Hey friends,
Today’s your last chance to get a subscription at the reduced Early Bird rates. Click here to see all of your options. You can call our office until 6pm or order on-line until midnight. It’s going to be an awesome season…

Posted by Tania

I dug up this picture of an old OtB van from our archive. Pictured, former Artistic Director Mark Murphy and former Managing Director Sara Pasti. Anyone know what year this was taken?

Click on the picture to follow a link to our new Flickr account and see a larger version. We’ll be adding photos over the summer, both from the archive and from current events. I’ll be posting some on the blog, but become one of our contacts on Flickr to relive all the memories…

Posted by Tania

Sarah hands the check to Jeff Crockett, while Lane pumps his fist in triumph.

Thanks to all the amazing patrons and friends who raised the paddle during our fundraiser last week, we are the proud owners of this lovely 2005 champagne-colored 15 passenger Chevy van. It’s even got tinted windows and A/C! We’ll be rolling to the airport in style now.

Both shows turned out great. By circumstance the first was on Father’s Day which we acknowledged and the second happened to be the first day that same-sex couples could be married in California[which are recognized in Washington State], which we also acknowledged. The performers were great in both shows, but in general they were a little more relaxed and into their characters in the second. As a curator I wanted the experience to be a little different for the audience as well, so in celebration of the last 12 Minutes Max of the season the most successful season yet, John and I served delicious cake from the Macrina Bakery during intermission. It seemed to be appreciated by the audience and also the performers who were able to partake. Being a first time curator was a transcendent experience which I recommend to anyone interested in the arts, but on reflection my job was very easy compared to the artists who were in the show as well as the ones who auditioned. Even though John and I had to agonize about who to put in the show and who to leave out to make a compelling show, it was nothing compared to the effort put in by all the performers to create something original and make themselves vulnerable to the dictates and whims of strangers who controlled their 12 Minutes Max fate. Thank you to all the performers, John, and all the people at On the Boards who made this a great and wonderful experience.

-Mark Chandler

I was guest curator for the last show of the season ending in 2008. John Wilson was my co-curator. Not having been a curator before I was apprehensive about doing it, but very thrilled as well since I have been a subscriber to OtB for years and have been going to 12 Minutes Max for years as well. I was so thrilled that I skipped plans to go to San Francisco’s Symphonies Black & White Ball, something I haven’t missed since 1981. John Wilson, my co-curator, is a very experienced teacher at Cornish who specializes in dramaturgy. He is an amazing and wonderful person to work with, providing a great depth of theatrical knowledge and the ability to express it in a constructive, positive, and thoughtful way. Sean Ryan of OtB coordinated everything and has obviously been doing this for a while since the whole experienced worked like clockwork. There were 15 acts that had signed up to audition. Two of them were on DVD (One from Canada, another from New York[artists take note: one of the DVDs could not be read at all-check them before sending]). Most of the acts where great, which made it difficult for John and I to make decisions about who we wanted in the show. Since we are two people with different ideas and tastes it was interesting, but not unexpected that we strongly agreed on some things, had mild disagreements about others, and – most difficult – entirely different opinions on some of the acts. I think we spent at least an extra hour in friendly discussion, each at turn taking each other’s side, in hammering out the differences and what to include to make a good show. Everything worked out in the end and I think we both felt we had put together something that people would find thought provoking and entertaining.

More of my experience to follow after the performances…

-Mark Chandler

Here’s a review of the show on Seattlest:

Transcendent scenery, creative use of technology, and a clean, uncluttered script creates a piece of theatre that is multi-layered, unpretentious, and totally innovative. READ MORE