Boston Poly Speed Dating

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Though this isn't happening in Davis Square proper, it's organized by Davis residents, and we think will be of interest to many folks in the neighborhood. Please spread the word!

We are pleased to announce Boston's second Poly Speed Dating event! Our super-charged matching algorithm takes into account the complexity of gender, of varying age ranges, and of couples and trios dating together. Please join us in opening the fun of speed dating to a broader community-- all sexualities, genders and hair colors are welcome.

Tuesday, December 13 at

OBERON
2 Arrow Street Cambridge, MA
www.cluboberon.com

Doors open at 7, with the event starting at 7:30.

For more information, and to pre-register, visit http://boston.polyspeeddating.com/index.html

Pre-registration (strongly encouraged) is $20, and registration at the door is $25. Scholarships are available to those who can't afford full price, and donations are welcome to augment the scholarship fund.

Upcoming Holiday Events?

[ratheripped.livejournal.com]

Hello lovely DSLJ-ers, I'm working on a post for Local First on upcoming holiday events around the 'ville. We all know about midnight madness and the Slutcracker but I'm looking for some other live entertainment/miscellaneous holiday happenings that need a little extra promo help. Time frame is throughout December until New Years Eve. Feel free to reply to comments or send details to slfblogwriters@gmail.com

Thanks!

Goin' down at the Burren?

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Any clue what was going down at the Burren tonight? I had dinner there, then went to JP Licks. When I walked back past, maybe 20 minutes later, there were six S'ville police cars outside, at least twice that many officers, and a four-year old appeared to be handcuffed to a stroller. I'm pretty sure that last part was an adult keeping a child distracted/entertained, but they did seem very much in the middle of the police circle. I never heard any sirens during that time.

Any clue?

Question about auditions and inclusion

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

One of the things that Theatre@First has been considering over the past couple of years are ways to be more welcoming and inclusive as an organization, ways to celebrate the diversity within our theatre community, and ways to reach out more vigorously to our entire community.

If you're a local actor, I hope that you already know that we are holding auditions for our March 2012 production of Pride & Prejudice next week. If you didn't know and are interested, please visit our website for more info and to make an appointment.

We work hard to make our auditions as low-stress as possible, given what an inherently stressful situation it is. As the director of this show, I want to do everything I can to encourage interested actors, to help them to give their best performance in auditions, and to communicate that each actor receives my full consideration.

Here are some of the things we're already doing: We try to project a welcoming, supportive environment. We include a section about diversity in our mission statement. We put the readings we'll be using on our website, so that they're not really "cold". We don't ask for resumes or head shots and our audition forms don't ask the actors to give us their age or any information about their appearance. We provide water and snacks. We try to explain our process as much as possible. We have people whose main job at auditions is to mingle with the actors, focusing on the new faces, answering questions, making a personal connection and helping everyone to relax and feel comfortable with us.

A recent article has me thinking about stereotype threat and considering whether there are stereotypes likely to be activated in the audition situation and whether there are ways to mitigate that potential.

If you have any suggestions or perspective to offer, I'm interested in your thoughts.