Industry Pro Newsletter: Quiet Quitting in the Arts and Supply Chain Woes Hit the Theater

For many working in the entertainment industry, it can often feel like we're living in a different economy than everyone else - the hours maintained have long been different from the rest of the working world, the day to day tasks, the workplace cultures. Some of these things are baked into the nature of the industry - if we're entertaining everyone after their work days, then we need to work at different times than they do - but others are part of the bigger shift towards a better working environment that many creatives and entertainment industry workers are trying to change. This week, a few different stories about how broader economic trends - quiet quitting and the supply chain - are showing up in the arts.

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Industry Trends

Are "Quiet Quitting" and "Quiet Firing" Trending in the Arts?

While we hear these terms with a high frequency on social channels and other business news - but are these trends impacting the arts in the same way? As the industry grapples with a long history of burned out workers, what can the takeaway be from this wider trend? Click here to read more...

Broadway/New York

Remembering Chet Walker by Cara Joy David

There are a ton of people involved with putting on every show you see. And so many of those people inspire other people -- whether the audience knows their names or not. Part of being in this industry is knowing that the lights aren't necessarily going to dim for everyone who had an impact on the artform.

When dancer/choreographer/teacher Chet Walker -- a Fosse dancer who later co-conceived FOSSE and choreographed the 2013 PIPPIN revival -- died on October 21, an obituary was posted, but it couldn't convey the amount of Broadway dancers and choreographers he touched.

"He loved dancers and he believed in things that we could do before we knew we could do them," performer/choreographer/teacher Rachelle Rak told BroadwayWorld. "He knew we could all act and sing and tell the story. What was amazing about Chet was that he would be telling you a story about something and you didn't realize that he was giving you notes or insight to what he wanted you to do or feel."

Lisa Gajda, who retired from the industry after 18 Broadway shows, likewise praised Walker's ability to teach. "He was a real coach," she said. "I believe he was his best self when he was with a dancer, in a process, hoping to make them better or ignite something in them. He was his best self, and brought the best out of other people, when he was in that place of wanting to pass something on."

Walker also worked with some of today's best known Broadway choreographers when they were dancers.

"The thing that I remember about Chet was his undeniable devotion and loyalty for Bob Fosse's work and his incredible sense of respect for the master," Tony-winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo said, recalling his time workshopping FOSSE pre-Broadway. "Chet was really at the helm of making so many of us learn the vocabulary. He was tireless about his insistence on position and the details, making sure that it was taught properly. We respected it so much."

Three-time Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler recalled meeting Walker in his first year in New York City and working with him twice before being offered FOSSE. Working with Walker, Gwen Verdon and a small group of dancers on what would become FOSSE was an unbelievable experience for Blankenbuehler, as was performing in the show on Broadway.

"From moment one, Chet was always so inspirational," Blankenbuehler stated. "He was a force in the studio. An energy. He was like a pied piper, calling people to follow. And we loved being in the studio because he loved dancing. He loved detail. He loved dancers. I'll never forget how blessed I felt to be in that community of dancers. It was a true honor."

Blankenbuehler also spent time with Walker at Jacob's Pillow, where Walker was Director of the Musical Theater Program.

"Those weeks in the barn at Jacob's Pillow are some of the greatest memories I have ever had on the dance floor," he explained. "Total inspiration all around me. Dancers exploding with dedication and love. And that entire program was carried by the wave of passion that was Chet Walker. I choreographed much of the show BANDSTAND on one of those trips to Jacob's Pillow. Like my time with him at 20 years of age, my time with him in the rehearsal studio of FOSSE, the time I was blessed to have at Jacob's Pillow, was a gift given to me by Chet."

"So many of us had our lives changed by Chet," Blankenbuehler added. "I hope we can carry some of his passion and love for dance and dancers into the future in his name."

Liz Carlson Named Interim Artistic Director of New York Stage and Film

Chris Burney, the artistic director of New York Stage and Film, has revealed that he would leave the organization in December 2022 when his contract expires in order to seek new, lucrative opportunities in commercial theater and education. With immediate effect, Liz Carlson, a more than 15-year veteran of NYSAF who most recently held the position of artistic producer, will take over as interim artistic director and collaborate with Burney up until his departure. Carlson will plan the summer season of 2023 and collaborate with the Board during the following two years to carry out a thorough and inclusive search for a new artistic director. Click here to read more...

