Where’s the Audience?

Where’s the Audience?

Finding Our Fan Base

Before a producer agrees to produce a show, indeed an essential part of the decision, is to determine who the audience is for the show.

Who are the people who are naturally inclined to come see the show?

There are three questions to ask:

  1. Who are they? You need to be specific. Saying, “anyone who likes a good show” is not sufficient. To reach out to everyone is impossible. Reaching out to parents who have children under ten, for instance, is not part of our strategy as a company.
  2. The second question is, are there enough of them? If you decide your audience are people in their nineties, it is specific but too small in size to support a show. You get what I mean.
  3. Finally, how best to connect with them? The answer to this question depends on your audience. Where are they? What do they look at, listen to, or read?

 

For Us, It’s the Hip Hop Audience

Rhymes Over Beats is a hip hop theater collective. We do musicals that incorporate hip hop music. We do plays that represent the hip hop culture. So our audience is people who know, understand, and celebrate the hip hop culture. We have a specific audience.

Hip hop has been around over for forty years. In your twenties if you were hooked on the music, say, when Rappers Delight first was released, you are in your sixties now. Our audience is part of the more general ticket-buying demographic.

Hip hop is the number one selling genre of music. It accounts for almost 25% of music sales. And that figure is growing. Old, young and every age in between. It’s a huge chunk of the population. It seems that our potential audience is large enough to support hip hop theater.

We have answers to the first two questions, who is our audience and are there enough of them. We are struggling with the third.

At the moment we are focused on social media. First, because it is very cost-effective. The average thirty second Super Bowl spot is slightly north of four million, which is sorta out of our price range at the moment. Second, because we think that’s where our audience is. Rappers have social media followings in the millions. A lot of bang for very little buck.

 

Are You On Board?

 

We are just getting started. Social media is a shotgun. Sometimes we want to use a scalpel.

These blogs are one way of getting the word out. If you have others, we would love to hear from you. Email me directly at patrickrobad@gmail.com and I’ll answer.

Brothers of B Block

Brothers of B Block

Social Justice anyone?

 

As a theater collective, an important part of our mission is to present stories that make a difference.

One area of interest we have is the disproportionate incarceration of blacks, especially black men.

We will be doing plays and musicals about this issue, and making art about it as artists do, but I want to share some statistics to show why we are passionate about it.

 

Unjust Conviction By the Numbers

 

Blacks make up almost 18% of the U.S. population, but make up 40% of the prison population.

The reason for this disproportionate representation can be inferred from another statistic: 365 individuals have been exonerated by their DNA.

This means that these people were arrested, tried, convicted and sent to prison for something they didn’t do.  62% of these exonerated people are black.

A reasonable inference from this is that innocent blacks are incarcerated at a higher rate than whites.

 

ROB Artists Make Art About Unjust Conviction

 

This is an issue we are highlighting by making art about it.

We have two projects.

  • First we have a hip hop musical called Freedom about unjust conviction written by myself and a rapper in Chicago, Chi-Ill.
  • Second we have a play with music called The Brothers of B Block, written by Kimonie Cutchember, about men incarcerated in a local county jail.

The Brothers of B Block is part of our newly-created Resident Artist Program (RAP). Kimonie is in the first year of the residency. The entire three year residency is comprised of dramaturgical work in the first year, readings in the second year, and a full production in the third.

 

Help Us Out

 

Please join us as we continue to make art that matters.

 

  • Follow us on social media.
  • Encourage your friends to follow us
  • Donate.

Encumbered?

Encumbered?

 Is Your Script Encumbered?

 

I’m a writer. That means I collect words. One of my favorite words is the subject of this blog. The word is “encumber.”

When theater producers use the term “encumbered,” they are referring to agreements made by the playwright with other parties in respect to the play they wrote before an agreement is made with a producer.

Encumbrances are usually a negative if you are looking to get a producer to do your show, because they make it more difficult for the producer to produce your play.

There are two different kinds of encumbrances, those that deal with financing and those that don’t.

 

Don’t Weigh Your Project Down

 

The first thing a producer needs to know when he is considering producing your play is that the play is 100% YOUR PLAY.  In other words, no one else has an ownership stake in the work.

This usually happens when the play incorporates music. A famous rock tune may be important to setting the exact mood you want, but if you don’t have an agreement from the artist to use it, then you can’t include it. Even if you have permission, the cost to use it may be more than the producer wants to pay.

A playwright can also encumber a play by promising to use, or insisting to hire, specific individuals or organizations. I once didn’t produce a play because the playwright insisted on having a veto over which organization would manage the financial side of the production.

