What Shows Are We Doing?
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1324
Printed Date: 11/25/24 at 11:12am
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Topic: What Shows Are We Doing?
Posted By: jtonner
Subject: What Shows Are We Doing?
Date Posted: 3/24/05 at 6:54pm
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OK - So I am anal and probably have too much time on my hands. However I did it anyway! I have gone through all the websites for every community theatre that has a website link in the AACT database, and listed all of the shows the groups are doing for 2004-2005 and/or 2005 Seasons. Yes, it was a big project, but it was very interesting. (In case you are wondering I have listed 975 different productions.) I did have some ground rules. I did not list any locally written shows, either plays or reviews. I did not list any one acts that were listed as "An Evening of One Acts" with no titles. I did list some shows twice (probably five) that were being done in as a regular show and a children's show. I also listed rights holders (when I could find them), if the show was a musical, comedy, straight, one act, etc. (I did NOT look each show up to make sure it was a comedy as opposed to a farce ... even I have my limits), and if it was being done as a children's show. I know a list of 975 would be much too long to post, so I am going to list just the top ten plays and top ten musicals along with the number of productions. The full list is available in Excel if anyone wants to take a look at it. TOP TEN MUSICALS (Number of productions) 1. Annie (22), 2. Nunsense (18), 3. The Sound of Music (17) 4. Disney's Beauty and the Beast (16), Grease (16), I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (16), 7. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (15), 8. Seussical (14), 9. My Fair Lady (13) 10. Forever Plaid (12), Into the Woods (12), The Music Man (12) and Little Shop of Horrors (12) TOP TEN PLAYS (Number of Productions) 1. Proof (31), 2. Steel Magnolias (18), 3. Arsenic and Old Lace (16), A Christmas Story (16), 5. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (14), The Lion In Winter (14), 7. Noises Off! (13), Over the RIver and Through the Woods (13) 9. Barefoot In the Park (12), Charlotte's Web (12), Crimes of the Heart (12), Deathtrap (12). NOTE: I did not list A Christmas Carol even though there were a number of productions. Each was listed by author when I could find it, otherwise it went into an "all others Unknown author" listing. Any comments? (About the list, not my having too much time and not enough to do!) John ------------- John |
Replies:
Posted By: JCCTony
Date Posted: 3/24/05 at 7:01pm
| what about straight plays? |
Posted By: D TERRELL
Date Posted: 7/02/05 at 1:51pm
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Dear John,
We think it's great that you did this. Some suprises in the top 10 lists but mostly not. We would love to see your longer list just to see where (or if any of) the plays we love lined up. Was there a reason you didn't include Christmas Carol? Even though it is done a lot it is one of our favorites. Too many adaptations maybe? Thanks |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/03/05 at 10:58am
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Is anybody else shocked that the majority of community
theatres are doing (with a very few notable exceptions) the same hoary chestnuts that we were producing in community theatres when I was a child??? - and there were people who complained THEN that they were all old and tired and done-to- death. Reading that list, it's almost as if the past 25 years of theatre never happened! I'm genuinely surprised...not that there are a few old 'favorites' on the list - but that they comprise the majority of the lists! |
Posted By: Kathy S
Date Posted: 7/03/05 at 1:57pm
| Well, it may hinge on this: most of the theatre being written isn't written with the sensibilities of community theatre patrons in mind...its more for NY audiences. Although I haven't any statistics, I would venture a guess that of the 7000 or so community theatres that are members of AACT, a huge majority of them are in smaller, conservative communities and rely on ticket sales for their existance. The patrons of the theatre that I volunteer in don't for the most part want to see their neighbors' nude bodies or hear them spout four-letter words even though they may tolerate it on television and in the movies. |
Posted By: MattF
Date Posted: 7/03/05 at 7:53pm
| This was really interesting to read. Thanks for doing it. |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/03/05 at 9:43pm
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Kathy, I know what you mean ... and vulgar language is a
