Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: No offense to senior citizens

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chel
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Topic: No offense to senior citizens
Posted: 4/30/08 at 3:23pm

They are our sponsors and have been loyal audience members for a very long time. Years and years. Possibly before they were officially senior citizens...certainly before their children were.

But it's time to start appealing to a younger crowd. We are not geared towards children, but do try to accomodate families. We don't do shows that are overly risque' or have a lot of cussing...because the senior citizens who are our regulars don't like that kind of thing.

BUT...we try to do upbeat shows (such as The Wiz, Leader of the Pack, etc) in the summer because we can draw out the highschool/college students to audition.

So how do we liven up the audience attendance? How do we draw in a fresh crowd of theater fans?

chel

www.windhamtheaterguild.org

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spikesgirl
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Posted: 4/30/08 at 6:05pm

We faced a similar dilemma a few yearas ago when we decided to 'update' our audience. We didn't want to drive our seniors away, but we did want to bring the younger crowds in. We started a program called The Second Stage, which are shows that are more controversial (such as "Art" and "Frankie and Johnny at the Clare de Lune") that has met with moderate success.

Then we introduced a rating system for our shows, making sure to include a couple of 'G' rated for families, a "PG" or two and an 'R'. If a person doesn't want to see a show, then we offer them tickets to something else instead. As a result, we have to work a lot harder to pick out appropriate plays and musicals, but we've met with great success. Our subscribers are now nearly 4,000 strong and surprisingly enough, very few of our senior citizens have objected at all to the 'R' or 'PG-13' shows.

Hope that helps!

Charlie

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chel
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Joined: 6/20/07
Location: United States
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Posted: 5/01/08 at 10:35am

Thanks. We do 5 or 6 shows in a season and try to mix things up, I hope we can mix things up even further. We just did Nunsensations last fall, and this season we have Hats (the first time it's been performed in CT!), The Kitchen Witches (two post-menopausal women), & Steel Magnolias (another all women).

We have a college right nearby. They do very "artsy" and "alternative" shows...much too alternative for our audiences. But I'd still love to appeal to them to be involved, onstage and off.

Do you target the highschools in the area as well?

chel

www.windhamtheaterguild.org

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spikesgirl
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Posted: 5/01/08 at 4:29pm

We also did "Nunsensations!" and will be doing "Hats" in two years, so we pretty close to you on some things. We are currently working on "The Full Monty" (first non-professional production in CA) and the response has been overwhelming, as was the response with "Whorehouse". It sort of made us realize that even older folks like a bit of rolicking fun, as long as it done appropriately - no Sam Shepard stuff!

We have our year organized in large musical, small musical, drama, small musical, comedy, and large muscial for our mainstage and that seems to be working out well for us. By doing the larger stuff, we can afford to not have the big audiences for the drama/comedy slots.

During the summer, we have children's theater, which is aimed towards junior/high school kids. This year it's Seussical Jr. Last year, it was "Once on This Island". Three of our current directors are either retired (or about to be retired) high school drama teachers, so they are our lifeline to the schools. We do try to offer at least one or two shows that have age appropriate roles for high schoolers. The hardest part for us is that we have both a college and university in town that scoop up the high schoolers as fast as they come out. They tend to come to us after they've finished with those theaters.

Charlie

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biggertigger
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Joined: 4/16/07
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Posted: 5/03/08 at 9:21am

A little off topic, but here is a funny story that is currently happening with senior citizens. This is the first time I have worked with the local community theater and since they are doing a dinner theater at a church that does not have a liquor license they encourage to byob (bring your own bottle). Last night was a second show and I watched all these senior citizens coming to the show with coolers full of alcohol. They are carrying totes with a few bottles of wine. It was hysterical.

So, my suggestion is to liquor up the audience, they'll watch anything.

The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.

