Episode 33 – NYC TOWN Stages with Robin Sokoloff

In Episode 33 of Sally’s Performing Arts Lab Podcast I talk with New York Venue innovator, entrepreneur Robin Sokoloff of TOWN Stages. In my world, Robin Sokoloff is a pretty big deal! I’m podcast host Sally Adams. Every week I talk to people about creating original work for a live audience.

Send an email anytime to Sally@sallypal.com. Your ideas keep great conversations coming every Monday evening. Check out sallypal.com/join for the free 20-page theatre resource. Creator’s Notebook Insert #2 (on scheduling) will soon be available. In the meantime, you can listen to Episode 31 if you want an depth convo about scheduling for your production.

It’s never too late to sign up and have access to the Creator’s Notebook inserts. I’m interested in knowing what creators need as a performing arts resource. Do you need more information about venues? Do you want to know how to put butts in seats and on the cheap? Would you like to connect with other creators? Do you need more practical tips? Do you want to know how to manage the “imposter syndrome” most of us deal with? 

Be sure and listen until the end of the interview for Concise Advice from the Interview, and a special Words of Wisdom from my fitness instructor, Gerald.

TOWN Stages is a state-of-the-art, flexible performance and event space that can support the entire lifecycle of New York’s hallmark industries. Robin Sokoloff is an arts warrior on the leading edge of a new female-driven cultural arts institution and venue space. With a stunning 9,000 square foot storefront facility, TOWN provides world-class cultural experiences and opportunities for all:  from civic to corporate, tech to theater.

Robin’s vision has come to life in TOWN, a home to a Fellowship Program for artists, entrepreneurs, writers, content creators, movers, shakers, and makers of all kinds. 

In partnership with Sokoloff Arts (501c3), the program is part residency, part incubator, and part home base: offering the ultimate creative freedom to grow. An application-based program, the Fellowship offers access to shared spaces, rehearsal/performance/event subsidies, and an opportunity to be a part of a shared creative community, working together under one roof.

Robin is the Founder & Executive Director of TOWN Stages. She’s a lifelong dancer, theater professional, and activist: Passionate about building platforms for women and minority voices. As Executive Director of Loft227, Robin created a home for New York City’s best and brightest artists and innovators from March 2012 to March 2017; seeing nearly 70,000 in her doors in under 5 years, while supporting close to 900 innovative works and small business owners.

I reached out to Robin through her publicist and she made time to have a really great conversation. I know you’re going to love Robin and want to support this exciting new venture she and her team are creating. If you want to know more, visit www.townstages.com. Also during the interview I mentioned playwright Nicole Zimmerer. To hear that interview look for Episode 9 – Get Physical with Playwright Nicole Z.

Concise Advice from the Interview is a short version of tips from Arts Incuvator, Robin Sokoloff. Here are 9 important bits of advice. 

9) Produce your own work in a leased space using the Robinhood funding model charging more for non-artistic events to subsidize arts events

8) Prove you believe in your work by investing your own time and resources

7) As an artist, the tyranny of positivity should not keep you from expressing areas of need in your community

6) Make your voice heard through social media

5) Imposter syndrome happens to everybody. Stop hiding out and push through your fear. There is an audience for your ideas

4) People will tell you ‘no’. Your commitment to your vision must be louder than the ‘no’s

3) Write a bullet list that includes:
Why you do what you do
Who does it serve?
What brought you to it?
Keep it in your head and start talking about it

2) Build a team of people with a variety of talents and strategies who believe in your vision

1) Stand up for what is right

Check out the blog, SallyPAL.com, for articles and podcast episodes. You can be part of the momentum that’s building. Sign up for a FREE Creator’s Notebook insert at SallyPAL.com/join.

Thank you for following, sharing, subscribing, reviewing, joining, & thank you for listening. I want you to pursue your dream to have your work on the stage in front of a live audience. It’s scary, but SallyPAL is here with resources, encouragement, and a growing community of people like us. I’m Sally and this is SallyPAL (the P-A-L in PAL stands for Performing Arts Lab).

If you’re downloading and listening on your drive to work, or falling asleep to my passionate diatribes like my sister does, let me know you’re out there. I want to help you create original shows for a live audience… All the performances you’ve seen on stage once lived only in someone’s imagination… Now… Stand up for what is right!