January 2007 its coming was foretold and a great moan of despair did issue from the people while others cheered and hailed the arrival of the dread behemoth. Many tried to scurry from its path and have just now recognized their failure now as the shadow of the mighty beast falls upon them.
Now cometh the king….
The LION KING!!!!!!
Last week the Honolulu Advertiser ran a story about the impact The Lion King, which opens in two weeks, is having on the local arts community. Back when Phantom of the Opera came to town, the seats at many theatres were pretty much empty.
Having learned from the past, many organizations started scrambling as soon as the rumors started gained credence. Hearing the performance hall would be occupied, the symphony shifted to another venue and the local school which stages a two day holiday extravaganza started making other plans. The annual Nutcracker production lucked out by having the Broadway tour end just before their scheduled performance.
Many of the other performing arts organizations are experiencing ill effects already. Said one theatre manager “It’s scary, terrible. We moved up our production (from an original October play date) hoping to avoid overlap with ‘The Lion King.’ In retrospect, it would have made little difference…”I keep hearing ‘We bought our “Lion King” tickets and we’re broke,…'”
One group has seen a rise in season subscriptions and other has seen a drop though they attribute that to getting their brochure out late. One group is hoping to fill the house by offering what the Lion King can’t–alcohol during a performance. The group plans to perform two shows in cabaret style and offer a standard drink with the show.
A number of those quoted in the article thought their might be a trickle down effect with people getting excited enough by the show that they would buy ticket to the local performances some time in the next two years. There was no mention if theatres saw a surge in the years after Phantom.
I wonder then if it is wishful thinking as one of those optimistic about a trickle down is also quoted as saying most of those who attend the Broadway series aren’t regular theatre goers. The intent of his sentence was to state what I am sure is his mistaken belief that those who enjoy musicals at his theatre won’t join non-attendees in exhausting their discretionary income at The Lion King.
He also inadvertently points out the reason why his theatre probably won’t enjoy a significant attendance increase from trickle down in the near future– most of the people attending the Lion King aren’t disposed to attend live performances. If people there were a trickle down effect from attending a Broadway show, the regional and local arts scene would be exploding as a result of all the bus tours motoring their way to Broadway and Las Vegas.
For most of those attending, The Lion King is an infrequent treat they give themselves and their family. Even though they could all attend a local performance for what a single ticket to the Broadway show costs, that isn’t part of their regular practice and may never be unless they know someone in the cast.
So how do things stand for my theatre you wonder? Well we haven’t gone on sale yet because we are just making last minute tweaks to a new ticket system. My first show doesn’t open until a month after The Lion King does. This might not work in my favor since the buzz about the Disney show will probably reach its apex about that time and fuel additional ticket sales.
Unlike those who were interviewed for the newspaper article, my theatre doesn’t produce Broadway musicals so we are at least offering an alternative to that. Our season is also weighted with more shows in the Spring. Now whether there is going to be a enough disposable income around after the Lion King and the holiday season are finished is anyone’s guess.
As much as I criticize the trickle down view as naive, there really is no other way to approach the situation but to be optimistic. Doom and gloom isn’t going to help. Finding the ways to pitch your strengths over your competition is standard business practice. In some ways, we local arts organizations aren’t in much different a position than video game manufacturers who face a competitor rolling out a new console just in time for Christmas. Often they time the release of some new exciting game to show the value of the established game systems. We each have to figure out what our version of that practice will be.
Shouldn’t the smaller theater groups in the area band together to advertise to the Lion King audience? Put an ad in the Playbill. Ask the theater if you can put up a display area in the lobby. Each group should provide one or two people to man the booth to answer questions before and after the show, and at intermission. Yes, that’s a lot of time to commit, but the upside is incredible.
I’d be willing to bet that many/most of the people attending the Lion King don’t even know about the other theater or arts offerings in the area.
Let the Lion King bring in people who are interested in theater, that’s your market. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.
Michael-
Interesting idea for the lobby display, etc. I don’t know if the production company and the presenter would go for it though. The show has some of the tightest controls surrounding it that many of us have ever seen. Information is kept hush-hush and they have stricter policies in place to maximize their income than most productions which are only in town for a few days.
They have made gestures of support to local organizations which were clearly intended to garner them good PR. I don’t know if they would be amenable to something that could dilute their income like a table display for other theatres. Unless, of course, they were entirely sold out for the 12 week run and lost nothing by it.
How would a booth or display in the lobby hurt their income? People in the lobby have already paid for their tickets. 🙂
What you are describing is very similar to the problems of theater in the Washington DC region. We have several hundred theaters here, from 25 seat black boxes on up to the 3,000+ seat Kennedy Center. Surveys show that most people attend the Kennedy Center only for a show, they consider that theater. I don’t think it is snobbery, but more ignorance of the great theater that is done by community and small professional groups in the area.
One Northern Virginia community theater advertises (half-heartedly) their season tickets costing less than one ticket at the Kennedy Center, plus free parking.
“How would a booth or display in the lobby hurt their income? People in the lobby have already paid for their tickets. :)”
True, but they haven’t bought tickets for their friends and family as early Christmas presents which is what they are likely to do if they love the show.
The producers contracted for 6 weeks with an option for a 6 week extension. They sold the first weeks out pretty solidly and recently opened up the next 6 for sale–the six weeks that butt up against the holiday season.
Though granted, unless they mess things up real badly, people aren’t likely to walk out of Lion King and immediately decide to buy the grandkids tickets to Man of La Mancha. Sitting at a lobby table for 12 weeks will probably do more to depress the local performance groups than undermine Lion King ticket sales.