Talk:Olney Theatre Center

Untitled
Info appears to have been copied from theater's website Deanlaw (talk) 19:04, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Copyright Violation Thoughts
I would submit that only the History section is a copy from the Olney Theatre Center website. The other sections are valid, if in some cases uncited sections. I put the original info box and took the data from such sources as the theater's web site, potomacstages.com (since defunct) and footlightsdc emails. Similar information is available from dctheatrescene.com, washingtonpost.com and theatrewashington.com (the former helenhayes.com. That much at least should remain as a stub

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Ecragg (talk) 03:18, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

Edit Request: Add to History
Request to add content to the History section. New content is as follows:

2011 Jim Petosa, Artistic Director, announces that he will step down in 2012, after 19 years with Olney Theatre. (source: http://dctheatrescene.com/2011/11/03/olney-theatre-center-to-say-goodbye-to-jim-petosa/ )

2012 Olney Theatre hires Martin Platt as new Artistic Director. Martin Platt steps down six months later. (sources: http://www.backstage.com/news/martin-platt-announced-as-new-olney-theatre-center-artistic-director/  AND ALSO:  http://www.playbill.com/news/article/artistic-director-martin-platt-parts-ways-with-olney-theatre-center-search--200611 )

2013 Jason Loewith is announced as the new Artistic Director. (source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/entertainment/theater_dance/olney-finds-next-leader-in-jason-loewith/2013/02/07/9b760bca-7172-11e2-b3f3-b263d708ca37_story.html ) Bpolin (talk) 22:20, 3 February 2016 (UTC)


 * done


 * Ecragg (talk) 19:52, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Edit Request: Title of Page
Please change title of page from "Olney Theatre Center for the Arts" to "Olney Theatre Centre" (i.e. please remove the "for the Arts"). The name of the theatre is only Olney Theatre Center; "for the Arts" is not part of the theatre's name. Therefore, the name of the page is incorrect when compared to the actual name of the theatre.

Further request to please remove the "for the Arts" after "Olney Theatre Center" both in the first paragraph and above the sidebar on the right hand side of the page over the logo for same reasons listed above, and for continuity.

Sources: http://www.olneytheatre.org/ and http://www.yelp.com/biz/olney-theatre-center-olney and also http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/olney-theatre-to-stage-carmen-an-afro-cuban-jazz-musical/2016/01/09 Bpolin (talk) 15:55, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
 * done


 * Ecragg (talk) 19:33, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Edit Request: 3rd paragraph
Request to remove sentence "Potomac Theatre Project, which offers experimental and alternative plays that explore provocative and challenging human situations, ideas and visions," (as that is no longer true - Olney Theatre Center is no longer working with Potomac Theatre Project. The Potomac Theatre Project left the area in 2006, as noted in this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/18/AR2006101800968.html) from the 3rd paragraph.

Additional request to change the end of the sentence of the third paragraph from "special school performances of mainstage shows; post-show discussions" to "special school performances of mainstage shows; post-show discussions; and theatre for young audiences." (source: http://www.olneytheatre.org/education-outreach )  Bpolin (talk) 15:58, 4 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I have removed the entire paragraph, which was rather promotional and unreferenced. That said, if there were sources for the Potomac Theatre Project cooperating with the Olney Theatre Center before 2006, that might well be suitable for the article, which need not just focus on the current status. Huon (talk) 20:55, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

I have not heard back about this edit suggestion. Thank you! Bpolin (talk) 18:35, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
 * As Me and said below, the code for the template to request edits is case-sensitive; you should use, not . That way people are much more likely to see your requests and proposals. Huon (talk) 20:55, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Edit Request: Description of Theaters
Request to add a section describing the four different theaters/stages that Olney Theatre Center has. This information helps round out a complete description of Olney Theatre Center while providing a more in depth understand of what Olney Theatre Center is. New content is as follows:

Olney Theatre Center has four different theater spaces:

The Main Stage Opened in 2005, The Main Stage is the primary performance space for musicals and popular dramas, with stadium-style seating. Capacity 429.

Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab Built in 1999, The Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab is a black box theater used to present new works, as well as experimental versions of old shows, such as A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas or The Price. Capacity 150-200.

Historic Stage The original stage of Olney Theatre Center, built in 1938, is now mostly used for theatre for young audiences, as well as a rental space. Capacity 445.

Root Family Stage At Will's Place Added in 2005, the Root Family Stage at Will's Place is an outdoor amphitheater used to present free Shakespeare shows in the summer. Capacity 150.