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Linda S
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Posted: 5/03/08 at 9:55am

This topic drives me crazy. Just because someone is older doesn't mean that they they want to see the same old stuff they've been seeing for years. People who go to the theater want to see good theater Last year I did 'Tick, Tick . . .BOOM!' . The board had mixed feelings about doing the show because our audience base was "senior citizens". They were worried that would offend, that they wouldn't like it. The comments that we got from the older members of the audience were: That it was nice to see something different, something new, something they hadn't seen before. We played to sold out houses, and the younger people had to scramble to get tickets. I had one gentlemen tell me, "Young lady, do more like this. My wife drags me to the theater, and I am sick to death of 'The Sound of Music', but that is all anyone seems to do." Now there was a light bulb moment.

The biggest complaint I hear about theater in general from older audience members is that they can't understand the words. I use my mom as gauge. ( Lovely woman, but hard of hearing.) If my mother can understand it, everyone can. As long she understands what is going on she loves it. I have found this to be generally true. I ask her and her friends about language and content. The comment I get is, "You didn't invent swearing, and you didn't invent sex."

Stop worrying about who is going to like what and do good theater. And brush up the diction.

Linda

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JoeMc
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Posted: 5/03/08 at 10:10pm

Bewdy Linda!

I hate to be dogegorised & pigeon holed because I'm not young enough to understand?

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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chel
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Joined: 6/20/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 106

Posted: 5/06/08 at 6:22pm

As I said, no offense to our seniors, but that's the response we got from them for "Same Time Next Year"...the subject was not to their liking.

Cussing...huge turn-off...that's the feed-back.

I'm with you...my 94 year old grandmother would get a kick out of anything. She's not dead yet, that'd be her attitude.

I guess the solution is to keep suggesting more fresh shows and see what happens. When our audience was asked what show they'd really like to see a great deal of the suggestions were "Damn Yankees".

I believe the term "fuddy-duddies" would fit?

chel

www.windhamtheaterguild.org

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spikesgirl
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Posted: 5/07/08 at 9:48am

A couple of years ago, we did a poll of our patrons and we try to include at least one show (per season) that gets high requests.

We did "Damned Yankees " a couple of seasons ago and I wouldn't necessarily deem it a 'fuddy duddy' show. however, we are getting really great audiences with "Charley's Aunt" - but most of the calls these days are people begging for "Full Monty" tickets - and they ain't the young folks!

Reality is that you aren't going to please everybody with every show. Do some new, some old and hope for the best. Putting together a good season is brutal - believe me, this I know from experience.

Charlie

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sconjott
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Joined: 5/24/08
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Posted: 5/26/08 at 10:15pm

How about this...

Invite various groups to a Special Performance, give them free or drastically reduced admission. We have invited different groups to our shows as a preview before opening night for the past 4 shows and have already noticed younger audiences.

Also,

You have a Mailer or E-mail Database, right?

It would not be difficult to add an age group to your mail list form. Of course it won't be easy to get age ranges for your current list, but you could let everyone know you're updating your mailing lists and get them to submit a new Mailing list Form with the Age Range added. Then you can use this new information to better target your audiences. You might even gather gender or anything else you think might help you to target certain plays... If you're worried about offending your Seniors (and I understand perfectly well why) then you could throw in 1 or 2 shows a year targeted at the younger audiences and send out mailers to the seniors explaining that there's graphic language, nudity, etc. I guess it's reverse targeting, but you could even send out large print play anouncements for Seniors. Quite a few WILL appreciate that.

Of course, someone will be offended no matter what you do. There's no getting around it. Send them a mailer with large print and it's, "I don't need larger print, I can see just fine", or tell them there's graphic language and you'll hear, "I'm no kid, I heard worse in the Navy".

The problem is that we're sometimes too afraid to step out of our comfort zone. We're certain we'll run off our "bread & butter" patrons without stopping to wonder where our new "bread & butter" patrons are going to come from when our current Senior base, sad to say, take their final bows.

It's a question with no simple answer, except to say, you have to take a chance sooner or later. If you don't audition, you'll never get the part, right? If you don't take the chance, you may have a hard time staying in business 10-20 years down the road.

There are NO small roles, only small actors...

