Oppenheimer Reviewed and Other Odds 'n Ends
Good morning campers
The Oregonian finally got around to reviewing In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer today... here's the link: Oregonian Review. Apparently the Willamette Week came to see the show last weekend, but didn't print a review. The Portland Mercury... well, we've learned not to expect too much from the Mercury. It's the Mercury. If we aren't serving PBR in the lobby, they're generally not too interested anyway :)
As I mentioned in my last post, Trish and I attended Profile Theatre's anouncement of their next season on Monday night. For those of you who don't know, Profile's "thing" is presenting the work of one playwright for an entire season; you really get a feel for the writer's style and recurring themes by going to see a season that encompasses early work and newer work. They're going to feature Wendy Wasserstein in the 2006-2007 season (their 10th, by the way). Some of the plays they're going to be producing are Uncommon Women and Others (her first), The Heidi Chronicles (Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning), and The Sisters Rosensweig (one of her last plays). We and just about every actress in Portland are looking forward to the upcoming season (most of her plays have a very female-heavy cast, which is a good thing - most other plays in the American canon have just the oposite proportion).
Wednesday saw me attending a grant writing seminar put on by the Oregon Arts Commission, the Oregon Cultural Trust, and the Oregon Council For The Humanities. The seminar was attended by around 140 people, all looking for tips on how to write their grants and get the best chance at the funds available to nonprofit arts organizations. I walked away with a lot of paperwork and a brain so full that I'm sure some leaked out... I always knew that grant writing was complicated, but ye gods man!
Even though I'm not working with Mt. Hood Rep in an operational capacity, I did grab a lot of the paperwork for Karen and Riley Caton, the board presidents... and I took about eight pages of notes. I didn't just go for them, though... I will produce theatre again some time in the future. Just not now. I'm a little too tired. But someday soon, I'll probably put a show up under my own banner (whatever that banner may read), and it'll be in my best interest to have thought about raising money and approaching granting organizations.
Raising money is certainly on Trish and My minds of late. We just got a phone call from Sandra Vincent, our tax preparer, about how much we're going to owe in taxes this year. Actually, the total figure isn't going to be as bad as past years, since the tax incentives I got for buying the Prius late last year are actually going to yield a refund from both the State and the Fed's. Still, we've been laying out a fair chunk of change in repairs to the duplex as we get it ready to sell (we've had some interest in the property, but no real offers yet... we're going to drop the price by about $5,000 this week to make it more attractive to potential buyers), and our bank account is looking a little thin.
Even with not having to pay the Federal or State Tax we're still going to owe about $1300 for the Multnomah County Tax (a special limited-duration tax the voters approved to help fund our cash-strapped schools), City of Portland Tax (i.e. my business license), and TriMet Tax (all business owners have to pay a special tax for Portland's mass transit system)... plus paying Sandra to do our taxes (and trust me, our tax form is compliated enough that I'm glad we're paying someone to do it).
Still... it could have been worse. The good news is that we're going to apply our refunds to the estimates that we'll owe in the coming year (remember, we're self-employed. That means that we have to pay quarterly estimated taxes as well... around $2000 every three months to the State and Fed. Read my lips, self-employed people: pay your estimated taxes!!!! I know it sucks to have to pay every three months, but they're gonna get your money sooner or later. Best not to have to pay a ton of cash to the IRS in one big chunk.); that means we won't have to pay anything to the State until the third quarter of 2006, and much less to the Fed's on April 17. It's all good in the long run...
The Oregonian finally got around to reviewing In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer today... here's the link: Oregonian Review. Apparently the Willamette Week came to see the show last weekend, but didn't print a review. The Portland Mercury... well, we've learned not to expect too much from the Mercury. It's the Mercury. If we aren't serving PBR in the lobby, they're generally not too interested anyway :)
As I mentioned in my last post, Trish and I attended Profile Theatre's anouncement of their next season on Monday night. For those of you who don't know, Profile's "thing" is presenting the work of one playwright for an entire season; you really get a feel for the writer's style and recurring themes by going to see a season that encompasses early work and newer work. They're going to feature Wendy Wasserstein in the 2006-2007 season (their 10th, by the way). Some of the plays they're going to be producing are Uncommon Women and Others (her first), The Heidi Chronicles (Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning), and The Sisters Rosensweig (one of her last plays). We and just about every actress in Portland are looking forward to the upcoming season (most of her plays have a very female-heavy cast, which is a good thing - most other plays in the American canon have just the oposite proportion).
Wednesday saw me attending a grant writing seminar put on by the Oregon Arts Commission, the Oregon Cultural Trust, and the Oregon Council For The Humanities. The seminar was attended by around 140 people, all looking for tips on how to write their grants and get the best chance at the funds available to nonprofit arts organizations. I walked away with a lot of paperwork and a brain so full that I'm sure some leaked out... I always knew that grant writing was complicated, but ye gods man!
Even though I'm not working with Mt. Hood Rep in an operational capacity, I did grab a lot of the paperwork for Karen and Riley Caton, the board presidents... and I took about eight pages of notes. I didn't just go for them, though... I will produce theatre again some time in the future. Just not now. I'm a little too tired. But someday soon, I'll probably put a show up under my own banner (whatever that banner may read), and it'll be in my best interest to have thought about raising money and approaching granting organizations.
Raising money is certainly on Trish and My minds of late. We just got a phone call from Sandra Vincent, our tax preparer, about how much we're going to owe in taxes this year. Actually, the total figure isn't going to be as bad as past years, since the tax incentives I got for buying the Prius late last year are actually going to yield a refund from both the State and the Fed's. Still, we've been laying out a fair chunk of change in repairs to the duplex as we get it ready to sell (we've had some interest in the property, but no real offers yet... we're going to drop the price by about $5,000 this week to make it more attractive to potential buyers), and our bank account is looking a little thin.
Even with not having to pay the Federal or State Tax we're still going to owe about $1300 for the Multnomah County Tax (a special limited-duration tax the voters approved to help fund our cash-strapped schools), City of Portland Tax (i.e. my business license), and TriMet Tax (all business owners have to pay a special tax for Portland's mass transit system)... plus paying Sandra to do our taxes (and trust me, our tax form is compliated enough that I'm glad we're paying someone to do it).
Still... it could have been worse. The good news is that we're going to apply our refunds to the estimates that we'll owe in the coming year (remember, we're self-employed. That means that we have to pay quarterly estimated taxes as well... around $2000 every three months to the State and Fed. Read my lips, self-employed people: pay your estimated taxes!!!! I know it sucks to have to pay every three months, but they're gonna get your money sooner or later. Best not to have to pay a ton of cash to the IRS in one big chunk.); that means we won't have to pay anything to the State until the third quarter of 2006, and much less to the Fed's on April 17. It's all good in the long run...
My old friend from high school, John Heginbotham, is coming to Portland to dance with the Mark Morris Dance Group on April 19 (part of the White Bird series). While I don't go to a lot of dance shows, I'm going to have to go see this one - I haven't seen John dance since 1989 when I filmed his audition tape for Juliard. Hopefully he'll make a little time for me after the show so I can take him out for a drink. I'd love to get caught up with him (though he's a world-famous dancer guy, and I'm just a lowly small-time actor in Portland, OR. I'm probably beneath his notice) :)
Ok, gotta run. I'm gonna hit the gym before my first appointment of the morning. Want to be a little "pumped up" for my audition tomorrow. Hope you're all doing well...
-Harold
posted by Harold Phillips @ 4/06/2006 08:56:00 AM
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