Bakersfield, an incestuous land of dying theatre, too much theatre, or…? - By N.L. Belardes
Aaron Mauldin of Theatreaddict.com is trying like crazy to take a Bakersfield theatre scene and get his arms around it, digest it, and spin its balkanized incestuous soul into something digestible, easy to navigate, and worthy of perusal with real honest-to-goodness bodies in the seats.
A scene from Amadeus at the Spotlight theatre.
Just who is kissing who behind the scenes?
But are bodies going to local theatres? Are people even viewing his addiction website by the bushel loads?
Maybe. Maybe not.
I doubt if local thespian and high school theatre instructor Rob Long. A.K.A The Logic Bomb agrees, even though the not-so-controversial Mauldin posted Long’s myspace blog article, "Performer-Audience Rapport" that declares all forms of theatre are dying. The peaceful and fence-strattling Aaron could have put his own dastardly comment there that agreed or disagreed with Long. I wouldn’t have minded.
The theatre scene is already split apart like Baskin Robbins flavors, why not speak your mind?
Long’s article is a frustrated bit of prose from a passionate theatre enthusiast. I don’t agree with everything Long has to say, but I do agree on some points. Long writes:
Live theatre is dying. Entertainment is ubiquitous, and with technology advancing, there is less and less reason to leave the environs of our own homes. When we can make our home into a theatre quality experience, without the distractions of annoying audience members, poorly focused projectors, bad sound systems and whichever chair we choose to sit in, what is the point in going to even a movie theatre, much less a live theatre performance?
First off, I doubt if the film industry is dying. Sure, fewer people are going to the movies, but that doesn’t mean movie theatres are fading.
Sure, more people want their movie experience for free. So they get pirated copies, or buy DVDs. But people will never stop going to the movies. I have gone to two sold out movie theatre experiences in Bakersfield in the past two months. The film industry is kicking. Actors are still getting paid in millions, and rich Hollywood lifestyles are still as fat as ever. How would we even fare one day in the shoes of the rich and famous? Would we even fathom what they often spend in hour’s time? Their couches are worth more than most American’s yearly salaries.
I bet you they even have DVDs and a few of them pirated. It’s a changed culture, even for the wealthy. Their industry provided their movies in such a medium. Blame them for lower audience figures. Blame them for being greedy and putting movies into a medium rampant with piracy. And blame them too for the high cost of movies and popcorn (read some of the funny comments from film theatre-goers here)
The film industry will simply change their marketing tactics to regain the 8-10% theatre losses. They will spend on campaigns to target different groups like women and high school kids. And are you aware of how much the movie industry gets from DVD sales? Outrageous!
Long writes, “Television and movies don't respond to the rhythms of the audience.” To say there is no audience participation in television and film? Believe me, there is plenty of participation transformed to fit the medium of today’s segment who stick to their couches, unable to pull away from Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, and Survivor. Call in, make your choice, or interact online in message boards. Today’s shows are increasingly interactive. And film is interactive too. I heard people laughing at Cars, crying at United 93, and I threw popcorn at the screen just last week.
Don’t forget sports on television. Watch some 49er football with chingpea (she's the host of Zowietown) and you’ll even see a shoe fly across the room. That’s interaction. When was the last time you were allowed to throw a shoe at a local Bakersfield theatre performance?
The reality is I don’t think you can even compare the film industry to local Bakersfield theatre. So why are we talking about films when the real issue is theatre people being upset that not enough bodies attend shows?
Yes, get more people in the seats! Not enough controversy, I say. There’s all this great local theatre drama about who is sleeping with who that I bet might get a few people to attend if they’re reading about all the drama online (read the infamous line regarding local theatre, “We have young, single people all sleeping with each other". Taken out of context? Only a little or else why would the statement have been made?)
OK, I’m somewhat kidding. We don’t have to talk about the risqué theatre antics even though those go back to the early 1900s. Bakersfield College theatre was at Bakersfield High, the hub of Kern County culture… films were coming to Bakersfield even then to be made.