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Topic: No offense to senior citizens( Topic Closed)
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Author	Message
chel Celebrity Joined: 6/20/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Topic: No offense to senior citizens Posted: 4/30/08 at 3:23pm
	They are our sponsors and have been loyal audience members for a very long time. Years and years. Possibly before they were officially senior citizens...certainly before their children were. But it's time to start appealing to a younger crowd. We are not geared towards children, but do try to accomodate families. We don't do shows that are overly risque' or have a lot of cussing...because the senior citizens who are our regulars don't like that kind of thing. BUT...we try to do upbeat shows (such as The Wiz, Leader of the Pack, etc) in the summer because we can draw out the highschool/college students to audition. So how do we liven up the audience attendance? How do we draw in a fresh crowd of theater fans?
	chel www.windhamtheaterguild.org

	IP Logged

spikesgirl Celebrity Joined: 3/30/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 129	Posted: 4/30/08 at 6:05pm
	We faced a similar dilemma a few yearas ago when we decided to 'update' our audience. We didn't want to drive our seniors away, but we did want to bring the younger crowds in. We started a program called The Second Stage, which are shows that are more controversial (such as "Art" and "Frankie and Johnny at the Clare de Lune") that has met with moderate success. Then we introduced a rating system for our shows, making sure to include a couple of 'G' rated for families, a "PG" or two and an 'R'. If a person doesn't want to see a show, then we offer them tickets to something else instead. As a result, we have to work a lot harder to pick out appropriate plays and musicals, but we've met with great success. Our subscribers are now nearly 4,000 strong and surprisingly enough, very few of our senior citizens have objected at all to the 'R' or 'PG-13' shows. Hope that helps! Charlie
	IP Logged

chel Celebrity Joined: 6/20/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 5/01/08 at 10:35am
	Thanks. We do 5 or 6 shows in a season and try to mix things up, I hope we can mix things up even further. We just did Nunsensations last fall, and this season we have Hats (the first time it's been performed in CT!), The Kitchen Witches (two post-menopausal women), & Steel Magnolias (another all women). We have a college right nearby. They do very "artsy" and "alternative" shows...much too alternative for our audiences. But I'd still love to appeal to them to be involved, onstage and off. Do you target the highschools in the area as well?
	chel www.windhamtheaterguild.org
	IP Logged

spikesgirl Celebrity Joined: 3/30/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 129	Posted: 5/01/08 at 4:29pm
	We also did "Nunsensations!" and will be doing "Hats" in two years, so we pretty close to you on some things. We are currently working on "The Full Monty" (first non-professional production in CA) and the response has been overwhelming, as was the response with "Whorehouse". It sort of made us realize that even older folks like a bit of rolicking fun, as long as it done appropriately - no Sam Shepard stuff! We have our year organized in large musical, small musical, drama, small musical, comedy, and large muscial for our mainstage and that seems to be working out well for us. By doing the larger stuff, we can afford to not have the big audiences for the drama/comedy slots. During the summer, we have children's theater, which is aimed towards junior/high school kids. This year it's Seussical Jr. Last year, it was "Once on This Island". Three of our current directors are either retired (or about to be retired) high school drama teachers, so they are our lifeline to the schools. We do try to offer at least one or two shows that have age appropriate roles for high schoolers. The hardest part for us is that we have both a college and university in town that scoop up the high schoolers as fast as they come out. They tend to come to us after they've finished with those theaters. Charlie
	IP Logged

biggertigger Celebrity Joined: 4/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 188	Posted: 5/03/08 at 9:21am
	A little off topic, but here is a funny story that is currently happening with senior citizens. This is the first time I have worked with the local community theater and since they are doing a dinner theater at a church that does not have a liquor license they encourage to byob (bring your own bottle). Last night was a second show and I watched all these senior citizens coming to the show with coolers full of alcohol. They are carrying totes with a few bottles of wine. It was hysterical. So, my suggestion is to liquor up the audience, they'll watch anything.
	The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.
	IP Logged

