Thanks John, I was trying to think of a delicate way of mentioning the royalty payment, too.
Previews, final dresses - any performance with an audience of people not associated with the production is royalty-bearing. Even during school hours. (Although personally I wouldn't go so far as to say the same re: teaser scenes. I'd personally lump that in with 'promotion' since - if there was a budget for it I'd assume you'd create a traditional video commercial.)
Since there is no hard ticket price involved, the good news is that many licensing houses have a minimum royalty rate for such occasions. This is the same rate that a church or other types of groups that - for whatever reason - do/can not charge admission to their productions.
Of course, I'm sure that there are also many musicals that follow the play model and have one rate of royalty for amateurs regardless of ticket prices. But I don't think that's the usual case at the Big 6 (TRW, MTI, R&H, French, Tams, Dramatists).
Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2015 07:05
From: John Perry
Subject: What works for you with ticket sales?
I hope you are paying royalties for the open final dress. Any performance with an audience requires a royalty payment.
I hate to be the curmudgeon here but I'll keep reminding people of the need to pay royalties. I know it's expensive but it's the price we pay to make sure the art is available to us.
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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2015 00:10
From: C. J. Breland
Subject: What works for you with ticket sales?
I require every student taking a theatre class to see one live performance of a play or musical each course and complete a live performance critique. We are not allowed in my district to force students to pay for anything, so we offer an open final dress at 4:00 p.m.--school ends at 3:30--on the day before the show opens. Students with financial or transportation problems can just stay after school and arrange for just a ride home. The open dress is open to anyone, so some teachers come as well. We get great word of mouth around the school on opening day from the folks who attended the dress rehearsal, and my actors get home early for a night's rest before the run.
I also offer students in classes the opportunity to serve as ushers.
I share my live performance critique with teachers and ask them to use it if they give extra credit for attending, rather than just asking for a program.
The most successful thing we have done to get ticket sales from the community is to start a Facebook page and offer an online link on our school's web site to purchase tickets with a credit card. Our bookkeeper sets up the link for us.
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C. J. Breland
Asheville NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2015 13:43
From: Joshua Brady
Subject: What works for you with ticket sales?
In my read, we are talking about two separate issues, selling tickets and requiring kids to see the show.
I require kids to get Thespian points, not see the productions. That means that they can get a half point for reviewing either a school show or some other production. However, it also allows them to get the points by working on a show, assisting in a theatre festival (even when not performing), or taking after school workshops. Most students opt to work the box office, usher, and work concessions. That way, I staff the show and get the kids to watch it. Because of the variety of ways to get points, administration is happy, but I also get more people in seats.
As far as ticket sales go, my students agree to buy ten tickets at a reduced price. Many of the cast members pass this savings on to their families and friends. However, I include the fact that cast members have reduced price tickets sales in all publicity. Students typically have no problem selling them. If they do, the other cast members usually help them out. If students want more at the reduced price, we provide them. My tech director and I have not made designers and crew purchase tickets because the student population has a harder time finding them and their families do not always understand the work that they do on the shows. However, if I worked in a more affluent neighborhood, I might make a different decision. I know this is not a particularly innovative approach, but one that has seen audiences steadily increase since I instituted it a year ago.
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Joshua Brady
Menifee CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2015 09:05
From: Krista Wachob
Subject: What works for you with ticket sales?
Hello theatre community!
In the past, I have required students to sell one ticket to our class produced show as part of their grade and as part of learning how to promote a show. I have also required students to buy a ticket and see the musical (at a discount) as part of their drama grade.
Here's what I don't like about how I have done this in the past:
- students complaining that they have to "buy their grade" - that is not my intention at all
I want to do something different, but we do not get huge audiences and I am scared of losing ticket money that we need in order to produce shows and losing people out of the already medium sized audiences we get.
Our main audiences are our school community. I'd love to expand those audiences as we grow, but right now would just like to deal with this ticket issue for my drama class students.
I'd love to hear what works for you! Thank you!
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Krista Wachob
Theatre Teacher/Director
King College Prep
Chicago IL
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