When the River Center opened it brought it great shows and great crowds for them. It wasn't long, however, before people began to feel like they were going to something every night and they began to drift away. Between the recession and the demands on people's time, audiences have been soft recently.
The exception to that is the Springer which continues to post increases. The Springer has a two pronged strategy that seems to have made them one of the very few theaters in the country to grow their audiences. The first strategy is the Springer Academy which teaches young people theater skills. Those young people then bring their parents to shows and, when they grow older, come themselves.
The second strategy is to give them what they want. This year they're doing two Tunas-shows that are designed for the 12 year old mind-and musicals get a lot of attention. That does pay for an occasional serious piece-the next play is Hamlet.
One should give Troy Heard and the Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company credit for doing some material no one else in town would. Beginning this week-end they're doing "Reefer Madness the Musical" with a pretty large cast at the Liberty. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm not clear, however, about Troy's business model. He did a hilarious Shakespeare last year that ran several week-ends but the show I saw had very few in the audience. "Reefer Madness" gets 11 performances.
If "Reefer" draws good crowds, I might revisit this evaluation of Columbus' audiences, but I'm going to give them a C. Even the Springer doesn't sell out as a rule. There's plenty of tickets available for the Symphony this week-end, and you can get in to see "Aida" on the 31st for $10. How's that for a bargain?
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2 comments:
Interesting blog here. Thank you for the mention. Reefer Madness did hit its stride with the audience beginning the second week. Although trying to build an audience/customer base is a struggle for any business, I'm not sure I'd like to issue a letter grade to them.
On the other hand, Reefer's success has indeed refocused our business model, and we will be announcing a new season with a blend of classic plays...and edgy shows...
Best,
Troy Heard
Artistic Director
Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company
I saw Reefer Madness and very much enjoyed it. It was nice to see a lot of the CSU students do something outside of their regular studies as well. It would also be refreshing to have a theatre company in town that produced more "edgy" or "alternative" type of productions rather than the strict commercial type of theatre done by others.
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