Having A Marketing Theme

Right now at The Seeing Place, we’re gearing up for our exciting start to Season 4. We just had our first rehearsal for the season opener, and on November 2 we’ll be having our official Season 4 Launch Party, where friends, family and patrons will get the chance to meet our company members and have an exclusive sneak peak at our upcoming season. (Join our list to get an invite.) We could not be more thrilled!

We commit to producing 5 plays over the course of the season in 3 programming times - fall, winter and late spring/early summer. There are a multitude of plays that our artistic director is tasked with choosing - not only does he need to think about what shows would fit our ensemble, but he also has to consider offering a balanced season (all of which will be covered in a future post about building a good artistic season.) As the Managing Director, I’m tasked with making sure that our season can be marketed and that our team has an overarching plan of attack that will span the season. But how does one do this when doing 5 different plays in 3 different programs?

When putting together our 3rd season last year, I had an idea as I looked at the subjects/topics of shows that were in consideration: What if we could choose a single theme for the season, and then base the show selection and marketing around that central idea? This is precisely what we did, and it worked out beautifully. We chose the theme, “Crimes of the Heart and the Politics of Sex” and chose 5 plays that told that story: Closer (Patrick Marber), Scotch Kiss (Brandon Walker), Three Sisters (Anton Chekhov, adapted by Brian Friel), The Lover (Harold Pinter) and Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (John Patrick Shanley.) Have a theme make all the difference in choosing the graphic marketing of the show (which I talked in a blog about designing your promotional postcards to make them pop.) Having a theme helps anchor the marketing, and gives a context to all of our promotions.

It worked so well last year that we’ve created a theme for this year as well. As I mentioned, we’re having a Season Launch Party for Season 4 on November 2, where we’ll be revealing the 5 shows planned for our season. But I thought I’d go ahead and reveal our brand new theme, and then engage you, our readers. on what kinds of thoughts and ideas the theme conjures up. Are you ready…?

The theme for Season 4 of The Seeing Place Theater is…

** FANTASY VS REALITY: The Games Our Minds Play **

What is real? What is imagined? Is the old adage “Perception is reality” true? How responsible are we to fight for the truth when a lie seems much easier to believe? And do we deserve to fight back when we’ve been duped?

These are just some of the questions that are raised in this season of raw, intimate theater.

NOW, FOR A FUN GAME:

In the comments section below, answer one of the following questions using only 1-2 sentences...

• Quick: What is your first thought when you hear, “Fantasy Vs Reality?”

• Has there been a time when you thought something was real but it turned out to be fake?

• Have you ever had a bad situation turn out good, like a “blessing in disguise”?

You can post anonymously, or leave your name if you dare. :)

All entries, including those posted below and entries contributed by our company members, will be printed out anonymously and scattered around the room at our Season Launch Party November 2, 2012. Throughout the night, different stories will be used for improvised readings by our amazing actors. The result will be a smorgasbord of dreams, nightmares, realities and fantasies jumbled together and shared amongst our friends, family members and valued patrons.

It’s our way of engaging the public with the art we’re creating, in an invigorating and fun atmosphere. It would be an honored to have your contribution.

So, please leave your thoughts and comments below, and make it anonymous if you’d rather your words stay discreet. And then sign up for our mailing list to make sure that you get your exclusive invite to the party.

Ready, set, go… comment! :)

All Hail The Board Operator

Thanks for your patience over the last couple of months as we've built our ensemble for The Seeing Place Theater's 4th Season - which will be announced on October 29th at our Season Kickoff Party!  Please join our mailing list to get the gritty details!

For a long time, we've been wanting to discuss some of the technical side of Off-Off Broadway theater-making.  This post is for all of you Board Operators out there (that never seem to get any credit)!

I'll begin with an analogy.  Have you ever listened to an album, fallen in love with it, and then gone to see the band only to find that the musicians fall apart in performance?  I know I have.  And rather than addressing what is actually happening, most people feel like they've been duped - as though those musicians somehow faked it in the recording studio and cranked out songs that don't represent their actual level of skill.  In reality, there is an artist on every album that is essential to the creation of the songs we have come to love and enjoy: The Producer.  That's the person that drives the group to better their songs, to cut the fat, to pull out a metronome (if needed).  And then they get mixed down to create something that is unified in sound.  All the time, the Producer supervises the creation of the album.

In theater, that person is the Stage Manager, who lives behind the action and calls the show so that the design elements and acting elements create the unified package that is received afresh every night by an audience.  In the Off-Off Broadway world, which can't afford mic systems galore, all of those responsibilities fall upon the Board Op - who can either make or break your show.

First of all, for those of you who have yet to experience Off-Off Broadway in all of its glitz and glamour, please understand that there is rarely have a perfect sound system, and even more rare is a computerized light board.  More often than not, the lighting system is run on a Two-Scene Preset Light Board.  It's a far cry from what most people have experienced in their colleges - and some high schools!  Most of our schooling only prepares us for the state-of-the-art work going on, rather than the stark reality of what we normally deal with in most of our theatrical endeavors (before we get there).

Have you ever seen a production with beautiful acting work that is completely swallowed by problematic transitions?  Or have you ever seen a play with sub-par acting, where the crispness of the technical flow actually impressed you into appreciating the show?  We tend to point fingers at the Director or the Designers, but much of the time, these things are all within the power of the Board Op - especially in Off-Off Broadway, where there are limited budgets and very little time to get everything perfect in the theater.

A great Board Op doesn't just pull the lights down and hit the sound cue when the last line in the scene happens.  The Board Op is every bit as important of an artist as the Director, the Designers, the Writer, and the Actors - and that person should strive to live the show with the cast (and audience!) every night.  The Board Op is the person that directs and packages the show into the event that the audience witnesses.  In most of my favorite projects as an actor, it's almost as if I could feel the artistic touch of the Board Op smoothing out the edges of our work as we're playing onstage.  And when the technical elements pop, the audience is that much more engaged. 

There's no better way to lose an audience than to forget to turn the work lights off, scramble to get the first cue up, or pull the music out too early - even to pull the lights up too high during transitions.  And often times, it really isn't easy to make that everything go off without a hitch.  It requires a lot of organization, and a lot of concentration.  It sometimes requires a lot of improvisation.  Lights often go out or ghost (come up unexpectedly), and speaker cables might need a little bit of TLC in order to work every time.  Actors may skip pages of dialogue.  The Board Op has to be just as attentive and responsive to the action and inevitable problems as the actors onstage.  And the greatest ones often go completely unnoticed.

In some ways, it's a thankless job.  In others, Board Operators really cradle the experience of the entire event in their hands.  So, next time you are at a show and either you or the actors you're watching point to the booth and clap for the techies, consider all that has gone into creating the story that night and show your appreciation for our unsung heroes.

By the way, we're looking for a Board Op for our next production, so please let us know if you'd like to be involved.  Please also share your thoughts and stories of shows where the Board Op either saved or broke the night.

I'll start...

Personally, when I was in high school, running a production of Open 24 Hours by my classmate and friend, Justin Hudnall, I accidentally pulled the lights down on a Two-Scene Preset Board to work on the scene after this scene (totally not thinking).  And luckily for me, in the middle of this total blackout during a moonlit romance, actor Nico Pitney (who's character was on a date with actor Maya Baldwin) blurted out "Oh wow!  An eclipse!"  At which point, my head shot up and I fixed it.  But just keep in mind that neither actors nor techies are perfect.  Thankfully, there's usually a tomorrow night, so that the show can grow into something eternally better than the night before.

Your turn.  :O)