How Far Will You Go? (To See A Show)

OK, since there are no shows going on right now (though a few are about ready to start rehearsals), let’s take the time to catch up on some past posts.

About three weeks ago an Anonymous poster made this comment:

"Many people, including myself, come from outside of Huntington to support your performances throughout the year. It would be nice to see more audiences from Huntington sending their support to their theater neighbors in Kentucky and Ohio as well.”

I thought this was a great point, and it’s one just about everyone who works on shows has asked at some point: why is it that theatergoers tend to only attend shows in their own town?

At any community theatre show, the audience almost always includes:
1) The theatre fans who attend as many shows as they possibly can;
2) Those who attend a show because a loved one or friend is appearing on stage;
3) Those who attend a show because they’ve either seen it before or heard about it and are interested;
4) The casual theatregoer who is looking for something to do that night; and
5) Those who attend a show because a loved one made them go.

Or it could be some combination thereof. However, some shows draw big crowds and some consider themselves lucky if anyone shows up. In my humble opinion, the difference between the two comes down to a simple notion: people only go to shows when they know they’re being staged.

I know what you’re thinking: “Duh, Chuck. No kidding.” But the problem is, most shows are operating with tiny budgets (if any budget at all), and advertising a show is an expensive prospect. It can cost thousands of dollars to buy advertising, and then you have to decide where to buy those ads - newspaper, radio, television, printing posters or banners - there are lots of choices. Most theatre groups can only afford a modest amount of advertising, and as a result the shows are only announced in the local bulletin boards, like those in newspapers, if at all.

There have been more than a few shows I’d love to have seen - but I only heard about them after the fact. For example, Spring Valley High School staged “The Pirates of Penzance,” but I missed it. Ironton High did one of my favorites a few years back, “Camelot” - guess what happened. Charleston has an extremely active theatre community, but I have missed more than a few because I didn’t know they were hitting the stage. Jenny Wiley puts on all kinds of great shows, but I don’t always track down their schedule in time to see it. The list goes on and on.

So what’s the solution? (Other than me paying more attention?) Well, theatre companies operating on a shoestring budget is something that isn’t going to change, and it's almost impossible to promote a show all over the Tri-State area - but the answer may be here in the form of the Internet, which provides an inexpensive way to promote a show.

As always, I urge theatre groups to send out emails with their basic information (the name of the show, where and when it’ll be staged, etc.) to all the newspapers and TV stations in the Tri-State. Don't forget to send it to this humble site and we’ll do our best to get the word out. Tell your friends - put it on facebook - do whatever you can to spread the word!

Perhaps only diehard theatre fans are willing to cross state or county lines to see a show, but you’ll only get them if you get the word out. It’s like the line from Godspell: “If your light’s under a bushel, you’ve lost something kinda crucial.”