GAN-e-meed Joins StageSource For Career Lab for Women in Theatre 7/10

GAN-e-meed Theatre Project and StageSource announce Perfecting Your Pitch, a workshop for performing artists and arts leaders. Perfecting Your Pitch, lead by noted speaker and activist Robbie Samuels, continues GAN-e-meed's Career Labs, an essential program developed to address the specific challenges faced by women in theatre through skills workshops, panelist discussions, and community building. The Boston Center for the Arts is generously donating their space for The Career Labs.

Join Robbie Samuels, noted speaker and activist, as he leads attendees through the finer points of perfecting a pitch. This workshop, created specifically for theatre and performing artists will include experiential exercises and take-aways. "One of the greatest challenges of theatre artists and producers is to ‘convince' the world that theatre is a worthy endeavor to fund." Says, SerahRose Roth, Executive Director of GAN-e-meed. "Robbie is a talented speaker and we are lucky that he has generously agreed to create a new workshop for GAN-e-meed."

Known for his innovative workshops "Art of the Schmooze" and "Fundraising: Getting Past the Fear of Asking," Robbie is creating this new workshop, incorporating the best of his materials and information designed with the theatre artist in mind. Every participant hear a passionate speaker bringing his dynamic and fruitful experience to the fore and walk away with a clearer grasp of project descriptions, personal/company mission, pitch talking points and best practices. The workshop, like all Career Labs, is welcoming to all genders and artistic and business disciplines.

"The Career Labs was created for women to develop additional skills to bring their work to the next level." Continues Roth, "Every artist should be able to speak eloquently, bravely, and passionately about her project in a variety of situations, whether it be a grant-maker, potential collaborator, or regular audience member. Adding skills will bring us closer to bridging the theatre artist gender employment gap, which his at the heart of GAN-e-meed's mission." Like previous career labs, Perfecting Your Pitch will be covered by both live blogging and tweeting (hashtag?) to offer insight and conversation for those unable to attend.

Produced in part by StageSource and generously hosted by the Boston Center for the arts, both organizations are known for their missions to create important growth opportunities for Boston area artists.

About The Career Labs
For over a year, women and their supporters gathered monthly for informal networking, dialogue, and skill sharing at GAN-e-meed's Networking Nights for Women in Theatre. Conversation often focused on the real challenges women face as they move ahead with their careers and artistic aspirations. "The Networking Nights began not just as a chance for women to enhance their relationships, but as a way for GAN-e-meed to learn what women really need to accomplish their goals. Certain topics kept coming up, and the Career Labs are built around those expressed needs," says Lewis.

The Career Labs series began in January with The Power to Ask, a workshop on negotiation for women in theatre and the arts. Twenty-five female theatre artists of many disciplines came together to listen to Sara Laschever speak on women's propensity to avoid negotiating, and to work on their own negotiation skills. Participants walked away with increased skills and the confidence to further their own careers. Live blogging posts are available at www.ganemeed.org/category/season-2011/career-labs.

The series continued in April with Boston's Glass Proscenium, a panel discussion featuring such prominent Boston area artists as Karen McDonald, Angie Jepson, Kate Warner, and Dawn Simmons. A video transcript of the event will be made available this fall. GAN-e-meed Theatre Project's Career Labs will continue next with a round-table discussion on Balancing Act: The Work/Life continuum for Artists and two more installments during the 2011-2012 season.

"The Career Labs," Lewis continues, "challenge artists to have honest discussions and generate immediate and long-term solutions, empowering a corps of female theatre artists who are ready to take their careers in their own hands."

"I am thrilled that GAN-e-meed is taking this step forward," adds SerahRose Roth, Producing Artistic Director. "We exist not just as a Production Company, but as an advocate for the women our mission serves. Offering this series of opportunities is an important aspect of this."

Prominent Staff for The Career Labs
Jen Alison Lewis is Director of Career Labs and Publicity Associate for GAN-e-meed Theatre Project, as well as producing BOOBfest and directing in the One Page Play Experiment. She is a theatre director; actor on stage, screen and mic; acting coach; administrator; mom; and President of the Friends of the Medford Family Network. Her acting work can be seen in new play readings at Boston Playwrights' and heard in countless online trainings. She holds a BFA from NYU and is a member of Actors' Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, and StageSource.

