Kara Larson is founder and principal of Arts Knowledge, a marketing consulting firm specializing in the performing arts. She is also the founder and director of the Portland Performing Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary summer festival in Maine.
She has previously held senior staff positions in marketing and communications with arts organizations across the U.S., including Carolina Performing Arts, San Francisco Opera, and Glimmerglass Festival. Her work for clients focuses on new audience development, demand and pricing strategies, audience loyalty and retention, and the patron experience.
Patricia Martin is an author and noted expert on commerce and culture. She is CEO and founder of LitLamp Communications, an award-winning marketing boutique acclaimed for using culture as a medium to connect brands with communities of consumers. Martin conjured a strategy for the Asian tour of the New York Philharmonic, spearheaded a viral Information Privacy initiative funded by George Soros, launched Animal Planet, introduced Dannon products into school lunch rooms nationwide, and re-focused Sun Microsystems' higher education strategy.
Author of the books Renaissance Generation: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer, What it Means to Your Business and Tipping the Culture: How Engaging Millennials Will Change Things, Martin pioneered the point of view that the convergence of art, technology and entertainment is remaking the American consumer. A keynote speaker in demand, Martin brings C-level executives to their feet when she casts the American consumer in a new light and sets the stage for marketing in the 21st Century. Characterizing her speaking style, the Houston Chronicle said Martin has a "magnetic presence."
Before founding her firm in 1995, Martin created the first-of-its-kind sponsorship marketing division for the American Library Association. While there, she partnered with some of the world's most recognized brands, including Microsoft, where she built the blueprint for what is now the Gates Library Foundation, an initiative Mr. Gates believes "History will get right," as his most important legacy (The New York Times, Nov. 6, 2002). Martin has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, NPR, the Wall Street Reporter, Market Watch, Harvard Business Review, and Advertising Age. She is a frequent contributor to Advertising Age and The Huffington Post, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Cultural Affairs International, and lives near Chicago with her daughter, Grace.
Steve Gullans, PhD, is an innovator, entrepreneur, and investor who enjoys translating scientific breakthroughs into products and services that transform people's lives.
As a professor at Harvard Medical School for nearly 20 years he focused on applying advanced technologies to human diseases. He published more than 130 scientific papers in many fields including cancer, ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes.
He recently co-authored with Juan Enriquez an eBook entitled, Homo evolutis: A Short Tour of Our New Species, which describes a world where humans increasingly shape their environment, themselves, and other species. Among his current interests are technologies that will positively impact human behavior to help address the global crisis in obesity, heart disease, and infectious diseases.
Steve currently hangs his hat at Excel Venture Management where he is a Managing Director.
Barry Kahn is CEO and founder of Qcue where he drives the vision and overall business strategy for the dynamic pricingcompany. An economist and recognized thought leader in the ticketing industry, Barry provides guidance to professional sports teams, concert promoters and venue managers on how to optimize revenue while providing the best value to fans.
Barry is a frequent speaker, author and media spokesperson whose commentary has appeared in leading media outlets including The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Sports Illustrated, The Economist, CNBC, and many others. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in economics from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.S. in applied engineering physics from Cornell University.
Damian Bazadona founded Situation Interactive (formerly, Situation Marketing) in 2001 and oversees the strategic direction for the company which maintains offices in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Situation has managed the online marketing strategy for more than 200 live event productions and currently represents many theatrical brands across the country including Disney, Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Billy Elliot, Blue Man Group, Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular, along with many others.
Prior to forming Situation Interactive, Damian was partner and chief marketing officer of Cyber-NY Interactive where he was responsible for new business development and strategic initiatives for the firm. His work was instrumental in leading the firm to a 600 percent increase in sales, acquisition of Fortune 1000 clients, and inclusion in Ernst & Young and MIT's Internet 500.
He is an active contributor and source for leading Internet and business publications including The New York Times, Variety, Associated Press, Fortune Small Business and many more. In addition, he has served as a speaker and source for university research studies relating to online marketing for Yale University, New York University, Brooklyn College and Fordham University's graduate level programs. Damian holds a B.S., Business Administration from University at Albany.
Randy Weiner is best known as the foremost proponent of a hybrid form of theater that mixes the music and energy of a nightclub with the drama and spectacle of theater.
