Comments on: The Right Symbolism

By: Susan Jonas

Susan Jonas — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:15:08 +0000

Hey, journalists need to do their homework! Landesman has an august and earned reputation in comemrcial producing — for plays such as ANGELS IN AMERICA and CAROLINE OR CHANGE!! Now that’s ballsy! No one else would have taken these and other plays to the commercial arena, much less made them sound financially– a play about homosexuals and Mormons, and one about an unpleasant black domestic (no heart o’ gold), and how about M BUTTERFLY? He is clearly a humanist and committed to diversity and has excellent eclectic taste as well as a sense of fun. But along with his VISION within the commercial arena, he also has an extraordinary education from Yale in dramatic literature, has demonstrated a consistent commitment to education and the arts, and above all, is one of the few — very few — powerful high profile Americans who has dared to criticize very publicly (NY Times) the mainstream non-profits for blowing their missions by trying to ape or transform into commerical theatre. He is most likely then to keep the nonprofit movement, now quite derailed, ON MISSION. He’s smart in so many ways, pulls no punches, and has vision and daring. What a brilliuant appointment. The level of discourse alone will rise substantially. Yippeeee!

By: Jodi Schoenbrun Carter

Jodi Schoenbrun Carter — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:33:23 +0000

I think Rocco is just what we need and that he gets exactly what non-profits are supposed to be – see links to some of his commentary here http://www.off-stage-right.com/2009/05/more-thoughts-on-rocco-and-the-nea.html .

I hope the non-profit field can stop worrying about his commercial background and start paying attention to what a brilliant and innovative thinker he is.

By: More thoughts on Rocco and the NEA… | off-stage right

More thoughts on Rocco and the NEA… | off-stage right — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:24:29 +0000

[...] read Arlene Goldbard’s “advise to Rocco Landesman” yesterday. I was bothered that she did not seem to have much access to research into [...]

By: Fractured Atlas Blog : Arlene Goldbard’s Advice to Rocco Landesman

Fractured Atlas Blog : Arlene Goldbard’s Advice to Rocco Landesman — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:36:16 +0000

[...] always agree with Arlene Goldbard, but she’s always a good, thought-provoking read. Her latest blog post addresses Rocco Landesman, the presumptive nominee to chair the National Endowment for the Arts. I have no doubt that Rocco [...]

By: Scott Walters

Scott Walters — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:01:33 +0000

Arlene — I, too, am concerned about Landesman. However, if you read “Second Act,” which are the proceedings of a TCG conference on theatre, Landesman comes across with strong statements that the non-profit theatre has abandoned its purpose, which is reflected in this quoatation: “”I realized when we were doing Caroline or Change on Broadway as a commercial production and a non-profit was doing Barefoot in the Park that something was deeply wrong.”

Nevertheless, Broadway producers tend to be very NY-centric, and that concerns me as a recent recipient of an NEA grant to support my project to support rural theatres. Gioia made geographic diversity a priority — will Landesman?

P.S. I hope to meet you at the NET conference next month.