SerahRose Roth is a Founding Board Member and the Executive Director of GAN-e-meed. She has developed and taught innovative programs for youths through adults at New Repertory Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Yellow Taxi Productions, Boston Children's Museum, and Chicago Children's Museum. SerahRose is a consultant for the inclusion of theatre education in the early childhood classroom and has a particular passion for working with teens and classical scripts. Directing credits include Silence and Lucy Dreaming (GAN-e-meed), Electra (Newton South High School), Inherit the Wind and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Littleton High School). Acting credits include the title role in Hamlet (GAN-e-meed), Ophelia in Hamlet (First Folio Shakespeare and The Theatre Co-Op), Liz Mordan in Our Country's Good (The Theatre Co-Op), Aerosmith in Frodo-A-Go-Go: The Rings Recycled (The Free Associates) and Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest (Penobscot Theatre). SerahRose holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University and an advanced certificate from Boston University's Institute for Non-Profit Management and Leadership.

Julie Hennrikus is the Executive Director of StageSource, and an adjunct faculty at Emerson College's Performing Arts Department. She began her arts management career in small commercial theaters (the Next Move Theatre & Charles Playhouse) in Boston, working front of house, box office and in company management. In 1990 she oversaw the box office set up and operations for Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment at the ICA. In 1991 she was hired by Harvard University to create a box office for Sanders Theatre, an 1166 seat concert hall in Memorial Hall. After a renovation of Memorial Hall she was promoted to Program Manager, scheduling Sanders Theatre, Annenberg Hall, Lowell Hall and 16 other spaces. In 2004 she became the General Manager and Director of Marketing of Emerson Stage, the producing arm of the Department of Performing Arts at Emerson College. Julie tweets under @JulieHennrikus.

Dawn Simmons is a director and writer living in MA. Locally Dawn has directed or assistant directed for The Theatre Offensive, Holland Productions, FeverFest (Small Theatre Alliance of Boston), The Boston Theatre Marathon, Mill 6, Actors Refuge Repertory Theatre, Fort Point Theatre Channel, Actors' Shakespeare Project, Another Country Productions, Company One, Boston Theatre Works, and As Yet To Be Theatre. In New York State, she spent 3 years with Irish Classical Theatre Company as their Resident Assistant Director. Simmons studied playwriting at Boston University and earned her BA from The University at Buffalo. Dawn is an Artistic Director for New Exhibition Room, the Director of Programs for StageSource and a founding member of The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston.

About Gan-e-Meed Theatre Project
GAN-e-meed Theatre Project advances the role of women in theatre. Their second full season, 2011-2012, features the continuation of The Career Labs, the second annual One Page Play Experiment featuring the winners of last year and 15 new finalists which will be presented at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, a touring production of Two-Headed by Julie Jenson, directed by Rebecca Webber which closes its run at The Boston Center for the Arts, and several additional networking opportunities to be announced later in the season.

Their inaugural 2010-2011 season launched with an acclaimed Hamlet, featuring an all-female cast and starring, included monthly networking nights, several short collaborations, the innovative One Page Play Experiment, and the first two installments of The Career Labs. The performance season concluded December 18, 2011 with Silence by Moira Buffini which hailed as "rich with imagination and talent" (EDGE Boston) and "an evening of gripping theater" (ArtsFuse.org.)

GAN-e-meed Theatre Project was founded in 2009 to advance the role of women in theatre. It promotes the study of and visibility of gender bias within the theatre community with the goal of establishing gender equity in New England theatre. For additional information about Career Labs, the upcoming season, to join the mailing list, or to learn more about GAN-e-meed, visit www.ganemeed.org.

About StageSource
Founded in 1985, StageSource is a non-profit theatre service organization led by staff in our Boston offices, a Board of Directors, member volunteers and advisory committees representing our members. StageSource reaches over 6,000 households and businesses including individual theatre artists (actors, directors, designers, playwrights, and other theatre professionals), 220 theatre, film, casting, audio, video, service and theatre support companies, and over 50,000 patrons directly and hundreds of thousands more through our member theatres. Our members are located throughout New England, New York and beyond.

About the Boston Center for the Arts
The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is a not-for-profit performing and visual arts complex that supports working artists to create, perform and exhibit new works; builds new audiences; and connects art to community. The BCA serves arts audiences through exhibitions, live performances and community events, and supports artists through affordable studio, rehearsal and performance space on our historic South End site. The BCA's two-acre campus is home to hundreds of working artists, as well as several nonprofit arts and educational groups that provide a wide spectrum of services. To learn more, please visit www.bcaonline.org.

What: "Perfecting Your Pitch", a workshop for women in theatre.

When: Sunday, July 10, 2:00pm - 4:00pm, preceded by networking 1:30-2:00pm

Where: Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston

Registration: Registration is $25 in advance or $30 cash only at the door. A limited number of deeply discounted early bird registrations are available. Registration begins on June 28 at ganemeed.eventbrite.com

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