(sources consulted: http://www.cvent.com/rfp/olney-special-event-venues/olney-theatre-center/Venue-84c17d4c4c964b67bec1bc2b312539bb.aspx?tab=meeting  AND  http://www.olneytheatre.org/rentals  ) Bpolin (talk) 19:01, 5 February 2016 (UTC)


 * ❌ Largely based on primary and not-quite-reliable sources, or on no sources at all; unnecessary trivia. If secondary sources discussed Olney's stages, a summary of what they report might be apppropriate. Huon (talk) 20:55, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

I have not heard back about this edit suggestion. Thank you! Bpolin (talk) 18:35, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
 * See help request above. Huon (talk) 20:55, 22 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't see how it's unnecessary trivia. It's factual information about the theatre.  I'm not trying to argue, I just, personally, would find this information interesting and handy.  Other theaters, such as The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Arena Stage, and Shakespeare Theatre Company (among others) have a list of (and description of) their different stages/venues (many without any sources listed) on their Wikipedia pages.

I found a few more sources that discuss Olney Theatre Center's stages: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/olney-swings-for-the-fences-with-moises-kaufmans-jazzy-carmen/2016/02/11/493608c0-cc4f-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html

http://www.tcg.org/tools/profiles/member_profiles/profile_detail.cfm?MemberID=357801016&SeasonID=22&SeasonName=2013-2014+Season&var=0

http://spacefinderdc.fracturedatlas.org/spaces/7152

http://spacefinderdc.fracturedatlas.org/spaces/7150?from_search=1

Thank you for your time.

Bpolin (talk) 22:09, 22 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Then those other articles need to be improved. If no reliable third-party sources but only the theatre itself, organizations it's affiliated with, and booking portals provide the information, it's obviously not juged all that interesting. The Washington Post is a reliable third-party source that discusses the theatre in some detail, but it discusses seating capacity only in passing. One sentence would be an ample summary of what WaPo says on that topic. Finances, for example, are discussed in greater detail. Huon (talk) 02:25, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

I have found more reliable sources talking about the various stages.

These sources are Washington Post articles, and the articles do talk about the capacity and, to some extent, the use of each stage. I request to reconsider adding the above, requested information to the article.

(The content referenced above, that is requested for addition to the article is:

Olney Theatre Center has four different theater spaces:

The Main Stage Opened in 2005, The Main Stage is the primary performance space for musicals and popular dramas, with stadium-style seating. Capacity 429.

Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab Built in 1999, The Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab is a black box theater used to present new works, as well as experimental versions of old shows, such as A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas or The Price. Capacity 150-200.

Historic Stage The original stage of Olney Theatre Center, built in 1938, is now mostly used for theatre for young audiences, as well as a rental space. Capacity 445.

Root Family Stage At Will's Place Added in 2005, the Root Family Stage at Will's Place is an outdoor amphitheater used to present free Shakespeare shows in the summer. Capacity 150. )

The sources are as follows:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/10/14/olney-theater-expands/315f2fe6-b952-4922-9695-dd8e4cb0e6e9/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/2000/07/09/olney-bursting-at-the-scenes/27926a8d-c14f-4c02-a8d1-36d244d39ae4/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042401716.html

I would be interested to hear from others to gather a consensus on whether or not this information would be found interesting? So far we're one for one. Thanks!

Bpolin (talk) 17:40, 23 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Request declined - the information suggested does not reflect what is being talked about in the sources presented, and nobody has bothered to comment for a year, so I'll just close this. Regards, VB00 (talk) 05:42, 31 December 2016 (UTC)

Edit Request: Awards Section
Request to add a section about awards and nominations for Olney Theatre Center. The awards received (and the nominations) are a factual part of the theatre and should be represented in the Encyclopedia post about it.

New content is as follows:

Olney Theatre Center has been nominated for 123 Helen Hayes Awards between 1985 and 2015, with 18 wins as of 2015 and an additional 12 nominations in 2016. Recent wins include:


 * Outstanding Director of a Play - HAYES Production 2015 - Will Davis for Colossal
 * Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical - HAYES Production 2015 - Sam Ludwig for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
 * Outstanding Sound Design - HAYES Production 2015 - Christopher Baine for Colossal
 * Outstanding Choreography in a Play - HAYES Production 2015 - Ben Cunis (Fight and Movement Choreographer) and Chris D'Ambroise (Choreographer) for Colossal
 * The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical - 2015 - Andrew Hinderaker for Colossal
 * Outstanding Resident Musical - 2014 - Olney Theatre Center for A Chorus Line
 * Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical - 2014 - Jessica Vaccaro for A Chorus Line

Sources: http://theatrewashington.org/content/recipients-2015-helen-hayes-awards

http://theatrewashington.org/find-hha-nominees

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/2015-helen-hayes-awards/2015/04/06/2fdeec3a-dc76-11e4-be40-566e2653afe5_story.html

