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Two years ago, during a strategic planning session, the board decided that TBC had strayed from its mission, he says. It was supposed to be creating new work, but was mostly just functioning as a landlord, renting its three stages out to other companies. Determined to “right the course,” the board hired Cercone last January because of his “passion for new musical development.”
(The board’s interpretation is debatable. TBC’s purpose as stated in its charter includes both “creating and presenting live performances” and “providing physical facilities and/or management services.”)
The system Circone devised is multitiered. It starts with Chicago Muse selling annual memberships—which run $85 to $1,000—and soliciting scripts. Members can take part in four rounds of voting. In the first, scripts are divided among the membership for reading and evaluation, with the dozen or so highest-ranked going on to be read and evaluated by all members. The three winners of this round get staged readings. Members attending the readings then pick one musical to get an Equity-sanctioned showcase production at Chicago Muse’s annual three-show festival. (One of the other two fest entries is chosen by the company’s advisory board, now consisting of 11 industry pros, and one by Cercone alone.) Members can vote again at the fest, selecting one musical for a full production the following season. The inaugural fest is set for June 13-26, 2011, at TBC’s old digs, now called Stage 773.
The plan calls for each fully produced show to at least break even, Cercone says. But that might be optimistic. On opening night it was clear why The Story of My Life closed so fast in New York. Though he praised the cast in his review, Reader critic Albert Williams called the show “earnest, heartfelt, but monotonous,” and the script “contrived” and “formulaic.”
