Top of the Month: February

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*

"It's just nuts/totally wacky/That's our town on February second. -Tim Minchin, "Day One" | Groundhog Day the Musical View this email in your browser We'd like to take this moment to thank all our extremely generous donors who helped us get thisclose to our goal of $25,000! EAG's end-of-year giving campaign brought in a total of $23,899. Thanks to those who donated their time and their dollars, to those who created or shared fundraisers for us on Facebook, and to those who attend our workshops and events. Because of you, we are able to help even more performers who need us right now. If you're a part of the EAG fam, you're an artist, whether you label yourself as such or not. We know how much you value art and understand the sacrifices performers make. So on behalf of the people we serve, THANK YOU! Donate today ONLINE (and one in-person) EVENTS Wednesday, February 2 | 3:00pm ET | Artist Afternoon: Press Releases for Beginners Friday, February 4 | 5:00pm ET | Deadline for Barbour Award applications Monday, February 7 | 2:30pm ET | Broadway Book Club: The King of Infinite Space Tuesday, February 15 | 7:00pm ET | Actors Night  Saturday, February 19 | 12:00pm ET | Archives Committee Monday, February 28 | 7:00pm ET | Sustainable Conversations Mondays | 1:00pm ET | Yoga Mondays  **now FREE for the whole year!** Tuesdays | 10:30am ET | Mid-Morning Pilates Thursdays | 2:30pm ET | Afternoon Pilates   Help Performers in Need Today Artist Afternoon: Press Releases for Beginners TODAY, Wed. Feb. 2 | 3pm ET | Free Online via Zoom. Only 1 spot left! What goes into a press release? Can you write and send your own? How are they used for different things? These topics will be tackled at Peter Michael Marino's fun, interactive, idea-generating, 90-minute press release workshop which aims to empower you to do your own press. We'll discuss the basics, and together we'll investigate creating creative press releases, generating press-worthy ideas, and figuring out who your audience is. We'll discover and discuss effective ways to get the word out about your show, song, product, event, etc. Plus, you'll receive access to press release templates and press release/story pitch samples. Free. Registration required. RSVP: Click here Back   Calling All Playwriting Groups Application Deadline: this Friday, February 4th   Since 2007, EAG has been celebrating new work for the theatre with the Barbour Playwrights Award. Each year, EAG partners with a local theatre company or playwriting program to present staged readings of three new works, with one playwright being awarded a prize of $500. If you are a part of a theatre company, playwrights collective, or writing program that might be interested in partnering with EAG for the 15th Annual Barbour Award, please fill out the application at bit.ly/barbour2022application.  The deadline is this Friday, February 4th. Don't miss it! To apply: Click here Back Broadway Book Club: The King of Infinite Space Mon. Feb. 7 | 2:30pm ET | Free   Online via Zoom   In Lyndsay Faye's lush, magical, queer, and feminist take on Hamlet in modern-day New York City, a neuro-atypical philosopher, along with his best friend Horatio and artist ex-fiancé Lia, are caught up in the otherworldly events surrounding the death of his father. ----- About Broadway Book Club: Every two months, book club members meet to discuss their latest pick, which is always a novel that takes place in the world of the theatre! All are welcome to join. Free. Registration required. RSVP: karen@actorsguild.org Back     Actors Night Tues. Feb. 15 | 7pm ET | Free*   Online via Zoom   Actors Night at EAG is a judgment-free zone, where you can work on monologues, scenes, commercial copy, cold readings, your own material- anything!- before a group of supportive and talented fellow artists. Whether or not you get constructive feedback is up to you. Hosted by Peter Von Berg (The Blacklist, The Americans, House of Cards). Actors Night happens on the third Tuesday of each month.    *Free for EAG members. RSVP: Click here Back   Archives Committee Sat. Feb. 19 | 12pm ET | Free In-person in Guild Hall The Archives Committee invites all Guild members to visit their meetings! View the exciting materials stored in Guild Hall, join in discussions of relevant theater history, and consider joining Committee Chair Eric Stamm and the Archives Committee as they continue sorting and organizing the extensive collection accumulated over the past 120+ years. For more information, please email contact@actorsguild.org. Back     Sustainable Conversations Mon. Feb. 28 | 7pm ET | Free Online via Zoom Author/actor/EAG Member Helena-Joyce Wright, actor/EAG Council/ DEI Committee chair Chris Chinn, EAG Executive Director Karen Lehman Foster and members & friends of EAG are continuing their discussions centered around race and racism in America and the arts.  Please join us in this safe space for sustainable conversations with your fellow Guilders that we hope can live and breathe beyond the current moment. Everyone is welcome to come and share your stories, ask questions, and listen. Free. Registration required. RSVP: Click here Back   Yoga Mondays Mondays | 1pm ET | Free   Online via Zoom   Come try a yoga class!  