Unfortunately I have no magic answers, but getting bums in seats is certainly a challenge.
Grinder’s Grumblings has a piece about just that. Since Grinder is talking about theatre in Canada in general (but mostly outside of Toronto – with a focus on smaller and community theatres) it can be an even more difficult challenge. Although, that said, when I used to work with Guelph Little Theatre we often had bums in seats, and the theatre operated in the black with no gov’t funding at all, so, there is also something to be said for being the only game in town.
Anyway, I like a lot of what Grinder says. All too often, with smaller productions (not things from established houses like Tarragon or Factory etc) it seems like the philosophy is ‘if you build it, they will come.’ Unfortunately this is, as you know, a flawed philosophy in this day and age. So, I’m going to ramble about this for a bit, and then give folks some of my tips on marketing their shows…
