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Post by nonamouse on Oct 28, 2012 17:50:58 GMT -5
Excellent point, 007. Honestly, I'm not even sure I'd call Chicago a "Theatre Mecca"- I've certainly never known of anyone who didn't actively work in the theatre themselves who has ever gone there specifically to see a show, yet we are all well aware of it as a place where it's possible for a theatre artist to make an industry-related living. I think we overestimate how many Richmonders even know the theatre scene is here- several times I've told people that I'm an actor and gotten a confused look and some variation of "In Richmond?" Maybe the first step would be for local companies to amp up their advertising. I know budgets are limited, but the Downtown-and-Fan-centric poster campaigns don't seem to be cutting it, and making it a bit more of a priority to get the word out in multiple ways could really help to get some new butts in the seats, which I see as being one of the more crucial steps toward getting where we want to be.
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Post by Guest on Oct 29, 2012 20:58:17 GMT -5
"I'm not even sure I'd call Chicago a "Theatre Mecca"- I've certainly never known of anyone who didn't actively work in the theatre themselves who has ever gone there specifically to see a show[...]"
As a theatregoer, what cities outside of metro Richmond have I visited over the years specifically to attend shows or theatrical special events? NYC, London, Syracuse, East Haddam CT, DC, Arlington, Baltimore, Charlottesville, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Raleigh, Knoxville, Atlanta, Houston, LA and several tiny college towns come to mind. I was often going to see friends or favorites who were in the shows, but I am not a theatre professional. And unless time was extremely tight, I'd look for other things to do/see while I was in town.
What are some of the other cities (outside of RVA) where I have attended theatre, but was in the area for another purpose? Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota, Atlantic City NJ, Seattle, Staunton and Abingdon.
There are a few "theatre meccas" in these lists, but most are not.
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Post by cambai on Oct 30, 2012 8:10:29 GMT -5
"I guess that depends on how you define the population base. The population for the city of Richmond was only 204,214 in 2010. But the population for the Richmond Metropolitan area (which includes the surrounding counties like Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Powhatan, etc.) was 1,269,380. That population puts us above Atlanta and DC, and even places like Seattle, Dallas, San Fransisco, and Boston. Don't we have potential patrons in that entire population base?"
Unfortunately no, we don't have potential patrons in that entire population base. At the risk of sounding rude, the only way you will draw in those people from the surrounding counties is to build theaters at the Richmond International Raceway and the State Fair Grounds, and incorporate race cars and pigs in your shows.
Also, public transportation is key. In the larger cities you hop on the subway or L train and walk a couple of blocks to the theaters. These larger cities also have a much bigger youth population willing to walk and take public transportation.
Our city and metropolitan area is too "bass ackwards" to even understand good theater.
So I agree with another earlier comment: Richmond is the problem, not the theaters.
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Post by Local Theatre on Oct 30, 2012 10:54:01 GMT -5
Any consideration of population base, to be statistically valid, would have to be an apples to apples comparison. You can't add in the population of our surrounding counties (and small cities) and not consider the population surrounding the larger cities as well. Here is the actual comparison of the populations of the metropolitan areas you mention (including their relative U.S. rank). 3. Dallas, 6.5 million, 7. Washington DC, 5.7 million, 9. Atlanta, 5.3 million, 10. Boston, 4.6 million, 11. San Francisco, 4.3 million, 15. Seattle, 3.5 million, 44. Richmond, 1.27 million. It's not really even close...
BUT - Yes, we do market to, and draw audiences from, those surrounding counties you mention. However, theatres located in the cities you mention do the same to the suburbs surrounding their cities as well. It's great (and totally valid) to also look at those cities and consider what they do right, but it is simply not accurate to assert that they do not benefit from a much larger market base.
I am simply suggesting that as we discuss ways to grow and improve the theatre community in Richmond it would be beneficial to remain grounded in the realities of our situation. To me, a good place to start would be to look at those areas that are closest to us in size and population and see how we compare. BTW - those places are, Jacksonville FL, Memphis TN, Louisville KY, Oklahoma City OK, Hartford CT, New Orleans LA, Raleigh NC, Salt lake City UT and Buffalo NY. Based on that comparison (as well as looking at the next set of larger areas (i.e. Charlotte, Austin, Nashville etc.) we can start to define what success would look like for Richmond.
I am proud of the theatre community in Richmond. I think we compare well to other areas our size. And I do want to see us grow and improve. But (IMHO), comparing ourselves to metro areas among the 15 largest in this country sets us up to have unrealistic goals and constant disappointment.
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Post by davetline on Oct 31, 2012 9:24:28 GMT -5
Anonymous's population numbers are way off. You can't consider the Richmond metro area (1.2M+) and then only consider the city populations of Atlanta and DC. Atlanta's metro population is over 5M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area), DC's more in the neighborhood of 8M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metropolitan_Area). We've got plenty of opportunities to draw more people to the theater but nowhere near the base to draw on as Atlanta, DC, etc.
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Post by Guest00 on Nov 1, 2012 8:04:03 GMT -5
I don't think it's the size of the population base that's the issue here. I think it's the perception of that base. That's what I understand is at the heart of this discussion. How does Richmond measure up to other great theatre towns in terms of the quality of our work and how that work is perceived- and what kinds of actions can we take to improve that? I look forward to when this Experiment moves its focus to the community- those who are and aren't supporting the theatre- because that's when we'll move out of speculation and into reality. When the streams of people coming out of Centerstage, the Modlin, the Ballet, and the Broadway tours tell us what they think of Richmond Theatre is when we're really going to understand what our work is. And as much as I appreciate the value of looking at other markets to compare ourselves to, I also feel that's part of the mentality that is holding Richmond back. This need to constantly look at others to determine our own course and identity: "We want to be like Austin- what's Austin doing?" or "We're about as big as New Orleans, what do they do?" How about we start asserting a little leadership? Who cares what they do? What do we need to do for ourselves? Let's blaze our own trail, and be an example for them. It doesn't matter how big our population is. We can still be a premiere destination because of what we do.
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