The Little Big Things - Setting the Standard for Accessibility in Theatre

The Little Big Things is a musical that recently opened at the West End's Soho Place and it is a stage adaptation of Henry Fraser's memoir of the same name. It is about Fraser's experience with becoming disabled and figuring out how to navigate life newly disabled.

Of course, the show portrays Fraser's life before and after becoming disabled. And this show comes up with a very simple solution that doesn't involve an abled bodied actor "cripping up" - they literally just double cast the role of Henry Fraser. They have abled actor Jonny Amies play Fraser pre-accident, and disabled actor Ed Larkin plays post-accident Fraser. Like the reality is, no one cares that the actors don't look identical.

Not only is Fraser played by a wheelchair user, as is another character, Agnes (Amy Trigg), but both their understudies are wheelchair users as well (Joseph Wolff and Elena Pitsiaeli). That is four wheelchair users in the cast of the show. The associate director, Nickie Miles-Wildin, is also a wheelchair user.

So the narrative that "there just aren't enough disabled performers" is a load of bullshit. Not only was this show able to hire five wheelchair users, but they also hired several other disabled/chronically ill cast and crew members. It is clear that in this show accessibility was a priority, not an afterthought, as it often is in theatre.

Like look at this beautiful representation:

This is a story about disability being told by disabled people, and this should really be the standard for the industry. I really hope that there are more shows like this created because this is the authentic representation disabled people deserve. We deserve to be able to tell our own stories.

Have a link to some of the music:

10 Steps to Take to Be More Inclusive in Your Photography Business

Standing out from your competition can be daunting. One easy way to do this is to make sure your business shows you are inclusive and welcoming. A lot of photographers say they are inclusive, but they are not projecting that. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself to help you figure out where you can improve your business.

For decades, I have worked to help organizations, businesses, and governments, from the local level all the way up to the national level, learn how to be more inclusive. In November, I’ll be teaching on the international stage. It isn’t enough anymore to simply be diverse. You also need to be inclusive. A lot of people simply don’t know where to begin. Beginning is as easy as completing the following audit and making any necessary adjustments.

Question 1: How Do You Show if You Are Queer, Including Transgender Friendly?

When helping other businesses, this is one of the biggest areas in which they want to improve. There are multiple ways you can show and not tell that you are queer-friendly. This includes using gender-neutral language on your website and intake forms. If working in portraiture, it includes using language such as “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women” when discussing pre- and post-natal photography. It includes having a field to list pronouns on forms if the client chooses. It means putting your pronouns in your signature, on business cards, and on your website to signal to others that they can disclose theirs to you if they choose. These are just a few things you can do to show you are purposely thinking of all people in your marketing.

Question 2: Do You Have Queer Photography on Your Website and Have You Studied It?

Queer photography is its own genre. You need to be prepared to photograph queer people using both the method that people consider to be the default and the edgier angles found in queer photography. But it isn’t only camera angle and color grading, but also posing. Queer photography has its own unique posing that gets even more specialized when shooting transgender people. You need to know how to do figure study and boudoir for transgender people. You also need to be ready for all sorts of body configurations since you cannot ask people what is under their clothing. A good rule to follow: if you wouldn’t ask the question of your cisgender and straight clients, don’t ask it about your queer clients.

Question 3: If You Offer Gender-Based Photography Services, Are You Intentionally Including Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming People?

Maternity and natal photography. Breast/Chestfeeding photography. Boudoir. Figure Study. Birthing sessions. These are all examples of photography you are probably associating with cisgender women clients. But there are also transgender people who are not women who want these services. If you are happy to serve all genders for these services, then it is as simple as stating: “we provide services for all bodies and all genders.” If you only provide these services to women, does that include transgender women? If so, then state: “we provide services for all women.” And if you are not comfortable providing these services to all bodies, then research queer photographers in your area that are inclusive of all bodies and refer clients to them. You can do so by simply saying: “I am not yet trained in how to shoot transgender bodies. But I’m happy to refer you to X. They will do a great job.”

Question 4: Are You Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes in Your Posing?

This is a big issue. It happens when posing all people. I also hear it a lot when images are being critiqued, especially when the model appears to be a cisgender woman. It is time to challenge your gaze and shoot more to how the model naturally holds themselves and pose in flattering ways based on that. It is also time to shoot some personal projects to update your portfolio with imagery that reflects a wide range of gender expressions.

Question 5: Do You Have Plus-Sized People in Your Portfolio?

You are turning away a lot of potential clients before they even click on that contact page because your portfolio does not reflect all body sizes. I know a lot of people who want to shoot bigger bodies, but they don’t know-how. It is too bad that "Full Body Project" by Leonard Nimoy is no longer in print, because that book was a masterclass in how to shoot bigger bodies. Without models of all sizes in your portfolio, you are signaling that you are fat-phobic and not body positive. It may be time for another personal project.



Question 6: How Many People of Color, Especially Indigenous and Black People, Do You Feature in Your Portfolio?

Photography has been and continues to be a tool of colonization and whitewashing. Part of western society's very notion of “good” and “evil” comes from how Western photographers have processed black and brown skin to make it look darker and white skin to make it look lighter since the beginning of the art. Now, the issue is compounded by white photographers inappropriately processing black and brown skin using digital tools. If you are shooting Indigenous people, did you consult with them and get their approval before profiting off their experiences? There needs to be a disclosure saying this on your website whenever you collaborate with Indigenous people. And if your website is full of nothing but white-passing people, it's time for another personal project.

Question 7: When Shooting Non-White Western-European Places, People, Food, Events, Etc., Are You Shooting Appropriately or Is It Appropriative, and What Language Do You Use?

I’m not sure I can ever express the utter rage I feel when I see chopsticks in Asian food imagery when they don’t belong. Asian cuisine and Asian culture are not a monolith. When shooting food, places, events, etc. that are not native to you, it is really important that you take some time to do some research first, especially if you want to work with clients who are not from white Western European backgrounds. It is also imperative that you drop the word “ethnic” and “exotic” from your vocabulary if working with diverse, racialized clients is important to you. A Sikh or Muslim wedding is just as North American as a white Christian wedding. If you wouldn’t use the word to describe your own culture, don’t use it to describe the culture of another.

Question 8: Do the Images on Your Website Include Alt Text for the Blind and Visually Impaired?

Too many photographers still do not do this. Blind and visually impaired people buy photography services. It isn’t enough to simply say what is in the images. The alt text also needs to reflect the sensory experiences conveyed in the image. It is really easy with food because you can describe things like the “warm aroma” of whatever spice is used in a dish, as one example. Do the same in other genres. What does the clothing feel like? What texture can describe the fabric? Is there a smell in the breeze? Is the sun warm or cool? Is the river trickling or roaring? Are the birds chirping or squawking?

Question 9: Is Your Studio Wheelchair Accessible and Is This Information Stated on Your Website?

Legislation on accessibility varies wildly around the world. Even in countries that have accessibility legislation, a lot of businesses do not comply. I’m a wheelchair user. If I must ask a business if their place is wheelchair accessible because it isn’t listed clearly on their site, I won’t bother contacting them or giving them my business.

