Hey All,
Hope everyone is doing well!
I wanted to reach out and give a report back on a series of
meetings I have had regarding partnering with the student group/non profit
theater company One Song Productions to
start up a Youth Open Mic. As you may remember from the June meeting- One Song
is an entirely student run group that operates outside of the school theater
programs and all the board members are students.
I first met with a few of the board members about a week and
a half ago to hammer out some details regarding the basic vision of the
project- which is to create a space for high-school age folks to perform
whatever sort of performance art they wish (music of any kind, dance,
dramatic/comedic monologue, standup, improv, scenes from theater pieces,
puppetry, magic, WHATEVER, etc).
By the fact that it is an Open Mic, we are signifying two things:
1. That all are welcome and that there is open access to perform
2. That these are works in progress. Open Mic is about work-shopping material to be
showcased in the future, or just to build up the nerve to get on stage for the
first time
After that meeting, Maddie Weiner from One Song and myself met with potential venues
this week to see where we think would be the best fit. On Monday we met with
Samathryn Witham from the Street Scene Teen Center (run by the Town of Chapel Hill/Parks and Rec) and today we met with Brad
Porter and Dan Mayer from the Arts Center
in Carrboro.
The meetings were very productive and everyone we met with
had lots of good advice and insight into our project. Maddie and I after
debriefing both meetings feel like the Teen Center makes a little more sense
for the goals of our project. The Arts
Center (as you all know) has so much going for it and could definitely help us
connect with other organizations and people involved in the local scene and
would help with marketing and messaging, though with the Arts Center we would
need to pay for the space (they would definitely charge us a lower rate than
normal and will be sending us a quote soon) and they strongly recommend
charging a cover for non-student attendees. The Teen Center on the other hand
as a Town property would not charge for the space or staffing and we could keep
the event completely free for attendees. Also, one of our goals from the
beginning was to create performance space for the young people who are already
utilizing the Teen Center and it seems to be a natural fit (for example folks
working on projects through Blackspace (the Beat Lab) would be able to perform their
compositions for their friends and family right there in the Teen Center.
I have been wanting to partner with both the Teen Center and
the Arts Center for a long time and for this particular program I feel that the
Teen Center is the best fit and Samathryn has a really good vision for this
that lines up with what we are trying to do.
Before moving forward and sending out budget proposals
and what not (which I am working on) I wanted to see if anyone on the
Commission had any issues with this, ideas to add or any thoughts at all. I am going to be out of town for almost three
weeks (returning 8/23) and would like to set up a meeting for
sometime in late August regarding this.
Please let me know if you’d be interested in joining this meeting- I think it
would be great to get at least one other member of the special events committee
involved.
SORRY THAT WAS SO LONG!!!
Thanks!
-Josh
--
have a most excellent day,
-Josh Rosenstein
404-556-5160
Comedian & Musician
@pholksinger
Cultural Arts Commissioner,
Town of Chapel Hill, NC