Individual Artist Project Grant

I had someone say to me once after a performance: "Coming to Take It With You is kind of like going to church, but without the God part." Over the course of 6 seasons we developed an audience that I can truly say were the best I've ever played to. People not only came to see the show, they came to see each other. They came to laugh and cry, they came on first dates (maybe some of them came on last dates), but most importantly they came to support an experience that was meaningful both on and off the stage. Part of the reason that we are able to continually put on a quality show is because of the nature of the medium itself. In radio theater the lines don't have to be fully memorized, there isn't any stage movement/blocking, no elaborate sets, and we typically don't do more than 2 or 3 rehearsals before showtime. What this allows me to do is cast incredible performers and pay them appropriately. And that, in turn, allows the community to see something created right here in Duluth that is not only all original, but also professionally done. We've had scores of guests and cameos from local leaders (including our current and former mayors). And as for the content of the show, I've always felt that if you see any piece of art and you walk away having no opinion of it whatsoever, then it didn't do its job. I always try to explore a range of topics in my writing, whether emotional, political, social, or just oddly amusing. Anyway, there's something to talk about afterwards. What I'm trying to accomplish with this work, in a word, is perseverance. The pandemic hit everyone on different levels of severity and in different ways; physically, emotionally, economically. I've been working as a professional artist for over 20 years. Over the course of the last 3 years I've performed in front of an audience on 5 occasions. In other words, there was time to learn, watch, and change. There's a lot of fear that exists in our world, not the least of which is a real fear that the reasons I had for creating the work I did in the past were extraordinarily naive. That the rush to adapt art to fit into a quarantined world is irreversible. What interests me is not unnecessary recognition, but creating something that will bring us all a little clarity and hope. I want to give our performers a space to return to something that seems lost, and our audience a place to safely come back together. And, of course, I want to produce 4 spectacular live radio theater shows. I have produced over 50 Take It With You shows, and have written the majority of them. We have all of the same cast and crew members on board and they're awfully excited to perform again. In addition to that we have a tremendous amount of support from the community. I still hear from people regularly who go out of their way to tell me how much they miss the show and how much they appreciate it. Finally, this time around we're allowing ourselves a lot more time to prepare than we have in the past. In previous years it's always been a bit of a mad dash to put everything together. Don't get me wrong, we always managed to do it, and we had a great amount of success, but we're actively seeking out ways to make the process smoother and to allow us more time to make sure that everyone's opinions are heard.The clearest measure of success will be in the number of people who attend the shows. In 2019 we performed at The Teatro Zuccone in the Zeitgeist Arts building, where we plan to perform again in 2023. That space comfortably seats 120 people and we sold out the majority of the 8 shows we did that year. Of the 4 proposed shows in 2023 I would like to see us sell at 90% capacity or higher for every show. I will also be looking at our podcast downloads/listens and our social media engagement. I will be implementing new strategies to try to engage with our audience on social media with the goal of promoting more person to person activities that don't just stop on a screen. I will be exploring the idea of how to bring our audience together in a more meaningful way by encouraging creativity on social media and in-person gatherings centered around the themes of our Fairy Tale season. I will be monitoring this on an ongoing basis and measuring its success based on community engagement.