Everyone involved in the Off-Off-Broadway scene thinks he or she wants to make the transition to “the next level,” presumably Off-Broadway. But how do you plan for, and handle, the transition? You make some effort to bring in the press and industry. That’s what the term “showcase” means -- a chance to show off your work to people who might give you a leg up. You hope that some agent will come by and sign you, or a producer will bankroll an Off-Broadway production, or that anyone will be sufficiently impressed by your work that you will graduate from being unpaid to collecting a paycheck. And then you immerse yourself in Hell Week, and before you know it, the show’s over. Some of the time, you get lucky and the show gets picked up. Most of the time, you start getting ready for the next show, or find another line of self-expression.
In actuality, there are two principal reasons for doing a showcase: to fish for producers and to test-drive the show.
Hope springs eternal, but hope itself is not enough. You need a plan. For example, you should have your industry list ready long before you go into production -- preferably before rehearsals begin. Where do you get your industry list? Well, calling all the producers in the Theatrical Index (at the Drama Book Shop) is a good idea. Most producers won’t have time to talk to you, or will be unavailable. Try to keep your pitch brief and to the point -- they don’t want your life story -- and be ready to follow through with a “packet.” And of course, be prepared to follow up to make sure they got the packet and read it. And if a producer commits to come to your show, be sure to call him/her (or his/her assistant) a week in advance, a day in advance, and on the same day to confirm that they are coming. The impression to convey is one of quiet, but not desperate, determination. (I’ve always told cronies that I was willing to send a limo to bring the producer, but I’ve never done it. I’ve also had a lot of no-shows.)
Once you get a producer to come to your show, be prepared with some sort of industry packet, with any materials that might be helpful, even though you’ve already sent the packet at least once. And of course be prepared with clear and accurate answers should the producer ask you about availability of rights (“Of course!”), should the question arise. And acquire some education in the subject of commercial producing should you need to have a discussion on the subject vis-à-vis your play.
Some people already have financing in place for the next step before they mount a showcase, and they just want to “see the play on its feet” before pulling the trigger on the Off-Broadway production. (Note: We’re talking about a whole bundle of money here. Anyone who isn’t willing to drop $250,000 into a very basic Off-Broadway production should try a different form of gambling -- say, the $2 window at the track.) This is a whole different idea from doing a showcase and then trying to get it picked up, and it has its own set of pitfalls.
An Off-Off-Broadway production doesn’t transfer directly to an Off-Broadway one. You think that a show that has received wonderful reviews at the lower level, and which all your friends liked, should be a natural for a 199-seat house, but it just ain’t necessarily so. In fact, it’s almost never so. There are many things that might need to be done:
· Script revisions
· Recasting
· A change at the helm
· Design considerations
· Revamping marketing and press
· The need for professional management
All of these concerns, including the purely artistic ones, can benefit from being considered in the light of a new hire -- your general manager. Few Off-Off-Broadway productions have a general manager, or need one. Every Off-Broadway production needs a GM. This essay is to some degree a commercial for hiring a good GM.
Script revisions can come out of any production. The trouble is you don’t know what they are going to be until you have seen the play “on its feet.” If you have already planned how to make the transition to the next level before your showcase, you’ll be under tremendous pressure not to make revisions. Resist that pressure -- the play hasn’t been written that won’t benefit from another draft. And, for reasons that will become apparent, there’s no reason not to take the time to do that draft. While script revisions are not a general manager’s purview, he or she can certainly offer an intelligent opinion as to the commercial viability of the script and suggestions for changes that might make it more streamlined or palatable to a general audience.
Recasting happens to the best of casts. For one thing -- and this might shock you -- not everyone is willing or able to move with the show. People have lives of their own. They get sick, move away, or get a TV job. They even have day jobs, and might not be able to rehearse from 10 am to 6 pm weekdays. For a second, and more important, thing, not all actors are created equal. Casting a showcase, where you don’t have to pay anyone more than carfare, frequently means that you get the best actor for a role -- the best actor, that is, who was moving too slowly to get out of the way of your net. Even if an actor is wonderful in the showcase, he or she might not be as physically perfect, or as age-appropriate, as you would like in the best of all possible worlds. When you offer $300 or more per week, you start fishing in a much deeper pool, and one that is populated with bigger, stronger, more agile fish who are only too glad to take your bait. You owe it to yourself to audition these people and see if they can expose more levels in your script. Again, a general manager, who should be at the center of a wide network of creative talent, should be able to help you immensely with the details of recasting. More importantly, GMs (and company managers) spend a lot of time dealing with the finer points of Actors’ Equity, like the Equity bond, pension and welfare, and payroll.
