Reader reaction to last week’s report on the first comprehensive study of Colorado theater attendance asks small theater companies to take a good look in the mirror.
The study, conducted by The Denver Post, showed that 70 percent of all audiences in 2004 chose musicals, and that nearly half of all audiences attended a production at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
“With the exceptions of the Curious Theatre and Theatre on Broadway, I don’t often have a sense of a company’s vision or purpose, beyond the occasional production that might pique my interest,” wrote John Backe, pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Denver.
“I’ve attended several different theaters and, with the exception of Curious, have not felt any real interest on their part to actually cultivate an audience,” said Backe, who once ran an Equity showcase theater in his former church in New York City.
Backe also was struck by the similar difficulties theater, churches and sports teams face in building audiences. “In each case, one question is, ‘How do you educate and attract an audience that might not have familiarity with what you are offering?”‘ he said. “These are also questions I struggle with in terms of attracting people to church, which is basically a weekly performance looking for an audience.”
Reader Bob Costello says some small companies resist implementing basic marketing plans because it “diminishes their artistic integrity.” He cites Comedy Works as a model for developing coordinated mailing lists, advertising and promotional strategies.
Other reader suggestions: Theaters that perform only on Fridays and Saturdays severely limit their potential audience because those are the most competitive nights of the week. Curious does better on Thursday than any other night because it offers 2-for-1 tickets … Companies should lobby the city to help promote theaters other than those at the Denver Center … Companies should take a cue from Curious and offer talkbacks with audiences after every performance.
“I know the struggles of small, volunteer-run companies with no budget for marketing,” Backe said. “But until these companies realize that education and outreach are as important as scenery, things won’t change much.”
Backstage taps Willard
Breckenridge’s Backstage Theatre has named multitalented Christopher Willard its new artistic director, effective Sept. 1. He replaces Jeremy Cole, who is moving to San Francisco after four years in charge of the rising small theater company.
Just this year, Willard has directed the one-woman apartheid monologue “The Syringa Tree” for the Alliance Stage, the musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” for Country Dinner Playhouse and two large children’s productions for the Arvada Center.
“And he’s not just a great director and a wonderful actor. He can do everything,” said Cole. “I’m also excited that he has such good contacts in Denver that he can bring here.”
Cole oversaw the move of the 31-year-old company to a new venue and expanded its season to seven annual productions plus special events.
“Jeremy Cole has done more to enhance the image of the Backstage than any single person,” president Kelly A. Butler wrote in a letter.
Noose for ‘Newsical’
“Newsical the Musical” is dubbed “All the News That’s Fit to Spoof,” but Fred Caruso’s ill-fated current-events sketch comedy was spoofable itself during its troubled 11-week stay at the New Denver Civic.
Caruso acknowledged only Thursday that the show had indeed closed – four days after the set was dismantled and trucked away. A national tour still is planned for September, and the all-Denver cast may be used in some cities. No word yet on what might be coming next to the Civic’s beautifully restored studio space.
Briefly …
John Kissingford, an expert in Shakespearean “first-folio” performances, will present an abridged version of “Measure For Measure” at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on the grounds outside the Elitch Theatre, West 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street. In Shakespeare’s time, actors did not rehearse together; they would prepare individually (sometimes meeting one another only just before the first performance), trusting in the notes provided in advance by the director. These scripts, prepared for each individual actor, would include only his lines and cue lines – not the whole play (303-564-1374). …
“Disney’s On the Record” understudy Josh Franklin graduated from Colorado Springs Doherty High School in 1999. He’s an alum of Disney Cruise Lines …
The Civic played a small part in the new rock musical “Once Around the Sun” reaching off-Broadway this week. Co-producers Sibling Entertainment staged a sneak preview March 14 there to entice new investors. The story, about a musician who makes some unexpected choices when seduced by the possibility of fame, begins previews Wednesday at New York’s Zipper Theatre …
Good news: The inevitable national tour of the Tony-winning musical “Monty Python’s Spamalot” has been announced, with a March 2006 launch in Boston. Bad news: It may be a year after that before it reaches Denver.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
