Episode 83: How Are Performing Arts Orgs Bringing Back Live Shows Panel

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City Arts & Lectures, San Francisco Performances, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Music at Kohl Mansion, the San Francisco Memorial Performing Arts Center and Return to the Stage Survey

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“For all of us remembering that the performing arts is kind of like the town square, that everyone comes to better understand their humanity, whether it's through music or dance performance, to interpret the world as it is. And as they want it to be, and they want to see themselves.” - Michael Sullivan

In this episode our featured voices are the Executive Director of San Francisco Performances, Melanie Smith, the Design and Communications Director of City Arts & Lectures, Allie Washkin, the Managing Director of the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center, John Caldon, the Executive Director of Music at Kohl Mansion, Patricia Kristof Moy, and the Board Member, writer, director and performer of The San Francisco Mime Troupe, Michael Gene Sullivan as well as co-researcher and co-author of the nation’s largest survey of performing arts workers Return to the Stage, Meg Friedman.

Welcome to our September 2021virtual live panel discussion show. Given the fourth wave of COVID 19's Delta variant and the ever-changing City, County, and State protocols, we wanted to check back in with six of the performing arts organizations from our series and have them share how each of their organizations is bringing back live performances or not, for the 2021 fall performing arts season.

Allie Washkin, City Arts & Lectures

Allie Washkin is the Design & Communications Director of City Arts & Lectures and a freelance graphic designer. A Bay Area native and proud alum of the San Francisco State University Creative Writing Department, she has worked in San Francisco's arts and literary scene since 2010.

Melanie Smith, San Francisco Performances

Melanie Smith returned to San Francisco Performances as the organization’s President in 2016. She had previously served as SFP’s Director of Education/Artistic Administration from 1997 to 2006. Ms. Smith is a performing arts executive with more than 30 years of experience in management and administration both in San Francisco and New York. Her extensive experience in organizational development, change management, goal setting, strategic planning, fundraising and marketing have benefitted organizations including Carnegie Hall, the Midori Foundation, Young Concert Artists, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and San Francisco Performances. Ms. Smith holds a BA in French and Voice from Cal State University Stanislaus and completed graduate studies in Non-Profit Management at the New School in New York.

John Caldon, SF War Memorial & Performing Arts Center

John Caldon is Managing Director of the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center (War Memorial). His career with the City and County of San Francisco spans more than a decade, including former positions as Director of City Hall Events, and as Communications and Events Manager for the War Memorial. Prior to joining the City, John worked as a stage manager, production manager, and producer for regional theaters throughout California and at sea for Royal Caribbean International. He volunteers with nonprofit performing arts organizations in San Francisco, including Bindlestiff Studio, Brava Theatre Center, and the EXIT Theatre. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University’s Creative Writing program.

Patricia Kristof Moy, Music at Kohl Mansion

Patricia Kristof Moy, Executive Director of Music at Kohl Mansion since 2005, has been a Bay Area performing arts administrator, music presenter, producer, and educator for more than thirty-five years. Born in Paris, France, Ms. Moy was educated at Princeton University and New York University and has held management positions at the San Francisco Opera, Stern Grove Festival, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, French-American International School, and San Francisco Boys Chorus. Dedicated to the belief that the arts strengthen our communities, she has developed outreach and educational programs for youth and adults of all ages and has designed and raised funds for collaborative projects involving civic and performing organizations, community centers, educational institutions, and individual artists.
Ms. Moy maintains a parallel career as a language and diction coach for singers and is the French Diction Coach of the San Francisco Opera and Santa Fe Opera. She has coached productions at the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and a number of regional companies throughout the US. She serves on the Merola Opera Program faculty and coaches privately in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Michael Sullivan, San Francisco Mime Troupe

As an actor Michael has worked with the American Conservatory Theatre, the Denver Center Theater Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Theatreworks, California Shakespeare Theatre, SF Playhouse, San Francisco and the African American Shakespeare Companies, and the Aurora, the Marin, the Magic, the Lorraine Hansberry Theater, and has been a principal actor for the San Francisco Mime Troupe for over 30 years.

