People flock to large mile-high theater
To Denver’s LIDA Project Theatre: “We feel your pain.”
It can be difficult to draw crowds to good and important shows. This is all the more frustrating when you consider how easy it can be to draw crowds to certain holiday fluff. A case in point in yesterday’s Denver Post article summarizing the year in theater there:
LIDA Project Theatre developed its own original examination of the Columbine massacre. It was an emotional production of intense local interest and import, and it drew media attention from around the world. It just couldn’t draw flies to the theater. In 17 performances, it attracted 27 people per night. Nine months later, the mediocre “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” drew … nearly 3,000 [per performance].
Those numbers (17 × 27 = 459) are not all that different from some of Handcart’s shows. Trust me, we feel your pain. What is one to do, short of getting Clear Channel to market for you?
Posted by Kevin Ashworth at July 18, 2005 11:07 AM
Comments
Thank you very much Handcart, for your comments of empathy. It trully is more challenging as the years go by to believe that the general audience at large want something other than pure escapism.
To this end we at LIDA did one more season in Denver and after ten years have decided to concentrate on touring - hopefully to find a wider audience.
yours
R. Davies
The LIDA Project
Posted by: Robin Davies at July 21, 2005 03:43 AM
Mr. Davies,
I’m glad you found our blog. (Thanks to Google, I suppose.)
We hope your traveling efforts do bring you a wider audience. Check back in a while and let us know how the new challenges from that work out for you. And if your travels should bring you to the east coast, send us news of that, too!
Best,
Kevin
Posted by: Kevin Ashworth ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.handcartensemble.org/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 23, 2005 11:27 AM
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