Here's part of a letter I wrote to a friend considering starting a theatre in Oregon - it's not overly organized but will be useful to the starry-eyed dreamers amongst us:

Here are the things I would want to know about my town if I were planning on opening up a new theatre. Any time and effort you put forth to really know the place you live in and the culture of the community will help you make correct assumptions based upon the facts.

Correct assumptions are GOOD! They help keep you from re-inventing the wheel. I myself have personally designed several new models of the wheel, only to find that my efforts were redundant, to say the least.

This is going to seem like a lot, I know. Especially after the last list I sent.

But how does a mouse eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

A mountain is crossed one step at a time. Seldom in a single bound.

Believe in yourself, have a clear and desired goal in mind, break the work down into small steps and manageable portions and do part of it everyday. Soon you will arrive where you wanted to be.

Here’s a bunch of questions to ask about your town and the surrounding area. Once you can answer most of them, you will be miles ahead of many other people who only have vague mistaken notions of their city.

Let’s start with already-existing local theatres...

How many theatres in your locale and surrounding areas? What’s their main emphasis? For-profit or non-profit? Straight plays or musicals, or a mix? Socially relevant or just for entertainment? Murder mysteries? Comedy oriented? What were the shows they performed in the last three years? Why? Who are they trying to attract?

Large or small theatres? Their hours of operation? Ticket prices? Seasons? Open how many weeks a year? Why?

Key people? Do they have any standout directors, tech people, choreographers, costumers, propmasters, stage managers, p.r. people etc? What are their supporting organizations like? How do they get publicity? What is the general community perceptions of these theatres? What are they best known for? Where are they lacking?

Where do the other theatres get performers? Are they paid or unpaid? How are actors and staff etc. rewarded? Are they professional or amateur? Who are the best-known local performers? Are the actors satisfied there? Are they looking for new challenges, or are they extremely colloquial? Do they freely perform in many different theatres or stick to the one? Why?

Do theatres serve full meals or snack bar fare? Do they use caterers? Who are their vendors? What do you like about their stage layout? What do you hate? What are their seating capacities and configurations? How comfortable are they for patrons? Are they warm and welcoming? Cold and heartless? Well-funded and attended? Needy and desperate? Why?

Are friendly alliances possible? Are alliances even reasonable? Are you going after the same audience?

What do these theatres do if there's a power outage in the middle of a show? Do they have backup power systems? A "act of God" no-refund rain-check policy that will keep them from refunding money in such an event? Do they just give patrons their money back and call it a day? Why?

Which theatres use a lot of tech? Who are the local tech “experts”? What is their level of technical expertise? Are they appreciated? Will they work cheap? Will they intern? Do they work in several theatres? Where do they get their equipment? Which are the local hardware or supply stores they buy from? Which fabric stores? Why?

Which local theatres lend out equipment? Costumes? Scenery? Props? What is their community outreach like? Do they run acting classes for kids or adults? Do they do children’s theatre? If so, who are the standout kids? Backstage moms willing to share information?

Do they make use of local playwrights? What is the parking like? Who does their website? Who paints their signage? Who does their artwork? Is it good or crappy? What can you do far better? What do they do that you can’t improve on?

What recent traveling shows have come through? Were they well attended? Where were they staged? Why?

Who are favorite local musical groups? Local celebrities? Key local opinion makers? Favorite regional or national groups or shows? Underserved or unsatisfied audiences?

Other general questions:

How many people live in the city and the surrounding area that you can effectively serve? What are the ethnic, income, age group, marital status, homeowner or renter, gay or straight, conservative or liberal, etc breakdowns? Who do you hope to serve among these groups? How are they best reached in the area?

Taboo subjects? Well-known local crooks or villains? Acceptable targets of humor? Pro or anti-gay? Recent local scandals or triumphs? Pro-green or Big Oil? Pro-or-anti-war? Agricultural or manufacturing community?

Is there an arts district? Arts Council? Who is on it? Is it effective in helping theatre survive and prosper? Can you join? Are there artists who can help you with backdrops, designs, decor, etc? Is there money available in the form of grants for specific kinds of theatre? Awards ceremonies you can have a presence at? A Theatre in Schools program for promoting arts in poor areas?

Does the area have unique historical interest that the government likes to promote? Can you do a show that features these interests? Are there effective or weak alliances between local government and arts businesses? Why? Is there city or county money available for the arts? Who are the key people in gov’t to deal with? What are their priorities? Who have they been helping? Why?

Who’s in charge of licenses for liquor, food, health permits, fire inspections, building inspection and so on? What are the relevant fees? Are they different for non-profits? Is there any “inside information” you should be aware of that a friendly inspector or staffer will give you that will save you money or grief?

What are the city/county policies for posters, fliers on cars, sign ordinances, banners on streetlights or over streets? Who can help you get around or bend regulations a bit when necessary?

