The April 9 edition of The Dramatist LIVE begins with the three hosts referencing two items from the recent DG newsletter. Joey and Christine present the new, online resource directory. Though the most up-to-date version of the directory is online, Joey reassured viewers that the print edition is still available; the newest print version of the resource directory will be available in Fall 2020, pandemic permitting. Amanda speaks about the upcoming Business Affairs webinar that will explore the legalities of writing about a real person in your show. This particular subject strikes a chord for Amanda, because she had to get life rights for the characters in her musical Hands on a Hardbody (co-written with Doug Wright and Trey Anastasio).
This episode’s special guests includes Farm Theater’s Artistic Director Padraic Lillis and writer Judith Leora, whose show at Shenandoah University is being rehearsed and performed via Zoom, led by director Scott Hudson. They discus the experience of creating a production online via this new forum. Another special guest is the performer Dixie Longate, who was supposed to be touring the country right now. Instead, she is furloughed at home, cross-stitching provocative messages into pillows, mixing martinis for Facebook Live Happy Hours with her fans, and wondering how much chloroform she can give her baby without making him sleep through dinner. Dixie recommends the best Tupperware to use during the pandemic and spoke about how COVID-19 has changed the way she will do her interactive show, once live theatre resumes. She even offers a piece of advice for the theatre industry, moving forward, “In order for this to thrive and continue going, you really have to take those two sides [the creative side and the business side] and marry them together to figure out what the next piece of this world is going to be.”