Live, from CONvergence

Hey All!

This is a blog update being written from CONvergence, the greatest science fiction and fantasy gathering in the planet!

One show down, one to go. Friday’s show went very well, with the exception of the CONvergence engineer who created a less-than-stellar sound mix. The cast was PHENOMINAL! I think we had the best read of every skit we’ve ever had. I’m so proud to be associated with this show. And best of all, we ADDED audience as we went along. When we started the show, we had a handful of people, most of whom were the other audio theater producers in attendance at the con. By the end, about 25-30 people had come in. That’s awesome.

More CONvergence updates later. Just know that we all arrived safe and sound and – I think, are having a great time.

Podcast Milestone!

We passed a milestone today as podcast downloads for the month of June went past 1,000. To put this in perspective, our total downloads dating back to October is about 3,100. I give a lot of credit to the increased archive space meaning a new listener now has six or seven shows to download instead of just two or three.

One more note, keep watching this space this week as I'll be attempting to update the blog while at CONvergence. We'll be doing live shows on Friday and Saturday at 1pm, so (provided I can find internet) and I'll bring you up to date those evenings - maybe with pictures!

Jeff

Man, I'm so pathetic...

Podcast listeners for the IBRT just passed 3,000 for the year, and the numbers for June just passed May. This makes me smile. I might even make 1,000 this month. This is very bittersweet for me because it says a lot about how far we've come, and a lot about how far we have to go.

Rehearsal yesterday was abbreviated by schedule conflicts (again!) Thursday's should be nearly full excepting one actor who I already knew wouldn't be there. We have ten hours rehearsal left before next Friday. It could come together, it's not a sure thing. If I could just get everyone in the room at the same time...

Much cookin’ these days, and my desire to blog continues to grow even if my time to blog doesn’t. We’re rehearsing The CONvergence show currently, and after a slow start, I think it’s going well. I didn’t really take control of things to begin with, and in hindsight, that was a mistake. Once I got organized and thought through each rehearsal, things improved. I think actors resent lack of leadership. My fault, no one elses. I play things loose sometimes in hope someone else will take the lead, relieve some of the pressure on me. The more we do these shows, the more obvious it becomes that no one will be coming alongside to help build the theater with me. I’ve been doing this for four years, and several people have offered. But I don’t know how to delegate things (mostly due to the fact that I’m making most of it up as I go) and no one else is willing to dive in and get messy. And even with clear instructions, I don’t always trust people, especially in I-Falls. Our culture here is very enabling, very indulgent. People can fail to follow-through on promises without any real repercussions. That makes it tough to rely on others. Besides, don't you think that after four years, someone would have stepped forward by now?

Mostly, it’s my own shortcomings that vex me. I have a fear of success, or at least it seems that way. A little good stuff comes my way, and I slip into a foul mood. This should be one of the best months of my life professionally, and all I can see are problems. Writing this clears my head, however. I think the show will come together well. As to the future of the theater, that’s to God, I guess. I don’t think I can do better than that.

Negligent, I have been looking at this blog. You'd think nothing happened in the months of March and April, but isn't so. First and foremost, the picture above is actually me showing of our first-ever grant check from the Arrowhead Arts Council. I was surprised to see that Photoboth on my Mac actually takes pictures as a mirror-image, so you can't make out the wording on the check. It does say 'Icebox Radio Theater' and an amount just north of 2-grand.

What's if for, you ask? THE IBRT IS HITTING THE BIG TIME!!

This 4th of July weekend, we'll be performing at CONvergence in Bloomington, MN. Two live shows as part of this big sci fi convention. If you're in the neighborhood, we'll be performing on Friday 7/4 at 1pm and Saturday 7/5 at 1pm. You'll have to buy a day-pass to the CON, but that's actually a pretty good deal - plenty of free entertainment plus food, etc.

Anyways, we got our funding and we're getting ready to go. More on this story as events warrant.

Just a brief note to show off a picture from our Valentine's show, and let everyone know that we have, officially, applied for a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. We are asking for funds to take a trip to Minneapolis this summer to do a live show at CONvergence, a science fiction convention that attracts nearly 3,000 visitors each 4th of July weekend. We'll be going regardless of the funding, but I have high hopes that this application will be successful, and the first of many.

As I write this, many, many things for the Valentine’s Show wait to be done. I am, in a word, procrastinating. But there is a lot of news and you, the readers of the blog, deserve an update much more often than you have.

The big news, of course, is ‘A Radio Valentine’ goes on the boards in a little under twelve hours. This show has been a real pleasure to work on, and I hope it shows for the audience. We have several new actors, and plenty of familiar ones, plus more than a few kids. Really, this show has been great. We all meet for pizza at 5:30 with the curtain going up at 7:00. Wish us broken legs.

The other big news is that the IBRT has found a home. Rainy River Community College has generously offered us theater space, and office space for the pleasure of our company. The college’s theater program is down to one show every five years, and I think college administration is hoping our presence will spur some more activity. At any rate, we’re happy to be there and hope we can honor them by our presence.

Our efforts to write our first grant are bearing fruit. A preliminary meeting with the Arrowhead Arts Coalition (our part of Minnesota is referred to as ‘The Arrowhead’. Look at a map an you’ll see why) was very positive. The powers that be were impressed with our first draft and with some polish, we should be able to fund our trip to Minneapolis this summer.

All for now. Drop us a line sometime and Keep Listening!

-Jeff