Weather 
I love the theater. Wherever I travel around the country, I look to see what regional theater is playing there. I touch base with regional theater leaders in those areas. I want to see the quality of their productions. I want to know what is working. I donate to regional theaters—I hope readers are donating to regional theaters—and I want to know how to expand their reach.
A couple of years ago I wrote a story for American Theatre about what was working for theaters, and I spoke to dozens and dozens of people at different venues, large and small, throughout the country. I came up with many good quotes and helpful insight, but I couldn’t come up with many consistent keys to success. In some places, new work was selling better. In others, only the classics. Some found success with postcard campaigns, others email. But communication with the community and connection with the community is always essential. I see this on my travels as well.
In September 2024, I went to see the musical Knoxville, written by the late Frank Galati with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, in Knoxville, TN at the Clarence Brown Theatre. The musical was based on James Agee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the posthumously published A Death in the Family, which is set in Knoxville, where Agee is a hometown hero. It starred Broadway veterans Jason Danieley and Hannah Elless (who should be a bigger star) and newcomer Nick Barrington (who recently made his Broadway debut in another Ahrens and Flaherty musical, Ragtime), giving one of the best performances I’ve ever seen by a child actor. It was directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, who is a massive talent. So, I was struck walking around the arts district of Knoxville, which should be filled with theatergoers, how few people knew the show was happening. I’m walking around the city, seeing signs for other productions, saying: “Go see Knoxville! I came all the way from New York!” When I didn’t get traction, I added: “It is by the people who wrote Anastasia!” (Anastasia and Knoxville are very different works, but I was trying to impress on people the level of talent associated with the production.)
Now, I went early, and I understand they played to packed houses for most of the run, so word did spread, but I was struck by just how few people even knew about the theater. That’s not great.
From there, I drove to Durham, North Carolina, to see the Theatre Raleigh production of Bull Durham. There were signs and ads. And, when I was chatting with people in stores and restaurants, a lot of people locally knew about the show, but then, it was Bull Durham being done in Durham. I wasn’t sure (and I still cannot be sure) that would hold for Theatre Raleigh shows in general. However, I was amazed at how many people, before the show, at intermission, and after the show wanted to talk to me about the theater beyond Bull Durham. Yes, there was talk about Carmen Cusack’s pitch perfect performance, but there was also talk about other shows and activities at the theater. I was told I had to come back for the holiday market. A few folks asked me if I had seen the chamber production of Jane Eyre the theater did. And I kept getting asked if I knew their Executive Director, Lauren Kennedy Brady, used to be an actress in New York. (I did.)
This showed a real connection to the community. When multiple people reference a theater Executive Director, you know that Executive Director has forged a real relationship with the theatergoers in the area.
There is an intangible and unteachable aspect to that. There are also other things that can help. When I was about two hours outside of Fayetteville, Arkansas, home to TheatreSquared, several people I chatted with knew of TheatreSquared. They didn’t necessarily know what was playing, but they knew about the theater and its recent renovation. One even said she subscribed to the venue—even though it was hours away. Executive Director Shannon A. Jones and I discussed this dedication to the theater. Part of it is of course there are fewer major regionals in the area than if, let’s say, you were near Chicago. Therefore, theater fans can only focus their attention on so many places. But there is more to it. TheatreSquared has been well-renovated and, while it’s smaller space is so cold in the warmer months that they stock blankets, it is decidedly modern. There is a nice café/bar where many patrons hang out before the show. There is local artwork on display. The theater has made an attempt to welcome its audience.
“We work really hard to stay engaged with people,” Jones said. “One of the things that our development team does is our café makes homemade truffles or cookies and we package those up and drive them out to subscribers’ houses as far out as Eureka Springs [about an hour away]. It’s just a ‘Thank you for supporting us, we see you and we appreciate you.’”
My friend went to Arena Stage’s Community Day, an outdoor fair with some special performances, in August, and loved it so much that she bought tickets to a show there. She isn’t much of a theatergoer, but she liked the people she met and wanted to support.
These things are all part of an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere. When I was in Nashville this summer, I made an impromptu visit to the Nashville Shakespeare Festival for an outdoor production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Right away, I was thrilled to see the theater offered completely reasonable VIP dinner and theater options, because that allows it to be more of an event for locals. The venue was a lawn, so the VIP gave you your own seat if you didn’t want to bring your own or lay out a blanket. There was also a local ice cream company nearby with a food truck. They sold local popcorn and fairly cool merchandise. But more than that—it was clearly a community event. There were all of these families, with small children, sitting on blankets watching The Merry Wives of Windsor. I asked the leadership how they did it: How did they get all of these young people to sit through Shakespeare? And there was no one answer, but there was an overall feeling that it was a fun night for the family. It is pay-what-you-will, so it is inexpensive or free, and has become a tradition for families. People have come back year after year since the 1980s. It’s not too stuffy—kids can always get up and run around if they must—but the enjoyable performance (as well as maybe the promise of sweets) kept them mostly stationary the night I attended. It was remarkable.
