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Beyond Broadway Takes a Hawkeye View of Iowa

Posted on by Malini Singh McDonald

Hello Readers,

My plans for vacation spots next year include Iowa as my dear friend and colleague, Trey K. Blackburn is an Iowan. As you can imagine, I hear a lot about his time in Iowa before moving to New York to attend my alma mater, New School University. He is also an alumnus of Morningside College from which Bill Russell, Tony Award nominee for Side Show is also a graduate. I so appreciate Trey taking the time to share his insights and experiences.

Malini: What is the theatre scene like in Iowa?

Trey: Iowa is a really great place for community theatre. It’s how I got my start in the theatre world outside of school. Just about every town that has a space (a theatre built specifically, a school gymnasium, or gym-atorium) for it, will have a community theatre of some sort. It’s a really great place to start to cultivate a love for the craft, namely because the people that perform in the community theatres of Iowa don’t do it for money or fame or a chance to go onto bigger and better things. They perform and work with the community theatres because they absolutely love the theatre. And generally, shows are well attended, be they at the community theatre house or at a school.

High schools and middle schools are also big places for the theatre, usually with a show a semester or year. I was fortunate enough to have a community youth organization partner with my high school to help supply a fall play every year and then the music department put on a musical every spring.

Some of the larger cities (Des Moines and Sioux City are the two cities I can speak to the best) have a handful of theatres each that do a lot of work, sometimes three or four shows a year.

It’s also sometimes hard to get funding for the shows. A lot of the theatres that I worked with in Iowa relied on dues and ticket sales in order to put up a show. Sometimes, to my remembrance, a donation would come in, but it was never enough to put on a full season for a full year.

But there was always so much heart in the productions, again, because everyone really wanted to be there for the pure joy of putting on a show.

 

MSM: Is there underground or independent theatre?

TKB: I really believe that most of the theatres in Iowa, unless part of a school or university program, can be labeled as independent theatres. I feel like if any city would have an underground theatre it would be Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa. Iowa City is such a ecclectic college town. It’s also home to the famed Iowa Writer’s Workshop (Kurt Vonnegut taught there for a time and it’s being featured on GIRLS).

One of the theatres I worked with in Sioux City, Shot in the Dark Productions, I suppose could be labeled as underground. They would do edgier shows and those were usually a hit in the town. I performed in MY FIRST TIME and ‘ART’ and THE SHAPE OF THINGS at that theatre. Those shows were not necessarily shows the Sioux City Community Theatre would take on. SCCT usually does your regular seat fillers and familiar comedies and dramas, as do most community theatres in Iowa.

MSM: We have had conversations about you returning to Iowa to create theatre with one of the theatre groups. What do you hope to bring with you on your trip in terms of craft and experience?

TKB: I am incredibly passionate about theatre and bringing it to the people. I really believe that theatre helps with people’s expression and opening people to different world views.

I am also very proud of where I come from, especially now that I’ve been away and living in New York City for five years. I would love to be able to help put Iowa out there as a place to create great art. I mean, I know that it is, but Iowa has such a reputation as a flyover state and a red state, when in reality it is so much more than that. I often call Iowa a deeply purple state. And we’re incredibly important: we do hold the first in the nation caucus, we have an amazing state fair (often called America’s Fair), are a great place for education, and grow a lot of corn and soy beans that are used in industries of all sorts all over the world. Iowa helps to feed the world. What’s greater than that?

And because Iowa helps to feed the world, I would love to be able to help feed Iowa with great art. And help to cultivate the art that exists in Iowa.

My fiance and I are currently talking to a theatre in Iowa to spend a few weeks of the summer out there to put on a show. More on that later.

Iowa also doesn’t have an Equity house. It has two theatres that are professional theatres, but to the best of my knowledge, they aren’t Equity houses, but I could be wrong. I really believe that every state deserves to have an Equity house, help those actors of all ages that aspire to work in the major entertainment cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago) to get that much closer to their dream. I’m not sure what the path to being an Equity house is, especially in the middle of the country, but I’d love to someday help to figure that out in a place that I love so dearly.

Trey K. Blackburn has been performing since at least 10 years old when he played Santa Claus in the 5th Grade Christmas Pageant, where he had my first solo and duet. He continued his performing in middle school and then really got into it in high school, doing usually four shows a year at both the high school and with the community theatre. He earned my BA in theatre from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. He  moved to New York City in 2010 to begin my conservatory training at The New School for Drama, where he earned my MFA in 2013. This year, he co-founded Asterism Theatre Company with Christie Clark. They are currently working on our first piece, THE GREAT SOMEWHERE, written by Trey and directed by Christie. More on that to come. Selected credits: Blue, INVASION (Estrogenius Festival, Best Actor Award from Estrogenius); Desdemona, OTHELLO (New Ensemble Workshop); Milk’s Friend, EXECUTION OF JUSTICE; Rosencrantz, Player King, HAMLET; Ben, APERTURE (New School for Drama); Samson, IMAGINARY; Andrew Aguecheek, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Black Henna); Gerald, WE ARE STARS EPISODE 3 (We Are Stars, YouTube). www.treykblackburn.com; www.asterismtheatre.com

Many thanks to the Iowa Theatre Blogspot for this comprehensive list:

Iowa Performance Venues

Iowa City/Coralville Area Theatres

Cedar Rapids Area Theatres

Council Bluffs Area Theatres

Des Moines/Ames Area Theatres

Dubuque Area Theatres

Ottumwa Area Theatres

Quad Cities Area Theatres

Sioux City Area Theatres

Waterloo/Cedar Falls Area Theatres

Happy Travels!

Live, Love, Learn,

Malini & The Write Teacher(s) 

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Beyond Broadway Takes a Hawkeye View of Iowa