Understanding Local Theater
March 3, 2021 10:18 AM Subscribe
When I lived in Ohio, community theaters groups operated independently (Footlighters, Tri-County Players, etc.) but were also members of OCTA (Ohio Community Theater Association). This seemed a loose affiliation that administered the organization of theaters while letting people from the community audition for any show they wanted w/o the need to be a member of any individual theater group or theater organization.
In Portland OR, that is very different and I've been trying to understand how it works. The Portland Area Theater Alliance website, on its membership page, says "Advance your career or company within the official Portland arts community." Does that mean there is an unofficial arts community and does that make it somehow, illegitimate?
Do I have the option to go to open auditions with theaters that are not members of PATA or are those theaters looked down on by the "official" arts community? Or must I join PATA to be in any show? I'm not sure how is "community" theater defined in Oregon? It seems much more tightly controlled. Is that for artistic reasons?
In Portland OR, that is very different and I've been trying to understand how it works. The Portland Area Theater Alliance website, on its membership page, says "Advance your career or company within the official Portland arts community." Does that mean there is an unofficial arts community and does that make it somehow, illegitimate?
Do I have the option to go to open auditions with theaters that are not members of PATA or are those theaters looked down on by the "official" arts community? Or must I join PATA to be in any show? I'm not sure how is "community" theater defined in Oregon? It seems much more tightly controlled. Is that for artistic reasons?
Yeah, my totally unaffiliated read on this is that PATA is representing professional entities, not community (unpaid) theatre. And Empress has a good point about joining anyway.
You have a lot of questions about your local theatre world. Now, I'm not in your local theatre world, but around my parts, people do a lot of coffees to ask questions like these. These days, zoom meetings. There's a sort of unofficial understanding that folks who've progressed a bit of a ways up the professional ladder have a certain obligation to support and educate folks making their entrance onto the scene.
Or, - if you have the resources, paying a local indie theatre producer or director for a couple hours worth of consulting might be a generous thing to do in a time where theatres are a wee bit screwed due to *gestures wildly*.
posted by stray at 12:54 PM on March 3, 2021
You have a lot of questions about your local theatre world. Now, I'm not in your local theatre world, but around my parts, people do a lot of coffees to ask questions like these. These days, zoom meetings. There's a sort of unofficial understanding that folks who've progressed a bit of a ways up the professional ladder have a certain obligation to support and educate folks making their entrance onto the scene.
Or, - if you have the resources, paying a local indie theatre producer or director for a couple hours worth of consulting might be a generous thing to do in a time where theatres are a wee bit screwed due to *gestures wildly*.
posted by stray at 12:54 PM on March 3, 2021
I don't know the specifics of Portland, but have worked in many other places in theater, so can try and also add some context and support what Empress and stray write above.
Every theatre community has different rules and guidelines and structures as you are finding out. I've been in places where the community theatres have done all they can to keep professional theaters out. I've seen places that have a mix of community and professionals and where some folks are even able to travel amongst both groups. Every place is different.
So PATA is the org that oversees the pro theatre scene. They will want to encourage and build membership, as it's a major revenue source for them, hence the use of the word "official". They want as many people signed up as possible.
You may be able to get auditions. What you want to find out is when are rehearsals, are you expected to do them during the day, can you have another job, etc. You should be able to go to any theater for auditions, regardless of PATA affiliation. I really doubt that you need to join PATA to be in a show. I've never seen that anywhere. They want you in PATA, but they can't force you. (This is dfiferent from say Equity who can force you to join for certain shows).
Doubtful it's for "artistic" reasons. It's for the reasons that bureaucracy is created anywhere: to keep power and control. In order to play along with them, you may have to follow some strict guidelines that are not about art.
The best advice above is to find someone who has been in the scene for a few years, and has all this info. Take them out for coffee (or zoom). Get the lay of the land. You may find these are your people, or you may find that there is another community that is more in line with you. Theatre communities can by cliquey and hard to navigate, and folks are often scared to let go of any perceived power and threatened by the new. It's stupid partriarchal structures, and not anything to do with you.
posted by miles1972 at 1:57 PM on March 3, 2021
Every theatre community has different rules and guidelines and structures as you are finding out. I've been in places where the community theatres have done all they can to keep professional theaters out. I've seen places that have a mix of community and professionals and where some folks are even able to travel amongst both groups. Every place is different.
So PATA is the org that oversees the pro theatre scene. They will want to encourage and build membership, as it's a major revenue source for them, hence the use of the word "official". They want as many people signed up as possible.
You may be able to get auditions. What you want to find out is when are rehearsals, are you expected to do them during the day, can you have another job, etc. You should be able to go to any theater for auditions, regardless of PATA affiliation. I really doubt that you need to join PATA to be in a show. I've never seen that anywhere. They want you in PATA, but they can't force you. (This is dfiferent from say Equity who can force you to join for certain shows).
Doubtful it's for "artistic" reasons. It's for the reasons that bureaucracy is created anywhere: to keep power and control. In order to play along with them, you may have to follow some strict guidelines that are not about art.
The best advice above is to find someone who has been in the scene for a few years, and has all this info. Take them out for coffee (or zoom). Get the lay of the land. You may find these are your people, or you may find that there is another community that is more in line with you. Theatre communities can by cliquey and hard to navigate, and folks are often scared to let go of any perceived power and threatened by the new. It's stupid partriarchal structures, and not anything to do with you.
posted by miles1972 at 1:57 PM on March 3, 2021
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As far as how this applies to you - well, every community theater may work a little differently, and there may be some theaters that work with PATA and some that don't. But simply from a mercenary viewpoint, my take is - why not look into membership with PATA anyway? It looks like theaters in the area look at PATA's open auditions when they're casting for their seasons, and may only hold their own auditions if they can't find anyone that way - so the "good parts" might be filled by the time they open up auditions to the public. It looks like the membership fees are also super low (only $35 a year for individual actors). It's also a great way to get yourself in front of a whole lot of local theaters in one fell swoop.
Of course, this is impacted by what it is you want to do with theater involvement. If this is a passion project, this may be a step to boost yourself a little. But if you're just into it for the fun community angle, and you're perfectly happy being "Third Cowboy From The Left In The OKLAHOMA Box Social Scene" once a year or so, then give it a shot with the smaller theaters when they hold open auditions.
At the end of the day - whatever level theater you're at, it strikes me that any tool you could use to get yourself introduced to a wider number of people casting for shows can only be a good thing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:05 AM on March 3, 2021 [1 favorite]