Question 10: Do You Ask Your Clients if They Need Any Accommodations, Including for Sensory Issues?

When I give talks about how to be inclusive, I can see the facepalm as it flashes across people’s brains when I talk about this, because it is something often on their minds as they have neurodivergent people close to them, and yet, they forget to make this one simple change in their own business. If you deal with families, be willing to accommodate the child who will need to wear noise-cancellation headphones throughout the session. It won’t ruin the images. You are capturing the truth of that person’s identity. If a person says they are sensitive to lights, dim them and only bring them up as the shoot starts, taking frequent breaks so the person doesn’t experience sensory overload. Most of the time, if you ask this question, you won’t need to figure out how to accommodate the need. The person will let you know how it can be done.

There are many more things you can do to show your business is an inclusive business. But these 10 things are things you can do now with little effort on your part but with a big reward.

Lead image by Prostock-studio, used under Envato commercial license.

 

Does the naked body belong on Facebook? It’s complicated - more lifestyle

When is a photograph of nude bodies artistic or titillating? A woman’s exposed nipple a political statement or erotica?A video of childbirth might show genitalia. Should what someone considers a celebration of life be censored?In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart declined to define what constitutes obscenity but famously added, “I know it when I see it.”In the 21st century, does Facebook?The social media behemoth is in a well-publicised struggle to address hate speech, extremism, abuse and misinformation on its services - which together serve nearly 3 billion people worldwide.At the same time, it’s been retooling its policies on nudity. It’s tweaking its original heavy-handed policies to account for modern nuances around gender identity, political speech and self-expression, employing thousands of people and quickly evolving artificial intelligence for the task.But some of its users — including activists, sex therapists, abuse survivors, artists and sex educators — say policies at Facebook and its Instagram service are still too vague and unevenly enforced. They say their work is being unfairly censored, condemning them to “Facebook jail” with no warning and little, if any recourse.And it’s no small matter for them. Artists can be suddenly left without their audience, businesses without access to their customers and vulnerable people without a support network. And it means that a company in Silicon Valley, whose online platforms have become not only our town squares but diaries, magazines, art galleries and protest platforms, gets final say on matters of free speech and self-expression. It’s deciding what “community standards” should be for billions of people around the world.“Instagram really is the magazine of the world right now. And if artists are being censored on Instagram it’s really dangerous for freedom of speech and openness when it comes to the body and art,” said Spencer Tunick, a photographer known internationally for his shoots assembling masses of nude people.Tunick says that more recently he’s found his work “shadow-banned” by Instagram, which has become a crucial tool for artists to showcase their work. His post weren’t removed but aren’t readily visible to users.Of course, there’s near-universal agreement that child exploitation and non-consensual images don’t belong on social networks. Pornography probably doesn’t either.Facebook’s monitoring systems do a better job with nudity than with hate speech, extremism and misinformation. After all, a butt is a butt and a nipple is a nipple. But deciding when a nipple is art, porn or protest gets murky even when humans are doing the deciding. Teaching AI software about human sexual desire is a whole other ballgame.From its start as a college photo directory and social network, Facebook banned nudity. Over the years, as Facebook’s audience grew bigger and more diverse, the ban loosened. The company instituted exceptions for breastfeeding women, for images of post-mastectomy scars. Birthing videos are now allowed, as are photos of post-gender reassignment surgery.“We had this policy that said no genitals on the platform,” said Kim Malfacini, the Facebook product policy manager who oversees how the company’s community standards are developed. “Until two years ago there were no exceptions to that.”But the reviewers began seeing photos and videos women shared about their childbirth, she said. Based on the letter of the policy, those had to be removed. Malfacini said she joined Facebook around this time and began speaking with midwives, doulas, birthing photographers and others to carve out an exception for images of childbirth even though they show genitalia. Now, the images come with a warning screen; users can click through to see them.Most of the photos of unclothed children on Facebook are posted innocently by parents sharing vacation photos on the beach or kids in a bath. Sometimes these parents get a warning. Malfacini sometimes speaks to them.“They have no idea that those photos could be abused,” she said.With child nudity, Facebook is more conservative. Over the age of 3, girls can’t be topless. Boys can.It may be that, the way some bars ask anyone who looks under 40 for ID, Facebook is being extra conservative in setting the line so there won’t be any gray areas. For parents of girls, though, this can feel sexist. Should Facebook ban all photos, then, of children without a shirt? Until what age? How will it verify when the kids turn 18?“It’s a challenge,” Malfacini said.Even with carefully thought-out policies, enforcement can feel arbitrary and the consequences lasting.Dawn Robertson started her women-empowerment campaign, “Grab Them by the Ballot,” before the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. She wanted to inspire women to vote, especially in light of the MeToo movement and growing restrictions on abortion. She organized women to pose nude, covered only by strategically placed ballots, props and hashtags.The photos catch the eye, not just because the women are naked but because we are still unaccustomed to seeing images of flawed, unretouched bodies. These are women with wrinkles and fat and tattoos and unretouched skin, a wheelchair here, pregnant belly there — photos not meant to attract our gaze or sell a product but to defy.Then, she posted them on Facebook and Instagram. Suddenly, the campaign took off, though much of the attention was from right-wing publications such as Breitbart, Robertson said.“All of a sudden, it was just insane, the negative feedback we got,” she said. “Facebook banned my personal account.”Robertson said she’s been banned on and off since starting her campaign. When that happens, she couldn’t delete racist and sexist comments that were posted on her group’s page. She got no warning, or reason why she was banned, though she figured it was for nudity. That is even though Facebook allows nudity in some cases, including for political activism.Other services are dealing with the issue in their own way — Twitter is generally more freewheeling and Tumblr only recently banned adult content — but none have the heft and size of Facebook’s family of services.Lori Handler, who works as a “sex and happiness coach,” first found herself in Facebook jail two years ago, when she posted a photo of someone doing naked yoga on her page. She couldn’t comment on anything or send private messages.“I have four business pages and a personal page,” she said. “And when something goes down and I can’t post, I am out of business for a month.”Artists have staged protests and pleaded with Facebook. Some have found other platforms to show their work, but they say the company’s sheer dominance in online communications makes it difficult to have the same reach.“What we are trying to do is open the gate somewhat,” said Svetlana Mintcheva, director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship, which has asked Facebook to reconsider its ban on photographic nudity. “The human body is not this horrible, scary, traumatizing thing. It’s a beautiful thing.”But beauty has been historically a tricky thing to define. Which means Facebook’s stance on nudity will likely continue to shift.“No policy is set in stone,” Malfacini said. “On any given policy, we are in some process of revisiting some part of it.”(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Read the full article

TV, Movies, Books... and Teenage Years/Young Adulthood I have spoken a lot about on my life as a disabled person on this blog. Now I’d like delve into a weird aspect I’ve noticed about myself. Ever since I was a kid, I was a sponge for TV, books, and movies. I had no choice once I moved away from the playing with toys stage. I’d read anything I could get my hands on. I’d watch every Nickelodeon and  Disney show on. I’d watch any movie that was age appropriate.

