Open Forum

Hi Ken!
1) It's not just  you. Musicals are a bigger draw that straight shows.  It may be because musicals tend to have larger casts with ensembles, so that draws in more friends and family members.  It may just be that people perfer musicals.  
2) We do as much marketing as we can for our shows: posters up early around the community, road signs in front of the school and at major intersections, cast and crew memebers wearing show t-shirts on the same day as a way to advertise, students doing in-character school announcements  during show weeks, press release to the local papers, social media pages (facebook, instagram) for the show, behind the scenes videos of the rehearsal process that teachers can play for thier classes... we don't always do all of these for every show, but we try to do as many as possible. 
3) I have the opposite of your problem.  I have an abundance of interest in the shows, so I do a lot of evenings of student directed one-acts to try to get as many kids involved as possible.  Last year I did 12 Angry Jurors, and there was a bit of a backlash.  I had 60 kids audition for 13 parts...
4) For straight shows, I have 2 performances; Thursday and Friday nights.  Because of the smaller crowds for straight shows, and the costs of paying the ticket takers, custodians, security, and building use fees for Saturday eats into our profits. As it is, I'm lucky if I break even on a straight show.

------------------------------
Robert Ellis
Theater I-IV Honors
Performing Arts Department Lead
Cosby High School
Midlothian, VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

Lots of similar experiences to those who've already posted here... but a few other ideas to share:

Our musicals always sell more also, but are done in the spring - so our goal is to have enough at the end of a school year to cover our costs for the next year.  When sales are lower, we cut back on expenses - but we are the ones making those budgetary decisions. (We get $2K from the district to help with royalties, which doesn't cover much - we end up having to pay quite a bit out of our fund each year.  It was $9K for Grease 3 years ago, $5K for Mermaid/Mary Poppins - but with our fall play royalties, there's only a bit of that $2K left by springtime.)

Our Thursday night shows for fall plays were not selling - so we reduced the number of shows from 3, to 2 - only performing on Friday and Saturday evenings. 

For the spring musical - we actually do 5 performances, but over 2 weekends.  We just wrapped Mary Poppins - we did shows at 7:30 pm on 3/2, 3/3, 3/9 and 3/10.  On 3/3, we also had a Saturday matinee at 2 pm.  As we tracked ticket sales, we covered our spring show budget before we even opened - so all of the income after that point was "gravy."  We got a lot of word of mouth publicity as people came to see it the first weekend - we had A LOT more folks attend the 2nd weekend.  We do a cast party after the last show (renting out the local YMCA with the gym space for ultimate frisbee, pool, board games, karaoke - until 1:59 am - when daylight savings hits at 2AM!)

We perform at a short school assembly preview, but it's the school day that coincides with opening night.  A lot of the HS population already has plans for the weekend at that point, or are scheduled to work, etc. We found that many of them came to the 2nd weekend, since we couldn't directly promote the show to them until it would have almost been too late. That has helped our student sales.

Spring sports tryouts began on 3/5 - and we build in a few nights off between performance weekends to allow the kids some time to rest, or tryout for track/lacrosse.  Our traditional timeline in the past for one weekend would have been to have the shows at the end of sports week - which would have prevented some kids from participating - we wouldn't have allowed them to miss tech week, and coaches wouldn't let them miss tryouts.  But we've been able to forge a relationship with athletics to share the kids since we already have a performance weekend under our belts, it's just a matter of keeping it fresh, etc.

Our auditorium is rented out each weekend to a church who uses it as their worship space - and takes over the classrooms nearby for Sunday school classes.  We have had to really stake a claim to our space because of lights being moved, curtains being ripped, coffee spills on our aisles/carpets, etc... the district has finally agreed this year to have them use the cafeteria as their alternate workship location while we're in production (Oct 1-Nov 30 for fall play,  December is out because of music dept holiday concerts, Jan-mid March for spring musical.) I'm wondering if they'll be moving back in until spring concerts in May or not?  Time will tell!

Good luck with whatever you decide - it is so nice to have this community to know that we're not alone in our struggles, and can seek out advice so easily!





