TheatreAddict.com - Bakersfield Drama Blog

This is part 2 in a multi-part series of discussions on the state of live theatre in Bakersfield by local thespian and educator Rob Long. It is our shared purpose that this series should inspire dialogue and improvement in the areas discussed and be contructive in nature. You can contact Mr. Long on myspace by clicking the link in his name above. If you would like to publicly contribute to this discussion, feel free to email your thoughts to me at aaron@theatreaddict.com

(Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to be inflammatory. I am not trying to start any flame wars, or stir the pot with any of the parties that may be discussed in this series. Some of the statements may be controversial, and you may disagree with them. They are not meant to be personal attacks, and I'd appreciate it if, if you choose to respond, that you not make any personal attacks by way of rebuttal... That said, I invite healthy, open discussion and debate that is intended to diagnose problems, become aware of the strengths and flaws of Bakersfield theatre, and actually develop realistic shared ideals about where to go and how to improve the arts community here in our corner of Oklahoma West. This blog is meant to be positive and constructive. Help a brotha out here.)

There's no way for an amateur writer like me to do a thorough analysis of Bakersfield theatre. BCT has been around for 80 years now, I think, and BCLO/BMT/Stars is somewhere in its thirties. Throw into that mix all the educational theatre venues, and there's a whole lot of Bakersfield theatre history out there that I don't know and wasn't a part of. I'm not going to do the research, and I'm not sure how important it is to the goal of the writing anyway. I'm looking to analyze the landscape of Bakersfield theatre in a way that looks at the major players in the game - how we got here, what here is, where the niches are, what's missing, and how new theatre comes forward. This is based on my perspective, and my perspective can only be related through the filter of my experience. That's a given. My experience isn't flawless, therefore, neither is my perspective. What follows will be how _I_ see things, as a possibly representative outsider's opinion on how Bakersfield theatre works.

And yes, I am an outsider. I tend to not audition for plays. I tend to not direct unless invited to. I tend to stick to a few collaborators that I have always enjoyed working with, who I trust to direct me, and who I trust to turn out a quality product that utilizes the resources I have to offer. And down the line, I'll get into the type of theatre that I support, the type that I go SEE... so beyond those projects I do with my long time collaborators and the improv I occasionally do, I don't do a lot of theatre. I tend to stay outside the community. I do maybe one show a year IF that... especially now that my High School program is ramping up, there are projects that take all of my energy, and I don't have enough to be a part of the theatre community. And that's ok with me.

So if I leave out a major player in the theatre scene, forgive me, and add that person to the blog. Comment on my analysis. Argue with me. God, I love a good argument. Resisting... the urge... to quote Python... I don't really know Art Rockoff - it's a name I've heard, and I'm sure I've seen him in stuff, but somehow my experience has managed to elude working with him. Likewise Peg Pauly - I know she's a legend... I met her a few times... but I never really knew what she's legendary FOR, nor worked with her - she was largely before my time... so I'm going to narrate my experience in Bakersfield theatre, tell a few stories along the way, and try to analyze what I think all the history has brought us to. Please feel free to participate. Again, I welcome and invite the discourse - I mean no personal attacks, just what I hope to be an objective viewpoint on reality - I strive for the objectivity of the truth. Don't we all? Help me find it... please... I would appreciate the help...

Here we go...

It's always a trip to me when I stop and think back... see, originally, I wasn't an actor. I was a musician. I played violin, drums and piano. Don't ask me to play any of them today though - the only one I can even fake is drums, and anybody can do that. In Junior High, I didn't take theatre as an elective. I took band and choir. I was an honor choir singer, before my voice changed. In 7th grade we did a musical called Teen... I still remember the choir director - Julie Shorten. There were six leads in the show - a major lead and two supportings for each gender. The other five leads went to 8th graders - I was the only seventh grader cast in a lead, and I got the main male lead. It's interesting to note that one of the supporting male leads was played by Matt Lindsay - that's where he and I met, and where the interweaving cycles of our careers began. He went to Actis, I went to Thompson, here in Bakersfield. I got my master's in education and teach theatre, he's pursuing his master's in acting in Florida right now, and he's going to actually do it. You'll hear his name a few more times, particularly in this blog, I assure you.

So thanks to Julie Shorten, I got into theatre. That's when I was bit. And in 8th grade (most of which I skipped, by the way). But if I remember correctly, I delved into local theatre because of a girl. Yeah, I know - who doesn't? But Diane Spies was HOT. She went to Actis, so I only saw her in rehearsals. Somehow, I found out she was auditionning for Peter Pan... so I did too. BCLO's production of Peter Pan... I auditionned, and was awarded the role of...

The crocodile.

Because I was exactly 6 feet tall in 8th grade, and I fit the costume.

Bakersfield Civic Light Opera/Bakersfield Music Theatre/Stars:

They're the big dogs in the theatre scene today. Remembering that my perception is flawed, BCLO, which later became BMT was started in the early 70s by a group of educators, including now assistant superintendent of personnel Jim Fillbrandt and South High staff members Elaine Jameson (former principal, now retired) and Ron Steinmann. BCLO has historically staffed itself with members of the educational community: Jon Johanssen is a mainstay of the theatre, and has been teaching for the district for years. He was Captain Hook in the production I was in. Bruce Saathoff, one of the mainstream directors of the theatre was a teacher, then district union representative, and now he's a consultant to the California Teacher's Association. The connection between BMT and KHSD has always been strong. Many in the community are suspicious of that connection because the crossover usage of resources seems suspect. BMT uses Bakersfield High School's Harvey Auditorium for a high dollar season, and are constantly facing criticism that they get preferred treatment, that there's something shady about the finances between BMT and KHSD. Especially considering the well-publicized financial woes of the BMT main plant at Chester & 20th. This suspicion came to a head last year when a newly elected board member (Chad Vegas) raised those suspicions and forced through an audit of the theatre and its executive director (Fillbrandt). Fillbrandt was cleared of all suspicion by an independent auditing company, however. I'll leave the conspiracy theorists to pick up from there...