I gravitated  towards TV, books, and film pretty much because being a chair user as young as I was left few opportunities to mess about outside like my friends or older brother. So instead  I read a lot and watched loads of TV. Cartoons, sitcoms, anything.I loved escaping the daily trials and tribulations of of a disabled kid/teenager. Rugrats, Hey Arnold! Doug, Aah! Real Monsters. Jimmy Neutron, Unfabulous, Zoey 101 to tick off a few. They were my go-to after school programming. What I think enjoyed most was that the characters on these shows were so average that I could remove the wheelchair and just focus on the parts of life without  therapy, doctors, and AFO’s.  I probably watched every episode of every classic Nick and Disney show there was because it was an escape.  The downside was I could never see a show about kids/teens like me  until I became an adult. Shout out to Scott Silveri for creating the gem that is Speechless. TV makes me happy because it’s one of the view entertainment activities I can participate in independently. After the jump, we’ll discuss my love  of the dead tree… I mean books.

There is video footage somewhere of my octogenarian (may she RIP) maternal grandma  reading me a book of Mother Goose (I think, IDK the book belonged to my much older cousin) fairy tales then as I got older memories of being read to by my dad’s dad and my immediate family. Finally, I was  taught to read in kindergarten. I pretty much haven’t stopped reading for 20 years haha. I DID however have dislike for when I had to read for school. However, I was no different than any other kid. My parents got me my first grown up book at 10 (ETA-I mean young adult in this instance ) so I learned about teen pregnancy and romantic relationships  at a young age, whoops! Anyway now that you know the groundwork, books also helped me escape. When you’re the only kid  in your class who, again can’t play outside at recess books are definitely a life savior. The different genres offer different perspectives which in turn offers different characters to see myself through. 

Film is just another great medium. It’s just mindless and gives me an escape so I don’t have think of anything. In short, books, TV, and movies have gotten me through my somewhat difficult life thus far.

What's this blog about?

Hi all,

Feeling that I should introduce myself. I'm Ada, and I'm kicking off a brand new blog. In this blog, I'm going to be discussing fantasy and science fiction books, TV shows, podcasts, short stories and anything else based on story telling. I'm doing it with a specific focus on inclusion and representation. In the realms of make-believe, we should be able to demand that all kinds of people are given the stage.

But this isn't just about me. I don't belong to all that many minority groups, I can't be the ultimate authority. I'm looking for a community of people who are willing to engage in discussions about what makes good and bad representation, recommend stories for others and give their opinions and help to shape the discourse.

I'm looking for people to help me who come from all walks of life. This includes (but is not limited to) people who are female, queer, trans, non-Caucasian, autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, gender non-conforming, religious, refugees, wheelchair users, suffering from chronic pain, immigrants, depressed, have anxiety, non-binary, partially sighted, hard of hearing, in older age brackets or belong to any other group I haven't mentioned.

Here is the first job for the community. What group do you belong to do you wish had more or better representation in fantasy and sci-fi? What bugs you most about the common representation?

For example, I get tired of only reading stories about people under 23. I'm 26 now, and a couple of years ago I got really upset about aging - everything I was looking at or reading was about people younger than me. It made me feel like my life had an expiration date and I was never going to be good for anything anymore. Recently, I've been looking for a lot more stories with older characters, and it really made a difference to how I view myself and my future.

If you've got any questions, comments or recommendations I would be so so pumped to hear them!

Check out the blog here

https://adacawthorne.wixsite.com/sorceryandsolidarity

Who Won and What Happened at the 2019 Tony Awards

‘Hadestown’ wins best new musical.

“Hadestown,” a pulsing, poetic contemporary riff on an ancient Greek myth, won the Tony Award for best new musical Sunday night, triumphing over film adaptations, a musical comedy and a jukebox show.

The win, coming at a time when Broadway is enjoying a long-running box office boom, marks the sixth year in a row that Tony voters have chosen an inventive show nurtured by nonprofits over more commercial fare.

“Hadestown,” dreamed up by a Vermont singer-songwriter who as a child became fascinated by the doomed love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, is at once tragic and hopeful, suggesting that the very act of storytelling can be a salve for sadness.

Fueled by a seven-piece onstage band, the blues-and-folk-styled show is set in a jazz club that morphs into an oil drum, and alludes to climate change, labor strife and, indirectly, immigration. The show’s most resonant song, written before Donald J. Trump became president, is called “Why We Build the Wall.”

The musical beat out an original musical comedy, “The Prom,” about a group of narcissistic actors who try to advance their careers with an act of unwanted do-goodism, as well as two stage adaptations of well-known films, “Tootsie” and “Beetlejuice,” and a jukebox musical, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations.”

All four cost more to bring to Broadway than “Hadestown,” which is also notable for the number of women at the wheel — still a relative rarity in commercial theater.

Two of its lead producers are women, as is the lead producer of “The Ferryman,” which won as best new play, and “Oklahoma!,” which won as best musical revival.

The 73rd annual Tonys ceremony, held at Radio City Music Hall, was a night more buoyant than surprising.

The inventive director of “Hadestown,” Rachel Chavkin, who previously brought “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” to Broadway, picked up her first Tony for directing the new musical. She was the only woman nominated as a director of any show this year, a fact that she noted ruefully during her acceptance speech. And she is only the fourth woman ever to win a Tony as director of a musical.

“I wish I wasn’t the only woman directing a musical on Broadway this season,” she said, before calling for greater gender and racial diversity among theater artists and critics.

“This is not a pipeline issue,” she added. “It is a failure of imagination by a field whose job is to imagine the way the world could be.”

“Hadestown” was conceived and written by Anaïs Mitchell, a singer-songwriter with no ties to Broadway (besides a childhood affection for “Les Misérables”), who won a Tony for her score. She began the musical as a DIY community theater project in 2006, touring small Vermont venues in a silver school bus packed with props.

Among the lessons Ms. Mitchell said she learned from working on the show for so long: “Nobody does it alone.”

The show’s other winners included André De Shields, a theater veteran who in 1975 broke out as the title character in “The Wiz.” He won for playing Hermes, a Greek god who serves as the musical’s narrator and travel guide.

“The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing,” the 73-year-old Mr. De Shields advised as he accepted the award for best featured actor in a musical.

“Hadestown” picked up eight awards in all, including for scenic design by Rachel Hauck; orchestrations by Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose; lighting design by Bradley King; and sound design by Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz.

The show is shaping up to be a hit, despite a lack of name recognition and a very crowded theatrical marketplace. Since opening in April it has been selling well, and word-of-mouth appears strong.

The other musicals did not go home empty-handed: Santino Fontana, the virtuosic star of “Tootsie,” won as best actor in a musical, and the show’s book writer, Robert Horn, won in his category. “Ain’t Too Proud” picked up an award for Sergio Trujillo’s electrifying choreography.

‘The Ferryman’ ends up on top in a strong season for plays.