------------------------------
Melissa Mintzer
Willow Street PA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-14-2018 07:26
From: Robert Ellis
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hi Ken!
1) It's not just  you. Musicals are a bigger draw that straight shows.  It may be because musicals tend to have larger casts with ensembles, so that draws in more friends and family members.  It may just be that people perfer musicals.
2) We do as much marketing as we can for our shows: posters up early around the community, road signs in front of the school and at major intersections, cast and crew memebers wearing show t-shirts on the same day as a way to advertise, students doing in-character school announcements  during show weeks, press release to the local papers, social media pages (facebook, instagram) for the show, behind the scenes videos of the rehearsal process that teachers can play for thier classes... we don't always do all of these for every show, but we try to do as many as possible.
3) I have the opposite of your problem.  I have an abundance of interest in the shows, so I do a lot of evenings of student directed one-acts to try to get as many kids involved as possible.  Last year I did 12 Angry Jurors, and there was a bit of a backlash.  I had 60 kids audition for 13 parts...
4) For straight shows, I have 2 performances; Thursday and Friday nights.  Because of the smaller crowds for straight shows, and the costs of paying the ticket takers, custodians, security, and building use fees for Saturday eats into our profits. As it is, I'm lucky if I break even on a straight show.

------------------------------
Robert Ellis
Theater I-IV Honors
Performing Arts Department Lead
Cosby High School
Midlothian, VA

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

​Hey Ken,

See below...

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  Musicals always attract more because the cast is usually larger and the variety of a musical appeals to a bigger audience.
2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?  That's a tough one. We bank on the revenue from the musicalto support the straight production. We started a program, "Backstage on the Main Stage" in which we put about 100 seats on the stage and do the production this way. The sets are small and it gives a great deal of intimacy. We sell a season too and that helps with audiences. If you want to conquer social elements you can do a play with a talkback session.    
3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition? "12 Angry Juror", "John Lennon and Me", "The Diary of Anne Frank"
4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows? We do four. Thurs - Sunday, with Sunday being a matinee.

Hope this helps.

------------------------------
Crit Fisher
Lighting/Sound Designer
New Albany High School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

My situation here is almost identical.



------------------------------
Josh Kauffman
Teacher
Winfield AL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

Hi,
I've got some similar experiences and some unique ones:
1. Our musical is the largest extracurricular activity on our campus.  With cast, crew, and orchestra, there's over 100 kids involved, so the ticket sales for musicals are always much higher than our play.  
2. For straight shows, I've really looked for "passion project" shows that I think will challenge and push our performers and student technicians.  We have done something similar to one of the other teachers- for two years, I put 100 chairs on our stage and formed a makeshift "black box".  This was a GREAT tactic, as we sold out pretty much all 4 shows and it provided a really intimate setting that gave students the chance to perform on something other than a cavernous proscenium stage.  We also were able to charge $8 for all tickets due to "limited seating" which gave a sense of urgency to people to get their tickets now :)
3. We did a show called Decision Height, which was FABULOUS!  We also have done Steel Magnolias, the Female version of the Odd Couple, and The Crucible.
4. We do a Wednesday- Saturday run for our play and a Thursday-Sunday for our musical.  Each production gets 4 shows.

You're ultimately the best judge of what your department needs.  The great thing is that there are no rules for us!  Happy Directing :)

------------------------------
Lisa Dyer
Henrico VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-14-2018 10:30
From: Josh Kauffman
Subject: Advice on straight shows

My situation here is almost identical.

1.  Yep, absolutely.

2.  Do plays that are in the literature curriculum for the school system (or plays based on books that are), and work with the teacher doing that book to capitalize on the opportunity.

For the community-at-large, name recognition is key. If a well-known movie adaptation of your play does not exist, you'll have trouble attracting a public audience. We do newspaper and radio advertising, get articles in the local paper and interviews on local radio and TV, and canvas the county with flyers - we've even done postcard mailings - and this is still the case.

3.  Twelve Angry is a good suggestion. "The Curious Savage," "And Then There Were None" (with some girls playing male roles), "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

4.  We do two for the school (grades 7 through 12, since our theater seats 300) and two public. The school shows have a larger audience and the public shows have a more receptive one, generally.

------------------------------
Josh Kauffman
Teacher
Winfield AL

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

1.) Yes, the great mystery of theatre - what makes more people come out to musicals versus plays?  But yes, every school I have worked with the same goes, musicals are your most priciest but also the money maker.