This 45-minute class led by the soothing Rebecca Ambrose is offered each Monday at 1:00, and we just love it. Suitable for all levels of mobility, yoga is a great way to keep your body healthy and your mind clear.   Sign up with reservations@actorsguild.org for Zoom link. Back   Pilates with Marla Altberg Tuesdays | 10:30am ET | Free Thursdays | 2:30pm ET | Free   Online via Zoom   Certified personal trainer Marla Altberg offers EAG Members free 45-minute Pilates classes twice a week. You'll stretch, work that core, have fun, and feel energized & calm at the end of the class.    Sign up for Zoom link: reservations@actorsguild.org Back Please note: 1) Registration closes one hour before each event takes place. 2) After you register for any event, you will receive a confirmation email from notify@ticketstripe.com. However, the Zoom link will not be sent to you until the day of the event. To make sure these emails get delivered to your inbox and not to spam, please add notify@ticketstripe.com to your address book or contacts list. 3) For all in-person events: Guild Hall is a fully vaccinated facility. Please remember to bring your proof of full vaccination, a photo ID, and your mask. Read more about our covid-19 safety protocols at actorsguild.org/covid-safety-protocols. Freddy Lights We are dedicating this issue of DIY WITH DEI to FREDDY LIGHTS! In honor of his Lifetime Achievements and Black History month, EAG member and Freddy's Goddaughter  Alyxx Scorch Morgen has composed a loving tribute: "The Godfather”  You probably don't know the man underneath his signature yachting cap, one of the first African American Stage Managers at NBC-TV & of the Directors Guild of America, but you probably do know La MaMa Theatre. Freddy was that special person who'd been in my life since I was born. For some reason, I found out late in life he was my actual Godfather & someone I'd always been very close to no matter what part of the world I was in. Frederick L. Lights born in 1922 in Houston, Texas to a dentist who then moved to Chicago, becoming part of the Stewart family, namely, Ellen & Ada. He was a Howard attendee, a Morehouse Graduate, and he earned his Master's at Yale. Freddy was also a playwright. A play of his was stolen by a successful Caucasian Broadway producer, and Freddy felt he didn't have a shot in hell of winning any type of lawsuit to reclaim his works due to rampant & ridiculous racism at that time. His stepsister Ellen Stewart wasn't having it and created La MaMa Theatre for him. Unfortunately, Freddy never got to put up any of his plays at La MaMa because they didn't see eye-to-eye after that. Toward the end of their lives and separately, both Ellen & Freddy told me the very same story, both regretting this. To my knowledge, Freddy never wrote any plays afterward but did become part of the Dramatists Guild. The racism run-ins continued but were kept from me until the last years of his life when it became necessary for him to share. I was having a hard time understanding why he kept making excuses to not meet me for lunch in the offices I had been working in as a temporary employee, when I was so proud of him, loved him to pieces & we'd always had some sort of adventure when out to eat or at a screening at the Director's Guild.  It was a conversation I could clearly see was hard for this man to have, but again, necessary for both of us. Racism was rearing its ugly head again for him, and I was clueless to his plight. Hate by color, creed, or culture, etc. was something I was never taught...his 'sit-down' with me gave me all the 'why's'. It made me cry. It still does.  May racism and hate be gone. This man was a sweetheart with an enormous heart and beyond-great sense of humor who survived a kidney transplant, open heart surgery, and now cancer.  Protective of me--at 35, not 'allowing' me to cross the street with him unless I held his hand, kind to my friends, and telling me bluntly which boyfriends he liked and didn't, either in a handwritten note or some jingle he'd sing to me using a Broadway tune. Before he passed, he gave me his plays & school papers, all written on a typewriter, which at some point I'd like the Smithsonian to have for safe-keeping. I treasure them. Freddy did continue with NBC up until his health issues prevented him from doing so.   They loved him. Everyone I knew loved him. So much so that he had at least 10 memorials after his passing. I could only bear to attend 4.  RIP Dear Freddy. You are sorely missed. Frederick L. Lights April 25, 1922-November 23, 1995 If you would like further information on the DEI Committee, please contact Chair Chris Chinn at chrischinn2020@gmail.com. Do You Need Assistance? If you are experiencing financial crisis, please reach out to karen@actorsguild.org or call 212-685-2927. Donate Become a Member Outside Resources Join a Committee EAG on YouTube Contact Us EAG's programs and services would not be possible without the support of the following: and supporters like you! To become a donor, click here. Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*