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After Pandemic Pivoting to Launch a Catering Business, Cindy Goldfield Returns to The Stage
by Edward Guthmann When COVID hit early last year, Cindy Goldfield was rehearsing Nine to Five at Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. She was playing Violet Newstead, the role Lily Tomlin made famous, and feeling “very excited” about the work when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19,…
Read MoreHolding The Community Together: Theatre Bay Area Searches For a New Executive Director
by Rotimi Agbabiaka When Brad Erickson announced this June that he would be departing his role as Theatre Bay Area executive director after 18 years of service, the organization was faced with the challenge of finding someone to take over the helm and steer the company on a post-pandemic course. Over the past month, TBA…
Read MoreA New Cohort of Tomorrow’s Leaders Joins the TBA Arts Leadership Residency
By Edward Guthman Four Bay Area theatre artists have been chosen in the second round of Theatre Bay Area’s Arts Leadership Residency. Virginia Blanco, Devin Cunningham, Daniel Duque-Estrada, and Julius Rea will each receive $12,000 for a 480- to 640-hour residency. The initiative was generated to redress the racial imbalance in theatre management. “We want…
Read MoreWith New Residency Program, TBA Aims To Close the Theatre Leadership Gap
by Edward Guthmann A 2020 report from the Asian American Performers Action Coalition studied the 18 largest non-profit theatres in New York as well as Broadway companies during the 2017-18 season, and showed that 80 percent of playwrights, 85.5 percent of directors and 60 percent of actors were white. That racial imbalance exists nationwide and for too long,…
Read MoreTheatre Advocates Mobilize in Response to California’s Gig Worker Law
by Rotimi Agbabiaka Last month, California’s AB5 went into effect, requiring companies across the state to reclassify their independent contractors as employees in order to comply with classification guidelines set down by the California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in the “Dynamex” case. The law, which was aimed at the profit-maximizing practices of tech giants like…
Read MoreTheatre Bay Area and AB5
A message from the board of Theatre Bay Area: Many in our community are asking questions about AB5, the new California employment law that went into effect January 1 and outlines new rules around classifying workers as employees or independent contractors. Aimed at the growing “gig economy,” the law extends far beyond, reaching almost every…
Read MoreHeadshots 101: Part One
by Rotimi Agbabiaka As 2020 approaches you may be thinking, “New year, new me, new headshots?” Often an actor’s first introduction to potential employers, that 8 by 10 image can bear the weight of much anxiety and hope. To help you put your best face forward, we chatted with some of the Bay Area’s favorite headshot photographers…
Read MoreThe Business of Show Biz – Getting Notes From A Fellow Actor
by Velina Brown Q: A while ago I was cast in an AEA show with an actor who took it on themselves to give notes to their fellow actors after opening. This would happen during the fight call, in front of stage management, and when we had no choice but to be there. Once the actor…
Read MoreThe Business of Show Biz: Burning A Bridge
by Velina Brown Q: I saw the letter you posted on Facebook regarding the show about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. After reading the letter I could see what you and the group of women who wrote the letter were upset about. But honestly, when I first heard about the show I didn’t see a problem…
Read MoreArts and Community Members Assemble at City Hall for San Francisco Arts Advocacy Day
Theatre Bay Area staff joined nearly 400 artists, arts administrators, cultural producers, and cultural ambassadors in a spirited rally to advocate for (1) policy priorities (2) a message of “No Cuts,” and (3) stories about the transformative nature of cultural and creative expression. Theatre Bay Area staff gathers with colleagues from Z Space and Yerba…
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