Blogs

Finding Relief!

By Laurie Baskin posted 2 days ago
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Applications are now being accepted for the many forms of relief associated with the historic $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) that was signed into law on March 27, 2020 and other federal relief programs. We would like to share some important (and urgent) advice from 20 Degrees : Time is of the essence to prepare and submit your application for the SBA Paycheck Protection COVID-19 relief loan program , as these dollars will go quickly and nonprofits are eligible but the competition for these funds will be fierce. Getting your application in as early as possible is one of the best things you can do. ...
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A Very Different Arts Advocacy Day

By Laurie Baskin posted 2 days ago
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Every year, about 500 arts advocates join together in Washington, DC, for a two-day event – the national arts advocacy day. After a day of rigorous training, advocates navigate the marbled halls of House and Senate office buildings and make the case for various issues that impact the arts field. This year was different. In keeping with COVID-19 related cancellations across the arts field and every sector, the in-person Arts Advocacy Day which was slated for March 31 was canceled. But, TCG had already confirmed 5 Hill visits – so we inquired about conference calls instead. And, Hill staffers rose to the occasion! TCG always assembles an Arts Advocacy Day ...
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COVID-19: Non-Profit and Small Business Resources (NJ NY CT) from ART/NY

By Laurie Baskin posted 4 days ago
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Ginny Louloudes, Executive Director of ART/NY, has shared some very helpful resources. An ART/NY board member, Andy Lance, who is Managing Partner at GibsonDunn sent this comprehensive, 10 page, Resource Guide on the Loan and how to apply.  It is posted in the Circle Library .   In addition, this is a shorter summary and analysis sent by ART/NY's Government Relations Team at Cozen O'Connor.
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Federal COVID Relief Guidance Begins to Emerge

By Laurie Baskin posted 5 days ago
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U.S. Department of Labor Publishes Guidance for Workers and Employers Offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced guidance to provide information to workers and employers about how each will be able to take advantage of the protections and relief offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) when it takes effect on April 1, 2020. The new guidance includes questions and answers addressing critical issues such as what documents employees can be required to submit to their employers to use paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave; whether ...
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How many more people could have been helped if they had been exposed to theatre?

By Erica Ortiz posted 8 days ago
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How many more people could have been helped if they had been exposed to theatre? It is a strange time for a celebration. Today is World Theatre Day, and it comes just months after I joined the Theatre Communications Group as its director of marketing. None of this is about me, but as we all sit in isolation, the bitter ironies of Coronavirus cancellations make it feel like it is about all of us, and our stories.  At TCG, we have been advocating vigilantly for support from Congress for our field, knowing that when/if we come out of all of this unscathed, the theatres will be the one of the major places where we all gather to heal. And yet, ...
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Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

By Laurie Baskin posted 8 days ago
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The largest COVID-19 federal relief package yet is expected to be signed into law today, March 27, 2020 , and includes new forms of support that can be accessed by arts organizations and self-employed individuals.  With your help, TCG  has been a leading voice as theatres join advocates in the arts and nonprofit sectors nationwide seeking federal relief that will protect their substantial workforce and safeguard their essential service to communities in the wake of unprecedented closures and event cancellations. Forms of federal support that have traditionally been more limited are now expanded to offer opportunities for the nonprofit sector and workers ...
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Nicholas Viselli, Artistic Director of Theater Breaking Through Barriers, To Deliver U.S. World Theatre Day Message 2020

By Emilya Cachapero posted 8 days ago
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 27, 2020     PRESS CONTACT:  Corinna Schulenburg | cschulenburg@tcg.org | 212.609.5941                                                           Nicholas Viselli, Artistic Director of Theater Breaking Through Barriers, To Deliver U.S. World Theatre Day Message 2020 Pakistani playwright Shahid Nadeem delivered International message “As this global outbreak unfolds and continues to restrict us from practicing what we celebrate here today, perhaps this time of confinement will ultimately help to burn away the polarizing walls that divide us, revealing a strong, unbreakable framework that links ...
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It's CyberTheatre Time