“The Ferryman,” a sprawling Irish drama by the English writer Jez Butterworth, won the Tony for best new play, fueled by admiration for its sophisticated storytelling, which manages to be suspenseful and funny and romantic and eerie — all at once.

The category was quite competitive this season, which saw an unusually ambitious assortment of dramas and comedies, heartening doomsayers who have long fretted about the health of plays on Broadway, where the big money and big crowds flock to musicals.

The biggest play of the season — as measured by cost to develop and weekly take at the box office — is “To Kill a Mockingbird.” But it was not nominated for best play, leaving the awards race between “Ferryman” and “What the Constitution Means to Me,” an autobiographical reflection on gender and the law written and performed by the American Heidi Schreck.

The night belonged to “Ferryman,” which considers Ireland’s Troubles as refracted through a boisterous household that includes adults and children, plus a baby, a goose and a rabbit. Sam Mendes won as the play’s director, and Rob Howell won two prizes, for its costume and scenic design.

The also-rans will be fine — both “Mockingbird” and “Constitution” are planning tours, and “Mockingbird” is settling in for an extended run on Broadway.

Ali Stroker becomes first wheelchair user to win a Tony.

One of the night’s emotional highlights: Ali Stroker becoming the first wheelchair user to win a Tony. Ms. Stroker, 31, lost the use of her legs in a car accident at age two; now she is featured as Ado Annie, the lusty young woman who “cain’t say no” in a revival of “Oklahoma!”

“This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena,” Ms. Stroker said. “You are.”

Among the night’s other winners: The 87-year-old comedian, writer and director Elaine May earned her first Tony, as leading actress in a play, for movingly portraying a woman losing her memory in a revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery.” Ms. May, who burst onto the scene in the 1950s performing comedy with Mike Nichols, won for her first Broadway role in more than 50 years.

Bryan Cranston, a favorite among Broadway audiences, won his second Tony for the stage adaptation of the film “Network.” Mr. Cranston, 63, starred as Howard Beale, the “mad as hell” anchorman in the classic satire of television news.

“Finally a straight old white man gets a break!” he said, before dedicating his award “to all the real journalists around the world, both in the print media and broadcast media, who actually are in the line of fire with their support of truth.”

“The media is not the enemy of the people,” he said. “Demagoguery is the enemy of the people.”

Stephanie J. Block, a Broadway fan favorite, won her first Tony as one of three women portraying different stages of Cher’s life in “The Cher Show.” The victory is a triumph for Ms. Block, who famously lost out on the lead role in “Wicked” years ago, and who had been nominated twice previously.

She thanked not only God, but also “the goddess Cher.”

Bob Mackie, who designed Cher’s attention-demanding looks for decades, also won, for the show’s costumes.

Celia Keenan-Bolger was named best featured actress in a play for portraying Scout, the daughter of Atticus Finch. in Aaron Sorkin’s new stage adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Ms. Keenan-Bolger is 41, and playing Scout both as a young woman and as a child; in her acceptance speech, she praised the novelist Harper Lee “for making the greatest literary heroine of all time.”

And Bertie Carvel won as best featured actor in a play for his portrayal of a young Rupert Murdoch in “Ink,” a British drama about an early chapter in the media titan’s tabloid career.

James Corden proves an amiable host.

The show’s host was James Corden, a lifelong theater lover who won a Tony in 2012 (for “One Man, Two Guvnors”) and who led the ceremony in 2016. He proved, once again, an amiable, apolitical and self-deprecating host.

As the telecast began, Mr. Corden exhorted viewers — who, ironically, were mostly watching on television — to think about getting off their couches and going to see a show. He cracked joke after joke about the challenges facing Broadway — high ticket prices, low artist salaries (at least when compared to television) — but celebrated the joys, and the spectacle, of “actual people in an actual space.”

At one point he showed his father taking a phone call in the audience and describing his whereabouts as “some theater thing James is doing.” Later he joined last year’s hosts, Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles, for a spoof version of “Michael in the Bathroom” — a popular song from the cult Broadway musical “Be More Chill” — the trio joking in a Radio City restroom about their insecurity over the broadcast’s ratings.

And then, saying theater would be more popular if its stars feuded with one another as they do in pop music, he pretended to try to get stage stars to air their grievances with one another, but they mostly just expressed their mutual fandom.

‘Oklahoma!’ wins as best musical revival.

A provocative production of “Oklahoma!” — dark and violent, doubling down on questions the show has always asked about America — won a two-way contest for best musical revival.

The win marked the first time the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, which first opened in 1943, won a competitive Tony contest although it was honored with a special prize in 1993 for its 50th anniversary.

The new production features video, contemporary dance, and an unsettling depiction of frontier justice that is startling to those accustomed to more traditional versions of the musical.

A starry 50th anniversary staging of “The Boys in the Band,” a pioneering gay drama by Mart Crowley, triumphed in the contest for best play revival.

Mr. Crowley, tearing up as he accepted the award, paid tribute to “the original cast of nine brave men who did not listen to their agents when they were told that their careers would be finished if they did this play.” Several members of the original cast later died of AIDS-related illnesses.

King Kong and Spider-Man’s aunt are already winners.

Each year, noncompetitive Tony Awards are doled out, some of them noted on the televised broadcast, and others presented at earlier ceremonies or during commercial breaks.

The biggest winner this year, at least as measured by tonnage: King Kong. The massive animatronic marionette at the heart of a new stage musical, “King Kong,” was honored with a special Tony, given to his Australian creators, Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company.

This Kong is not ambulatory — he’s tethered by cables to the show’s set — so he wasn’t able to travel to Radio City Music Hall. But he appeared on the broadcast by video.

The industry’s annual lifetime achievement awards went to Rosemary Harris — a veteran stage actress, now featured on Broadway in a revival of “My Fair Lady,” who played Aunt May in three Spider-Man films; to the playwright Terrence McNally, whose “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” is now running on Broadway; and to the musician Harold Wheeler, best known for his years as musical director of “Dancing With the Stars.”

Among the other honors:

Madeline Michel, the theater director at Monticello High School in Charlottesville, Va., received the Excellence in Theater Education Award. Ms. Michel’s program used drama to explore racial inequality after violence followed a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

The actress Judith Light, a two-time Tony winner, won the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, which recognizes volunteerism, in honor of her work on H.I.V./AIDS issues and her support for gay rights.

Marin Mazzie, a beloved stage actress who died of ovarian cancer last year, received a posthumous special Tony Award in recognition of her advocacy for women’s health.

Jason Michael Webb, a composer and musical director, won a special Tony Award for his arrangements of the gospel songs and hymns sung in the play “Choir Boy.” The cast of that play, which closed in March, will reunite to perform at the award ceremony.

The annual Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater were given to the choir Broadway Inspirational Voices; to Peter Entin, retired vice president of theater operations for the Shubert Organization; to Joseph Blakely Forbes, the founder and president of Scenic Art Studios, Inc.; and to the Theater District’s firehouse, FDNY Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9.

And the annual regional theater Tony Award went to TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, a nonprofit founded in 1970 that is one of the nation’s few major regional theaters located in suburbia.

