FILE AWAY, YOUNG CHICKEN

What does an opera staff want to do most on a cold February day? Sort through 20-year old files in a cold warehouse, of course!

It was a requisite of Warehouse Move 2010 (aka Kish's Headache 2010) to assess all the archived files from the opera's history. The options: save, recycle or shred. LOTS will be recycled, but I made sure to keep a few interesting pieces that I will share with you guys.


This photo shows only about a third of all the boxes. Why, yes, the staff looks like they are about to go camping! (We would have had plenty of kindling, let me tell you.)


William: I'm the luckiest guy in the world! I get paid to sit among empty paint cans and sift through 30 years of audit papers!


Sarah: This memo from 1983 is utterly fascinating. Should I keep it? It's such a toss up to keep it or the invoice for 35 pounds of cookies in 1994.


Either Lisa is recycling with super speed (entirely possible) or I blurred the photo because she made a naughty gesture at me (also, entirely possible).



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DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA

There's perfectly good reasons why the opera office has a gallon of vegetable oil, a box of knee pads, a bunch of stethoscopes, a bevy of undergarments and a boar's head. But you'll just have to figure it out yourself. Thoughts?
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GOODNESS GRATIS!

Turns out people like really like free theater props, costumes and stage sets. Really.

I mentioned that, in the midst of moving our warehouse, we were putting a bunch of these items up for grabs. And grabbed they were. It was so cool that we got to both recycle and help out other theater organizations and people, which include the following (not an exhaustive list--it's just what Kish could recall off the top of her pretty little head.):

• Lakewood High School
• Avon Lake High School
• Hudson High School
• St. Ignatius High School
• John Adams High School
• The Cap Academy
• Opera Western Reserve
• Youngstown Opera Guild
• Youngtown Playhouse
• Toledo Opera
• Erie Street Theatrical
• Cleveland Play House
• Oberlin College
• Near West Theatre
• PlayhouseSquare
• Hebrew Academy of Cleveland
• Cleveland State University
• and a weird-arse carnie guy

Awesome.
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ECO-CARL: Watch and learn

People have different learning styles. Some are better at reading, some at listening, some at watching. (And some people...well, that's why there's reality television.)

To explain our Green Opera Initiative, we've written about it and now we have a video for you aural and visual learners. (Warning: you may find this video dull for the sheer fact that I do not make an appearance in it. Maybe next time.)

how YOU doin'?

THERE'S A NEW KID IN TOWN

With all that's going on (the warehouse move, the Green Opera Initiative, GO!, drinking, basking in the amber glow of my awesomeness...), I completely neglected to introduce a new member of the Opera Cleveland staff.

In November, we bid adieu to our Director of Development Steve (or Uncle Steve, as he was known colloquially around the office--he'd probably be that uncle you see at family gatherings who amiably slapped you on the back, handed you a glass of scotch and then crammed a $20 in your pocket). He accepted a great job, so cheers to that.

The good news for us is getting to welcome Tracy Glenn as our new Director of Development. She comes from what is ostensibly a completely different world--that of rock 'n' roll. Her last job was at House of Blues, being a one-woman show for its foundation. I would reckon she's realized that the opera world is not so different from rock 'n' roll--perhaps it's even a bit more bawdy. (Or maybe it's just my mission to make it so.)

THE JOINT IS JUMPIN'

It's been a while since I had a night on the town, so I was happy to head a wee bit east to The Cleveland Play House for its production of Ain't Misbehavin'. The Play House will become a neighbor when it moves to PlayhouseSquare in the next two years to present in the Allen Theatre.


Ain't Misbehavin' was fantastic! Quite simply, it was a fun, amusing show--with hints of poignancy and bawdiness. (Sounds like a description of a good, comic opera, no?)



I got to see my girl Lisa at the Play House (I have lots of Lisas in my life. Everyone should.)

And, yes, I am wearing pearls. Sometimes a guy's gotta mix it up.

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ECO-CARL: On Broadway

They say the neon lights are bright going LED on Broadway.

Opera Cleveland is certainly not the only arts organization looking on the green side of things. The mecca for musical theater junkies everywhere--Broadway--has its own "green team." More accurately, it's the Broadway Green Alliance. They are busy identifying and promoting better (i.e. more sustainable and eco-friendly) practices in the theater community.

What's cool and oh-so-helpful (and sorta makes me forgive whoever it was that allowed Katie Holmes on Broadway) are the lists and resources for better practices for theater professionals available online.

Opera Cleveland had started to compile our own lists of everything we could possibly think to consider in improving our sustainability, and BGA's lists are a great reference.

For theater shops and warehouses, there's an excellent score card, created by Mo' Olelo Performing Arts Company. It essentially rates all varieties of materials like paints, adhesives, textiles, plastics, and woods on their respective levels of toxicity and eco-friendliness. Frankly, it's a also great resource for people who are doing home improvement sorts of projects.
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