Michael’s directing credits include work with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, TheatreFirst, the African American Shakespeare Company, Street Of Dreams Theatre Company, and over a dozen shows with SFMT. Michael was also director of the all-woman, all-clown Circus Finelli.

From 1992 -1999 Michael was a Contributing Writer for the despite-its-name-never-silent, Tony and OBIE Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe before being named SFMT’s Resident Playwright 2000 to present. Michael is also a Resident Playwright for the Playwrights Foundation, and in 2017 was playwriting resident at the Djerassi Arts Center. Mr. Sullivan's political dramas, musicals, and satires include Walls (Ningun Humano Es Ilegal!), Treasure Island, For The Greater Good, Freedomland, Red Carol, Too Big To Fail, Did Anyone Ever Tell You-You Look Like Huey P. Newton?, Mr. Smith Goes to Obscuristan (with Josh Kornbluth), Godfellas, Too Big to Fail, Possibilidad or The Death of the Worker, the all-woman farce Recipe, and his one person show, Did Anyone Ever Tell You -- You Look Like Huey P. Newton? Mr. Sullivan's plays have been performed at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the International Festival of Verbal Art (Berlin), The Hong Kong Arts Festival, and in Greece, Spain, Columbia, Argentina, New Zealand, Ukraine, England, Scotland, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Mexico, as well as in theaters throughout the United States.

1984, his critically-acclaimed stage adaptation of George Orwell's dystopic novel of the oppressive present/future, had its world premiere in 2006 at the Actors' Gang, directed by Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins. After several extended runs in Los Angeles, 1984 has gone on to several national and international productions, has been translated into six languages, and published in two.

Michael is also a Collective Member and Board Member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

Meg Friedman, Return to the Stage Survey

Meg has been working in the arts, culture, and entertainment industry for over 20 years. A consultant with progressive responsibility at AMS Planning & Research since 2016, Meg spent the first act of her career as a freelance stage manager, working with theaters and other arts organizations. At AMS, Meg plans and conducts research to support client planning and decision-making. This includes interviews with industry leaders, secondary research using public and proprietary data, and literature reviews focused on issues in the arts and adjacent fields. She is a member of AMS's internal Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee. Meg works with organizations in the not-for-profit and public sector ranging in size from $200K-over $60M, supporting strategic planning and facility feasibility projects. In addition to her work for AMS, Meg is a principal researcher behind RETURN TO THE STAGE, a snapshot of the performing arts workforce in COVID times.

City Arts & Lectures

Since 1980, San Francisco-based non-profit City Arts & Lectures has offered unique programs with leading figures in arts and ideas. Each year there are more than fifty lectures and onstage conversations – and a few surprise performances, film tributes, and concerts – with outstanding writers, critics, scientists, performing artists, and cultural figures from around the world. City Arts & Lectures offers the broadest perspectives about ideas and values, the creative process, and how we think about the world we live in.
City Arts & Lectures events are held in the historic Sydney Goldstein Theater (formerly Nourse) in San Francisco’s Performing Arts Center and online. Programs can be heard via edited and delayed broadcasts on more than 130 public radio stations across the country, co-produced with KQED 88.5 FM in San Francisco, as well as listen to our podcast.
Become a member of City Arts and Lectures. Check out the 2021-2022 Season and purchase tickets and Support City Arts & Lectures.

San Francisco Performances

San Francisco Performances has been a leader in the Bay Area cultural scene since our founding in 1979. With a strong curatorial vision and adventurous programming, we are the city’s premier presenter of intimate concerts and solo performances.