That is unusual. What does happen far too often though, is that a playwright will want to bring along certain people who have been involved in the development of the play with them for a long time. Although I admire loyalty by and large, time and time again I’ve seen this backfire on the playwright.

The fact is that while the playwright wrote the play, the producer must produce it. The producer has a dual focus: he must create a production that best represents the play while at the same time looking to sell the most tickets. By insisting to be involved in what should be the producer’s decisions, these writers risk having any production done at all.

Any previous commitments made to other entities infringes on the producer’s activities, and in making them these playwrights make their project less desirable to produce.

 

Be a Team Player

 

If a producer likes your script and wants to produce it, don’t make it difficult for him to do so. Be a team player and trust your producer. Work with him, not against him. It’s in both of your best interests to present the best show possible.

The fewer encumbrances a playwright presents to the producer increases the chance their play will be done.

What Do Members Do?

What Do Members Do?

What Do Members of a Collective Do?

 

This week’s blog is about what it means to be a member in Hip Hop Theater Collective.

First, we call ourselves a Collective because we are not formally structured.

In a typical theater company there are members and non-members. If you are not a member and want to become one, current members must vote. Maybe you get voted in, maybe you don’t.

Some companies have a criteria of membership, such as members can only be actors, for example. Or there may be caps on how many members are allowed.

 

What’s a Collective?

 

We are different. As a collective, we take our inspiration from theater groups in the 1930’s, like the Group Theater.

A theater collective is a team of artists and managers that run the company under the artistic direction of a company founder. Many team members collaborate on various tasks and responsibilities that need to be done, broadening their skill sets with each project they work on. Each artist can also pitch their own project – a play, musical, tour, major education project, devised piece, etc. – that would be produced after being approved by the other members, and members of the Collective would participate in the production.

We have producer members, director members, writer members, actor members, designer members, and hip hop artist members, but we all wear many hats to contribute to the overall functioning of the Collective.

Anyone who is interested can be a member. We let you self-declare.

  • You’re a member because you act like one.
  • You donate what you can.
  • You like/follow the company on social media.

And one more thing:

You add “ROB Collective Member” to your social media profile and tag us so we can keep track.

 

Benefits of Membership

 

I know you are the kind of person who does things just because it is the right thing to do, with no thought for personal gain.

But there are benefits of being a member of the Collective:

  • At least half the productions we do in any given year will be written by member playwrights.
  • The first group of actors we look at when we are casting shows will be actor members.
  • We will try only to hire member directors to direct our shows.
  • Designers will be member designers where possible.

And if you go to see a show, you’ll get a member discount – which will be the lowest anyone will get.

 

Join Us!

 

So join us in supporting hip hop theater. Be a member of the Collective!

Let us know by dropping an email to cate@rhymesoverbeats.org.

 

ROB Resident Artist Germono Toussaint

ROB Resident Artist Germono Toussaint

Sonny’s Song

 

The final kind of play we have in the pipeline is a script that was recommended to us. This kind of project lies somewhere between a revival (like the Exonerated) and a brand new work done from the ground up (like the musical we’re collaborating on with Masta Ace). These kinds of plays will be the bulk of the work we expect to be doing.

A playwright will get an inspiration. They don’t go to a company and say, “I have this idea, please help me write it.” They will just sit down and write the play themselves.

Writing a play is only the first step. Unless a playwright is wealthy or knows someone who is, they will have to connect with a producer. They will come to us and say, “Help me produce my play.”

This is what happened with the play Sonny’s Song, written by Germono Toussaint. The play was referred to us by a friend of Rhymes Over Beats who thought it was the kind of play we should be doing. We read it and agreed with him.

Our first step with this kind of script is to produce a series of progressively-sophisticated readings leading, hopefully, to a production.

So we welcome Germono Toussaint to our RAP ensemble!

 

Meet the Playwright: Germono Toussaint

 

Germono Toussaint is one of our first RAP (Resident Artist Program) artists. I put together some questions for Germono by way of introduction.

ROB: What is your background as a writer? Where are you from?

GT: I was born and raised in the inner city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The response I get when I tell people this is usually, “There are black people in Wisconsin?” Yes, there are many, and most of us live in Milwaukee.

Growing up I was an avid daydreamer, which didn’t help with my studies. My free time was spent writing music, playing DJ, making up skits, etc. I also come from a very musical family, so I eventually got my BFA in Music Composition. I started writing short plays as an  undergrad, but I didn’t take writing seriously until my last year of college. In my final year, I wrote a musical called Caged, which was based on interviews I conducted with 13 women in a transitional living facility. It changed my life. I knew then writing was what I wanted to do.

ROB: What things do you like to write about?