Don’t tell me there weren’t some extravagant relationships then, or even later when Bakersfield College was kicking in the 1940s-1960s. I have heard a few whopping sexual deviant stories about the college heyday that includes the antics of thespians.
Oo la! What's the drama? (Scene from Amadeus)
Anyway, the most important point regards audience development, that Long and others discuss. My opinion? You have to market to people outside of theatre circles.
Local theatre has the same problem as the local music scene: there is an overabundance of music venues and bands, which causes audiences to be split into crisscrossed loyalties, with marketing to audiences done mostly on myspace, and less in the real world (I'm guilty too). The bands perform an overabundance of shows, and the supporting marketing is just not there. I'm guessing theatre is similar.
Believe me, the kids all out racing cars, hanging out at the marketplace, and at every Starbucks in town would go to theatre or hear local music if they: 1) knew about it. 2) thought a show or music was too cool to miss.
How do you reach people is the big question? Noveltown is just beginning to experiment with that by forming partnerships with companies and media that can attract targeted audience people (see Tim Z. Hernandez "Stories from Dust" literary - music event).
How could theatre attract people?
By thinking outside of the box. That isn’t to say theatre people aren’t creative. They're super creative! (Probably even in their incestuous sleeping around behavior! C'mon, spill the dirt!) Sites like theatreaddict.com and nlbelardes.com are creative, speak to people, and are informative, but they are not forces to be reckoned with that have huge fan bases where people who love us attend every event we attend.
If I believed that I would plug more events ahead of time and yell, “Woo hoo, I’m going over here!”
I believe outside-of-the-box thinking involves business and media partnerships and occasionally putting on shows that will specifically generate income in a way that attracts a targeted audience.
For instance, if I put on a play that had construction workers in it, a partnership could be built with construction and builder companies. The people they build houses for might not come to a show, but I bet their workers would, especially the builders and administrators who have cash in pocket.
Or what if there was a show about a wealthy doctor in a relationship with a naughty nurse during World War Two? Doctors and hospitals could be targeted, given lots of buy one get one free tickets, and a hospital or doctor’s office could be targeted. Why not? Doctors have money and if they show up, before the play you give them your Theatre is dying speech: "This is the greatest night of my life to see so many of you here (boohoo),” then pass the money bucket.
Theatres could even include one of the local niche market newspapers, or have theatre people write for free, to have reviews and build credibility… there are so many ways.
The theatres who ever truly build such programs will be the local theatres with money to put on more extravagant shows, who will build even more relationships and partnerships and eventually, hopefully invade the mainstream consciousness to attract even more bodies.
The current Bakersfield theatre set-up is skewed towards packed houses for shows like West Side Story that help theatres with big budgets to break even and continue the same process. Is that the Haagen Oaks market? How could smaller theatres tap in to such attendance?
Creative marketing.
Long states that people "just over 50 going" make up the live theatre attendees going to shows? Blame that on theatres for not marketing to younger audiences.
Why not once a year have a big children’s production, something really wacky with songs and very Wiggles-ish… something local and original. Something that would at least teach kids that local theatres exist, are OK… something to help the community grow, to make theatre part of their mindset. Teach them young, right? Use the TV age to theatre’s advantage… grab the kids and their parents attention. Utilize the popularity of what's on TV for youth. Mimic it in a theatre setting just to help build numbers and name recognition.
One or two local theatres could really stand out in an area where local theatre isn’t dying, but flourishing (flourishing because theatre is more visible through online media when marketed correctly in the recent year or so). At least now, if theatre people really wanted to, they could flood the local online and print with self-written articles building up their credibility within targeted communities by utilizing the Northwest Voice, Southwest Voice, Bakotopia, theatreaddict.com, Paperback Writer blog, etc…
Or pool money together, hire PR writers to do that… work together. Or is local Bakersfield too balkanized, too selfish of an incestuous beast to do that?
I'm telling you, write more about sex and drama and then have all those actors and actresses in starring roles in one production. Film behind the scenes and post on youtube.com and market the hell out of it before the show...
Potential audiences will see the real drama and want to come to the show...
People like soap operas!