We have introduced hundreds of classical music, jazz, and dance artists to audiences, including Yo-Yo Ma, the Juilliard String Quartet, Philip Glass, Wendy Whelan, and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. We also champion a new generation of artists who are committed to building a contemporary and equitable repertoire. Through our nationally recognized artist residencies, we provide opportunities for audiences—from those who attend our concerts, to public school students who encounter music and dance for the very first time—to engage personally with artists and gain a deeper understanding of their work.

Our Mission - San Francisco Performances provides the world’s best artists space and support for innovation in music and dance, and offers the community a transformative experience and a deep connection to the arts through the timeless power of live performance.

The Story of San Francisco Performances -When pianist André Watts walked onto the stage of the brand-new Davies Symphony Hall on November 23, 1980, more than 2,500 people witnessed the birth of what is now internationally recognized as a remarkable success story: San Francisco Performances.

From the beginning, San Francisco Performances has been much more than just another arts organization in a city that is a world cultural capital. Founded by Ruth A. Felt, San Francisco Performances set out to make an important and much-needed contribution to the growth and vitality of an already vibrant arts scene.
From a first season of just seven performances, SFP’s annual seasons have grown significantly and now feature more than 50 mainstage performances, and boast a record of more than 100 important debuts and premieres over more than four decades. In addition, dozens of arts education and community engagement programs take San Francisco Performances and its artists beyond the footlights directly into schools and neighborhoods. Quality, intimacy, access, and connection are the hallmarks of San Francisco Performances. We nurture unique relationships with today’s best artists to create accessible and engaging arts experiences.

Become a subscriber of San Francisco Performances. Check out the 2021-2022 Season and purchase tickets. Support San Francisco Performances. Find out more about our education program.

SF War Memorial Performing Arts Center

Comprised of the War Memorial Opera House, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, Herbst Theatre, The Green Room, The Wilsey Center (Atrium Theater, Education Studio), and Harold L. Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall, the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center (SFWMPAC) is a landmark cultural institution owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco.

These uniquely beautiful performing arts venues with a combined capacity of almost 7000 seats make SFWMPAC a primary destination for world-class entertainment in the Bay Area.

Home to the San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Opera, the War Memorial Opera House hosts San Francisco's most dynamic classical performance.

The music of the San Francisco Symphony displays the unparalleled acoustics of Davies Symphony Hall, which also hosts numerous outside concerts and lectures.

The Herbst Theatre has more than 200 shows presented on its stage each year by many of the Bay Area's premier cultural organizations, including San Francisco Performances and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and The Green Room is host to more than 200 functions and 40,000 guests annually.

A cornerstone of San Francisco's historic Civic Center, our stately venues are available for rent and host a wide variety of performances and concerts, professional filming and photography, and receptions, dinners, and celebrations.

Visit our Calendar of Events to learn more about upcoming shows, then buy a ticket and plan your visit and take the virtual tour of the venues

Music at Kohl Mansion

Mission:
Inspired by the belief that the arts strengthen communities, Music at Kohl Mansion presents world-class chamber concerts at the historic Kohl Mansion and music education in public schools on the San Francisco Peninsula. Outreach programs provide access to interactive musical experiences for diverse audiences of all ages.

Music at Kohl Mansion (MAKM), the longest-running chamber-music-only presenter on the S.F. Peninsula, is deeply committed to community building through the arts, both in its highly praised mainstage concert series founded in 1983 and in education and community programs that connect people and promote human understanding. MAKM programs enhance the quality of life of Bay Area residents and visitors by reaching out to individuals of all ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Programs:
MAKM collaborates with professional musicians, arts organizations, K-12 schools, libraries, service organizations, community centers, and senior residences, providing affordable access and compelling points of entry to cultural and educational experiences for many who could not otherwise participate. These partnerships make possible economies of scale and resource sharing.

Since 1992, MAKM music education programs have touched over 120,000 K-12 students, offering partially subsidized programs for all schools and 100% subsidy for schools in low-income communities, ensuring that all students have
equal exposure and access to arts education.