2.) I try to do musicals in the spring as it is always fun to go out with a bang, I also try to have the season ready for the next year and promote it in the playbill to get the community and kids excited for the next season.  I also do a season theme which teaches an overall lesson that as a company we can discuss and discover throughout the year.  I do try to have at least one show a year that has parts for littles to create that recruitment piece as well as adding ticket sales with peers coming to see their friends.  I also try to build the excitement around Thespians and gain new members who wish to add that to resumes and go for scholarships.  Also, anything you can tie in with curriculum with another department then you blend the play being discussed with another group which also draws attention come auditions but also come show time.  I also try to partner with an organization geared at teens in need in the community to have a table of info at the lobby or they can usher and be ambassadors for that program - this helps draw in a few audience members as well, as well as creating that bond in the community.

3.) Parfumerie, Waiting for the Parade, Atypical Boy, Fit, And Then They Came For Me, Jake's Women, The Unknown Part of the Ocean

4.) Once I've built the program I strive for the Thur, Fri, Sat evenings and if it is a family friendly show I typically do a Sat matinee but this is a sensory friendly show.  Right now I just transferred to a very small program so we are only doing Fri and Sat nights as Thur nights do not draw for us.  I also offer a discounted ticket for district employees and students, but offer that discounted price to the general public if they bring in a food or clothing item for our school pantry/closet.


My last school was similar demographic and views, we began with 6 and by the time I left 3 years later had over 100 in the program.  Just think seasons through, try to tie in with the community and school as much as possible and never burn bridges!

Hope that helped, I know most of us will be saying similar things!  Best of luck!

------------------------------
Kimberly Wibbenmeyer
Sullivan MO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

I taught in a rural school years ago.  There were between 600 and 650 students when I started there.  Over 10% of the student population was in the Drama Club, but it was hard to get an audience for any show.

I asked the principal if we could start doing a show that would fit within our 55 minute class period in the fall, and invite the entire school in to see it.  Realistically, that meant the show had to be 40 to 45 minutes long. 

We had a 7 period day.  We performed 4 shows, one each for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students.  

We charged the students $1 to see the show, with teachers encouraged to offer any student who didn't have the money a "scholarship."  (I couldn't charge in the school where I teach now, but it was fine there.)  One teacher each period kept a study hall for any students who didn't want to go.  Most times, the study hall was empty.

The shows became incredibly popular with both students and teachers, especially English teachers, who could reference them when studying dramatic literature in class.  And our audiences at night improved, because students learned that theatre was fun to watch. 

We also did two evening shows of that production (on our open weekend for football), which meant the students got 6 performances in front of audiences. 

For our spring show, we did Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.

I don't know if that would be doable in your school, but it really worked there.  Small schools seem to be more community oriented, and having that common reference point of plays they had seen performed was good.    


------------------------------
C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-14-2018 10:52
From: Kimberly Wibbenmeyer
Subject: Advice on straight shows

1.) Yes, the great mystery of theatre - what makes more people come out to musicals versus plays?  But yes, every school I have worked with the same goes, musicals are your most priciest but also the money maker.

2.) I try to do musicals in the spring as it is always fun to go out with a bang, I also try to have the season ready for the next year and promote it in the playbill to get the community and kids excited for the next season.  I also do a season theme which teaches an overall lesson that as a company we can discuss and discover throughout the year.  I do try to have at least one show a year that has parts for littles to create that recruitment piece as well as adding ticket sales with peers coming to see their friends.  I also try to build the excitement around Thespians and gain new members who wish to add that to resumes and go for scholarships.  Also, anything you can tie in with curriculum with another department then you blend the play being discussed with another group which also draws attention come auditions but also come show time.  I also try to partner with an organization geared at teens in need in the community to have a table of info at the lobby or they can usher and be ambassadors for that program - this helps draw in a few audience members as well, as well as creating that bond in the community.