GT: I like to write about many things, but I’ve been paying more attention lately to the themes that show up consistently in my writing. If I’m being honest, writing has been a way for me to explore who I am. Many of my characters are trying to discover the reason they were put on this earth, and to overcome the obstacles that may get in the way of that discovery. They are pressured into expanding, into considering who they have been, reassessing who they are, and challenging their beliefs and boundaries.

I also see themes of spirituality and sexuality in many of my plays. This is not surprising considering my upbringing. I am a black, same-gender-loving, ex-ordained minister who was raised in a contradictory and confusing world of brown liquor, basement parties, and the black church. I have a lot to pull from.

ROB: What is your favorite thing, quote, or book about theater? Why is it your favorite?

GT: I wish I could remember which book I got this from, but it goes something like this: “The stage acts as a mirror, allowing us to see ourselves, making us self-conscious, or mindful of who we are.” This quote sums up what I have felt about theater since seeing my first production.

ROB: Why do you write for theater?

GT: The reason I write for theater is because it moves us. The reason we are moved by the theater is because it allows us to see a person, story or situation we can identify and empathize with. It causes us to see life from an unfamiliar perspective. The stage is a classroom, a ritual space, a group therapy session, and a church service all at once. It is a sacred space that stretches, teaches and opens us. I’m privileged to be able to be watered by and grow in such a space.

What’s in our Pipeline?

Thank you, Germono, for your candor and for being a part of the Rhymes Over Beats Resident Artist Program (RAP) with Sonny’s Song.

Stay tuned for more news as we go along on The Exonerated, Masta Ace, Germono Toussaint and Sonny’s Song.

Comments? Talk to us below.

 

What’s in the Pipeline? Masta Ace

What’s in the Pipeline? Masta Ace

What’s in the Rhymes Over Beats’ Pipeline?

 

Last week we shared the exciting news that we’re working on a new revival of The Exonerated that we’re bringing to Broadway.

But we have more in development that we want to tell you about. This week we’re sharing about our working with an established hip hop artist from the ground up to create a musical. It’s his first time writing a musical,  and we’re so excited to be a part of it.

The artist is Masta Ace. At our benefit last year he spoke about the process of writing a new musical from his point of view.

Our point of view is that we provide all the support necessary for each of our artists to create good work, and to be successful going forward.

And good work starts with a good script.

The first step that happens at Rhymes Over Beats Theater Collective is to review the script with our Associate Artistic Director Cate Cammarata. Because she is hands-on and in the trenches working with each of our projects, I thought I would invite Cate to guest post this week. 

 

Working on New Play Development at Rhymes Over Beats: Cate Cammarata

 

As the Associate Artistic Director of Rhymes Over Beats and as a producer/director/dramaturg, I talk a lot about theater. And write about theater. And work with writers who write plays for theater.

I’ve never worked with a hip hop artist before, however. And what I’ve come to understand is that every good rap artist is a writer, a poet, a wordsmith. Especially Masta Ace.

What a talented writer! One of the very first things he told me is that he had been wanting to write a musical for a few years, but didn’t know how to start or where to begin.

Then he was introduced to Rhymes Over Beats – and as they say, the rest is history….

Now it’s one thing to want to write a musical, but it’s a whole different thing to actually sit down and WRITE one, especially if you’ve never written one before.

Although Masta Ace is an innate storyteller with a story line that runs through his albums somewhat similar to a play with music, in musicals the lyrics push the story forward as part of the action instead of putting the listener into a certain mood, or telling a story, as is done in popular music. Also, there is a traditional musical theater structure that almost all successful musicals, even Hamilton, follow. This one needed to follow it too.

That’s where I come in.

 

Enter the Dramaturg

 

A dramaturg is a person on the creative team who works with the writer to develop the script, and then sometimes moves on to help develop the production as well. Ace and I set to work last year to loosely adapt some ideas from his album A Long Hot Summer into a musical.

After a year of intense work, we are getting close to finishing. Writing a musical is a lot harder than it sounds, but more fun than you could ever imagine.

I admire Masta Ace immensely. Like many good writers he is disciplined and writes a little every day. He has a sense of the dramatic arc of a story that were easily adapted into a tightly constructed plot. He creates the world he knows on the stage – Brooklyn in the 1980’s – and populates it with real characters that are driven by real desires, with unexpected plot twists.

And the music! We’re now creating the music, and it is so exciting to see this come to life. We can’t wait to share this with you and the world.

 

Are You Interested in Writing a Play or Musical?

 

I love what I do. Rhymes Over Beats has also created a developmental program called RAP (Resident Artist Program) where we are looking for new voices in theater.

Are you a writer? Do you have an idea for a script?

Contact us.

 

Next week, we’ll share about another piece we’re working on that is somewhere between a revival and a total new creation. Stay tuned!