweet

2008-09-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of marketing wisdom from Christopher Morley's 1919 novel, The Haunted Bookstore.

Making money is the easiest thing in the world. All you have to do is to turn out an honest product, something that the public needs. Then you have to let them know that you have it, and teach them that they need it. They will batter down your front door in their eagerness to get it.

I'd say Lyric has done a great job on #1, turning out an honest product that the public needs. We have done an inconsistent job on #2, letting people know we have it; and I don't know that we've ever really tried #3, teaching them that they need it.

Money, People, Audience

2008-09-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that like most small theater companies, Lyric has faced a bunch of tough problems over the past several years -- and still faces them.

As I was getting ready to take up the Board presidency, I realized that I had to get those many different problems organized in a way that made them easier to think about. The formula I came up with is in the title of this post: Money, People, and Audience.

MONEY: Every company's most noticeable problem. This means both earned income from ticket sales and the like, and unearned income from donations, grants, and so forth. We need more of both.

PEOPLE: We can solve the money problem, but if we don't have people to do the work of the company, we simply won't be able to put on productions. We're short of volunteer help in just about every category, and people who've been holding down the fort for us year after year are understandably getting weary. We've got to recruit, train, inspire and appreciate better than we ever have before.

AUDIENCE: This may seem like the same thing as ticket sales up in the Money section above, but it isn't. Quite apart from how much we're taking in in ticket revenue, we need to increase the number of people who are seeing our shows. It's the best kind of publicity we can have, for one thing: one satisfied customer telling another.

The Board has graciously agreed to alter our traditional monthly meeting agendas to reflect these three pet categories of mine.

If we make progress in each of these areas this season, we'll be on the road to a better future for Lyric. How much progress do we need to make? Ah, that's a very important topic... for another post.

Cooler at last... maybe

2008-09-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

If you've been down to the warehouse lately, you know that the air conditioning is broken once again, making it brutally hot upstairs in the evenings -- 89 degrees in the boardroom last night as we were taking publicity photos, and just as tropical in the greenroom. Not that it's exactly cool in the rehearsal area, either.

They've been tinkering with the old A/C unit after every previous failure, and Don K got on the latest problem immediately with a message to the landlord, making it clear in his always gentlemanly-but-firm way that it was about time for a new unit instead of another temporary repair.

And wonder of wonders, I've just been cc'd on a message from the landlord's rep that new A/C gear will be installed this weekend. Given the leisurely pace at which other maintenance work on the warehouse has sometimes been performed, I'll wait until it's in and working to rejoice, but at least there's now some hope. Way to go, Don!

My first Patter Post column

2008-09-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

So why am I waiting for the Patter Post to deliver my first pontification as Board president? It'll give you a pretty clear idea about why I'm planning to keep going this year when things get dicey (they always do). Here it is:

***

Why are we still here?

Now, you could take that question two ways. I might mean: how has Lyric Theatre managed to survive to be starting its 2008-2009 season?

But I don't mean that. We can all think of the answers too easily, anyway: Lyric has survived because for decades it's been the recipient of prodigious sacrifice, talent, generosity, vision, imagination, goodwill, dedication, hard work, perseverance, and a dozen other virtues of thousands of individuals -- onstage, backstage, and nowhere near the stage. The same things that make any community theater tick, really. Answering the question in that sense, I could write a lovely conventional expression of appreciation and gratitude, and it would be well deserved indeed.

However, as it turns out, I'm asking the question in a second and considerably more difficult-to-answer sense. What I mean is this:

Why should we do another season? Why should Lyric keep going at all? Why don't we just give up and shut our doors? It would be a lot easier, after all.

Now, I suspect that at this point some of you are thinking that this is a mighty odd way for an incoming Board President to be leading off his first Patter Post column.

But it seems to me that answering that question in its second sense is exactly the way we ought to start each new season -- because we all know the answer to the question in its first sense. A season of Lyric Theatre productions demands a staggering amount of work from a lot of dedicated people. So we owe it to them to be able to say, as each season begins, "This is why we're here; this is why it's worthwhile; this is why, when the season's over, you'll be glad that you were part of it."

Of course, many people take part in Lyric's season simply because music and theater are in their blood, and they've found Lyric a congenial place to express that. And providing opportunities to enjoy taking part in musical theater is right there in our mission statement, after all. So far so good, but...

... there are a lot of small companies doing musical theater for Bay Area audiences, and providing similar opportunities to take part for those who are so inclined. So why should we in particular keep going? Are we doing anything distinctive, anything that keeps us from being merely Generic Community Musical Theater Company #9?

Yes we are. And if my own answer were anything other than that, I wouldn't have agreed to stand for election as President of Lyric's Board this year. I wouldn't even have joined the Board in the first place.