The Tony Awards, named for the actress and philanthropist Antoinette Perry, are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing.

The recipients are chosen by 831 Tony voters, many of whom work in the theater industry and have a financial connection to one or more nominated shows. To be eligible, the shows must have opened by April 25 in one of the 41 Broadway theaters located in and around midtown Manhattan.

Winners will get an eight-inch high statuette featuring a circular silver medallion with the masks of comedy and tragedy on one side and information about the winner on the other.

The awards ceremony takes place at a time when Broadway is booming. Attendance is at record levels — 14,768,254 seats filled during the season that just ended — and so is the total box office, which was just over $1.8 billion.

Sahred From Source link Arts

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Art provides an intimate exploration of interconnectivity, a journey into a universal language displayed in a tapestry of diversity, interwoven through vibrant threads of rhythms, sounds, tones, vibrations, movements, hues, shades, costumes, theatrics. The healing power of art is an unexplainable magnificence that starts deep within and spirals outward into an array of beauty and brilliance. Art in many forms has carried messages from one, to many – social, political, ecological issues and movements effectively protested through unique expressions that captivate purpose, intention, personal and collective consciousness. Art reveals the mysteries of the darkness we experience, while emboldening the light within to shine and spread in richness, creativity, and splendor.

At the IONS 18th International Conference this July in Santa Clara, California, we will gather together to explore what is possible for humanity and the role artistic creations play in our transformation. Join us for an interactive conversation with our Art and Consciousness Paneists Aranka Israni, Marco Cochrane, Fariba Bogzaran, Bertram Meyer, and Dana Lynne Anderson. You’ll be taken on a journey through visual art by Aranka Israni and engage in participatory artwork with Love Ablan, Jeremy Capdevielle, and Laurie Marshall. Experience musical performances by Mandhu Anziani, Thrive Choir, and Afrolicious.

For four days, you’ll also have the opportunity to discover yourself through deep transformation across a spectrum of healing modalities. The conference will offer morning yoga, meditation, and therapeutic practices in addition to a Gaia-sponsored lounge of relaxation. Our Inner Space Experiential Village will offer an eclectic mix of experiences and offerings: multimedia and interactive storytelling art, educational resources, massage therapy, biofield tuning and sound healing, life coaching, and much more.

Featured Panelists, Visual Artists, and Musical Performers

Aranka Israni | Artist I am intrigued by the capture, preservation and examination of moments between moments. My practice is deeply grounded in the alchemical process and representations of energy in conversion from one expression to another – of emotion as it seeks expansion, transmutation and release. My work is rooted in transformation, acknowledging separation that moves into union, and wholeness that is capable of stepping apart from itself and viewing its own nature.

  Dana Lynne Andersen | Artist Dana Lynne Andersen is a multimedia artist, writer, playwright and teacher who has taught and exhibited on three continents. With a Masters Degree in Consciousness Studies from John F. Kennedy University she uses art as a catalyst for seeding evolutionary ideas, showing in venues such as the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Institute of Noetic Sciences (where she was artist in residence). Her artwork has been featured on the covers of books and journals internationally, and her visionary thinking has been explored in newspapers, radio and television.

Fariba Bogzaran | Co-Founder of The Lucid Art Foundation Lucid art is the convergence of the universal creative force expressed in a spontaneous work of art that elicits in the viewer a sudden awakening of an aspect of the inner worlds. The Lucid Art Foundation was established in 1998 to support artists who explore the concepts of arts and consciousness.  Fariba Bogzaran, PhD 1994, is artist/scientist, and founder of the Dream Studies program at John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley, California, where she taught as an associate professor for 25 years. She teaches lucid dreaming at CIIS and gives lectures internationally. Using her art-based research, she co-founded Lucid Art Foundation (1998) with the surrealist painter Gordon Onslow Ford. She established an artist residency program for the foundation where artists work and live in the heart of nature. Fariba has lived adjunct to wilderness for the past thirty years and is active in earth’s preservation.

Marco Cochrane | Artist, Sculptor, Metal Worker Marco believes that the time we have to solve the problems that threaten our existence on this planet is running out, and that the key to finding real lasting solutions is bringing feminine energy into balance with male energy: a global shift, already underway.

  Bertram Meyer | Co-founder of ONEDOME Bertram Meyer is a serial entrepreneur who is the Co-founder and CEO of ONEDOME. Bertram is passionate about impactful and mission-driven businesses and in showing that they can be very profitable at the same time. ONEDOME is an immersive entertainment platform and destination, including the first permanent, interactive, multi-user mixed-reality experience (using AR). In collaboration with global creatives, innovators, artists and technologists, they curate interactive arts and immersive experiences that inspire a shift in the audience from the “Me” to the “We.”

Jeremy Capdevielle | Artist & Entrepreneur With a certificate in drama therapy, a degree in organizational behavior, and experience leading learning journeys in eight countries, Jeremy brings levity, fun, and depth wherever he goes. He’s a dedicated people geek who loves supporting leaders to leverage their power and voice to build belonging. As head of partnerships at Socially Creative, Jeremy cultivates relationships with visionary leaders to further the mission of belonging and collective creativity. When not people geeking out you can likely find him surfing with the dolphins (and trying to not think of great whites) just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Laurie Marshall | Artist For 40 years, Laurie’s goal has been to empower young people to have a positive impact on the challenges they face. What if we asked them to do only important work? Her passion for collaborative innovation, project-based learning, and arts integration has taken her to rural and urban classrooms. She co-founded a Waldorf-inspired parent cooperative named Hearthstone which is still going strong after 32 years.  Laurie has facilitated learning with universities,  government agencies, and businesses. In coaching teachers and administrators in public and private schools, she focuses on developing meaningful projects to heal community heartbreak (academic mastery always follows), violence prevention, and peace-building through art.  She models creative collaboration through the Singing Tree Mural Project  a youth-led process, inspired by trees, where communities make a shared vision of success. 74 murals have been made by 16,000 people from 50 countries so far.

Anziani | Sound Healer Through the complete recovery of being a wheelchair bound quadriplegic Madhu has learned vibrational vocal healing techniques from various traditions, including Tibetan Buddhism, Wisdom Healing Qi Gong, Peruvian Cross-Cultural Shamanism, and Taoism. A sound healer extraordinaire, he has also studied Jazz and World Music and went on to be certified in Sound, Voice, and Music Healing at CIIS. In his sessions he offers energy healing on an amethyst Crystal Biomat, using tuning forks tuned to sacred number ratios, as well as offering techniques and guidance for opening the healing power of the voice.