problem with many contemporary plays (LOL - nudity isn't in that many plays, even in NY, LOL). But, that everybody is doing "Annie" and "The Sound of Music" and not "Ragtime," or "Titanic" or "Passion" or "Assassins," or even 80's plays like "Robber Bridegroom," "Once on this Island," etc. just sorta depresses me. I've worked in a fairly small town (who am I kidding? LOL VERY small town) in upstate New York...and our biggest houses have come from "Psycho Beach Party," "On Tidy Endings," and "Betty's Summer Vacation" ... and our production of "Passion" was held over for an extra two weeks. I think people are just scared to give audiences the benefit of the doubt LOL. Admittedly - we're a granted theatre, so if we really lose on a play, we don't lose the theatre. But, if we don't educate the public NOW, lol, WHEN will we do it? |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 7/03/05 at 11:54pm
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John it?s great you did this hit parade of what?s been on! Maybe you should do this regularly, because it is informative & it will help others when deciding on what?s popular! I think every year the question of roasting the old chestnuts again & again raises it?s head without fail! When a group is making up there calendar for up coming seasons, there is always the same catch cry of "That?s been done to death" - no mater what the production is! I think because community theatre usualy only caters for a certain local demographic area. Why worry that another group has done the same production! Let?s face it Symphony Orchestras don?t worry about putting on the same works, time & again, to the point of the BOS?s actually expect it & keep turning out in droves for some reason or other? When you look at the punter factor over an average year, unfortunately in most cases New works, never have the same pulling power as the old Conkers do. A lot of groups usually balance out their yearly seasons with those productions, that will recover enough to be able to pay for a new show now & then. This is a fact of life if you haven?t got the gold bricks, even the oldies can?t be done! I?m sure Old Shakey ran into the same problem, yet was able to keep racing the same old horses, by only changing the Jockey?s! ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Kathy S
Date Posted: 7/04/05 at 12:36am
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This season we are getting away from the old chestnuts. We just did The Underpants by Steve Martin, which drew a smaller audience than we are used to. Nobody ever heard of the show, but we were kind of counting on the writer's name to pull in a crowd. Next we are doing "Play It Again, Sam", not an overwhelmingly well-known show, and following it up with a dramatization of two Truman Capote holiday stories called Holiday Memories. I am not looking for record-breaking houses, but they will be good shows and that's really what we care the most about. We'd love to do Ragtime, but don't have the diverse population to cast it. |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/04/05 at 11:11am
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I was in a production of "Play It Again, Sam" while in college. It's
an adorable play! Good luck with it - I had a really good time being part of it - hope all of you do, too. I remember being stuck behind a stubborn sliding door (I was Bogart) for almost a full minute before they could get me out on the stage LOL. |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/04/05 at 11:14am
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one other thought about audiences and old chestnuts.
I'm curious how many people who produce those old musicals and situation comedies and farces also find they have middle- aged to elderly audiences? If we don't start exciting YOUNG audiences (I mean young adults, not children) to the theatre soon, we're going to end up with empty houses becasue all the prospective audience members are dead. How many 22 year olds do you know who think a hot Saturday night would include sitting through "Annie" or "Sound of Music?" |
Posted By: Kathy S
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 2:01am
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That's a good question which brings another question to mind (which might better be posted in a different location...) How do you market to a twenty-something audience? We write lots of news articles which are published in almost all of the newspapers in the area, but I don't think 22-year olds are reading the newspapers. They also are not listening to the radio stations which are willing to give us free publicity. Probably the best way to get young people in the audience is to cast their friends and, yes, Tristan, you have a very good point in the material being a key element. We need to be appealing to all ages. |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 8:42am
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Your right & g'donya Tristan! I can remember prescribing to the similar thoughts, back in the 50?s. When I was about 10 & fired up a new theatre group, with a bunch of mates from theatre! We had much the same fears, which become rather redundant & unfounded over time, as it?s was solely dependant on where you are positioned within the time cycle! I?m not trying to knock your questions, suggestions or fears. Only that the 20 year olds of today, will be the artificer?s of community theatre in the 2020?s, doing much the same productions as we are today! Bewdy mate - keep questioning it!
