Seattle Times Newspaper: "Many Seattle theater fans have been regaled, moved and amused by Hana Lass in the past year.
The gifted young actress played an ardent Juliet in Wooden O's 'Romeo and Juliet.' She also covered several roles in 'Crime and Punishment' at Intiman Theatre. She was a blue-nosed gamin and a witch in two Seattle Children's Theatre shows. And her sprightly Ariel graced Seattle Shakespeare Company's 'The Tempest.'
So what parts will Lass tackle in the coming season?
As of today: none."
4 comments:
I can definitely relate to the issue this article raises. It is getting so hard to be employed by a theatre due to the economy. It's hard to get excited about graduating and entering the professional world when there is this constant worry of whether or not any jobs will be available.
It is interesting to note the different approaches to the current economy that theatres are employing. Especially group ventures with out of state companies. However this seems like the "cheap" way out artistically. I understand that theatre has to maintain a somewhat solid financial base, but at chat cost to the art of theatre? I hope that some companies are at least trying to hold on an artistic foundation and remember the reason they chose theatre as a career in the first place. I am looking forward to being a starving artist who gets to create new things every day.
I worked for a theatre company this summer who is drastically re-evaluating its use of AEA Actors and Stage Managers with respect to budgeting. Since non-union actors and SMs can be paid significantly less, they were even investigating the possibility of dissolving their LORT contract. In contrast, the Kennedy Center in DC has taken the opposite approach to these tough times and is actually doing more shows and events than in the past and hasn't critically cut their budget at all. I'm curious to see how these two opposing philosophies play out as well as the flux of actors/SMs in and out of AEA.
This is a tough issue because the options seem to be rather slim. On the one hand you could make what cuts you can to keep the theatre open, or you can close the theatre entirely until things come around. I support the theatres for staying open in whatever way they can. Yes, the locals are suffering, but that will either drive there to be more opportunities for them in alternate theatre or them to adjust accordingly. Working in this business is highly volitile, and if it was secure and easy and if everyone made lots of money off it all the time, then everyone would do it. We all know what working in theatre is like, and the fact we keep with it in spite of it is what makes it a world of people who are passionate about doing it. Bad times happen, but the fact the art can go on in its fashion is a success for our business.
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