Thrive Choir The Thrive Choir was born to sing the music for the revolution. They are a diverse group of vocalists, artists, activists, educators, healers, and community organizers based in Oakland, California, directed by Bay Area musicians Austin Willacy and Kyle Lemle. Their heartfelt and soul-stirring original music is a fusion of gospel, soul and folk. As part of Thrive East Bay — a purpose-driven community focused on personal and social transformation — the Choir’s music illuminates the joy, pain, and beauty of what it means to be human in this time of systemic transformation. They lift up the house every first Sunday at Thrive East Bay in downtown Oakland; they have performed with Rising Appalachia, recorded with MaMuse, and shared the stage with social justice luminaries Ericka Huggins, Joanna Macy, and Fania Davis. They perform at marches, conferences and festivals across California, most recently at Bioneers, Blessed Unrest, IONS, the North America Permaculture Convergence, and the Women’s March. They are also launching a larger Thrive Street Choir, mobilizing hundreds of people to sing in hope and resistance at protests and beyond.

Afrolicious | Live Electronic Band Afrolicious has established itself as both one of the most legendary weekly parties in San Francisco, and of the top live/electronic bands on the scene. Started as a weekly dance party featuring DJs and brothers Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz alongside percussionists, MCs and horn players, and an amazing crowd from day one.  Between their weekly party and sound system shows that involve the brothers DJing alongside live percussion, they also have a six-piece live band that emphasizes the organic elements, instrumentation, and energy of a live ensemble combined with club heavy beats and textures the weekly party has come to be known for. The Afrolicious band and sound system has performed at such legendary venues as Red Rocks, Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Electric Forest Festival, Snow Globe, Burningman, Sea of Dreams, The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Elbo Room in San Francsico (five plus years weekly residency), Cielo, Nublu, Bembe, Zanzibar, and Silent Frisco.

Love Ablan | Artist, Visual Storyteller, Biohacker, Adventure Guide Love Ablan believes the world is a magical place and everyone’s a hero on an epic journey. She is here to bring light, magic, and voice to these journeys, and help these stories come to life. Love resides on the sparkly shores of Los Angeles, and the misty docks of Martha’s Vineyard. Love is everywhere. As a Visual Storyteller, BioHacker and Adventure Guide, she travels the world learning self-mastery and meditation techniques from teachers of both ancient and modern traditions. Love combines art, meditation, and neuroscience to create visceral experiences that help everyday people master their minds, break self-limiting beliefs and patterns, and live a more meaningful, joyful, and authentic life.

The post Experience Transformative Art appeared first on IONS.

Experience Transformative Art https://noetic.org/blog/experience-transformative-art/

Ways to SEO Your Sales Funnel In 6 Steps

The post How to SEO Your Sales Funnel In 6 Steps appeared first on ClickFunnels.

In this blog, I’m going to show you the path to SEO your marketing funnel in 6 simple steps.

To be honest, I’ve been staring at my screen for a long time. Maybe more than 4 hours. I was just sitting and waiting for a brilliant idea to pop up out of my head. I wrote a draft a couple of times but I wasn’t happy and satisfied with them.

I saw this post at SEOmoz:The SEO Path to Becoming a Great Funnel Owner and thought to myself that I was I was that brilliant. It’s a great article! It’s long but it’s refreshing and very actionable.

The author of that article is point on. As a sales funnel owner, I have also noticed that the different roles and strategies of an SEO have created a lot of buzz and controversies. Plus, if I would choose between reacting to the effects of the competition or performing SEO based on causation that caters to the psychology of search, I would choose the latter.

The model of the SEO and online marketing sales funnel is has been said to be continuously changing and I’m a witness of it. Although, in my opinion, and this is also coming from someone who’s an expert in content marketing, the role of an SEO hasn’t completely changed much because the main goal is still the same. It’s always focused on generating more organic traffic to your sites or to your client’s sites.

So, to increase your online marketing presence and to improve your SEO sales funnel, I have made 6 simple steps and I guarantee that you will see the sales funnel working for you. Are you ready?

1. Use your own domain name in your funnel

The reasons are pretty much obvious. We are all aware that there’s no SEO benefit if you’re going to use yoursite.clickfunnels.com (if you’re using ClickFunnels or any similar funnel builder.) Plus, having your own domain name is awesome. It also makes people find you easier.

Troy Hollenbeck.com made an impressive article about the benefits of owning your own domain.

Simplicity. A custom domain such as “www.mybusiness.com” is easier to remember than a generic, co-branded domain such as “www.google.your business.com’’.

Relevance. As of July 2012, there are over 140 million active domains, and as of 2014 14.3 Trillion–websites, live on the Internet. The sooner you stake your claim, the more likely it will be that your address matches your business profile.

SEO. Having your own domain name will increase your website’s positioning under search results on top search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Permanence. Keep your domain name for as long as your business is online. No one else can use your domain as long as you pay the host that set it up.

Credibility. Prospective customers will more readily transact with businesses with a professional, established online presence – made possible with a personalized domain.

Locality. Google searches can be heavily influenced by a user’s geographical location, so if you appeal to regional customers, take advantage of country extensions on your e.g.“www.mybusiness.com.ca’’

Correspondence. Once you acquire a domain, your email addresses will appear as “[email protected]” for example. Like we mentioned in our last post, custom email address go a long way in maintaining professional communications with your customers.

Save time and money when your buyers want to reach out to you or when you need to contact someone. Also, you can get a domain for a low cost, no worries. It is a smart move for your online future.

Customized domains will give you a truly online presence and it will establish your business as a brand.

Ubiquity. You will have the opportunity to acquire multiple domains with different suffixes (i.e. .org, .net, .me, .co) and associate all of them with your biz.

2. Use PPC data

We are all aware that PPC data isn’t new when you want to get more SEO traffic. Yes, SEO and PPC, as combined, can be traffic and conversions generators for your sales funnel.

According to Cognitive SEO, “Pay-per-click (PPC), also known as cost per click (CPC), is an advertising model used to direct traffic to websites. Therefore both SEO and PPC have the same purpose: driving traffic while making your website known to the user.”

Did you know that one of the most used online advertising platform to create PPC campaigns is Google AdWords? It’s true.

“Google AdWords offers advertisers the setting to bid on certain keywords in order for their ad to appear on Google’s search result page. An advertiser (agency) or business can make an account on AdWords and start campaigns, create ads and upload a list of keywords.”

But, of course, you can’t just fully rely on using only Google AdWords. In order to have a smart SEO strategy that works, it’s recommended if you use it together with Google Analytics.

3. How thick is your head and how long is your tail?

Image source: Longtail.com

According to Practicale Commerce, “Long tail theory assigns the labels “head” and “tail” to groups of keywords, as shown in the graphic above. The “head” of the curve represents the keywords that drive the most traffic individually.”

For example, if you sell guest posting services, those head keywords would be words like “guest posting” and “benefits of guest posting” and, of course, your site’s brand name. On the other hand, the “tail” of the curve represents everything that doesn’t generate massive amounts of traffic like “guest post exchange” or “ guest post link up.”

Through this, it allows SEO’s to segregate keywords into head, body, and tail, increasing competition stats and potential ROI.

4. Pay attention to the top of funnel keywords

Image source: SearchEngineLand.com

Zero Gravity Marketing said it perfectly on their blog: When setting up a PPC campaign, the type of keyword you choose is dependent on your goal. If you are looking to create brand awareness and develop a strong remarketing list, then you will want to use top of funnel keywords. Getting consumers to enter your sales funnel is the first step to a sale, which is why top of funnel keywords are so important. When setting up a PPC campaign to bring awareness to your product/service, you will want to target keywords that signify someone is searching for information, or they are having a problem that your brand can solve.