His writing credits include Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe, Caligula, both with Alfred Preisser, Classical Theatre of Harlem; The Donkey Show, produced all over the world, currently running at American Repertory Theater; Best Of Both Worlds, Music-Theatre Group, Women's Project, American Repertory Theater; Swimming With Watermelons, Music-Theatre Group, Vineyard Theatre; Turandot: Rumble For The Ring, Bay Street Theatre; The Jim Rose Circus In "Stairway To Hell," Base Entertainment, Underbelly in Edinburgh; The Karaoke Show, Jordan Roth Productions; and Death And The Powers to be presented in Fall 2010 in Monte Carlo.
As the Producing Director of Project 400 Theater Group, he and partner Diane Paulus have produced more than 40 productions. He is the creative director and co-creator of Beacher's Madhouse, a variety show that ran four years at The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and now tours North America.
Other producing projects include a new variety circus, The Most Interesting Show in the World, sponsored by Heineken, that recently completed its second 16-city US tour, and Purgatorio, a Halloween extravaganza presented by CBS Radio in Times Square. Randy is also a managing partner of The Box, a performance venue in NYC, and the creator and executive producer of Oberon, a club-theater venue in Cambridge, MA.
We will hold auditions for our summer productions – Crimes of the Heart and Second Samuel – in April at the Music Academy of Eastern Carolina (1400 Red Banks Rd, Greenville).
Sunday, April 15 – 2:00-4:00 Monday, April 16 – 6:00-8:00
Sides from each show will be provided at the auditions. You may audition for one or both shows. Show dates: Crimes of the Heart – June 8-16 Second Samuel – August 10-18
Jordan Roth is the President of Jujamcyn Theaters, overseeing five Broadway theaters. Current productions include The Book of Mormon, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Jersey Boys, Lysistrata Jones and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. Recent productions have included American Idiot, Fela!, Spring Awakening, and Hair.
Jordan hosts a popular interview series at the venerable 92nd Street Y, facilitating insightful and revealing one-on-one discussions with the most celebrated actors on the Broadway stage. Recent guests have included Bono and the Edge, Daniel Radcliffe, Nathan Lane, Laura Linney, Billie Joe Armstrong, Elaine Stritch and Harvey Fierstein.
He created Givenik.com, where theatergoers can purchase theatre tickets and give 5% of their ticket price to the charity of their choice. Jordan serves on the boards of The Broadway League, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, The Times Square Alliance and Freedom to Marry. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with degrees in philosophy and theater and received his MBA at Columbia Business School.
Ken Davenport is a Broadway producer whose credits include Godspell, Chinglish, Oleanna starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, Speed-the-Plow, Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America, Blithe Spirit starring Angela Lansbury, and 13, as well as Altar Boyz, My First Time, The Awesome 80s Prom, and Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage Off-Broadway.
He also recently released These Magnificent Miles: On the Long Road with Red Wanting Blue, a documentary on one of the top unsigned rock bands in the country. Ken was featured on a national commercial for Apple's iPhone and named one of Crain's "40 Under Forty." Combined, Ken's productions have grossed more than $100 million worldwide and are being produced internationally in over 25 countries including Germany, Mexico, France and Korea.
He created and developed the Broadway board game Be A Broadway Star, recently seen on "The Today Show," and a smartphone app called At The Booth, which gives a listing of available shows at the famed TKTS® booth in Times Square. At The Booth has been featured on Entertainment Weekly's "Must List" and called "Ingenious! The best thing to happen to New York theater since, well, the introduction of the TKTS® booth!"
He also runs a number of theatrical websites including BroadwaySpace.com—Broadway's #1 social networking site, DidHeLikeIt.com, and YourBroadwayGenius.com. Current projects include bringing the first ever revival of A Few Good Men to Broadway and adapting the novel and film Somewhere in Timeinto a Broadway musical.
His blog,TheProducersPerspective.com, has been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The Gothamist and more. He has written articles for Forbes, Mashable, Imedia and others. For more information, visit www.DavenportTheatrical.com.
Hickory Community Theatre is a Funded Affiliate of the United Arts Council of Catawba County. The spring session of the RugBug Theatre is produced by the Lake Hickory Rotary Club, Catawba Pediatric Associates and LinkIt Medical.
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