Last year I attended the popular Backstage with Bernard panel and did some blogging here about it.

This year it’s back with a new host.  Jackson Davies is a Vancouver based actor who appeared on The Beachcombers, 21 Jump Street, and Street Justice.

I’m sitting in on the 1pm panel and will be live blogging here and also live tweeting as @WTD10.

This afternoon’s panelists are:

Pat Smith – Head of Wardrobe, Vancouver Playhouse

Kenji Maeda – Actor, founder of www.vancouveractorsguide.com

Heather Redfern – Executive Director, Vancouver East Cultural Centre

Tanja Dixon-Warren – GVPTA President, Co-Artistic Director of Hoarse Raven Theatre

(not pictured) Manami Hara – Actress in film & theatre

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1:58pm – The 1pm panel is wrapping. There’s two more this afternoon: one at 2pm & one at 3pm. World Theatre Day is Saturday – check out the theatre happening in this city this week.

1:52pm – Jackson Davies “If you really want to freak out the parents of the people you are dating, tell them you are in the arts.”

1:45pm – Audience question: “Does needing to sell to people change the art?”

Tanja Dixon-Warren: “I wish I was a super creative person & could write my own play…What has worked best for us is when a script keeps us up at night and we just WANT to do, those have sold really well. When we’ve picked shows because we go ‘This will sell well!’ then blegh…I was so focused on trying to balance the money that it didn’t sell the way we thought it would sell and that goes back to the heart of why we did it….When you do a show that you love you can’t help but do it justice.”

Heather Redfern: “If it’s bad, nobody’s going to come. I don’t care if it’s West Side Story. You have to put the best work on the stage that you possibly can and then you have to market it the best you possibly can.”

Manami Hara: “When I start assuming something will sell…then yes, I think the art suffers because there is something that is not based on what you are really connected to.”

1:38pm – Audience member: “It really bugs me that fantastic actors have to leave here to get recognized… They should be able to make a living here. There are fantastic plays here…I just wish you good luck.”

1:37pm – Talk a little bit about Hive

Kenji Maeda – “As an audience member you go in – you buy a ticket – and then you find your way into one of the rooms. There are some that happen within the lobby area and three that are outside….Being able to see so many shows at once was so exciting. The energy in the building, of being able to choose, was fantastic.”

1:28pm – Jackson Davies: “What about Vancouver audiences? What kind of audiences are Vancouver audiences?”

Manami Hara – “Vancouver audiences are really well educated…[local companies] bring in such fantastic shows so the audiences are ready for something new and out side the box…but they are really laid back at the same time.”

Heather Redfern – “I don’t think there is ONE Vancouver audience. And there isn’t a lot of cross-over between audiences. You don’t get a lot of Bard on the Beach folks going to the Cultch UNLESS it’s a Blackbird theatre show or something in their meileau…My job in programming is to find the people that each show is for.”

1:21pm – Question to Pat Smith: “What would be your dream piece to do from a costume perspective?”

Pat Smith – “It’s sad to me that there are no period pieces now…I love to get a bolt of fabric and then make it into 3D. I get a real kick out of that…The more yardage the better.”

Heather Redfern – “I miss that. I started out as a designer…and that sense of creating something that you’re basically sculpting is extraordinary. I really miss that.”

1:19pm – Question: “Do you see theatre becoming closer to new media?”

Kenji Maeda: “I think that using new media or projections or new techniques brings in new audiences which is very important. I think if we are not adapting to what the community – or younger audiences are seeing – if they think theatre is only Shakespeare or kids wearing flowers or being a clown, then they are going to be turned off of theatre. I think new media is one way of doing it. But I also think that marketing traditional theatre in a new way is another angle. Theatre is about reflecting what the community is at a specific time.”

1:14pm – Question: “Can people specialize in theatre? Do we do these things because we want to or because we have to in order to survive?”

Manami Hara: “I didn’t choose to become a theatre artist. It somehow was always there – ‘come. come.’ And you answer that call and there’s no turning back.”

Tanja Dixon – Warren: “I think some people can afford to “just” be an actor. I wish I was one of them…I don’t think I would have survived in this industry if I didn’t wear all these hats.”

1:08pm – None of the panelists want to use the microphone. They’re actors & know how to project.

1:08pm – Why is Jackson doing this? “As an actor that’s probably my favourite time. Right before the lights come up and you’re standing backstage. I love that kick of adrenaline.”

1:06pm – The panels today are being video taped and will be available online in the days to come.

1:05pm – Trivia: Jackson has been in over 110 Theatre productions.

1:04pm – The panelists are starting to take their place.

12:43pm – The panelists & audience are beginning to arrive for the 1pm panel.