Lowes and the Fountain Family.
by Lowes Moore III
Hello everyone, this is Lowes Lee Moore III one last time.
As you know The Los Angeles County Arts Commission gave me a 10-week Internship with the Fountain Theatre as the Development Intern. YAAAAY!!! I am very sad to say that today marks the end of the internship. It is extremely upsetting to have to leave such a loving family of beautiful theater-making individuals. Every day they have welcomed me with warm smiles, hugs, and valuable lessons. I am truly blessed to have been a member of the Fountain Theatre Family.
I thought it would be funny to take some of my journal entries from my first two weeks on the job so you can see for yourselves how great my summer has been.
photo by Lowes
[6/4/2013] Day 1: Today I met Stephen, Deborah, Scott and Diana. They showed me to my desk, which had a laptop, office supplies, and a phone. The scariest part of the day was the phone rang 3x. Of course I didn’t answer. What am I suppose to say? It’s my first day. Give me a break. Stephen gave me a task to complete over the next few days to get me started. I took that as a challenge. I got to meet Denise Blasor, one of the new actors in the Fountain Theatre play Heart Song written by the very own Stephen Sachs himself. She did a KPFK radio interview which was pretty cool because I got to sit in the room while it happened. They do a lot Flamenco-y things in this place. I probably should look up Flamenco sometime between today and tomorrow. It’s definitely a thing here.
[6/7/2013] Day 4: Today there was a lot of traffic. Being from New York I guess I’ll never understand LA traffic shenanigans. The second I got to the office I was put in charge of 4 tasks! They waste no time here and are going to use every bit of me they can. Well, lucky for them that is why I am here. The most daunting task of all was doing computer research and e-mailing for artist who will donate over 100 CD’s for Forever Flamenco! At the Ford. Apparently, this event is going to be big and I need to get with the program fast. After archiving for about 15 minutes with Deb I had to take a break. There is some much history here at the Fountain. Every time I look at the information that needs to be archived I get exhausted/flustered/overwhelmed/distracted. But hey, who’s complaining really. Deb told me to get rid of items that had too many extra copies but could not watch me and would not let me throw anything away without saying “Let me see that…let me see the copies.” This was going to be a long project I could tell.
photo by Lowes
We decided to call it a day and I joined Deb in some stretching and dancing to cool off. She demanded I research Flamenco dancers who’ve been through the Fountain Theatre like Timo Nunez, Maria Bermudez, and Mizuho Sato to name a few. She, politely, threatened me saying, “you will not be allowed to stay here very long if you don’t come see my Flamenco show” in her most seriously voice but with her most vibrant and loving smile. I am pretty sure Deb was an amazing dancer back in the day. She has moves. That has been confirmed.
[6/13/2013] Day 8: Today was my day of funny events. This morning I laughed with Stephen about how hectic my no car situation is. It felt good to just talk about it. We hung out and ate some hotdogs, which he says is one of our normal Fountain lunch meals. Who knew I would like hotdogs so much. After, I was sitting at my desk when Scott & Diana were working on the phones in the other room but forgot to tell me. Diana fussed me out for answering the phone. “Are you serious? We are checking the phones? Come on Lowes?” which is the pretty censored version haha. I was really embarrassed because Diana is kind of scary. Diana came right over and glared at me for 2 minutes. Then she smiled & chuckled and said “hey Lowes, next time read my mind…that was a joke!!!” Boy, did I need some time to process that one. Today was one of the first days I bonded with James (the head box office person but he is MANAGER now) as I refer to him on the phone. He is really funny and right around the corner from my desk. Sooner or later he’ll get annoyed with my 1,000 questions. Today I definitely had a lot but he did not seem to mind at all. We had our first staff meeting before the show at the Ford. I failed for the first time on the job. I could not find anyone to donate the CD’s that we asked for.
Lowes and dancer Timo Nunez backstage at Forever Flamenco at the Ford
[6/14/2013] Day 9: Just kidding I cannot believe how great today was. After I got home last night. I got an e-mail from a company willing to donate 100 CDs. Stephen and the rest of the FT family were so proud. Apparently, I’m a “boss.” If you do not know what that means…well it means I’M THE MAN!!! Yup and to top it off I surprised Stephen with his favorite Chicken Avocado burrito from El Pollo Loco. Yes it was a pretty great day. As if the day couldn’t get any better, Simon tells me that I get to help him on the producing side of theatre. “This is the fun part of the internship” he says. I get to help with a show he is directing in September called “The Normal Heart.” I am so excited to get started on that project. Simon seems like a very fun person to work with. He gets so intense and is so knowledgeable I can’t help but be amazed majority of the time.
I can’t even begin to process all of the great things that have happened to me this summer. I have learned many new tools and have met so many great people. I got to spend a summer in the office of a Non-Profit Organization who does everything possible to bring quality work to a diverse Los Angeles Community. I finally learned what Flamenco is and have seen some of the best in Los Angeles. I’ve seen Heart Song and had the privilege of working under the writer for my entire stay at the Fountain Theatre. I did research on and helped advertise one of the greatest American Play’s, the The Normal Heart, revival in Los Angeles after 15+ years.
Here are some other areas I helped in while at the Fountain Theatre:
Artist Relations*Box Office Work*Document Managing/Organizing*Entering Transfers & Journal Entries into QuickBooks*Helping Fundraise/Donation*Archiving*General Office Work*Casting Monitor*Assistant Handyman*Running Errands*Grant Research/Preparation*Blogging*
Lowes and box office dude James Bennett
I’ve found a family here at the Fountain Theatre. Everyday forward I will be grateful for all of the wisdom and knowledge this experience has given me. Even though I am very sad to leave and go back to school. I happy I have found another home in East Hollywood at the intersection of Fountain and Normandie. When I walked out of the office after my first day I felt something deep down. There is something special here at the Fountain. It must be in the water. And as I walk out of the office today I know I’ll feel it again. Love.
This upcoming school year I will be diving into intense coursework in classes such as Econometrics, Macro-economics, Music of Western Culture, & Community Literacy. I also will be the section leader for our Glee Club for the second year in a row. Our Glee Club is traveling to Spain & Portugal on tour in January. I will be serving on the executive board, as treasurer of our schools largest club on campus called Dance Production. I will be a Tour Guide for my second year and a music scholarship student for my third year. Lastly, from August 24th to October 12th I am in the production of Hairspray The Broadway Musical at the Glendale Centre Theatre. This summer has opened up doors for me to work in many different aspects of the arts.
I want to give a special thank you to the Los Angeles Arts Commission for allowing me this opportunity to gain more experience in the work place. Thank you Fountain Family: Stephen, Deborah, Simon, Scott, Diana, James, Barbara and everyone else who played such integral parts in making this one of the best summer experiences yet.
Warmly,
Lowesie
Development Intern at the Fountain Theatre 2013.
