In the spring of 2005, as part of the BSR Open Auditions, fourteen music directors, artistic directors, conductors and coaches met to share many of their mutual concerns about the difficulties in presenting theater, whether Classical, Popular or Experimental, to New England audiences. Listed below is a variety of solutions, suggestions, and observations that were discussed.

On November 19, the BSR Select Audition will feature Daniel R.Hunter who is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Advocates of the Arts, Sciences and Humanities. We introduce you to Mr Hunter and his work with a brief biography and overview of MAASH (www.maash.org).

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Concerns about finding the audience:
* Audiences don’t seem to want the ‘new’. They want the ‘tried and true’.
- My Fair Lady, The Fantasticks

* Concerts and operas demand time from an audience.
- Die Meistersinger, The Ring, William Tell

* Even WCRB plays only portions of whole works any more.

* Students don’t get much music appreciation in school.
- Teachers don’t have (allow) time for music appreciation.

* There’s a kind of ‘dumbing down’ in the arts. Something has been lost in the appreciation of the highest culture of which humanity is capable.
- Fine cuisine v. MacDonald’s
- Mozart v. Madonna.
- People used to look up to smart people. Now it’s not considered cool to be smart.

Ideas to attract an audience, to interest them in what we do:
* Play Slams
- Judges are selected from the audience.
- First half of the program – ten minute excerpts and a vote.
- Second half of the program – full stagings by the winners.
- Gives you an idea about what people tend to like.Andy Warhol: A work is good if people like it.
- Encourages new works.

* Musical Theater Festivals
- Audiences can sit through all or just through part of it.
- Allows the presentation of a great variety of talent in one setting.

* American Idol for classical singers / composers.
- Could be modeled on the D’Oyle Carte auditions, which are broadcast in England.
- The BBC holds a competition in which composers submit tapes of new works. The tapes are heard by five levels of judges. The four or five pieces chosen by these panels are broadcast by the BBC. The audience votes on the finalists.

* Heavy marketing
- Give people the sense that they are part of ‘something’.
- For ‘Carmen on the Common’ the Boston Lyric Opera went into the public schools in Boston with multi-language presentations, taught the children the songs. The result was an attendance of 130,000 over two nights.

* Mixing classical and popular.
- The Dirk Hillyer Festival Orchestra combines concert arias with Broadway.
- Longwood might produce La Boheme and then do a work by Jeffrey Brody.
- Cape Cod Opera would like to mix Puccini with a short musical theater work.
- Mass Theatrica has themed concerts with selections from musical theater, opera, operetta and lieder.

On finding the resources to stage productions:
* Go to local government for funding.

* Use local access television stations.
- It may be difficult to find someone to shoot, edit and produce a show.
- On the other hand, it may be an interesting project for a local producer.

* Collaborate and seek volunteers.
- The glory days of the Opera Company of Boston under Sarah Caldwell, they had the assistance of the Ladies Guild which served as dressers, sold tickets, spread the word.
- Acting Singers Project doesn’t have a director. All the work is done collaboratively.

* Have Board members donate money.

On 'shocking' the audience, to create a buzz about a show:
* It only is good if it bears some relevance to the lives of the audience.

* So called Euro-trash directors feel that if they haven’t gotten the audience all wound up by the most weird, outlandish things, then they haven’t succeeded.

* If they are not booed on the opening night, they feel they have failed.

* Some good ideas;
- La Boheme with Mimi in a negligee,
- Rigoletto with nudity and rape,
- Tales of Hoffman in a madhouse,
- Moses und Aron with orgies.

* Some bad ideas;
- Ballo in Mascera with the conspiracy scene in a men’s room,
- A bare-breasted Fidelio,
- Hansel und Gretl with a psycho-sexual mass murderer.

General conversation points:
* A Director is a kind of referee.
* There are two kinds of directors:
- Those who ‘know’ how everything should be from day one,
- Those who let people come and play in their sand box.

* In general, the second type of director is more successful.

* The Great Production Triangle: Good, Fast, or Cheap. You can only have two of them.
- If it’s a good production done quickly, then it’s not going to be cheap,
- If it’s a good production but done inexpensively, then it’s not going to happen fast,
- If it’s a Fast and Cheap production, then it’s not going to be Good.
- It’s important to ask the question: which of these two are the most important for any particular production?

* Another focus - Four points to developing a successful company:
- What is the programming?
- What is the reputation of the company?
- How is it all marketed?
- What is the niche, the void being filled?

* What has killed classical music is the separation between what the intellectuals think the audience should like (Bartok, Schonberg) and what people actually want to hear (the ABCs of opera: Aida, Boheme, Carmen).

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BSR Select Audition
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Tremont Temple, 88 Tremont St., 6th Floor, Boston, MA
10:00 - 4:30 PM Performer Auditions
1:00 - 2:00 PM Director's luncheon featuring DAN HUNTER of MAASH:
"What companies can do to raise public awareness and funding for the arts in their communities"


Dan Hunter, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts and Humanities (Maash.org)

The guest speaker at next month’s Boston Singers Resource Select Audition will be Daniel R. Hunter, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities (MAASH). http://www.maash.org/ Mr.Hunter has 17 years' experience in politics and arts advocacy, serving as Director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (a cabinet appointment requiring Senate confirmation) and running a successful advertising and political consultancy firm in Des Moines.

As an artist, Mr. Hunter is the author of two books, 'Let's Keep Des Moines a Private Joke' and 'The Search for Iowa (& We Don't Grow Potatoes).' He has written several plays including ‘Un Tango en La Noche’ and ‘La Mujer Sin Cara’ (‘The Woman without a Face’). He is the composer and writer of ‘Picture Postcard Musical’, based on the texts of picture postcards from 1906-1910. He has performed a one-man show of topical humor in song accompanying himself on guitar. He has made numerous radio and television appearances including ABC's Good Morning America, National Public Radio, BBC,and CNN Nightly News. Mr Hunter was managing director of Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston University from 1999 to 2002, and teaches creating writing at Boston University.

Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts and Humanities (Maash.org)

MAASH is a statewide non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of the Massachusetts cultural community, identifying significant issuesand working to influence legislation and public opinion. It is a broad-based, statewide organization that serves as a unified voice for the cultural community of Massachusetts. MAASH identifies significant issues of importance to the industry and works to influence legislation and public opinion.MAASH was founded in 1992 to respond to threats in the state legislature to eliminate state support for the cultural community and funding for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

MAASH Goals for 2005-2006
Requesting the state to increase funding for the arts, sciencesandhumanities through Massachusetts Cultural Council by a total of $5 million to:
* Increase operating support grants
* Increase Local Cultural Council funding
* Bolster all the MCC programs
Specifically, to increase funding for cultural economic development through the John and Abigail Adams Arts Fund. Establish a campaign for state funding for cultural facilities to support the rehabilitation of cultural and heritage facilities across the state, particularly to assist with deferred maintenance and capital issues. Advocate for arts education in our schools and for arts education programs in after school programs. Support the full integration of the arts, sciences and humanities into Massachusetts schools to ensure the complete education of every child. Increase awareness among legislators, government officials and the people of Massachusetts of the economic, educational and social value of the arts, sciences and humanities to our state. Engage elected officials in the arts, sciences and humanities activities in their

http://www.Maash.org