Where Do Producers Come From?
Writing blogs during black theater history month presents a challenge. There are so many possible subjects that it is difficult to select any particular item. This week I decided to start at the beginning: how plays get done.
A story gets told on stage, a play gets produced, because some producer, somewhere, has decided it is a story that needs to be told.
But where do producers come from? I’ll use myself as an example.
I was in the corporate world. A friend asked for my help getting her play produced, so I produced it. I got hooked on producing and, 20 plus years later, I still am doing it.
Producers often also come from the fields of law, medicine, or finance.
Telling Black Stories Onstage
If you have noticed, Rhymes Over Beats has very few productions of plays written by black playwrights, or of plays dealing with issues in the black community. Wny? It is because of the small number of black playwrights. The point of this blog is to appeal to black professionals to join with us and become producers.
Producers select shows based on what they know or have heard about. This month we will be presenting weekly zoom readings of shows by black playwrights on CreateTheater’s YouTube page.
Every Monday in February at 7pm EST watch for a new play written by a black playwright. This week was SWIMMING UPTOWN by Cheryl L. Davis, directed by DeMone Seraphin. Click here to watch (link expires on Friday, 2/12).
If you are a black doctor, lawyer, or hedge fund manager and have considered becoming a producer, and are looking to tell black stories, let this be your invitation.
Contact us at info@rhymesoverbeats.org and let’s chat.