One aspect of recasting: actors in showcases are entitled to several weeks’ pay at the new scale if their employment is not continued at the higher level. Unless, of course, the play is being produced by another producer. Should the other producer just happen to be an LLC you created for the purpose of the new production, and it has different principals, you might be able to avoid this pesky clause in the showcase code. But don’t tell Actors’ Equity I said so!
A change at the helm is worth considering for the same reason as all personnel changes -- because you can. Yes, your director made a great contribution to the development of the play. (It is to be hoped that you had a contract with him or her, to the effect that all changes in the script that came out of rehearsal become the property of the playwright.) Unless you did something foolish like contractually attaching your director to the property for life, you should consider making a change at this point. Loyalty is one thing, but directors who work Off-Off-Broadway don’t usually have the experience needed to helm a commercial show, which yours has now become. How they make the transition to the next level is not your problem. If you have this talk with your director before the showcase, you’ll find it less painful making a change later.
Off-Off-Broadway producers often have complicated relationships with directors. As one general manager I know says, “Actors are children -- directors are fetuses!” Especially if the producer is also the playwright, the director can hold a play hostage (“Give me an airplane and a million dollars or I’ll kill the baby!”) A general manager can (a) find you a director or (b) take your side in negotiations with a difficult director.
Design considerations stem from the new and bigger theatre in which you are going to perform. Although you might not want to spend much money on a new set, your budget will seem vast compared to what you spent in the showcase. Ditto costumes: you can actually look around and buy a dress for more than a dollar at a flea market. And lighting design? Your new theatre will look cavernous compared to the old one, but your LD will have as little or less time to light the show as before. All of these considerations point to the need to interview new designers for all of these roles. Again, a general manager can help you find the design talent you need without breaking your budget.
Revamping marketing and press How many times have I heard people suggest that, because they sold out the last night of their showcase, they ought to extend? Puh-leeze! Showcases sell out on the last night because all the friends and relatives who make up your primary audience are too lazy to come earlier, but they don’t dare stiff you by not showing up at all. The worst shows in the world (and I’ve seen some of them) have a chance to sell out their last performances. Even hateful people sometimes have a big funeral, if only so their acquaintances can make sure they’re dead.
What does this mean in terms of marketing and press? It’s going to take a minimum of three months to restage your play for an Off-Broadway run, for reasons I’ve already gone into. (Better to take a year.) Whatever momentum you thought you were acquiring at your show’s wake -- er, closing night -- will have dissipated. Furthermore, your audience is no longer the proverbial choir you’ve been preaching to, but a whole army of strangers who would rather be doing something else, like watching TV. So you have to devise a strategy for getting them, not only into a theatre, but into your theatre.
On the positive side, you also have more money to play with. It costs at least $15 to sell a $15 ticket, which doesn’t leave you a lot of leeway for advertising a showcase. But if your retail ticket price is $45 or more, you can afford to spend some of that on promotion. And there are very talented and professional people out there to help you spend the money effectively. Just probably not the same people you had doing press for your showcase.
A good general manager will have a feel for what kinds of promotion work for particular kinds of shows -- whether to go for ads in the Times, other print ads, TV commercials, or the ubiquitous E-blasts and TDF mailings. These are all tools you usually get little chance to explore Off-Off-Broadway, and they are greatly more complicated at a higher level. Your GM will also doubtless know a good ATPAM press agent, which in some cases is a requirement for working Off-Broadway, and in any case can help you reach that Holy Grail, a review in the Times. (You should also consider hiring a marketing person, preferably one with a healthy respect for the Internet, who can help you bring in bodies outside of the traditional channels handled by a press agent.)
The need for professional management, if it isn’t obvious already, is another consideration when you transfer a show to a commercial venue. Everything you do in planning a commercial run is opposite to what you do in a showcase, starting with the concept of the run itself. In the showcase, you have three or four weeks and up to 16 performances, and that’s it. In the Off-Broadway world, you are looking at an open-ended run, in which you can hope to rack up obscene profits after recouping your investment. Depending on the size and location of the theatre, you might also be dealing with the crotchets of four unions -- certainly Actors’ Equity, whose bureaucracy doesn’t make producers’ lives easy. The minutiae of whom to hire, how else to spend your money, and keeping track of all your expenses require a professional general manager and company manager, not to mention an assistant to do the paperwork. In fact, your GM should start before you rent a theatre, hire any other staff, or, most importantly of all, come up with a budget. (Note: John Chatterton Presents, Inc. has experience taking shows from Off-Off- to Off-Broadway. For more information, call 646/207-2926 or E-mail me at jchatter @ oobr.com.)