------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Linda S
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 10:52am
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We have just been struggling with the same question. We are setting our season for next year and we want to do something that will attract a younger audience and younger members. I was really struck by the ages of audience that came to see our last show, The Music Man. We sold out every performance, but well over half the audience were grandparents with their grandchildren. There was almost no one 20 to 40. Our theater is on the second floor of an historic building. In a couple of years most of the audience will not be able to manage the stairs. We are going to take a bold step and do a rock musical. There are even a couple a four letter words in it! Some of the board members are skeptical, but sandwiched in between 2 old chestnuts is going to be an edgy new musical! (Keep your fingers crossed we can get the rights!) The interesting thing is that, even though the production is a year away, young people are already asking about auditions. The pit is already shaping up with some the best young musicians in the area asking to be involved, and one the best young music directors is already on board. L. |
Posted By: jtonner
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 11:47am
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Boy, I thought this topic was dead, but all of a sudden it has started a good discussion. I do have a couple of thoughts. My list has 968 different show on it. The most performed show is Proof with 31 shows. This is 3/10's of one percent of all of the shows produced (within the guidlines I listed in my initial post). If you add up all of the top ten musicals, you still get right at 20%. In addition, of the 968 shows there are 592 being done buy just one group. That is 61% of the total. While many of these may be in the "done to death" category, some are very edgy, experimental, or seldom performed classics. I will be doing another list for the 2006-2007 seasons, starting in January. I will list a separate categories any unpublished shows being done. This could give us another idea of what is going on. If you want the full list, and all of the other stats I figured, it is on an Excel spreadsheet and I would be more than happy to send it out if you email me. John ------------- John |
Posted By: jtonner
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 11:53am
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As I was reading throught the topic again, I was just struck with anothe thought. The reason I decided to so this was a trip I took through the AACT websites last year, basically for the same reason, just to see what is being done. The thing I noticed last year was Fiddler on the Roof was being done by everyone (at least that is the way it seemed). This year Fiddler is only on the schedule for five theatres. It did not even make the top ten. We may be doing a lot of the same "old chestnuts", but ever those come and go. John ------------- John |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 3:09pm
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"In addition, of the 968 shows there are 592 being done buy
just one group.? That is 61% of the total." that really confuses me. am I being dense? LOL please explain that |
Posted By: Shatcher
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 3:12pm
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One of the theatres I work with does 2 old standards a year along with 2-3 newer pieces. This seem to work out well for them. They sell a lot of season tickets so they were able to draw in some of the older folks to the Newer shows. Jeckle & Hyde and A Man of no Importance did very well for them. To bring in the younger crowd we did The Rocky Horror Show around Halloween. It was the best selling live show in town 2 years in a row. We sold out 30 preformances and had to turn people away! Now Rocky may not work for your older folks but it sure will pack em in!
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Posted By: jtonner
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 4:15pm
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Sorry, I should have explained a little better. There were 968 shows on the list. Of these, 592 were done by one group only. Hope that helps.
John |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 5:06pm
thanks now I get it LOL |
Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 7/05/05 at 10:59pm
Hey Kathy ... we're really going out on a limb this fall. We're planning on producing Smoke On the Mountain! 
Since we only do one show a year, have no sponsorship and rely only on
ticket sales ... there's just no getting around the shows that bring in
money. And then the audience talks about it for the next year.We did Forever Plaid 5 years ago and we were getting numerous requests to bring it back the following year ... still getting the requests, so I guess we'll try to find a place for it next year. We give 'em what they want! As for shows and casting ... why is it that most shows are written for 14 men and 3 women? Don't any of these people work with community theatre?  |
Posted By: RachelB
Date Posted: 5/04/06 at 9:28pm
| John, I would love to have a copy of your Excel spreadsheet if you revisit the project this year. Thanks! Rachel B |
Posted By: MoonlightFlame
Date Posted: 5/06/06 at 8:13pm
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I am happy to report, that none of our shows this season are on the top ten... I guess that's good, right? I work with a community theatre in Central California. Our new brochure JUST came out yesterday and the season is as follows: Over the Tavern Measure for Measure The Taffetas Saturday, Sunday, Monday The Gingerbread Lady Misery First Night
Smit (BTW, your right about getting younger people into theatre. It's tough! I'm only 19 and it's hard to find people my age doing community theatre stuff. Or any community volunteer work for that matter...) |
Posted By: Dough Boy
Date Posted: 5/09/06 at 8:36am
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At first I found this list depressing, but maybe it's not as bad as we
think. While just about every community theatre pulls out an old
"favorite" or two every year to guarantee an audience, the rest of the
season may be populated with more current, even unpublished
works. So when you look at a top 10 you're going to get alot of
the old stand-bys at the top. It's the rest of the season that really
matters. Make some money on a few standards, but expand your
audience and your communities by throwing in the new unproven stuff
along the way. Our biggest box office (non-musical) hit of the
season was a new unpublished comedy. We hate re-runs on TV,
why have nothing but re-runs in your season? |
Posted By: teridtiger
Date Posted: 5/25/06 at 11:14am
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Our season runs from June to June. We just held auditions for our first show of the 2006/07 season. As Artistic Director, I try to strike a balance of genres and topics. Our season is: "Come Blow Your Horn" - Neil Simon "On Golden Pond" - Ernest Thompson "Two Rooms" - Lee Blessing "The Importance of Being Earnest" - Oscar Wilde "The Graduate" - Terry Johnson "Cabaret" - Kander & Ebb |
Posted By: nwykcty03
Date Posted: 5/22/07 at 6:35pm
| So what's everyone doing for the 2007-2008 season? |
Posted By: red diva
Date Posted: 5/24/07 at 5:14pm
There's already a current thread under "Other topics" within the last week which is titled something like "Wondered what shows everyone is doing". Check there. ------------- "I've worked long and hard to earn the right to be called Diva!" |