By Michael Mufson posted 9 days ago
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Dear Friends and Colleagues, I hope you and your loved ones are all doing as well as can be expected in these crazy times.   One of my responses has been to create website for building community around the possibilities of creating live, real-time  theatre in cyberspace. I hope it will be a resource, a tool, a forum, a creative space for brainstorming, a refuge, and an outpost for theatre in cyberspace.. The website is www.cybertheatre.org .   The website will link you to a google group I’ve created to host the forum. I’ve seeded the forum with 8 topics, and participants can add new topics as well.  Here are the first 8: How can theatre exist in cyberspace? ...
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Contact Your Member of Congress Today to Support Arts and Culture in Coronavirus Legislation!

By Laurie Baskin posted 15 days ago
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Greetings, TCG is asking our Member Theatres to urge your Members of Congress to sign onto a Dear Colleague letter - this opportunity is only open today as it hopes to influence the very fast moving Coronavirus stimulus package. Here is the message to Members of Congress and the letter that is being circulated: DEADLINE: COB TODAY Dear Colleague: Please join us in sending a letter to House leadership asking for support of the arts and culture community in any economic relief package. As noted in the letter, we're seeing reports that the sector has already seen financial losses of at least $3.2 billion from canceled productions, programming, and consumer ...
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Latest News as COVID Relief Moves through Congress

By Laurie Baskin posted 16 days ago
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Latest News as COVID Relief Moves through Congress The federal government is swiftly enacting new forms of federal relief in response to the COVID-19 crisis, amid intensive advocacy by TCG, its members, and partners in the arts and nonprofit sectors. Below is a top-line overview of the developments. We will continue to be in frequent contact with the theatre community to provide much more detailed information about forms of relief and to let you know how your continued advocacy can sustain the arts sector's unique capacity to support the U.S. economy, uplift the human spirit, and provide lifelong learning. Relief Package #1: Coronavirus Preparedness ...
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American Theatre Magazine and TCG Announce March 2020 Issue Focuses on Climate Change

By Rob Weinert-Kendt posted 19 days ago
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Phantom Limb Company’s 2018 production of “Falling Out.” (Photo by Jati Lindsay)   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 16, 2020     CONTACTS: Corinna Schulenburg | c schulenburg@tcg.org | 212-609-5941  American Theatre Magazine and TCG Announce March 2020 Issue Focuses on Climate Change New York, NY – American Theatre magazine, published by Theatre Communications Group (TCG), is proud to announce the publication of its March 2020 theme issue on Theatre & Climate Change . The special package explores ways theatre artists can mitigate the effects of climate change in their work and put their art in the service of advocacy ...
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Paid Leave Provisions Included in Bipartisan Federal COVID-19 Relief Package

By Laurie Baskin posted 21 days ago
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Theatres have joined the broader arts and nonprofit sectors in speaking up out of concern for their workforce in the wake of Coronavirus closures and performance cancellations.  Early this morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan COVID-19 relief package that includes the following:  mandated emergency paid leave for employees for qualified sick leave, family and medical leave, and to care for a child whose school has closed refundable payroll tax credits for required emergency paid leave provided by employers with fewer than 500 employees (nonprofits are eligible for relief) refundable individual tax credits for ...
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Weekly Briefing 414: Next Steps To Address The Outbreak

By Teresa Eyring posted 22 days ago
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Our theatre field has always shined brightest during our darkest days. After 9/11, theatres served as places of community healing. During the worst of the HIV/AIDS crisis, theatre artists acted up against a hostile and indifferent government, saving lives. After the Parkland massacre, theatre kids led a movement to end gun violence. The resident theatre movement itself was born alongside the Civil Rights movement, with theatres like the Free Southern Theatre embodying their inextricable connection.   With the COVID-19 global pandemic, dark days are here again, and in spite of the closures of many of our theatres, we know our field will find a way to shine ...
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Coronavirus, Performance Cancellations, and Congressional Action