3.) Parfumerie, Waiting for the Parade, Atypical Boy, Fit, And Then They Came For Me, Jake's Women, The Unknown Part of the Ocean

4.) Once I've built the program I strive for the Thur, Fri, Sat evenings and if it is a family friendly show I typically do a Sat matinee but this is a sensory friendly show.  Right now I just transferred to a very small program so we are only doing Fri and Sat nights as Thur nights do not draw for us.  I also offer a discounted ticket for district employees and students, but offer that discounted price to the general public if they bring in a food or clothing item for our school pantry/closet.


My last school was similar demographic and views, we began with 6 and by the time I left 3 years later had over 100 in the program.  Just think seasons through, try to tie in with the community and school as much as possible and never burn bridges!

Hope that helped, I know most of us will be saying similar things!  Best of luck!

------------------------------
Kimberly Wibbenmeyer
Sullivan MO

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

I am in a very large school, so my experience is significantly different, but here's what I know...

------------------------------
Laura Steenson
Theatre Director
Reynolds High School
Troutdale OR
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-15-2018 17:08
From: C. J. Breland
Subject: Advice on straight shows

I taught in a rural school years ago.  There were between 600 and 650 students when I started there.  Over 10% of the student population was in the Drama Club, but it was hard to get an audience for any show.

I asked the principal if we could start doing a show that would fit within our 55 minute class period in the fall, and invite the entire school in to see it.  Realistically, that meant the show had to be 40 to 45 minutes long.

We had a 7 period day.  We performed 4 shows, one each for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students.

We charged the students $1 to see the show, with teachers encouraged to offer any student who didn't have the money a "scholarship."  (I couldn't charge in the school where I teach now, but it was fine there.)  One teacher each period kept a study hall for any students who didn't want to go.  Most times, the study hall was empty.

The shows became incredibly popular with both students and teachers, especially English teachers, who could reference them when studying dramatic literature in class.  And our audiences at night improved, because students learned that theatre was fun to watch.

We also did two evening shows of that production (on our open weekend for football), which meant the students got 6 performances in front of audiences.

For our spring show, we did Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.

I don't know if that would be doable in your school, but it really worked there.  Small schools seem to be more community oriented, and having that common reference point of plays they had seen performed was good.


------------------------------
C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC

Original Message:
Sent: 03-14-2018 10:52
From: Kimberly Wibbenmeyer
Subject: Advice on straight shows

1.) Yes, the great mystery of theatre - what makes more people come out to musicals versus plays?  But yes, every school I have worked with the same goes, musicals are your most priciest but also the money maker.

2.) I try to do musicals in the spring as it is always fun to go out with a bang, I also try to have the season ready for the next year and promote it in the playbill to get the community and kids excited for the next season.  I also do a season theme which teaches an overall lesson that as a company we can discuss and discover throughout the year.  I do try to have at least one show a year that has parts for littles to create that recruitment piece as well as adding ticket sales with peers coming to see their friends.  I also try to build the excitement around Thespians and gain new members who wish to add that to resumes and go for scholarships.  Also, anything you can tie in with curriculum with another department then you blend the play being discussed with another group which also draws attention come auditions but also come show time.  I also try to partner with an organization geared at teens in need in the community to have a table of info at the lobby or they can usher and be ambassadors for that program - this helps draw in a few audience members as well, as well as creating that bond in the community.

3.) Parfumerie, Waiting for the Parade, Atypical Boy, Fit, And Then They Came For Me, Jake's Women, The Unknown Part of the Ocean

4.) Once I've built the program I strive for the Thur, Fri, Sat evenings and if it is a family friendly show I typically do a Sat matinee but this is a sensory friendly show.  Right now I just transferred to a very small program so we are only doing Fri and Sat nights as Thur nights do not draw for us.  I also offer a discounted ticket for district employees and students, but offer that discounted price to the general public if they bring in a food or clothing item for our school pantry/closet.


My last school was similar demographic and views, we began with 6 and by the time I left 3 years later had over 100 in the program.  Just think seasons through, try to tie in with the community and school as much as possible and never burn bridges!

Hope that helped, I know most of us will be saying similar things!  Best of luck!

------------------------------
Kimberly Wibbenmeyer
Sullivan MO

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

Lots of good thoughts here, so I won't repeat what others have said that aligns with mine. My situation is different than most – I teach at an international Christian school of 650 kids in Nairobi, Kenya that has really cultivated the arts. Our shows 'compete' w sports on an even footing, with both directors and coaches affirming both things as good options. (And we align tryouts/auditions on the same week so we can shuffle out our casting/team selection  Due to security concerns, we cannot broadly advertise outside of the school community. 