The Supply Chain Issues Both On and Off Broadway

With 19 new shows coming to Broadway this fall, scene shops that actually build the scenery for those shows are overwhelmed trying to find the physical floor space to actually construct the sets - but finding the materials out of which to build those sets is proving a challenge all on its own. Click here to read more...

Regional

Dallas-Fort Worth Audiences Remain Slow to Return

A recent study from KERA, Arts Access, and The Dallas Morning News explored how, and why, audiences are slow to return in the region. The main issue is that it isn't one single reason - but theatres aren't losing hope that audiences will eventually come back. Click here to read more...

iO Reopens in Chicago

After being shuttered throughout the pandemic, the iO Theater Chicago closed in June 2020, and longtime owner Charna Halpern was accused of bigotry on social media. The building was put up for sale by Halpern, who told the Tribune that the building's sale was primarily motivated by future property tax obligations that she would not have been able to afford. Chicagoans Scott Gendell, Larry Weiner, and Steve Sacks bought the theater building in 2021. The theater first opened in 2014 when iO relocated to the Clybourn Corridor from Wrigleyville. Since then, it has undergone renovations including updates to the bar and performance rooms in addition to changes to the outside and interior. Click here to read more...

Cody Estle Named Artistic Director at Next Stop

Cody Estle has been appointed as the new artistic director of Next Act Theatre, it was announced today. After a four-month nationwide search, Estle was chosen for the position and will start on December 1, 2022. Before fully taking on the role in the spring of 2023, he will overlap with departing Producing Artistic Director David Cecsarini. In November 2017, Estle was promoted to the position of Artistic Director at Raven Theatre, where he had previously held the position of Associate Artistic Director. Click here to read more...

International

The Economics of Touring Are Becoming Untenable

Industry leaders have warned that touring theater is in trouble on several fronts due to declining audiences, deteriorating infrastructure, and tightened finances, which are making it "almost untenable." The "decimated" sector will require new strategies to survive, according to executives from companies including Leicester's Curve, English Touring Theatre, and Graeae. Speaking at the UK Theatre Awards, they issued a warning that despite difficulties brought on by the effects of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, artists' working rights and safety must be preserved. Click here to read more...

Missed our last few newsletters?

October 24, 2022 - A Casino in Times Square? Drabinsky Sues Equity

Actors Equity featured prominently in industry news last week - voicing support for a potential casino project in Times Square (in opposition to the Broadway League), as the subject of a defamation suit from Paradise Square producer Garth Drabinsky, and in their continued efforts to organize the dancers at Star Garden Topless Bar - which Industry Editor Cara Joy David provides great in-depth coverage of. All of this comes as the industry continues to work towards a new normal, while facing tremendous challenges on all fronts. Click here to read more...

October 17, 2022 - Unionization Takes a Step Forward at Star Gardens

Questions of access continue to be discussed after an incident at Hadestown last week, ultimately highlighting that there is a deep need for more education around the topic for everyone involved. In the UK, educational access for school children is becoming more challenging than ever before with cuts to funding for those trips. But we lead off this week's Industry Trends section with a great update from Cara Joy David on the unionization effort of the Star Gardens Topless Dive Bar and how that push factors into the wider plans for unionization pushes from Actors Equity Association. Click here to read more...

October 11, 2022 - Theatres Aim to Hold True to Their Values, Some Audiences Are Being Left Behind

In the midst of the wider labor movement across the economy, theatre workers continue to fight for their own rights to a safe and non-abusive workplace. As theatres work to return to the new normal, we continue to find new ways in which the industry needs to find improvements on the way that they treat those that are creating the art - we have arrived at the "rubber meets the road" moment for every theatre that issued statements about their ideals in the past few years. We also received a new wrinkle in that conversation this week as more details emerged about the development process of Goodnight, Oscar - with excellent reporting first on the BroadwayWorld site by Cara Joy David, and continued below in this newsletter. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Resources

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