For example, if someone is looking for a new Christmas tree to set up in their home, the top of funnel keywords they might search include:

Christmas tree

Artificial Christmas tree sale

White Christmas tree

Top of funnel keywords are critical for your sales funnel’s growth but, if your expectations and goals are perfectly set, top of funnel keywords will absolutely bring new clients.

5. Build keyword funnels

“Keyword research can give you great insight into customer problems, needs, desires, and intent. Categorizing the keywords you’ve found is an important step in putting together potential campaigns and deciding on which ones are worth pursuing in your organic or paid search efforts.”

This means that ever since Google AdWords became critical of the importance of keywords to the creative, specifically grouping or categorizing your keywords is relevant.

Search Engine Land wrote a long but informative article about how to use the keyword funnel and he divided it into 10 stages.

Activity Funnel Relates To

This is a very general field of activity, and will often not be a focus of marketing efforts since the customer may not actually be experiencing a problem yet.

However, display advertising that targets field-focused websites or is demographically targeted may be a useful vehicle from a branding perspective in this stage.

Suspicion That There May Be A Problem

This funnel is focused around the mental model of problem-solving; other mental models may make for useful funnels as well, but I’ve found “problems” to be universally applicable.

In this stage, there may be symptoms described but the customer does not understand the nature of the problem, or perhaps they don’t even understand that the symptoms are a problem at all.

It’s a critical stage where you can have great influence on the direction a potential customer will take.

Problem Identified

This is an interesting bucket because you may have some latent versus blatant needs that you can separate out; different types of problems may actually fork off into different funnels.

Looking For Solution Alternatives

In this stage, the prospect is trying to understand the variety of approaches available to them. There are many ways to lose weight for instance; diet, exercise, portions, surgery, and so on.

This is fairly early in the research phase and can be ripe fruit for thought leadership content (great for the SEO channel as well). If you’re really lucky and you’re the only solution to a problem (perhaps you’re in a new market) then this stage may barely even exist and prospects may jump directly from stage 3 to stage 5.

Solution Space Has Been Chosen

In this stage, the prospect has decided on a particular approach to solving the problem (for instance, “dieting” to solve a weight problem).

Complicating Issues

This stage perhaps belongs alongside the funnel, but I usually place it in the middle of the research phase. Many people with problems have complicating issues; diabetes (if they are interested in weight loss), a wheelchair-bound spouse (if they are interested in travel), and so on.

Addressing these complicating issues can be a great way of differentiating your product or service and reducing friction for a final sale.

Researching A Specific Solution

Now the prospect is getting *very* specific about a particular member of the solution space (“Low-Carb Diets” in the case of a Weight Loss/Dieting funnel for instance).

Researching A Specific Brand

At this stage, the prospect is getting very serious and is educating themselves about specific providers.

Remember, brand terms are well known in the industry to convert at a higher rate as generic terms (twice the rate on average in my experience), so addressing this funnel stage should be a critical component of any online marketing effort.

Conversion Imminent

Terms that include phrases like “coupon code”, “pricing”, “cheap”, are akin to flashing red lights with a siren screaming “transaction about to occur!!!”

Spending a lot of time building out variations in this funnel section is usually well rewarded. Google Suggest is a great place to find ways that potential customers are raising their hands in these ways.

Post Conversion

Often, a neglected funnel stage, this is where you will find customers searching for things like “repairs”, “replacement parts”, “add-ons”, “upgrades”, “warranties”, and “support”. You may or may not have offerings that address concerns in this funnel stage, but it’s important to think about them.

If you’re a travel company, trip insurance may not be something your customers will actively seek out often, and paid search campaigns targeting that concept may not be worthwhile.

If, however, your paid search keyword research turns up the concept, and you then prompt your company to put together some sort of revenue-sharing deal with a trip insurance provider to integrate their product into your cart, I would say the time spent researching funnel stage #10 was well worth it.

6. Build content maps

Image Source: HubSpot Blog

It’s important to build your content map to help your sales funnel align with your customers. You should understand how they decide, how they buy or shop (their purchasing habit), what is important to them (their needs or wants) and write your offer that would capture your audience’s attention or craft a message that connects with them.

So, how do you build your content map?

Search Engine People created simple steps to map your content.

List topics, themes, and industries relevant to your company.

Conduct competitive analysis and understand how you stack against your competition in your industry topics.

Define personas.

Audit content and tag by topic, content type, sales cycle step, and persona.

Optimize existing pages.

Create a plan to fill content gaps.

Implement your plan.

We’re finally at the end of my blog. Did you learn a lot from the steps above? Easy, isn’t it? If you want to drive more traffic into your site, check out Snap’s site today!

Thanks for reading How to SEO Your Sales Funnel In 6 Steps which appeared first on ClickFunnels.

Source

https://blog.clickfunnels.com/seo-sales-funnel-6-steps/

RSI Comm-Link: Gamescom and Gloria Theater Tickets Announcement

Star Citizen is back at GamesCom and Gloria Theater for 2947!

The Fifth Annual Star Citizen Gamescom Party!

For those of you who joined us in Cologne last year, you will be happy to hear that our plans for this year are very similar at this stage. Gamescom runs from 21st through 26th August. We will have a fun and interactive booth in the game halls, opportunities to meet the team in the evenings, and a live show at Gloria Theater on the Friday 26th. Join your host Chris Roberts as we showcase some of what we’ve been working on this year, and deliver some never-seen-before gameplay!

Ticket Details

The 750 tickets for Gloria Theater are €30 each and will go on sale with the following format:

Saturday 22rd April 7PM CEST: 200 Tickets available to Concierge and Subscribers only

Saturday 22rd April 11PM CEST: 175 Tickets available to Concierge and Subscribers only

Sunday 23rd April 7PM CEST: 200 tickets available to all backers

Sunday 23rd April 11pm CEST: The remaining 175 Tickets available to all backers.

The show will start in the evening on the Friday, with timings to be confirmed closer to the date.

Tickets will be available here:

When & Where

Gloria Theater, Apostelnstrasse 11, 50667 Köln.

Space is limited, so be sure you get your tickets fast! This will be an evening event, going through until late. Times to be confirmed closer to the event.

- Frequently Asked Questions

Parking

There are many car parks close by and within walking distance from Gloria. Top 3 below:

Parkhaus Wolfsstraße:

Open: Mon-Sun 24 hours

Address: Wolfsstraße 6, 50667 Köln

Gertruden-Parkhaus:

Open: Mon-Sun until 1am

Address Breite Straße 169-177, 50667 Köln

Parkhaus Bazaar de Cologne:

Open: Mon-Sun until 1am

Address: Große Brinkgasse 5, 50672 Köln

Additional parking available on the street, with a parking ticket necessary until 11pm.

