Hello my dear readers. As Earnest moves into it's second week. I would like to share with you the Agony and the Ecstasy of promoting a show. First, there is the exhilaration of seeing the analytical data compiled by most marketing and promotion sites. This website compiles all of the data from anyone who visits a page. There is something really satisfying when you see that 100 people have "viewed" your latest promotion, ad, picture, or update. Its the same thrill I imagine chronic social media addicts get in their private life, except this thrill isn't about me. It's about knowing that something, the show in this case, is being exposed to more people. It's about posting things like "Tickets now available on Goldstar https://www.goldstar.com/events/chicago-il/the-importance-of-being-earnest-1" and seeing the hits on your Goldstar account shoot up.
But hand in hand with that is the agony of the hours of work crafting a poster, a listing, or a press release and seeing it go nowhere. The idea that I can push our tickets to hundreds of potential playgoers, but I can't make them buy tickets. We have been lucky enough to (as a completely unknown theatre company) actually have some pre-sold tickets AND walk-ins for our performances. I won't lie, I was worried that we would have maybe a person or two at each performance. The actor in me doesn't care about that. I just want to do the show for someone, but the producer in me was pulling his hair out hoping to get one ticket sold. Hoping that one person, who doesn't already know how great the show will be, will walk up and be surprised at the quality of a show that was a labor of love, effort, and not a small amount of personal financial investment (although this last point is so minor). And once again, that thrill when it happens, when someone from the other side of the country hears about, witnesses, and enjoys your show. there is nothing better.
The ongoing battle between the joys of marketing and promotion and the heartache of unfulfilled "unrealistic super-dreams" won't stop, but not at all an unpleasant battle to watch. (forgive any spelling and convention errors in this post, I was on a role and I hate editing)
But hand in hand with that is the agony of the hours of work crafting a poster, a listing, or a press release and seeing it go nowhere. The idea that I can push our tickets to hundreds of potential playgoers, but I can't make them buy tickets. We have been lucky enough to (as a completely unknown theatre company) actually have some pre-sold tickets AND walk-ins for our performances. I won't lie, I was worried that we would have maybe a person or two at each performance. The actor in me doesn't care about that. I just want to do the show for someone, but the producer in me was pulling his hair out hoping to get one ticket sold. Hoping that one person, who doesn't already know how great the show will be, will walk up and be surprised at the quality of a show that was a labor of love, effort, and not a small amount of personal financial investment (although this last point is so minor). And once again, that thrill when it happens, when someone from the other side of the country hears about, witnesses, and enjoys your show. there is nothing better.
The ongoing battle between the joys of marketing and promotion and the heartache of unfulfilled "unrealistic super-dreams" won't stop, but not at all an unpleasant battle to watch. (forgive any spelling and convention errors in this post, I was on a role and I hate editing)