In fact, we go way beyond just being slightly distinctive. Lyric has been the only consistent source of a certain invaluable benefit to culture in the South Bay, one that the area badly needs whether it knows it yet or not. And I believe that keeping that benefit from disappearing is one heck of a good reason to go on for another season.

Something penned by British author and scholar C. S. Lewis has stuck with me ever since I first encountered it:

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

Lewis was writing about theology, but it seems to me that his idea works pretty well in the arts, too. Like contemporary books, our contemporary musical theater reflects our contemporary culture, and like our culture, is "specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes." So while we're enjoying the particular insights of today's culture via today's theater, how do we keep ourselves from the complacent hubris of thinking that our ways of seeing the world necessarily represent some sort of pinnacle? Lewis' answer, suitably adapted, would be that we need the older theater to keep us connected to a older culture which, while directly related to our own, saw the world and the people in it in some distinctly different ways -- making certain mistakes we might well shake our heads at today, but also embracing certain truths that we might well profit from getting reacquainted with.

It's actually an idea we're perfectly familiar with in another context. The Bay Area, it's safe to say, takes for granted the value of multiculturalism. In fact, not content to sample just the many cultures represented here in our own country, we travel the world to experience still others and assume that each, no matter how unfamiliar, has something to teach us. But what's our own past but a series of cultures we can't just hop on a plane and visit? They offer us the same chance to learn from their wisdom and folly that contemporary cultures do. But how do we get to them?

Well, I hold that the musical theater of any age that had any tells us a great deal about its time, in a kind of shorthand: in two or three hours, we hear and see a fine summary of what its people valued, and what they did not; what made them laugh or cry; what stories they liked to tell, and the pace at which they liked to hear them; what they thought beautiful and clever; and the music they thought best expressed all these things. We see the world through their eyes, as it were.

And that's where Lyric comes in. Lyric's founders passed down to us a solid heritage of producing a certain kind of musical theater -- operetta -- from the period of Gilbert & Sullivan up through the First World War, a time of astonishing achievements in literature, science, technology, music and all the arts; a time full of sensibilities far different from ours, yet forming a vital part of the foundations of our own culture. For thirty years, then, Lyric has been keeping open a portal through which our audiences can travel to that otherwise-inaccessible culture, by whose wisdom and folly, insights and blind spots, we can gain so much perspective about our own world. And we've been doing it in a hugely entertaining way, to boot.

And by branching out to shows like last season's 1776 and this season's Camelot, we've begun to open the door to yet another era, more recent but still quite different from ours, the period that began with the shock of World War I and ended in the cultural hurricane of the 1960's. I grew up in the very last years of that era, and I can attest to how profoundly things have changed since then. Our culture has a lot to learn from the virtues and faults of that age, too. And it's all there in its musical theater.

So why should Lyric go on for another season? Because if we don't keep these portals to other cultures open, it's likely that no one else will. We are the only theater company in the South Bay whose repertoire is primarily operetta. Sometimes, some of us seem to get a little embarrassed that we keep on presenting such "old-fashioned" theater. But its old-fashionedness is exactly what makes it so valuable. Its sensibilities, plots, characters, and music are different from ours -- and that's very good. It's a challenge for us to do it right, and it's a challenge for our audiences to put aside their contemporary expectations for a couple of hours and get a little lost in the worldview of a vanished era. They're better for it, and so are we.

We're doing a lot more than just putting on shows. We're doing an extraordinary service for our community by continuing to offer the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of another age -- and to do that via some of the best music and wittiest dialog that ever graced the stage.

So that's my favorite reason why I'll keep at it this year. Do you have one of your own? If so, I'd like to hear about it.

***

There's the comment link below. Have at it!

What's this? A blogging Lyric president?

2008-09-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yep, a blogging Lyric president.

Lyric sends out a nice newsletter regularly, and the president always gets a spot to pontificate in. But as my tenure as Board president begins, I want to be able to communicate with everyone who's interested in Lyric Theatre more often than the paper newsletter allows. Things come up that I'd like people to know about, and frequently a thought occurs to me that I'd like to share. A blog's a great way to do that: none of the mess of an opt-in electronic newsletter, quick and easy to update, and plenty of communicating power.

If you're a member of Lyric Theatre, a subscriber, a frequent or sometime cast member or orchestra member, a behind-the-scenes volunteer -- if you're anyone who's interested in what's happening inside this theater company -- I'd like you to know what's going on. Especially as we embark on what will be a crucial year for Lyric's future success.

Those of you who follow blogs already know about RSS feeds. If you're interested in keeping up with this blog, the best way to do it is to use a feed reader and my RSS feed.

Got a response to something I post here? Great! Leave a comment in the combox. I'm going to leave comments open and unmoderated unless there's misbehavior; just be civil and keep to the point, that's all I ask. Don't rant. That's my prerogative!

I'm not going to do a mass e-mailing about this blog. If you find it valuable, tell your friends. If you don't find it valuable, please consider my pride, and just keep it to yourself. ;-)