MAKM has responded to the pandemic by shifting its 2020-21 concert season online and providing dedicated content for K-12 schools, including pre-recorded and real-time virtual classroom visits by artists. To find out more about Music at Kohl Mansion and to buy tickets for the 2021-2022 Season Concert Series and to donated season go to music at kohl dot org

To purchase the Violins of Hope at Kohl Mansion album that was released on January 21st 2021 to coincide with the upcoming International Holocaust Remembrance Day and 76th Commemoration of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau please go to pentatone music dot com and search for violins of hope to buy and download the album

San Francisco Mime Troupe

The history and mission of the San Francisco Mime Troupe is to create and produce theater that presents a working-class analysis of the events that shape our society, that exposes social and economic injustice, that demands revolutionary change on behalf of working people, and to present this analysis before the broadest possible audience with artistry and humor.

Founded in 1959 by R.G. Davis, as an experimental project of the Actors’ workshop, the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s early works were…silent, (but not pantomime) avant-garde pieces that today would be called performance art. By the early sixties, the SF Mime Troupe began performing spoken plays with character archetypes drawn directly from the Commedia dell’Arte. Continuing in the broad styles of popular theater, the SFMT’s productions became overtly political.

In 1965, the city's Recreation and Park Commission revoked the troupe’s performance permit, on grounds of "obscenity". Refusing to allow his company to be censored, on August 7, 1965, R.G. Davis attempted to perform Il Candelaio in Lafayette Park, loudly announcing to his audience: “Today for your appreciation, we perform an arrest,” as Davis was swept up by the police for performing without a permit. The ensuing court case, argued by Marvin Stender, established the right of artists to perform uncensored in the city's parks. The SFMT has opened a new show in the parks every summer since. In 1965, future rock impresario Bill Graham, then the company's business manager, organized his first rock dance/light show at the Fillmore Auditorium as a bail benefit for the SFMT.

The collective of the San Francisco Mime Troupe exists not only to create this activist art but also to embody our ideals of combating the fragmentation of the working class: we are a democratically run, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multi-cultural, gender-balanced theater of social justice that by its very existence sustains a vision of community governance of, by, and for the people. Listen to SFMT’s radio drama series “Tales of the Resistance” and the MimeCast as well as the now Holiday Classic “A Red Carol”Find out more about the San Francisco Mime Troupe: https://www.sfmt.org/about-us and make a donation to support their ongoing working class theatre.

Return to the Stage Survey

RETURN TO THE STAGE is a longitudinal study of performing arts workers in the United States, designed to understand COVID-19 related impacts and to begin documenting a broad future vision for the field. 

Why are you doing this?
The workforce is the lifeblood of the performing arts sector. Without the talent and effort of thousands - paid and unpaid - the brilliance of live performance would not be able to happen. Performing arts workers are also uniquely resilient and creative, accustomed to working as a team on tight deadlines, often in rapidly changing conditions. This survey will help us understand how the performing arts workforce is experiencing the effects of COVID-19 related restrictions, what kinds of coping strategies the workforce is using, and what your hopes are for the performing arts field in the months and years to come. 
This is important because, even as the number of jobs changes in response to sudden losses in revenue, understanding the other side of the equation is just as important: the people side. Lost jobs does NOT equate to lost talent, and we want to hear from the full array of talented people so a clear(er) picture can be formed of the performing arts sector’s future. 

Who should take it?
Everyone who works or volunteers in the performing arts: Performers and managers, directors and choreographers, front-of-house folx and box office teams, writers, technical and design folx, development and marketing, facility operators, vendors, and everyone else who makes the work happen. Your input is anonymous, and individual data will never be shared. ​

Read the Rapid Response Reports from all three Surveys July 2020, January 2021 and July 2021. If you would like to receive reports and updates, please join the mailing list. 

Videos

To find out more about SF Performances, City Arts & Lectures, Music at Kohl Mansion, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe Please Check Out These Videos:

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