That feeling of community at the theater is heartwarming. I went to see Alexis Scheer’s Laughs in Spanish at the small Horizon Theatre Company in Atlanta right after the NEA cuts were announced. During the pre-show speech, Producing Director and Co-Artistic Director Lisa Adler told the audience that the cuts had hit the theater’s new play festival, but patrons had stepped up to fill in the gap. Upon that announcement, the place exploded with applause. I spoke to patrons afterward—many of us were still sipping our purchased coquito (made from the lead actress’ family recipe). A couple noted this was their first time at the theater; they were drawn by buzz as to this particular production. Several others explained how much Horizon, a home to contemporary theater, meant to them, even in a city with several theaters. “Lisa always makes us feel at home,” one said.
But of course, that needs to be built. There are still those that haven’t returned to theater since COVID. Some of them don’t even realize theater has returned. I find it extremely difficult when I’m traveling to an area to find out what theater is on. Most city tourism pages don’t list all the shows. I’ve heard from local artistic leaders in different areas in the country that they speak to other leaders in the area, but yet they can’t unite for unified listings or promotions. And that’s a problem.
When I was in Branson, Missouri, I stayed at two hotels and each hotel had a combined show deal. 4 shows for $119. Now we’re not talking full theatrical productions because it’s Branson but shows. Then they had flyers for other shows, much like the tourism kiosk of a NYC hotel. I planned to see two shows—Dolly Parton’s Stampede and Queen Esther at Sight & Sound Ministries—neither of which were included in the $119 deal. I attended a variety show also because it seemed fun from the flyer.
These shows all gave the audience exactly what they wanted. The variety show was the least notable because it was a fairly schmaltzy, generic variety show, though well pegged to the audience. Dolly Parton’s Stampede is very reasonably priced dinner theater. The show itself isn’t a narrative piece, but it features music, comedy, and live animals and is just a tremendous amount of fun. I had the best time. The people next to me on one side lived in the area and had been dozens of times. On the other side, they have learned about the show at their hotel, showing that old school flyers still do work (on someone other than me).
Queen Esther was in a huge 2000+ seat theater owned by Sight & Sound. It may have had the biggest set I’ve ever seen, and that set partially wrapped around the theater. I was so excited by the show—which also included live animals, present in all three Branson shows I saw—that I bought souvenirs at intermission. Now, as a Jew, it partially lost me when a Jesus-like figure appeared in Act II and an ensemble member asked the audience to pray to Jesus in lieu of a curtain call. But, overall, I was so amazed by the production that I was asking ushers how they did it. They couldn’t create an entirely new set for every production, I thought. They do. The Sight & Sound people create sets in their workshop in Pennsylvania, perform the show in the Pennsylvania theater, and then send the show and the set to Missouri. It is really a feat.
Now, none of the Branson shows are non-profits, and they aren’t tasked with putting on shows that advance the artform, so it’s not easy to draw a one-to-one comparison. But you have to think of lessons learned, and I realized that the lesson I learned from my time there was just how much having centralized, specific information helps. I got there, I read about shows, I went to see the shows, and they were exactly what they seemed like. Non-profits might not be able to afford fancy flyers in every hotel, but they are suffering from an advertising and marketing problem that can be fixed. Can they maybe do a joint ticket deal? Or even a joint advertising push ala World Premiere Wisconsin? Can the industry do a better job of describing shows with a soundbite, so the right audience attends a show that meets their needs? Because I’ve long said that very little of the problem is that theater has become too political, which is a reason people often site for regional troubles. It’s awareness and perception that are the larger problems.
Until we have a solution to the greater problems facing regionals, we need to continue to support them. The theater exists because people care about it. It ceases to exist when people do not. All around the country I see how much of a different theater makes to the people in communities. I donate to at least two theaters that produce at least some work by women writers in every state each year. Not everyone can do that, but you might be able to give in another way. It’s Christmas Eve—consider buying someone theater tickets or vouchers for a last-minute gift. We have a database of regional theaters that you can donate to with a couple of clicks. You can usually give in tribute to someone, which makes a nice gift. Or, heck, just use it for your year-end giving. It’s a great resource that makes it easier to locate theaters you might want to give to. (It is certainly more efficient than my Googling every year.)
In the age of rising costs and decreased attendance, theater leaders are working very hard to get back on track and to keep impacting generations to come. They need your help. And then better marketing and engagement teams.