What’s the flow of traffic in town like? Best-known commercial areas? Foot traffic in the daytime and evening? Ease of travel to your intended location? General rental rates for commercial space in both high and low-traffic areas? Compatible businesses near where your theatre might be?

Seedy areas of concern? Perception of residents of the safety of a given area?

Bus routes? Taxis? Bike paths? Public parking? Meters? One way streets? Main thoroughfares and bottleneck areas?

Names of nearby towns? Travel times from them? Can you effectively attract them to your theatre? How?

Great local dining spots and good bars? Local price expectations for food, drink, entertainment? Local favorite foods? Local Brews? Comedy Clubs? Places with really active karaoke nights (to identify good singers)?

Identifiable landmarks? Libraries? Nearby churches? Synagogues? Mosques? Strip clubs? Outdoor stadiums? Sports complexes? Large auditoriums? Train tracks (don’t locate right near them)?

Christmas and New Year’s Eve traditions? Which are huge? Which are under-served? How can you get some of that business to your theatre?

Local area newspapers, TV stations, radio stations? Widespread small local publications? Ad rates? Editorial attitudes? Local theatre critics? Their influence? Which are the publications covering theatre? Positive or negative critics? Do they offer “puff” pieces, articles which praise your business (in return for buying an ad)?

Are there available billboard sites? Electronic billboards? Streetlight banners?

Local website designers? Printers for programs, etc? Sign Painters? Scenic artists? Their rates? Will they trade for tickets and/or bar credits?

Who are the local dance studios? Which have a good reputation? Are there any with available dancers and choreographers for your shows? What kind of alliances are possible there? What are the conflicts that might affect either your schedule or theirs? Would they work on your shows for small fees, or even free?

Is there a musician’s union? Is it active or dying? Will they give recommendations for pianists and other instrumentalists? Are they cool or jerks? Why? Will they help you or hurt you? Can you woo them with anything besides hard cash?

Any travel agencies that bring in bus or van tours that could visit your theatre? How can you make it worth the agent’s time to promote you? Can you accomodate tour buses reasonably?

What are the local schools like? Colleges? High Schools? Quality of theatrical productions in these schools? Instructors who can become friends if appreciated for their abilities? Would they bring classes to your shows? Lend equipment, costumes, or key people to your theatre?

What are the well-known local events that happen each year? What is upcoming? Who has a master schedule of events for your town? Where can you get one?

Local fairs? Popular park and Recreation areas? Music or Food or Arts festivals? Most popular local activities that happen weekly or monthly? Big civic events? Pride groups? Parades? Big hotels? Conventions? Sporting events? 

Real estate crisis or boom? Employment crisis or boom? Who still has money for entertainment? What are people spending disposable entertainment income on the most in your area? Why?

Board of Trade? Will Board of Trade help you promote? How? Chamber of Commerce? Political dominance? Major industries? Employee associations? Unions?

Women’s clubs? Benevolent associations? Veteran’s groups? Hospital auxilaries?

Retirement communities? Their activities directors? Movers and shakers in those communities? Can you perform at their community? Do they utilize an on-site auditorium or rec hall? Do they take field trips to see theatre? When? How often? What have they seen in the recent past? What do they WANT to see?

What are the town’s active service organizations? Which are most active? Social? Exclusive? Have the most money? Are there theatre fans or performers in these groups? Would they introduce your theatre to their organization? Can you provide speakers or entertainment to their meetings?

Can someone on your staff network in influential service organizations etc.(careful - this can be really time-consuming)? Will they put your theatre ad in their organization’s newsletter? Trade tickets in return? Do a “group night” at your theatre? Who are the movers and shakers in any given group? Can you get to know them? Will they help you?

And so on!

As you can tell from these questions, there is a lot to know. You'll probably think of some things I didn't. But once you understand the basic layout of the town and what makes it work, who the movers and shakers and opinion makers are, it gets much easier to make systematic use of this knowledge. And it beats watching TV.

The producer who knows these answers will have a better chance at staying alive than other theatre producers who never take the time. Do your legwork, and regard it as a pleasure.

And especially, with easy access to a lot of this info nowadays on the internet, you can and should take time every week to update your knowledge base and use it in attracting the kind of business and recognition you hope will benefit your theatre.

More later...

All the best,
David Michael Max

Experience is often the way we come to know something with enough surety to pass on our hard-won lessons to others in need. That's certainly been my story for twenty years through five different theatres, three of them my own.

My dad used to say stuff like "You know, if I were going to start a business like a service station or auto repair place, I'd go door to door every day and talk personally to everyone I could, look them in the eye, and make sure they knew me by the time we parted".

He felt that people needed a personal connection with the businesses in town, and that anyone who would sincerely make those connections would be successful. I think he may have been right, and I thought about that attitude a lot, that knowing the people and area you were serving thoroughly, so that you do do the best job possible for them.

And I believe that questions are the key to all knowledge. Let's ask 'em.