Butts in the seats
Note: Yesterday Aimee wrote a lovely entry about choosing to direct Much Ado, which I've bumped off the front page with a similar entry. If you're a once-every-few-days reader of our 'blog, be sure to check her entry out!
Tonight, the production of Much Ado About Nothing that we’ve been directing since July finally hits the stage. Neither Aimee nor I have ever undertaken a project of this scope, involvement, and commitment, and it is strange to think about it finally coming to an end. What will life be like after the (figurative) final curtain drops? What will our “normal” lives be like?
Well, first we have to actually get through the weekend. We had our final dress rehearsal last night for a small (and very sympathetic) preview audience. Many things went wrong- flubbed lines, missed scene changes, and, worst of all, an old and very valuable baritone horn that is onstage for about 30 seconds was dropped- perhaps enough to satisfy the old adage that a bad dress rehearsal predicts a good opening night.
Of course, lots of things went well, too. We got big laughs in places we didn’t expect, which is always delightful. And, perhaps the best thing about our show: we get from the beginning to the end of a Shakespearean play in two hours and ten minutes- satisfying another old theater adage: in comedy it is important to be funny, but it is almost as important to be fast.
So, Aimee and I are satisfied with the show. It could be better, but it’s not a total fiasco, either. But will anyone come? We’ve invested so much time and effort into this production, so much more than any simple acting gig we’ve ever had, but we’ve also invested a lot of money. Of course, it’s not our money; we’re produced by the Vermillion Community Theatre, but I still desperately want the show to break even.
And so I find myself, perhaps for the first time, really thinking about advertising.
To get “butts in the seats” our advertising campaign includes: 30 posters distributed around town, 28 “Much Ado” t-shirts worn by the cast and crew at school and work, two 4’x5’ wooden signs with incredibly sloppy hand painted slogans set up in the parking lots of our local grocery stores, one announcement on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting Arts Calendar, one small story in the local weekly paper, and word of mouth.
Which, if any, of these will be effective in getting people to see the show? Did we put the posters up in the right places? Those wooden signs are painted so badly, might they actually serve as a deterrent to our potential audience? What obvious advertising channel did we overlook?
My sense of perspective is all out of whack. People have come up to me during this last week and innocently asked, “So, what are you doing this weekend?” My reply is always a goggle of disbelief. How is it possible that anyone around here could not know about the play? I have to force myself to smile pleasantly and calmly reply, “Actually, that play Aimee and I are directing? That one I’ve been talking about all autumn? Well, it’s finally hitting the stage. Let me point out that poster that’s been hanging over there for the past few weeks. See? This weekend. Come check us out if you’ve got the time.”
And then I grit my grinning teeth and wait for them to explain to me about what a busy time of year this is, especially this weekend.