Arts Professional Story: Don Hall, Founding Director, WNEP Theater in Chicago

You have spent months in preparation. You have fine-tuned the script and show concept, agreed to pay five times your apartment rent for a venue, rehearsed with your cast. Opening night approaches and suddenly it occurs to you that you have to actually work to get an audience that is comprised of more than just your friends and family. The first challenge to overcome is to realize that no one cares about your show but you. Chicago is a Mecca for theater with a dearth of actual theatergoers; you are competing with not only sporting events, concerts, cable television, and Netflix, you are also competing with, on average, 75 other shows in the immediate area. You are the only person on the planet who knows about your show and your job is to convince enough people to see it so, that you don't have to mortgage your kid to pay for it all. Your arsenal includes: - The Press " put together a solid press release and get it to them early (between three and five weeks out is standard). Then commit to following up regularly " make the phone calls, send out the e-mails. Be polite and focused. - Posters and Postcards " don't underestimate these. If you have cheap promotional materials, the perception of your show suffers, so budget for this with care. Make sure your materials are eye-catching from across the street. Remember that the poster isn't there to reflect your artistic vision of the show; it's there to get butts in seats. - Advertising " you probably don't have a lot of money for this, so find the right kind of advertising. Smaller neighborhood periodicals give you more bang for your buck for print advertising; WBEZ caters to the theatergoing demographic and have a lot of impact. Remember that smaller but frequent is more effective than a big ad seen once. - Internet Presence " you may love all the wonderful advances in Flash technology, but the only reason anyone visits your website is to find out what is playing, what it's about, how much it will cost them (in time and money), and how to get there. Keep that firmly in mind when putting your website together. - Personal Contact " while standing on a street corner, handing out postcards and handbills for hours at a time is a pain in the neck, it is absolutely essential. Nothing brings in audience more than your personal enthusiasm for your show. The second challenge is that most Chicagoans go to see theater based on one thing: word of mouth recommendations. The most recent statistics state that 82% of all theatergoers attend a specific production because someone they know and trust told them about it. That is not to say that all of the above is unnecessary. Keep in mind that the only genuine obstacle for your show is a lack of awareness of it. The more people who have heard something about your show, the better. Let's take as an example our friend, Bill. Bill is a fairly ideal theater consumer. He's young (under thirty) well educated, literate, culturally savvy, progressive, has at least a little bit of disposable income, smart, perceptive, politically aware, went to theater with his family growing up etc. Bill is exactly the type of person you would think would be attracted to seeing theater. He isn't. Why? First theater doesn't really penetrate his consciousness. Bill doesn't really hear about plays that appeal to him. Movies and television invade his space constantly through the Hollywood Hype Machine. It's not just about Masscult creating desire (as advertising often does) it's just on some level the information that a show he might be interested in never reaches him in the first place. This is your third challenge " how do you reach Bill? The simple answer is be creative. In addition to all the standard and traditional marketing tools you've put together, none of it is as effective as a creative and interesting strategy that sets your show apart from the myriad productions surrounding it than the fun, bizarre, creative approach that no one else is using. In 1995, I produced a show created by adapting three semi-pornographic 1960's pulp novels. The first step was the title " Monte LaGrosjambe presents Sex est une Femme. In the white noise of the billion entertainment options available to Bill, the title is king. We accompanied the sexy, weird title with an image of a semi-nude woman and added the gimmick pricing of $12.00 (or $18 for you and a sexual partner). The show received terrible reviews but was sold out for most of the run. In 2005, in a production of a DADA show in New York as a part of the fringeNYC, we purchased a 5' x 5' cloth cube that was inflatable. We painted the show's title and the show time and location on the sides, went out into Central Park in full makeup, and bounced the huge cube around people at lunchtime. When people started to take an interest, several others (not in costume) approached with handbills and told them enthusiastically about the show. In New York, there is a group called "Improv Everywhere" that stages a combination of Augusto Boal and flash mob events for fun. Add the inclusion of handbills and you have created a publicity event that is both memorable and intriguing. Finally, the most important thing to remember is that promotion and marketing is not an afterthought to the art. It is as important as the set design, rehearsals, and script. Take as much time and care to create a marketing strategy that is consistent and creative and your two steps ahead of 70% of the rest. Don Hall is the Founding Director of Chicago's WNEP Theater. In addition to working as a freelance Publicist (PitBull PR) for the past eight years, he has produced over 70 world premieres in Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Scotland in the past fourteen years and was the producer of the Ninth Annual Chicago Improv Festival.