What to Bring

PLEASE remember to bring your printed ticket or a digital copy stored on your phone in addition to your photo ID. If you have a Citizen Card or any Star Citizen clothing, bring it (cosplay encouraged).

There is a bar at the venue for drinks, and a small selection of snacks available from the café. Attendees are highly encouraged to eat meals prior to the show.

Each year, fans have kindly offered gifts for the team. Unfortunately, since many of us are flying back to the United States the next day we are unable to accept anything at the event. We truly appreciate the thought, though!

Is the Gloria Theatre wheelchair accessible?

Wheelchairs should be pre-registered with us by entering a support ticket (link to Contact Us) to ensure suitable entry is available for the event. The hall is located on the ground floor of the theater. While wheelchair users will be given priority access, it is worth noting there are no disabled toilets on the premises; however, these can be found in public buildings in the neighbourhood.

Central Library Josef-Haubrish-Hof 1 50676 Koln http://bit.ly/2aD26V0

Can I bring my own food and drink?

No, this is not allowed for the venue – Please stop by one of the traditional German restaurants nearby before the event.

Will there be seating available?

No, this will be a standing event.

Is there an age restriction for the venue?

Yes, the event is 18+

Can people bring their own seating for the wait?

You may bring a small foldable seat to use while outside the theater, however use of them inside the premises is prohibited, so you would need to use the coat check once inside. Please only bring what you’ll need with you to the event, as well as your Star Citizen merchandise!

Is there a Coat Check?

Attendees will be encouraged to store their belongings in the visitor’s cloakroom. Coats, jackets, bags, umbrellas etc., may be asked to be checked if they are large; with deference to everyone’s safety and ease of access. This storage costs €1.50 per ticket (Remember to keep this safe!)

Does my ticket also grant me access to Gamescom?

No, you will need to purchase a separate ticket to attend Gamescom at Koelnmesse. Our party at Gloria Theater does not require you to attend Gamescom. They are separate events.

Please visit the GamesCom Website for their tickets.

What do I do before the show?

Rather than queuing up for hours beforehand, we encourage backers to meet up nearby. Keep an eye on Spectrum for posts on this topic closer to the event date.

If there are unsold tickets from Saturday 22nd, will they be available to all backers when tickets are added on the 23rd?

Yes. On Sunday 23rd the ability to purchase tickets will be unlocked to all backers, which will include any previously unsold tickets.

Stay In The Loop!

Look out for latest news, contests, and additional information about where Chris and the team will be during Gamescom. Whether you’re with us in Germany, or back at home, keep up to date with all things Star Citizen by following our various channels on social media:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

http://bit.ly/2nnOVxj

RSI Comm-Link: GamesCom and Gloria Theater Tickets Announcement

Star Citizen is back at GamesCom and Gloria Theater for 2947!

The Fifth Annual Star Citizen Gamescom Party!

For those of you who joined us in Cologne last year, you will be happy to hear that our plans for this year are very similar at this stage. GamesCom runs from 21st through 26th August. We will have a fun and interactive booth in the game halls, opportunities to meet the team in the evenings, and a live show at Gloria Theater on the Friday 26th. Join your host Chris Roberts as we showcase some of what we’ve been working on this year, and deliver some never-seen-before gameplay!

Ticket Details

The 750 tickets for Gloria Theater are €30 each and will go on sale with the following format:

Saturday 22rd April 7PM CEST: 200 Tickets available to Concierge and Subscribers only

Saturday 22rd April 11PM CEST: 175 Tickets available to Concierge and Subscribers only

Sunday 23rd April 7PM CEST: 200 tickets available to all backers

Sunday 23rd April 11pm CEST: The remaining 175 Tickets available to all backers.

The show will start in the evening on the Friday, with timings to be confirmed closer to the date.

Tickets will be available here:

When & Where

Gloria Theater, Apostelnstrasse 11, 50667 Köln.

Space is limited, so be sure you get your tickets fast! This will be an evening event, going through until late. Times to be confirmed closer to the event.

- Frequently Asked Questions

Parking

There are many car parks close by and within walking distance from Gloria. Top 3 below:

Parkhaus Wolfsstraße:

Open: Mon-Sun 24 hours

Address: Wolfsstraße 6, 50667 Köln

Gertruden-Parkhaus:

Open: Mon-Sun until 1am

Address Breite Straße 169-177, 50667 Köln

Parkhaus Bazaar de Cologne:

Open: Mon-Sun until 1am

Address: Große Brinkgasse 5, 50672 Köln

Additional parking available on the street, with a parking ticket necessary until 11pm.

What to Bring

PLEASE remember to bring your printed ticket or a digital copy stored on your phone in addition to your photo ID. If you have a Citizen Card or any Star Citizen clothing, bring it (cosplay encouraged).

There is a bar at the venue for drinks, and a small selection of snacks available from the café. Attendees are highly encouraged to eat meals prior to the show.

Each year, fans have kindly offered gifts for the team. Unfortunately, since many of us are flying back to the United States the next day we are unable to accept anything at the event. We truly appreciate the thought, though!

Is the Gloria Theatre wheelchair accessible?

Wheelchairs should be pre-registered with us by entering a support ticket (link to Contact Us) to ensure suitable entry is available for the event. The hall is located on the ground floor of the theater. While wheelchair users will be given priority access, it is worth noting there are no disabled toilets on the premises; however, these can be found in public buildings in the neighbourhood.

Central Library Josef-Haubrish-Hof 1 50676 Koln http://bit.ly/2aD26V0

Can I bring my own food and drink?

No, this is not allowed for the venue – Please stop by one of the traditional German restaurants nearby before the event.

Will there be seating available?

No, this will be a standing event.

Is there an age restriction for the venue?

Yes, the event is 18+

Can people bring their own seating for the wait?

You may bring a small foldable seat to use while outside the theater, however use of them inside the premises is prohibited, so you would need to use the coat check once inside. Please only bring what you’ll need with you to the event, as well as your Star Citizen merchandise!

Is there a Coat Check?

Attendees will be encouraged to store their belongings in the visitor’s cloakroom. Coats, jackets, bags, umbrellas etc., may be asked to be checked if they are large; with deference to everyone’s safety and ease of access. This storage costs €1.50 per ticket (Remember to keep this safe!)

Does my ticket also grant me access to GamesCom?

No, you will need to purchase a separate ticket to attend GamesCom at Koelnmesse. Our party at Gloria Theater does not require you to attend GamesCom. They are separate events.

Please visit the GamesCom Website for their tickets.

What do I do before the show?

Rather than queuing up for hours beforehand, we encourage backers to meet up nearby. Keep an eye on Spectrum for posts on this topic closer to the event date.

If there are unsold tickets from Saturday 22nd, will they be available to all backers when tickets are added on the 23rd?

Yes. On Sunday 23rd the ability to purchase tickets will be unlocked to all backers, which will include any previously unsold tickets.

Stay In The Loop!

Look out for latest news, contests, and additional information about where Chris and the team will be during GamesCom. Whether you’re with us in Germany, or back at home, keep up to date with all things Star Citizen by following our various channels on social media:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

http://bit.ly/2ohPDeN