By Laurie Baskin posted 23 days ago
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Coronavirus, Performance Cancellations, and Congressional Action The Coronavirus presents a serious health risk, as well as considerable challenges to theatres. As conveners who bring people together to experience live performance, we must consider how to do so in a way that protects our audiences, staff, and artists. The impact of the Coronavirus is variable and rapidly changing in communities across the country.   As Congress and the Administration consider some form of federal economic assistance that may be targeted or widespread, theatres are urged to join others in the arts and nonprofit sectors that are speaking up to   ensure that ...
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CANCELLED: The Center for Fiction and TCG Present Tracy Letts & Will Eno in Conversation

By Erica Ortiz posted 25 days ago
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The following event has been CANCELLED in response to COVID-19. TCG is committed to playing our part to flatten the curve and lessen the harm of the outbreak. The following information is provided for archival purposes. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 10, 2020               CONTACTS:  Corinna Schulenburg | cschulenburg@tcg.org | 212-609-5941        The Center for Fiction and Theatre Communications Group Present Playwrights  Tracy Letts & Will Eno in Conversation Tuesday, March 23, 2020, at 7pm. Admission is $25 New York, NY – The Center for Fiction , a 200-year-old literary nonprofit that's created an immersive ...
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A Plurality of Narratives: Youth Activism and Open-Source Theatre with #HereToo

By Rachael Hip-Flores posted 26 days ago
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Some thoughts about The World:   It is small. Terrible things sometimes happen in it. We are capable of changing it.   So, when a bit of research brought up a dear friend’s name, and I read she was doing some beautiful work, I was excited to reach out and learn more. Barbara Pitts-McAdams and I have known each other upwards of ten years. She is a long-time member of Tectonic Theatre Company , an original cast member and dramaturg of The Laramie Project , and a Moment Work master teacher. Her latest project, developed with fellow Tectonic artist Jimmy Maize , is #HereToo , a series of devised plays around issues ...
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PAA - UBIT Repeal, New Visa App Forms and more

By Laurie Baskin posted 29 days ago
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  New Visa Form, UBIT Repeal and more U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has  begun implementing  the "Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds" final rule as of February 24, 2020. Under this rule, USCIS will consider age, health, income, education and skills, and other factors in order to determine whether a non-U.S. citizen "is likely at any time" to become a  public charge , and if so, may then deem that person inadmissible to the United States. For visiting artists, this policy change will affect petitions involving an extension of stay or change of status, but  all  petitioners for foreign guest artists ...
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New Project In The Works

By Caleb Price posted 29 days ago
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Excited to return to playwriting; no better way to come back than to share about the new play that I’ve started. I can’t wait to see where this play will lead m
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WEBINAR: Coronavirus Preparedness for Theatres

By Corinna Schulenburg posted 30 days ago
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Coronavirus Preparedness Webinar from Theatre Communications Group on Vimeo . TCG is closely tracking the coronavirus to ensure the theatre field has access to the resources needed to navigate the immediate and longer-term impacts of an outbreak. We encourage theatres to read this list of resources , and to view the Coronavirus Preparedness Webinar  archived above ,  which originally aired on Friday, March 6, from 1-2pm ET. The Coronavirus Preparedness Webinar provided a holistic take on preparedness for theatres, including: a deeper understanding of the virus from an epidemiologist's perspective; general preparedness strategies; how to forecast ...
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ANNOUNCING OUR CLOSING PLENARY FOR THE 2020 NATIONAL CONFERENCE: NATIVE NATION

By Samuel Morreale posted 03-03-2020
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The Conferences and Fieldwide Learning team is in the thick of planning the 2020 TCG National Conference: Phoenix , and we will soon share specifics on which sessions you will see at the convening. In the meantime we are thrilled to announce the Closing Plenary session: NATIVE NATION .  Original Native Nation  art work “Abundance” by Paul Molina, Akimal O’Otham, Pee-posh, Quechan, Pawnee, and Hispanic from theGila River Indian Community (GRIC).   In partnership with Cornerstone Theater Company, TCG will remount an adapted version of Larissa FastHorse and Michael John Garcés'  Native Nation to celebrate the end of our ...
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