Many shows in Sydney are wrapping up at present, hence the small pause in Arts Journalist. The last month has seen a success in our local theatre industry not seen in a long time.
Keating! The Musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Holding the Man have all broken box office records and had capacity houses for their return seasons. I can't recall there being so much positive and passionate word of mouth about three shows in Sydney - all at the same time.
To think that a musical about an ex-PM, a gay love story and a musical about an East Berlin boy who has a sex change to escape to the West be united by such popular appeal says a lot about Sydney audiences. In fact it shows how unpredictable Sydney audiences are.
I am presently working on two big feature articles. Interviewing, scrawling in my notepad and frantically researching. This week I will also be reviewing two shows followed by another two next week, as a new round of marketing material hits the cafes and bars of Sydney. No doubt, the mainstream media will be inundated with every publicist in the city trying to get an article, a space, anything (!) to help promote their shows.
It's a shame that the various independent theatre's don't organise themselves a little more with their marketing collateral. Every time you walk into your favourite haunt, the front counter is littered with another lot of postcards, posters and flyers vying for the most sought after advertising space in the city. If anything, it shows the energy put into the theatre industry of Sydney.
A little communication between venues could see them pool their funds into a quarterly programme of events. It would certainly make them a lot more accessible for alternative audiences and fit nicely into the City of Sydney's attempt at making a City of Villages.
Keating! The Musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Holding the Man have all broken box office records and had capacity houses for their return seasons. I can't recall there being so much positive and passionate word of mouth about three shows in Sydney - all at the same time.
To think that a musical about an ex-PM, a gay love story and a musical about an East Berlin boy who has a sex change to escape to the West be united by such popular appeal says a lot about Sydney audiences. In fact it shows how unpredictable Sydney audiences are.
I am presently working on two big feature articles. Interviewing, scrawling in my notepad and frantically researching. This week I will also be reviewing two shows followed by another two next week, as a new round of marketing material hits the cafes and bars of Sydney. No doubt, the mainstream media will be inundated with every publicist in the city trying to get an article, a space, anything (!) to help promote their shows.
It's a shame that the various independent theatre's don't organise themselves a little more with their marketing collateral. Every time you walk into your favourite haunt, the front counter is littered with another lot of postcards, posters and flyers vying for the most sought after advertising space in the city. If anything, it shows the energy put into the theatre industry of Sydney.
A little communication between venues could see them pool their funds into a quarterly programme of events. It would certainly make them a lot more accessible for alternative audiences and fit nicely into the City of Sydney's attempt at making a City of Villages.
Image: Courtesy Showtune Productions, iOTA as Hedwig
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