Fire on the Prairie

By Richard Gannon, ITA Community Theatre Division Representative

A Community Theatre Festival returns to Illinois after a short hiatus when ITA's Fire on the Prairie takes center stage at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield, Illinois next October.  Entry forms for those companies seeking to present a production at Festival are now available. Click here for your theatre's chance to be featured on our main stage! Registration for individuals who plan on attending and participating in ITA's celebration of Community Theatre will be available in the coming months.

The Festival has had something of a checkered past in Illinois over the years, a fact that is somewhat difficult to comprehend.  After all, the first, national Festival of American Community Theatre (FACT) was held on the stage of ITA member Theatre of Western Springs in 1971. Adjudicators for that Festival were Henry Fonda; William Glover (New York drama critic), and Michael Langham (Artistic Director of the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN).  Certainly, this marked a propitious start for the community theatre festival movement in Illinois and the United States.  Unfortunately, a number of unexpected speed bumps made convening Illinois' biennial festival extremely difficult, even impossible, these past few years.  ITA's commitment to resurrect an Illinois Community Theatre Festival bodes well for the success of Fire on the Prairie, as well as future events.

The value of the Festival lies in the fact that it provides an opportunity for all those involved in community theatre throughout Illinois to come together in order to participate in meaningful workshops, attend a number of adjudicated performances by some of Illinois' best community theaters, and take advantage of the many networking opportunities. Ultimately, it is an opportunity to celebrate all of the good that community theatre creates for our members and volunteers, our patrons, and the residents of our communities.

Those who participate in Festival as cast and crew members of one of the adjudicated productions have even more to look forward to as a result of the Festival experience.  I believe a note recently sent in by Marsha Holland of Brass Rail Players in Belleville speaks clearly to the benefits of Festival:

Fire on the Prairie.  An ITA event that's not to be missed!  See you all in October!

Fire on the Prairie

Workshops....May We Spark Your Interest?  

You've probably asked yourself this question hundreds of times: What are the top 3 things my community theatre could do better? Here's your opportunity to help your community theatre. Fire on the Prairie's Workshops Committee wants to hear from you. Your answers will help define  workshops offered at Festival. Send an email listing your TOP 3 topics to Dr. joan e. kole at jekdirector@rockriver.net. Suggestions due by May 29, 2014. 

A Musing from Madrid on the ITA Professional Auditions

By Madrid St. Angelo, ITA Professional Theatre Division Representative

Each year when the Illinois Theatre Association hosts its Annual Regional Theatre Auditions, something wonderful happens.  Young actors, many still in college, get excited.  They text each other on their cellphones, letting each other know that the audition dates have been announced, blow up their social media networks blasting news and updates, download applications, call their printers putting in orders for more headshots, update their resumes or create ones if they're newbies; they start hunting for the right song and/or monologue, they call their professors and acting teachers to make appointments for coaching or to ask for coaching recommendations, and they make travel plans.  Word has long been out among actors that this regional audition is simply not to be missed.

As the years have waned, and with so much casting being done online, the Association can boast about its longevity.  It's just about the last Non-Equity Regional Audition of its kind left in Illinois. The two-day audition draws a literal who's who of casting directors from all over the state, including representatives from all of the big wigs: The Goodman, Steppenwolf, and Victory Gardens.  There are even agents and casting representatives who work within the film and television industry present.  In one fell swoop, actors have the opportunity to share not only their talent and passion with some pretty influential people, but they can get their names on the radar of these important folk who get to meet these actors up close and personal.  And every year, there is an overflow of talent at the ITA's with every audition slot filled.

As an actor myself, I know firsthand the excitement of auditioning at Regionals.  It's an exciting time to meet and network with other actors. But something wonderful happens to those of us who work on the casting side.  We get excited too!  We wait with baited breath to see this parade of actors and to witness and experience the energy they bring to their auditions.  We observe the enthusiasm with which they congregate amongst themselves and the nervousness they display when in close proximity to obvious casting folk.   You can see it in their eyes,-- that twinkle that conveys hope and excitement for what could be a potential job. 

Having attended and participated in the ITA's for a good number of years now, I have expanded my network to include countless new actor acquaintances.  My relationships with others in casting has been strengthened, and I have been able to employ many new actors in projects with which I have been associated.  I have also recommended many, many actors to others.

Our business is not an easy one, and while the foundation of our business is in many ways that of "rejection," at the ITA's, everyone comes out a winner.  Auditioning brings about increased confidence and the opportunity to sharpen skills.  The actors bask in accomplishment; the casting directors initiate new working relationships.

What I like to do is reach out to the actors I find to be of note and offer to share with them my thoughts about their auditions.  Not that my word is gospel, but I've been around long enough to offer up something I know to be of value.  In the end, I make a friend, gain a student, and cast a project.  Both my personal and professional network is expanded.  I can honestly say that I am still associated with many of the actors that I met at ITA's in the past. With the passing of each ITA, I find that my love and respect for this business grows.