sell out

Good to hear about The Garrick's success - a total sell out for Calendar Girls before the opening night.

Great to see community theatre alive and well. Scrooge is not yet sold out at Melville, but the matinee is full, and closing night has only a handful left. Plug, plug. :) www.meltheco.org.au

Yet Playlovers is really struggling with The Rink and so is Phoenix with Cuckoo's Nest.

It is interesting to see what the audiences flock to. Cuckoos Nest has struggled to get 30 people. I know if I direct anything with a song, I will double the audience than I will if it is a straight play. Yes, theatres should cater to the masses (apparently nudity - pupperty or otherwise is the flavour of the month) but it is also good to offer audiences an option, even if they choose not to take it. My great satisfaction with Cuckoos was the couple that came last week because they normally go to the movies and they recognised the name from the film. They loved the show and have signed up for our mail list. Converting 2 people to live theatre - job well done I think. :-) Jane Sherwood

A lot of audience members don't like to gamble with their theatre money. They want to see something they are familiar with, or they know they will enjoy. We're doing Scrooge at Christmas time - a guaranteed winner. It is a Christmas story, and people are familiar with it - they know what they are getting. It's sad that some of the good stuff doesn't get audiences and that can be for all sorts of reasons. Cuckoos Nest isn't a feel-good night out, regardless of how good the production may be. We all suffer the same issue. In the last four years, I've directed Doctor in the House, The Return, Don's Party and The Goat. Guess which got the big audiences? www.meltheco.org.au

I know what you mean Jeff, we did A Christmas Carol 2 years ago and packed it out and Alice in Wonderland last year and turned some away! But I don't think it is all about feel-good night out, Virgin Warrior earlier this year had good audiences - not a feel good night out (burnt at the stake at the end!) but it had songs! Jane Sherwood

Wouldn't it be great if theatres rallied together at times like this? When a show is completely sold out, maybe theatres could have a message on their answering machines and websites which says "This season is completely sold out but other shows you might like to try are X at X theatre - call xx or go to website. And make sure you book early for our next show __________"

No direspect to any of the theatre's mentioned above, as I'm sure the shows on offer will be of a high standard, however, they are fortunate in that by location they are in the enviable position of being the sole theatre group in the heart of large communities who appear to support theatre. I'd dare to say KADS are in the same position??? It seems the people who sugffer poor audiences are those who operate at the epi-centre of the metro area. Note: This doesn't include those producing original material, for those guys are on a sucide mission to start with. I have no doubt Jane's 'Cuckoo's Nest' would have been top notch, but poor Phoenix, despite their hard work to pull in audiences often suffer average audiences. I think it's fair to say, that unlike the theatre's mentioned above, Phoenix's lovely little theatre is not surrounded by a theatre cloying public ,but then again I could be off the mark???