Illustration by Maria Fabrizio
On any given night in Richmond, theatergoers can choose among shows offered by the region’s more than two dozen production companies. It’s an exciting time with a healthy crop of shows providing audiences with a variety of theater experiences.
What the average ticket-holder doesn’t see is the journey taken by a show to that stage. A company artistic director — as individuals or by committee — chooses productions that should meet the criteria of their group’s artistic intentions while also attempting to gauge what may sell tickets. Satisfying these parallel intentions is often a challenge. And with almost any artistic endeavor, there is no guarantee of success, and there are always surprises — pleasant and otherwise.
Artistic directors and their staffs work well in advance of their seasons. The considerations are numerous, ranging from the availability of production rights to the complexities of designing a set. Year-round, they read plays, travel to shows in other cities and seek the advice of other professionals.
“I imagine most artistic directors never stop thinking about next titles,” says Nathaniel Shaw, artistic director of the Virginia Repertory Theatre, one of the state’s largest performing arts organizations. Virginia Rep manages four venues and an educational touring company which are maintained by a $5 million annual budget. “I’ve actually already proposed a 2019-2020 season for the Signature Season, [the theater’s main stage shows] but we’ll just have to see what sticks.”
When a theater company announces its season, there is a sense of both exhilaration and anxiety. The artistic director, especially for a large organization such as Virginia Rep, seeks to offer enough to appeal to a variety of tastes.
Trends emerge when examining the kinds of shows picked by professional and amateur theater companies.
The season typically begins with a couple of shows in the fall, mixed in with a holiday classic like “A Christmas Carol,” or, depending on the audience, a satire of the season, such as “The Santaland Diaries.” Spring often brings comedies and musicals. A big family-oriented production may follow in the summer.
Virginia Rep's recent production of "Mr. Popper's Penguins" (Photo courtesy Virginia Repertory Theatre)
Richmond Triangle Players’ executive director, Philip Crosby, explains, “We’ve done some pretty good analysis about what kinds of shows sell, what time of year, what kind of shows people like to see when — we looked at that over a period of years.”
Carol Piersol was for 19 years the founding artistic director of the former Firehouse Theatre Project (now known as Firehouse Theatre under the artistic direction of Joel Bassin), and is in that position with the 5th Wall Theatre. “At Firehouse, the summer musical would sell very well and help launch us into the next season. It was all pretty formulaic with some variations from year to year.”
Finding the work to produce can also provide difficulty, in particular if a company wants to find new and relevant material to complement programming reliable classics.
Anna Johnson is artistic and managing director for Cadence Theatre Co. (CTC). Her studio theater organization’s home is alongside co-producer Virginia Rep. “I usually receive ideas from staff, the CTC board, the leadership of Virginia Rep, as well as patrons,” she says.
The 5th Wall’s Piersol says, “I’m constantly reading plays and magazines … just to keep up with what’s out there.”
In “Cabaret,” the sardonic emcee sings, “Money makes the world go around,” and theater is not immune to that demand. The costs associated with mounting certain productions are always dependent on the company’s budget.
“Finances are always a factor,” says James Ricks, the newly appointed artistic director of Quill Theatre. “It’s a sad aspect of the business, especially since we are a not-for-profit organization. But we try to keep our mission at the center of our organizational direction as much as we can.”
Money in theater buys not only time but space.
The 5th Wall, for example, doesn’t have a home stage. This brings an added layer of complexity when working out the issues of building a season.
“If I like a play, I then have to try and find the right venue for it,” says Piersol. “We try to form artistic partnerships with venues and other companies, but it can be very challenging.”
