Sold Out Run's Clay Mabbitt gives the Geeks, and YOU, some great tips for community theatre success.

It's not often we get to speak with fellow podcasters, but here, for the second show in a row, we're talking to someone who produces a podcast related to the performing arts.  Clay Mabbitt, of nearby Indianapolis, produces the Sold Out Run podcast, which focuses primarily on the marketing of performing arts, including theatre and musical events.

In this episode, , he gives the Geeks his ideas on making that opening night a sold-out event.  In the Geeks' experience, the public often waits to read reviews and gauge the word-of-mouth on a particular production before actually plunking down the price of admission.  Often this doesn't happen until the run is under way (for our theatre, it means the second weekend.)  So the theatre loses revenue during the early performances.

Adding excitement to opening night is one way to boost attendance and get the word of mouth going before the first performance. Clay has some great "road tested" insights and great tips for promoting your opening.  AND, he can sing the Theatre Geeks theme music!

Links:

Sold Out Run - http://www.soldoutrun.com

 

Music Provided by Music Alley

Sold Out Run's Clay Mabbitt gives the Geeks, and YOU, some great tips for community theatre success.

It's not often we get to speak with fellow podcasters, but here, for the second show in a row, we're talking to someone who produces a podcast related to the performing arts.  Clay Mabbitt, of nearby Indianapolis, produces the Sold Out Run podcast, which focuses primarily on the marketing of performing arts, including theatre and musical events.

In this episode, , he gives the Geeks his ideas on making that opening night a sold-out event.  In the Geeks' experience, the public often waits to read reviews and gauge the word-of-mouth on a particular production before actually plunking down the price of admission.  Often this doesn't happen until the run is under way (for our theatre, it means the second weekend.)  So the theatre loses revenue during the early performances.

Adding excitement to opening night is one way to boost attendance and get the word of mouth going before the first performance. Clay has some great "road tested" insights and great tips for promoting your opening.  AND, he can sing the Theatre Geeks theme music!

Links:

Sold Out Run - http://www.soldoutrun.com

 

Music Provided by Music Alley

Keith Tomasek talks about stratfordfestivalreviews.com,

the "Rotten Tomatoes" of the Stratford Festival

Visitors to the Stratford Festival have a friend in Keith Tomasek.  Keith is the creator, editor and curator of Stratford Festival Reviews (http://www.stratfordfestivalreviews.com), a website that aggregates reviews of all the productions at this outstanding institution in Stratford Ontario.  Visitors to the website (who accumulate around 1300 page views per day) are able to see what critics across Canada and US have to say about the current season's productions, get a better understanding of the plays themselves, enjoy professional theatre analyses (which don't always agree with each other), and make better informed decisions about which shows they'd like to see.

Keith Tomasek I grew up in Mon­treal where he stud­ied the­atre, later moving to Win­nipeg and Toronto where he wrote and pro­duced award win­ning films, tele­vi­sion and radio.  In addition to managing his websites, he lec­tures at the Uni­ver­sity of West­ern Ontario and recently mod­er­ated an event on cam­pus with Jian Ghome­shi from the CBC Radio pro­gram Q.  He teaches courses and does research in the field of social media.

In addition to Stratford Festival Reviews, Keith also edits and curates Shaw Festival Reviews at http://shawfestreviews.com/ and produces The Inadequate Life, (http://www.theinadequatelife.com), a podcast focusing on interesting people who make their livings in the arts.

Join the Geeks for a lively conversation with a fascinating guest.

Music provided by Music Alley.

Keith Tomasek talks about stratfordfestivalreviews.com,

the "Rotten Tomatoes" of the Stratford Festival

Visitors to the Stratford Festival have a friend in Keith Tomasek.  Keith is the creator, editor and curator of Stratford Festival Reviews (http://www.stratfordfestivalreviews.com), a website that aggregates reviews of all the productions at this outstanding institution in Stratford Ontario.  Visitors to the website (who accumulate around 1300 page views per day) are able to see what critics across Canada and US have to say about the current season's productions, get a better understanding of the plays themselves, enjoy professional theatre analyses (which don't always agree with each other), and make better informed decisions about which shows they'd like to see.

Keith Tomasek I grew up in Mon­treal where he stud­ied the­atre, later moving to Win­nipeg and Toronto where he wrote and pro­duced award win­ning films, tele­vi­sion and radio.  In addition to managing his websites, he lec­tures at the Uni­ver­sity of West­ern Ontario and recently mod­er­ated an event on cam­pus with Jian Ghome­shi from the CBC Radio pro­gram Q.  He teaches courses and does research in the field of social media.

In addition to Stratford Festival Reviews, Keith also edits and curates Shaw Festival Reviews at http://shawfestreviews.com/ and produces The Inadequate Life, (http://www.theinadequatelife.com), a podcast focusing on interesting people who make their livings in the arts.

Join the Geeks for a lively conversation with a fascinating guest.

Music provided by Music Alley.

Are summer musicals still important to community theatres?

We hear reports that some community theatres go on a little hiatus in the summer.  For others, the summer musical is still a main event.  How does your community theatre come down?  The geeks talk about the pros and cons of the big summer show. Music provided by Music Alley

Are summer musicals still important to community theatres?

We hear reports that some community theatres go on a little hiatus in the summer.  For others, the summer musical is still a main event.  How does your community theatre come down?  The geeks talk about the pros and cons of the big summer show. Music provided by Music Alley

Many community theatres operate by the financial seat-of-the-pants. Does yours?

Many community theatres operate by the financial seat-of-the-pants. Does yours?

In another audience etiquette episodes, the Geeks talk about audience members who don't do their "homework" when it comes to knowing what kind of show they're going to see, being prepared for possible "mature" content and not being taken by "surprise" that leads to indignation.  We've been around long enough to know that there probably isn't a show out there that won't offend someone at some time, but often as not, the offended party has only himself to blame.  Most theatres will note in their promotions if a particular show deals with adult themes, is inappropriate for children, or contains "language" (well, of course it contains language, but you know what we mean.)

Another issue is the audience member who comes to the theatre knowing he or she has a health issue or other problem that could crop up during the performance, and then is annoyed with the theatre for not dealing with it adequately, or feels the need to share the problem with the entire audience.

Both of these issues come under the heading of "you should know what you're getting into and plan ahead."  And if you can't, stay home.

Music Provided by Music Alley.

In another audience etiquette episodes, the Geeks talk about audience members who don't do their "homework" when it comes to knowing what kind of show they're going to see, being prepared for possible "mature" content and not being taken by "surprise" that leads to indignation.  We've been around long enough to know that there probably isn't a show out there that won't offend someone at some time, but often as not, the offended party has only himself to blame.  Most theatres will note in their promotions if a particular show deals with adult themes, is inappropriate for children, or contains "language" (well, of course it contains language, but you know what we mean.)

Another issue is the audience member who comes to the theatre knowing he or she has a health issue or other problem that could crop up during the performance, and then is annoyed with the theatre for not dealing with it adequately, or feels the need to share the problem with the entire audience.

Both of these issues come under the heading of "you should know what you're getting into and plan ahead."  And if you can't, stay home.

Music Provided by Music Alley.