Linda S Celebrity Joined: 4/16/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 312	Posted: 5/03/08 at 9:55am
	This topic drives me crazy. Just because someone is older doesn't mean that they they want to see the same old stuff they've been seeing for years. People who go to the theater want to see good theater Last year I did 'Tick, Tick . . .BOOM!' . The board had mixed feelings about doing the show because our audience base was "senior citizens". They were worried that would offend, that they wouldn't like it. The comments that we got from the older members of the audience were: That it was nice to see something different, something new, something they hadn't seen before. We played to sold out houses, and the younger people had to scramble to get tickets. I had one gentlemen tell me, "Young lady, do more like this. My wife drags me to the theater, and I am sick to death of 'The Sound of Music', but that is all anyone seems to do." Now there was a light bulb moment. The biggest complaint I hear about theater in general from older audience members is that they can't understand the words. I use my mom as gauge. ( Lovely woman, but hard of hearing.) If my mother can understand it, everyone can. As long she understands what is going on she loves it. I have found this to be generally true. I ask her and her friends about language and content. The comment I get is, "You didn't invent swearing, and you didn't invent sex." Stop worrying about who is going to like what and do good theater. And brush up the diction. Linda
	IP Logged

JoeMc Celebrity Joined: 3/13/06 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 832	Posted: 5/03/08 at 10:10pm
	Bewdy Linda! I hate to be dogegorised & pigeon holed because I'm not young enough to understand?
	[western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!}
	IP Logged

chel Celebrity Joined: 6/20/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 5/06/08 at 6:22pm
	As I said, no offense to our seniors, but that's the response we got from them for "Same Time Next Year"...the subject was not to their liking. Cussing...huge turn-off...that's the feed-back. I'm with you...my 94 year old grandmother would get a kick out of anything. She's not dead yet, that'd be her attitude. I guess the solution is to keep suggesting more fresh shows and see what happens. When our audience was asked what show they'd really like to see a great deal of the suggestions were "Damn Yankees". I believe the term "fuddy-duddies" would fit?
	chel www.windhamtheaterguild.org
	IP Logged

spikesgirl Celebrity Joined: 3/30/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 129	Posted: 5/07/08 at 9:48am
	A couple of years ago, we did a poll of our patrons and we try to include at least one show (per season) that gets high requests. We did "Damned Yankees " a couple of seasons ago and I wouldn't necessarily deem it a 'fuddy duddy' show. however, we are getting really great audiences with "Charley's Aunt" - but most of the calls these days are people begging for "Full Monty" tickets - and they ain't the young folks! Reality is that you aren't going to please everybody with every show. Do some new, some old and hope for the best. Putting together a good season is brutal - believe me, this I know from experience. Charlie
	IP Logged

sconjott Lead Joined: 5/24/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 35	Posted: 5/26/08 at 10:15pm
	How about this... Invite various groups to a Special Performance, give them free or drastically reduced admission. We have invited different groups to our shows as a preview before opening night for the past 4 shows and have already noticed younger audiences. Also, You have a Mailer or E-mail Database, right? It would not be difficult to add an age group to your mail list form. Of course it won't be easy to get age ranges for your current list, but you could let everyone know you're updating your mailing lists and get them to submit a new Mailing list Form with the Age Range added. Then you can use this new information to better target your audiences. You might even gather gender or anything else you think might help you to target certain plays... If you're worried about offending your Seniors (and I understand perfectly well why) then you could throw in 1 or 2 shows a year targeted at the younger audiences and send out mailers to the seniors explaining that there's graphic language, nudity, etc. I guess it's reverse targeting, but you could even send out large print play anouncements for Seniors. Quite a few WILL appreciate that. Of course, someone will be offended no matter what you do. There's no getting around it. Send them a mailer with large print and it's, "I don't need larger print, I can see just fine", or tell them there's graphic language and you'll hear, "I'm no kid, I heard worse in the Navy". The problem is that we're sometimes too afraid to step out of our comfort zone. We're certain we'll run off our "bread & butter" patrons without stopping to wonder where our new "bread & butter" patrons are going to come from when our current Senior base, sad to say, take their final bows. It's a question with no simple answer, except to say, you have to take a chance sooner or later. If you don't audition, you'll never get the part, right? If you don't take the chance, you may have a hard time staying in business 10-20 years down the road.
	There are NO small roles, only small actors...
	IP Logged