For more steamy theatre drama, read Roger Mathey's Back Pocket.
A scene from Amadeus at the Spotlight theatre.
Just who is kissing who behind the scenes?
But are bodies going to local theatres? Are people even viewing his addiction website by the bushel loads?
Maybe. Maybe not.
I doubt if local thespian and high school theatre instructor Rob Long. A.K.A The Logic Bomb agrees, even though the not-so-controversial Mauldin posted Long’s myspace blog article, "Performer-Audience Rapport" that declares all forms of theatre are dying. The peaceful and fence-strattling Aaron could have put his own dastardly comment there that agreed or disagreed with Long. I wouldn’t have minded.
The theatre scene is already split apart like Baskin Robbins flavors, why not speak your mind?
Long’s article is a frustrated bit of prose from a passionate theatre enthusiast. I don’t agree with everything Long has to say, but I do agree on some points. Long writes:
Live theatre is dying. Entertainment is ubiquitous, and with technology advancing, there is less and less reason to leave the environs of our own homes. When we can make our home into a theatre quality experience, without the distractions of annoying audience members, poorly focused projectors, bad sound systems and whichever chair we choose to sit in, what is the point in going to even a movie theatre, much less a live theatre performance?
First off, I doubt if the film industry is dying. Sure, fewer people are going to the movies, but that doesn’t mean movie theatres are fading.
Sure, more people want their movie experience for free. So they get pirated copies, or buy DVDs. But people will never stop going to the movies. I have gone to two sold out movie theatre experiences in Bakersfield in the past two months. The film industry is kicking. Actors are still getting paid in millions, and rich Hollywood lifestyles are still as fat as ever. How would we even fare one day in the shoes of the rich and famous? Would we even fathom what they often spend in hour’s time? Their couches are worth more than most American’s yearly salaries.
I bet you they even have DVDs and a few of them pirated. It’s a changed culture, even for the wealthy. Their industry provided their movies in such a medium. Blame them for lower audience figures. Blame them for being greedy and putting movies into a medium rampant with piracy. And blame them too for the high cost of movies and popcorn (read some of the funny comments from film theatre-goers here)
The film industry will simply change their marketing tactics to regain the 8-10% theatre losses. They will spend on campaigns to target different groups like women and high school kids. And are you aware of how much the movie industry gets from DVD sales? Outrageous!
Long writes, “Television and movies don't respond to the rhythms of the audience.” To say there is no audience participation in television and film? Believe me, there is plenty of participation transformed to fit the medium of today’s segment who stick to their couches, unable to pull away from Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, and Survivor. Call in, make your choice, or interact online in message boards. Today’s shows are increasingly interactive. And film is interactive too. I heard people laughing at Cars, crying at United 93, and I threw popcorn at the screen just last week.
Don’t forget sports on television. Watch some 49er football with chingpea (she's the host of Zowietown) and you’ll even see a shoe fly across the room. That’s interaction. When was the last time you were allowed to throw a shoe at a local Bakersfield theatre performance?
The reality is I don’t think you can even compare the film industry to local Bakersfield theatre. So why are we talking about films when the real issue is theatre people being upset that not enough bodies attend shows?
Yes, get more people in the seats! Not enough controversy, I say. There’s all this great local theatre drama about who is sleeping with who that I bet might get a few people to attend if they’re reading about all the drama online (read the infamous line regarding local theatre, “We have young, single people all sleeping with each other". Taken out of context? Only a little or else why would the statement have been made?)
OK, I’m somewhat kidding. We don’t have to talk about the risqué theatre antics even though those go back to the early 1900s. Bakersfield College theatre was at Bakersfield High, the hub of Kern County culture… films were coming to Bakersfield even then to be made.
Don’t tell me there weren’t some extravagant relationships then, or even later when Bakersfield College was kicking in the 1940s-1960s. I have heard a few whopping sexual deviant stories about the college heyday that includes the antics of thespians.
Oo la! What's the drama? (Scene from Amadeus)
Anyway, the most important point regards audience development, that Long and others discuss. My opinion? You have to market to people outside of theatre circles.
