June 20, 2019
6 Ways Great Directors Serve the Theatre
My theatre life can best be termed eclectic, and I mean that in the most positive way. Over my 35-year career I have worked on a wide variety of productions with a wide assortment of organizations. The biggest benefit to such a broad education is that I gained an abundance…
February 23, 2017
Setting Expecations
When I direct a show I hand each of my actors two sheets of paper. The first has a list of goals and deadlines, and the second covers my expectations for the company. That second sheet is a bulleted list of behaviors and attitudes that are expected throughout the production.…
February 9, 2017
When Is It Time To Start A Comeback?
It’s now been a few days since Super Bowl LI (51) and I can start to reflect on what most people are calling the greatest Super Bowl ever played. But it didn’t start out that way. Early on it looked like Atlanta was going to run away with it, rolling…
February 5, 2017
Video Cast – Passion
January 24, 2017
Fun is Universal
People all over the world love to smile, laugh, giggle, tickle, fist-bump, high-five, fanny-pat and just have a good time. They do it by playing cards, going to the movies to see La La Land or Hidden Figures, grabbing their guitars and belting out a chorus of “Kumbaya,” or running…
January 10, 2017
Taking Care Of Your Instrument
To get the most fun out of a performance, you need your instrument to be working at its optimum—tuned up and ready to go. But what is your instrument? We understand that musicians have instruments: trumpets, violins, guitars. Those are the tools of their trade. They make music and their…
December 10, 2016
Setting C.L.E.A.R. Goals
If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else. —Yogi Berra One of the most important factors in determining your ultimate success is that you know where you’re heading—where you want to end up. To do this, you need goals, realistic goals, both short-term and long-term,…
November 4, 2016
UW Football Prepares and Has Fun
Living in Wisconsin for the past 21 years, I have learned to embrace (and enjoy) the University of Wisconsin and their many great sports teams—along with being a fine educational institution. This past weekend our UW Badgers played the Nebraska Cornhuskers; a top-ten, Big Ten college football team. In…
October 21, 2016
NOT a Four Letter Word
I believe fun gets a bad rap. It has become synonymous with the quick-and-easy activities that provide instant gratification—or at least easy gratification, and certainly nothing serious or meaningful. It has seemingly lost any relationship with ideals such as commitment, accomplishment, hard work, or sacrifice. Today, fun has become a…
