So Rocky Horror is over. A successful run to say the least. We sold out every performance, bringing in more than 1000 people into the McCoy Theatre. Half of those numbers were students, 504. This data was collected from the ticket stubs from the show, so there is some margin of error in the calculation, but we have a fairly good reason to believe that these are pretty accurate.So what is it about this show that made it a success? Was Rhodes College yearning to see men in high heels and fishnet hosiery strutting around on stage singing rock n roll music? We discussed this in two meetings I've had over the past three days and have come up with some fairly interesting ideas. Several people mentioned Dylan Hunter's (Frank 'n Furter) legs. While fun, this isn't something we can continually try to utilize in the future as Dylan is a senior this year and can't flash a leg from behind a curtain at every show from now until eternity.
More seriously we discussed the attraction of a large cast, the show being a musical, and the large amount of movement and high energy in the production. I had several people tell me they thought the show was "awesome" but had absolutely no idea what the plot was. From a Rocky Horror standpoint, that's perfection. People coming and having a good time; that's the entire purpose of this kind of show.A more universal aspect, however, is the pre-show hype that Rocky was blessed with. You could hear people on campus two weeks before opening saying anything from, "Why would they want to do that show?" to "I'm so excited about Rocky Horror this year; I LOVE the movie!" This resulted in people being turned away at the door on opening night and coming back over and over until they could get in. This pre-show buzz, if it can be replicated, provides a vital element to creating a theatre of "Standing Room Only."
The second, obviously, is that the actual production lives up to the hype. If the show flops, everyone leaves disappointed and tells their friends to stay away. Instead, people told their friends that they "had to see it." There's nothing that a team like ours can do to ensure that the quality of a production will live up to the hype.But we do have a say about hype. We can find new and creative ways to try to raise awareness of upcoming productions that aren't as "doomed for success" as Rocky was. We must find ways to pique the interest of the campus community so that every show is being discussed days before the first curtain speech is offered. This is our mission, and the success of Rocky Horror has given us reason to be hopeful.
2 comments:
keen analysis succinctly put--well done
More than just Rocky, I think we need to start looking at trends at what has worked and what has not worked at the McCoy in our 4 years. Rocky sold out. So did Tempest, Ubu, Godot. Others like World Goes 'Round, Agnes of God, and Tongue of a Bird certainly did not. Why? I'm not advocating that there is any easy answer. I'm tempted at first to suggest that people come to what they've heard of, but who the hell has ever heard of Ubu? Not me before 2 days before auditions when I read it. Rocky, Tempest, and Ubu all had the advantage of a big cast, but Godot did not and I heard it did very well. Is this a matter of advertising or of attitude I think will be the ultimate question and I know you're working hard in SRO to figure that out. I'm not offering advice or hypotheses, I'm simply offering my help if you ever need it.
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