http://theatrewashington.org/content/nominations-2016-helen-hayes-awards

Bpolin (talk) 22:25, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

I have not heard back about this edit suggestion. Thank you! Bpolin (talk) 18:35, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Hi! I think having a list of awards isn't a bad idea, but I'm not a fan of listing just the recent awards – WP:RECENT has some explanation of the problems with that sort of information. If you can pick out the most important awards the centre has received – not just recent ones – that would seem better to me. Alternatively, just including the first sentence and no list would seem entirely reasonable to me.
 * It'd also be better if you could provide more third party sources – it looks like the theatrewashington.org links aren't independent sources.
 * For what it's worth, it looks like you haven't heard back about the requested edit because you didn't get the template for requesting an edit right – you need to use Request edit, not Request Edit (although that's daft; I'll fix it up so both capitalizations work shortly).
 * —me_and 19:57, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
 * —me_and 19:57, 22 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Oh, I see. I understand.  I would like to explain that I requested the recent awards for two reasons.  One, as the awards go further back, it became increasingly more difficult to find sources, as the website used got less organized as the dates went back, so I stuck with more recent.  Two, I had researched other theatre's Wikipedia pages, and several theaters have a section of recent awards, so I was mimicking that formula.  I understand if that particular part of the edit does not get changed.
 * Furthermore, I did not realize that capitalizing both words in Request Edit voids the template - thank you for pointing that out! Yikes!
 * At the very least, would it be possible to add the first sentence? Thank you!
 * (Also, I found some additional sources:
 * http://www.americantheatre.org/2015/04/07/theatre-alliance-and-colossal-win-big-at-helen-hayes-awards/
 * https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/a-multitude-of-prizes-speed-through-an-expanded-hayes-awards/2015/04/06/8294a842-dc72-11e4-a500-1c5bb1d8ff6a_story.html
 * http://dctheatrescene.com/2015/11/17/brilliant-guys-and-dolls-at-olney-theatre-center/
 * http://connectedcommunities.us/showthread.php?t=68646 )
 * Thanks for your quick response!
 * Bpolin (talk) 20:42, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
 * I've just taken a look through the sources you've listed – I misunderstood and thought the theatrewashington.org sources were associated with the Olney Theatre, but they're actually associated with the Helen Hayes award. They're independent from the theatre itself, so I'd be happy to add them as sources for the theatre having the awards.
 * However, I can't actually work out which of them supports the statement that the theatre has won 18 awards or been nominated for 123; can you point me at that? Once I can see the source for that information, I'd be happy to add it to the article.
 * (And yes, the names of articles and templates and so forth is case sensitive, except for the first character. To avoid at least this specific case causing problems in future, I've created a redirect from Template:Request Edit to Template:Request edit, so it will work with both capitalizations.)
 * —me_and 09:44, 23 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I found the article below (from 2002) that notes the total number of nominations and wins of Helen Hayes Awards for Olney Theatre Center (in 2002, the total number of nominations was 76, and the total number of wins was 10). To combine those numbers with the numbers for the other nominations and wins, as found in various other articles (listed further below) will show the total.

http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2002/200213/olney/news/97608-1.html

Coupling the numbers above with adding up the nominations and wins, as found on the Helen Hayes website here: http://theatrewashington.org/hha-nominees?field_award_year_value_many_to_one=2016, we see that Olney Theatre Center has 131 Nominations as of 2015, with a total of 18 Wins, and an additional 12 nominations in 2016.

Therefore, would it be possible to add the new Awards section as originally asked, with the correct numbers listed in the sentence above? Thank you!. Bpolin (talk) 15:20, 23 February 2016 (UTC)
 * That last theatrewashington link is an excellent source for this! Going through the rewards there, though, I count 19 wins and 150 nominations (including the 2016 nominations). Any idea where that went wrong? I've put my counts on Google Sheets so you can compare with your own. —me_and 11:35, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

That is so strange! I didn't use the theatrewashington link to count further back than 2002 because I assumed the Gazette article would have accurate information. I guess the author of that Gazette Article counted wrong. I just went through the theatrewashington article again and counted it up from 1985 - present. I also compared each year's count to your spreadsheet. Those counts are identical, except for 1997. You counted 8 nominations and 2 wins, but I only counted 4 nominations and 1 win, That would bring the count to a total of 146 nominations and 18 wins. (Who would have thought this would be so complicated, right?) Bpolin (talk) 15:41, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
 * You're entirely correct; I was finding the mentions of Olney Theatre Centre using by browsers find-in-page function, and must have missed it looping back to the top in 1997. I'll update the article now. Thank you! —me_and 10:53, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Edit Request: Helen Hayes in Opening Paragraphs
In second paragraph, request to change the sentence "As of February 2016 Olney Theatre Center has won 18 Helen Hayes Awards since the award's founding in 1985, and received 146 nominations (including 12 nominations in the 2016 awards, for which winners will be announced in May 2016)." to "As of May 2016 Olney Theatre Center has won 18 Helen Hayes Awards since the award's founding in 1985, and received 146 nominations." ( IE, to switch "February" to "May" and to remove "(including 12 nominations in the 2016 awards, for which winners will be announced in May 2016).") Olney Theatre Center did not win any of the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards. Source: http://theatrewashington.org/content/nominations-2016-helen-hayes-awards Thanks! Bpolin (talk) 15:14, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Edit implemented. Regards, VB00 (talk) 05:48, 31 December 2016 (UTC)