For our musicals, we do two weekends – both Fri and Sat, with the second Sat being a matinee ((so time for strike and cast party, plus more kid-friendly). For the play, we do Thur, Fri, Sat.

Given your currently smaller numbers, I would encourage you to see this as a blessing, not a curse. Almost all contemporary plays are written for a smaller cast. Those with large programs have the challenge of feeling bad if we choose a 'smaller' show (even 12 Angry Men was considered small by our kids who so desperately wanted to get in). But you have the change to do a smaller show, and there are so many great ones. Depending on your kids...Parfumerie, Clayborne Park, The Foreigner, The Nerd, etc. You might also consider a pair of one-acts. A few years ago, I did two really clever one acts about Internet culture – "Brief Interviews with Internet Cats" paired with "The Internet is a Distract– OH LOOK A KITTEN!" Both of these shows are well-written and both teens and adults enjoyed them, finding them clever and funny.

------------------------------
Steven Slaughter
English/Theatre
Rosslyn Academy
Nairobi, Kenya

"Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts." - W Berry
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383

My school is enrollment of 1,000. Suburban NC, north of Charlotte.
1. It is typical for more to come to the musical, yes.
2. For my straight show, I tend to look at the curriculum of the school and try to attach to it in some way and get other teachers on board: 12 Angry Men=social studies, (of course, many Language Arts), etc.
3.We have successfully produced: Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Curious Savage, The Birds (playscripts), And A Child Shall Lead, Faith County.
4. I do three performances.

Let me know if you have further follow-up questions!

------------------------------
Andrea Rassler
Concord NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2018 20:26
From: Kenneth Robinson
Subject: Advice on straight shows

Hello,

Last week we just finished our spring show, which is always a straight show as our musical is in the fall,  and, like must of us do,  I am evaluating and asking myself questions about what I could have done better or differently. as I already look to next season.  As I do this,  some questions come to mind that I would like the forum to respond to.  To give a little background, I am the Drama Club sponsor at a small rural school with an enrollment of around 400, and my program is strictly extracurricular and I alone am the drama department. although the band/choir teacher does co-direct the musical with me.  I usually get more females than males to audition, but lately it has been difficult to even get enough of either gender to cast a straight show of even 10-15 roles.  I have had to do some recruiting and have even had middle schoolers and elementary students in my shows which is in some ways good because I hope I am building interest for when they reach high school.  The community and administration are generally conservative.  We just produced Winnie-the -Pooh as our spring show, and our fall musical was The Sound of Music which was well received.  Here are my questions:

1.  Is it typical in your schools that the musicals attract larger audition turnouts and larger audiences than straight shows?  

2.  If this is true (which I suspect it is as it seems to be the nature of theatre), what are some activities or ways that you build interest and attract an audience for your straight shows?   

3.  What are some of your most successful straight shows that would work in a small, conservative school where more females than males usually audition?

4.  How many performances do you schedule for your straight shows?  For years, I did two nights, Thursday and Friday, because that's what was done before i came, but lately I have been doing three 

     nights:  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday since the musicals do generally well with three nights.  When we did Grease  about five years ago, we considered a Sunday matinee, but not enough cast 

     members could or would commit to a Sunday afternoon performance, so we have approached the idea since for either a musical or straight show..  But really my question as to do with attendance.  

    Thursday is generally a low turn out because i is a school night, I suppose.  I added Saturday night to the straight shows because I felt the kids deserved three performances for all their hard work.  So I

    guess I am asking are two nights or three nights better under our circumstances?  Over three nights this time, I had a total of approximately 135 in the audience. 

I just want to make sure I am giving my Drama Club members the best experience possible, and sometimes I feel maybe I am feeling somewhat burnt out as this is my 32nd year.  I still love doing the shows, but I feel like I should be doing more.  Any advice or ideas to think about would be appreciated.  

Thank you,

Ken Robinson

Kenneth Robinson

English 11/Speech Teacher

Drama Club Sponsor

English Department Chairperson

Wapahani High School

10401 E. Co. Rd. 167S

Selma, Indiana  47383