Geva Cohort Club - Invitation

I attended the June roundtable presentation at the Rochester Arts & Cultural Council (because I'm treasurer of Concentus Women's Chorus, I am invited to these discussions, and it's too bad they aren't open to more people, because they are very informative, and the presenters deserve a larger audience than they seem to get!).  Tom Parrish, Executive Director of Geva Theatre, and Susan Chekow Lusignan, Director of the Nazareth College Arts Center, each had a half hour to talk about their organizations.  Having met Tom previously, and having become a supporter and subscriber of Geva, I was more interested in learning about the Arts Center, especially as a potential location for a Speaker Series.  However, when Tom started talking about the Cohort Club, my ears perked up, and my eyes must have lit up, because a few days later, I got an email from Sean Daniels, in charge of New Audience Programs, asking me if I would like to participate.  I would be given access to the scripts,  rehearsals and performances, and have a chance to interact with the actors, director, and possibly the playwright, in exchange for journaling about the experience, in an attempt to get the word out about Geva and their productions.  I couldn't say 'yes' fast enough!

My freshman year in college, I ambitiously decided that for a senior thesis in German, I would direct a German play.  As preparation, I needed to take a directing class, and the prerequisite for that was Acting 101.  Well, I completed both courses, but didn't follow through on the thesis.  It occurred to me only in my junior year that not only would the audience for a German play be extremely limited, but the pool of "actors"would be even more so!  Being young and inexperienced and uncreative, it didn't occur to me to take something like Schnitzler's Reigen (aka La Ronde) and turn it into a 2-actor play (a la The Blue Room).  I did get a chance to direct a friend's play written for her senior thesis, and enjoyed the process, as well as the creative collaboration.  But that experience, coupled with the courses, confirmed to me that my talents lay not on, behind, or above the stage, but in front, as part of an educated audience.

I can't wait until our kickoff meeting in August, and am looking forward to watching the process of 'putting it together, bit by bit.'  And I hope my excitement will translate into a few additional ticket sales!

For more information about the Cohort Club:
http://gevajournal.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/clubbing-at-geva/

To view the Geva season:
http://www.gevatheatre.org/