Case Study: New Rep (Boston)

I've been interested in the email notices coming out of New Repertory Theatre in Boston of late. Kate Warner (previously of Dad's Garage in Atlanta) is the newly installed Artistic Director, and the tenor of the communication coming from the theatre is already different. I'll paste excerpts from some of these announcements below, but the thing that interests me most about them is that New Rep is very clearly focusing its story on the theatre's deep ties to the community of artists, audiences, and businesses in the area. In a moment of transition for the leadership of the theatre, the unified message emerging from the organization is one of carefully nuanced balance between the community of artists and audiences that existed before Warner's arrival, and the new artistic programming she brings to the table.

The following announcements particularly piqued my interest because they seem to best embody this position.

In the first example, New Rep sent out an email announcing (selected) casting and directors for shows in the 2009-10 season. To those outside of Boston, the names probably won't mean much, but for Boston audiences and the Boston theatre community, the message comes through loud a clear. The shows that Warner isn't directing herself have been assigned to a collection of established and emerging Boston directors, all with longtime ties to the community (many came through local training programs). The casting announcements highlight longtime community favorites as well as newcomers -- a savvy move that symbolically mirrors Warner's own efforts to blend old and new in the season selection. That is, you may not have heard of these newcomer actors (or, by extension, some of these playwrights), but you can see we care about the established favorites, so you know you can trust us.

In the second example, New Rep attempts to harness the power of word-of-mouth and social networking all at once with an incentive program that rewards subscribers who get their friends to subscribe, or who leverage personal connections in the local business community to sell ad space in the program. While it does have a whiff of the Amway about it, we all know that happy, excited subscribers often buy tickets for friends, or get friends to buy their own tickets. I don't know how many new subscriptions (or ads) this program will pull in, but it seems like it's totally worth a shot for New Rep.

In the last example, New Rep is looking to recruit a corps of citizen-reviewers for its 2009-10 season. This is bold and very smart. As Boston's print-based critical discourse withers and dies (I can't even count the number of critics who have lost their jobs at area papers in the last two years), something needs to fill the void. In asking audiences to serve as reviewers -- and promising to keep the reviews on the blog, unedited, regardless of what the reviewer has to say about the production -- New Rep is rooting the conversation about the art in the community that sees the art. (This makes me think of a recent post from The Artful Manager about the professional/amateur divide on the internet with regards to the arts)

All three of these announcements point to something that seems very of-the-moment: a desire to be incredibly locally relevant, to be plugged into the local cultural and civic ecology. The local-food movement has its mirror in the local-theatre movement. Of course, the New Rep season hasn't yet even begun, so it'll be a waiting game to see how this all pans out for them.

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EXAMPLE #1

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CASTING ANNOUNCEMENTS 2009-10 Season

Mister Roberts: a drama by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan

directed by Kate Warner

starring newcomer Thomas Piper as Mister Roberts, New Rep favorite Paul D. Farwell as the Captain, and introducing Jonathan Popp as Pulver

Speed-the-Plow: a drama by David Mamet

directed by Robert Walsh

starring Robert Pemberton as Bobby Gould, New Rep favorite Aimee Doherty as Karen (last seen as Sally Bowles in Cabaret), and introducing Gabriel Kuttner as Charlie Fox

Indulgences: a farcical comedy by Chris Craddock

directed by Kate Warner starring Boston favorite Neil A. Casey as Man 2 (last seen as Einstein in Picasso at the Lapin Agile) , New Rep On Tour actor Edward Hoopman as Malcolm (last seen as title role in Hamlet) and introducing Joel Colodner as Man 1

Opus: a New England Premiere by Michael Hollinger

directed by Jim Petosa

Hot Mikado: book and lyrics by David H. Bell / musical concepts and arrangments by Robert Bowman

directed by Kate Warner / musical direction by Todd C. Gordon / choreography by Kelli Edwards

2.5 Minute Ride: a one woman show by Lisa Kron

directed by M. Bevin O'Gara

starring local favorite Adrienne Krstansky

boom: a New England Premiere by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: adapted for the stage and originally directed by Rick Lombardo

directed by Steven Barkhimer

returning for the 5th year: Paul D. Farwell as Scrooge

The Santaland Diaries: by David Sedaris / adapted by Joe Mantello

directed by Christopher Webb

returning after last year's sold out run: Kraig Swartz as Crumpet

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EXAMPLE #2

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Here are two exciting ways that you could earn a FREE subscription!

1) Get TWO friends to subscribe to New Rep for the first time, and we will refund you the cost of one subscription! Ask the Box Office about our "Bring-a-Friend Subscription Rebate" by calling 617-923-8487 or e-mailing tickets@newrep.org.

2) Get a local business to take a quarter page ad in our programs for the 2009-2010 Season, and we'll refund you the cost of one subscription.

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EXAMPLE #3

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New Rep wants YOU, our beloved audience members, to share your thoughts on our productions with the world by writing reviews of our 2009-2010 Season shows. All reviews written by New Rep Reviewers will be posted (unedited) on NewRep's blog, Backstage @ New Rep.

HOW

As a New Rep Reviewer, you must agree to complete 4 easy steps:

1) Attend the Opening Night performances for all 9 New Rep shows

2) Post your review on New Rep's blog within 24 hours of the Opening Night Performance. Instructions will be provided to all New Rep Reviewers.

3) Limit your review to 200-300 words.

4) Write your review based on your response to New Rep's production and not that of other reviewers and/or theatergoers.

TICKETS

New Rep Reviewers (Subscribers): your subscription will be transferred to Opening Night and you will be given two extra tickets to bring friends.

New Rep Reviewers (Non-Subscribers): you will be given two free tickets to attend Opening Night performances.

HOW TO BE CONSIDERED:

1) Submit a 200-300 word review of a play that you have seen at any theater in the Greater Boston Area this past season (2008-2009).

2) Include your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address on the top of your review.