Series: Rockefeller Artists in Television
Program: Proposition, The
Date: 1972-01-01
Subject: Parodies; Audience participation programs; Improvisation (Acting); Live shows
Copyright Holder: Copyright holder is unidentified.

Clip Description
In "The Proposition" an improvisational comedy troupe creates skits on the spot with audience participation. The four performers ask the viewing audience (who call in their suggestions) to supply key concepts or images, and work them into their structure on the spot. The works that follow are part mime, part satire, and part musical comedy. In one skit, one of the performers hosts a panel discussion between representative students from various nations, discussing the mining of Hai-Phong Bay. In the grand finale, a roto-rooter and a sign painter fall in love in a musical send-up. Diane Bulgarelli accompanies the improvisations on piano. Produced and directed by Fred Barzyk.

Although files on the Workshop's early years list "The Proposition" as a Rockefeller Artists-in-Television project, nothing in the credits of the work itself confirms this.

The "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" materials were created before the creation of the New Television Workshop. They were processed as part of this Collection because of their relationship to video art and experimental work.

The "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" residency program was created to support artists working in television. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation from 1967 through 1970, it was replaced by "The WGBH Project for New Television."

Program Description
In "The Proposition" an improvisational comedy troupe creates skits on the spot with audience participation. The four performers ask the viewing audience (who call in their suggestions) to supply key concepts or images, and work them into their structure on the spot. The works that follow are part mime, part satire, and part musical comedy. In one skit, one of the performers hosts a panel discussion between representative students from various nations, discussing the mining of Hai-Phong Bay. In the grand finale, a roto-rooter and a sign painter fall in love in a musical send-up. Diane Bulgarelli accompanies the improvisations on piano. Produced and directed by Fred Barzyk.

Although files on the Workshop's early years list "The Proposition" as a Rockefeller Artists-in-Television project, nothing in the credits of the work itself confirms this.

The "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" materials were created before the creation of the New Television Workshop. They were processed as part of this Collection because of their relationship to video art and experimental work.

The "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" residency program was created to support artists working in television. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation from 1967 through 1970, it was replaced by "The WGBH Project for New Television."

Series Description
The New Television Workshop originated at WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1974 to support the creation and development of experimental video art. This experimental programming included dance, drama, music, performance and visual arts on video and film. As early as 1968, WGBH was committed to the development of video art through residency programs, with artists such as Nam June Paik, and the "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" project. Many of these early works (pre-1974) were broadcast both locally and nationally.

As an umbrella for arts related programming, the Workshop included "Artist's Showcase, " "Frames of Reference, " "Dance for Camera, " "Poetry Breaks," and "New Television," as well as acquired arts programming. Individual works were created for "Visions," a series produced by WNET (New York), and "Alive From Off Center," a series produced by KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis). The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was co-founded by the Workshop and Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in the 1980's, to commission works by video artists. In 1993 the Workshop ceased production at WGBH.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/NTW/FA/TITLES/Proposition353.HTML