BCLO converted to BMT sometime in the 90s, I think. And just to clear up any confusion: BMT and Stars are the same organization. I'm not precise on the intricacies of the business structure, so I'll more than likely get some details wrong, but I believe Bakersfield Music Theatre is the overall business umbrella, and they produce under that title at the Harvey. Stars is the subsidiary name of the company, used to promote ONLY the shows the theatre does at its main plant on Chester. The Gordian Knot that Stars faces is that the plant costs of producing at the Stars space are astronomical. Most of the people that run this theatre are very tired - they feel they've seen it all and tried it all, and they are of the opinion (which is somewhat founded) that they dominate the market share. The patronage of Stars includes some of the wealthiest movers and shakers in Bakersfield, and the executive board of BMT is masterful at raising money. But that's the constant cycle - the theatre ALWAYS needs money, and so the people in the theatre are always RAISING money. You stand on the outside and you think they have an ivory tower, because of the size of the plant, their advertising budget, their patronage, their production budget, but the reality is that BMT faces the SAME obstacles as the other theatres, just on a much larger scale.

BMT draws a lot of criticism because of their xenophobia - they have a marked philosophy about not sharing audience patronage, there are always rumors about the fact that if you work for BMT, you can't work for anyone else, but if you put yourself in their shoes, the mindset starts to make sense. You've been at this for more than 30 years. You've seen other theatres come and go. You've built a business model that allowed you to build a customer base of the city's financial elite. You may be scraping by, but you're scraping by on a large and impressive scale, and you've worked hard and long to get what you have. You want to see the theatre continue to thrive and grow, and you give go aheads to people that can bring in shows that fit around the standard season without disrupting the paradigm you know. You think you've seen it all - and you may have - so when people come to you in the spirit of community, asking you to share what you've worked so hard for, not because they want to take it from you, but because they honestly believe that a unified theatre community will thrive a lot more than individual theatres working separately and tearing at the scraps of the audience pool - when those people come to you, well, it sounds nice and all - but it's too big of a risk to take, considering how long and hard you've worked and what you've acquired over that time.

But like it or not, BMT has the largest profile in town. They know that musicals sell, and they know that comedies can sell if done well. To a large degree, BMT is synonymous with theatre in the mind of the consumer in this city (Spotlight is challenging that perception, but BMT is deeply ingrained in the community). I've held for quite some time that if you want to see theatre in Bakersfield grow under the current model, you have to contribute to BMT. It's a tough theatre to break into (figuratively), as there's a group of mainstays that are consistently there for the health of the theatre, and if you want to rise in the ranks, you'd better have a demonstrable skill that they need, or you'd better be willing to pay your dues.

By the way, that's how I ended up directing It Runs In The Family last year... I'm under no illusions that I was the first choice. I'm lucky if I was the 4th or 5th choice... but the fact of the matter was that they needed someone to direct the show who knew something about comedy. A lot of people weren't available. I was. It was the end of the school year, and my instincts screamed that I was too busy, and that I shouldn't do the show. But I'd been talking the philosophy on supporting BMT to see theatre grow, and I figured I'd better walk the walk when the opportunity presented itself. So I took the job.

BMT has recognized their stagnating pool, and are taking active steps to refresh it. To bring in new blood. And that's the facet of the community that challenges them - they have the resources and the profile... but they're fighting a war of attrition when it comes to talent. They have some genius talents working there, but they get tired... they take breaks... and as some move out of the community, BMT has less and less to draw from as that cycle continues.

It looks as though they've isolated themselves in that briar-surrounded ivory tower though. It looks like they've guarded their resources so carefully that now that they might actually need something, it's a lot tougher to pull that NEW resource in. When the directors of the theatre were more idealistic, they had sheer force of will to surmount those problems... today, it seems much more tiresome, and much less rewarding.

Again, I'm not looking to attack, and my perception is certainly not empirically correct. This is how I interpret the world I see.

I still think that under the current paradigm, the growth of Bakersfield theatre hinges on the success of BMT. The more quality work the theatre does that creates positive buzz and word of mouth, the more the word theatre in Bakersfield will become synonymous with a positive evening experience.

BMT = Bakersfield Theatre = whatever the perception of BMT's value cost is (and we'll get back to value cost later, in another blog).

I will say, I saw Fiddler on the Roof a couple weeks ago. It was great. Best thing I've seen them put on (yes, including It Runs in the Family).

I just realized how long this is going to be, based on my essay about BMT. So I'm going to break the history into a series. I'm stopping here, and going to Mimi's for a muffin. Mmmmmm... muffin... yummy... mmmmmm... alliteration...

-Rob Long

http://www.myspace.com/lightningtempest

longsword@cox.net

June 15th, 2006

posted by TheatreAddict.com  # 2:54 PM