Author Topic: MORALE: Keeping up morale when the house is small  (Read 3466 times)

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ReyYaySM

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MORALE: Keeping up morale when the house is small
« on: Aug 30, 2009, 04:18 pm »
Whether the economy is keeping people home, the play is obscure, it wasn't marketed well, etc, I'm sure at some time we've all met with small houses and the disappointed actors that come with it.  How do you keep the morale up in a company when they're playing to a house that's only at 10-20% of capacity (or smaller)?  

Edit added label to subject line-Rebbe
« Last Edit: Dec 17, 2009, 12:26 am by Rebbe »

NomieRae

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Re: Keeping up morale when the house is small
« Reply #1 on: Aug 30, 2009, 06:45 pm »
I've found in the past having the creative team (designers, directors, producers) stop in for a few shows if the houses are small boosts company morale because most of the time the feedback is positive and constructive and leans away from how small the house may be.

Although I did do a show where it was one person who wrote/starred in/produced it, and when the house was small she knew because she got the ticket counts, and she was inconsolable and the shows suffered those nights. Tried everything I could think of at the time-nothing got through.

So I guess--try a variety of tactics and see what works with the specific company you're dealing with. Maybe some social time after the show? Maybe some extra praise for a good performance? Food? Takes some experimentation.
--Naomi
"First, I honor life, and with it my life in theatre." -- Jacques Burdick

SLY

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Re: Keeping up morale when the house is small
« Reply #2 on: Sep 29, 2009, 11:02 am »
I've had encounters where there was a full house but the sense of engagement and the energy was not happening. Might as well had been an empty room. And I've had encounters where 20 people were in the audience and pure magic took place. I remind actors of this when its a small house. That this is the audience's first time encountering the show and it would be a mistake to treat them as if its their fault the seats aren't packed. And that even though its small that does not mean, it won't be engaging, interesting, timely or relevant.

Saying that helps a little.
Everything you can imagine is real ~ Pablo Picasso

missliz

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Re: Keeping up morale when the house is small
« Reply #3 on: Oct 21, 2009, 11:23 pm »
Got a great suggestion from an actress I'm working with now...she said they'd play over-under with the house size (it varied wildly night-to-night). whoever was closest to the number of people in the house without going over won a prize someone had picked up from the dollar store. she said it was a nice thing to do as a group, and even when the house was small, someone was a winner! definitely filing this idea away...
I personally would like to bring a tortoise onto the stage, turn it into a racehorse, then into a hat, a song, a dragon and a fountain of water. One can dare anything in the theatre and it is the place where one dares the least. -Ionesco

denisezeiler

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Re: Keeping up morale when the house is small
« Reply #4 on: Nov 04, 2009, 10:37 pm »
Along the same lines as MissLiz I have encountered this quandry many times in the past. I usually try to create games with prizes that are associated with the show or sometimes what is happening in the world outside of the theatre, i.e. Superbowl, World Series, etc. I have also coordinated pot-lucks and other activities to keep the family happy and working together.