Comments from romeoisojuliet

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romeoisojuliet
romeoisojuliet commented about Interested in buying/building a new theatre for live arts on Nov 29, 2005 at 10:36 pm

Dear Todd and Steve,

Hi there.

My name is Paul Riopelle. Please forgive this rather bold email, but I found your recent correspondence on the “Cinema Treasures” website as gentlemen who were looking to purchase/renovate a theatre in the Massachusetts/New Hampshire area, and I thought I would write to inquire about your goals for such a theatre, to see if we could possibly help one another.

I am a New York-trained, Equity actor who has worked Off-Broadway, performed in International tours, served on a Hollywood film as Dustin Hoffman’s Personal Stand-In, and currently live in Chicago, having made my living for the past 15 years as a professional actor and occasional director (I am currently 36 years old). Having succeeded in these different areas, my personal/professional goals are beginning to shift, and I am looking to change my life by settling in a place I really love, and co-owning/running a theatre, where I can direct and act in shows that I truly value and that are supported by a surrounding community. Having been on tour several times through the beautiful eastern seaboard, I concluded it would be the perfect place to launch my dream of founding my own Professional Equity Theatre Company, which would produce a full season of Musicals, American Classics, and Shakespeare, in a place that many consider the most cultured area in the nation.

Just beginning my quest for information on Theatres in the Massachusetts area, I came across your correspondence on the “Cinema Treasures” website, and just wondered whether you had similar goals and dreams to mine, and were looking for an experienced Artistic partner in the enterprise. Being an unmarried, self-sufficient artist-type, I would have little to bring to the endeavor in the way of financial capital. However, I have ENORMOUS experience with theatres—having headlined (as well as serving in administration and teaching capacities) at some of the largest ones in the U.S. (including New York’s National Shakespeare Company and the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the 4th largest Classical Theatre in the Country). I could bring a wealth of knowledge on how to run a theatre from an Artistic standpoint, from the casting of a company, to the direction of productions, even how to write proposals to get other backers and community groups interested in supporting us—and I would be VERY interested in relocating and committing to doing this at a New Theatre FROM THE GROUND UP—with passion, with insight, and with tireless energy. If this is at all similar to your own goals in looking to purchase a theatre, I would very much like to talk with you at further length about if and how we might collaborate on such a venture.

You may email me at my personal address () at any time, to ask as many questions as you would like of me, and if you find the answers satisfactory, I hope we can continue to discuss the possibilities. I realize this is a very bold and unorthodox email—and if your plans for the theatre are vastly different than what I am suggesting, I greatly apologize. It is just that I am trying to take my life in an exciting new direction, and I am not beyond any daring move to make that happen.

I eagerly look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Paul Riopelle
Chicago Equity Actor