CTI - THE COMMERCIAL THEATER INSTITUTE - SPRING EVENTS

CTI, The Commercial Theater Institute,

www.commercialtheaterinstitute.com

is having two programs in the spring that are extraordinarily valuable for anyone interested in theater. I've attended (see the post below) the 3-Day Weekend event and I would strongly recommend it, not only for (current & potential future) producers, but for anyone (writers, directors, lawyers, investors, actors, and...well, anyone) interested in developing projects for the commercial theater. This is far and away the most accessible, interesting, informative, useful event about theater I've ever encountered.


Producing Reading, Workshops, and Showcases: A Practical Approach will have its spring session on March 6th, from 10am – 6pm, at Theatre Row.

Many new topics and speakers have been added since the December program.

The fee for the day is $140 in advance, $175 at the door.


The 28th Annual 3-Day Weekend Producing Conference (May 15th – 17th) is now accepting registrations. The early bird price is $335 by March 27th.

Registration forms for both events are on the CTI website.

http://www.commercialtheaterinstitute.com/

FREE NIGHT NYC -- FREE THEATER !!!

Free Night NYC invites you to GET LIVE!

(Note -- Sep 29, 2010 -- This post below was written in 2008. For 2010 information -- and there is free theater again -- try freenightnyc.net. -- which might be overloaded -- or try Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Night-NYC/149701913952 )

"Free Night NYC is offering 5,000 tickets to over 100 theaters across the city. Tickets will be offered to performances from October 16th, 2008 through October 30th, 2008 and can be reserved beginning October 1st at 10:00am on freenightnyc.net.

"Tickets are limited, first come, first served, but check back because more tickets may be added throughout October. In the event that tickets sell out in one day, a special group of tickets will be released Oct. 2nd to accommodate potential post Rosh Hashanah audience.

"On the national day of Free Night of Theater — Thursday October 16th 2008— we'll also be hosting a kick-off event in Union Square and an all city theater rocks party at Element, a club on the Lower East Side.

"Join us for a full day of celebrating the amazing diversity of New York theater! "

OLD BROADWAY THEATERS

I was just recently in one of those old Broadway theaters. It was terrible. It's time to shut those old theaters down and re-build them all.

The seats are too narrow. Were people all skinny when they were built? (Probably yes.)

There were few stalls in the ladies' room and not much more in the men's room. Did people pee less in the old days? (Probably not, so why did they build the bathrooms so small?)

And the rows of seats were not very well raked, making any tall person in a row ahead a serious obstacle.

New theaters, in addition to being more comfortable, and possible safer (who know what lurks in those old floors and walls?) could be roomier in a way that would allow more creative concession income. It's too crowded now to sell anything efficiently.

With an evening at the theater for two (tickets, not to mention transportation, parking, and possibly a restaurant) running into the hundreds of dollars, patrons deserve a pleasant experience in every way (including a quick trip to the bathroom at intermission + something from the vending concession without missing the start of the next act). They may also be interested in a significant souvenir from the show (especially since -- with the falling dollar -- more and more of the visitors are here on a big trip from some other country).

While many shows do sell a program... or shirts and caps... or other items, the poor marketing display and inefficiency of making a sale in the crowded old theaters means the show is probably giving up the possibility of significant additional revenue.

It seems to me that these uncomfortable old theaters are doing a disservice to Broadway (by discouraging people who were uncomfortable in one show from going to another show); a disservice to the audience (which deserves a better experience); and a disservice to themselves (for giving up income from concessions) .

Lets give a big cheer for each new theater that arrives!