Local theatre has the same problem as the local music scene: there is an overabundance of music venues and bands, which causes audiences to be split into crisscrossed loyalties, with marketing to audiences done mostly on myspace, and less in the real world (I'm guilty too). The bands perform an overabundance of shows, and the supporting marketing is just not there. I'm guessing theatre is similar.
Believe me, the kids all out racing cars, hanging out at the marketplace, and at every Starbucks in town would go to theatre or hear local music if they: 1) knew about it. 2) thought a show or music was too cool to miss.
How do you reach people is the big question? Noveltown is just beginning to experiment with that by forming partnerships with companies and media that can attract targeted audience people (see Tim Z. Hernandez "Stories from Dust" literary - music event).
How could theatre attract people?
By thinking outside of the box. That isn’t to say theatre people aren’t creative. They're super creative! (Probably even in their incestuous sleeping around behavior! C'mon, spill the dirt!) Sites like theatreaddict.com and nlbelardes.com are creative, speak to people, and are informative, but they are not forces to be reckoned with that have huge fan bases where people who love us attend every event we attend.
If I believed that I would plug more events ahead of time and yell, “Woo hoo, I’m going over here!”
I believe outside-of-the-box thinking involves business and media partnerships and occasionally putting on shows that will specifically generate income in a way that attracts a targeted audience.
For instance, if I put on a play that had construction workers in it, a partnership could be built with construction and builder companies. The people they build houses for might not come to a show, but I bet their workers would, especially the builders and administrators who have cash in pocket.
Or what if there was a show about a wealthy doctor in a relationship with a naughty nurse during World War Two? Doctors and hospitals could be targeted, given lots of buy one get one free tickets, and a hospital or doctor’s office could be targeted. Why not? Doctors have money and if they show up, before the play you give them your Theatre is dying speech: "This is the greatest night of my life to see so many of you here (boohoo),” then pass the money bucket.
Theatres could even include one of the local niche market newspapers, or have theatre people write for free, to have reviews and build credibility… there are so many ways.
The theatres who ever truly build such programs will be the local theatres with money to put on more extravagant shows, who will build even more relationships and partnerships and eventually, hopefully invade the mainstream consciousness to attract even more bodies.
The current Bakersfield theatre set-up is skewed towards packed houses for shows like West Side Story that help theatres with big budgets to break even and continue the same process. Is that the Haagen Oaks market? How could smaller theatres tap in to such attendance?
Creative marketing.
Long states that people "just over 50 going" make up the live theatre attendees going to shows? Blame that on theatres for not marketing to younger audiences.
Why not once a year have a big children’s production, something really wacky with songs and very Wiggles-ish… something local and original. Something that would at least teach kids that local theatres exist, are OK… something to help the community grow, to make theatre part of their mindset. Teach them young, right? Use the TV age to theatre’s advantage… grab the kids and their parents attention. Utilize the popularity of what's on TV for youth. Mimic it in a theatre setting just to help build numbers and name recognition.
One or two local theatres could really stand out in an area where local theatre isn’t dying, but flourishing (flourishing because theatre is more visible through online media when marketed correctly in the recent year or so). At least now, if theatre people really wanted to, they could flood the local online and print with self-written articles building up their credibility within targeted communities by utilizing the Northwest Voice, Southwest Voice, Bakotopia, theatreaddict.com, Paperback Writer blog, etc…
Or pool money together, hire PR writers to do that… work together. Or is local Bakersfield too balkanized, too selfish of an incestuous beast to do that?
I'm telling you, write more about sex and drama and then have all those actors and actresses in starring roles in one production. Film behind the scenes and post on youtube.com and market the hell out of it before the show...
Potential audiences will see the real drama and want to come to the show...
People like soap operas!
For more steamy theatre drama, read Roger Mathey's Back Pocket.
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Wednesday, June 21, 2006.
You can leave your response.
I will say that we are trying. Three theatres recently received a grant to create a commercial promoting local theater and we hope to have that up by July.
The most difficult thing is getting the word out. Each theater does their share of putting out flyers and e-mails and getting info to the papers and media but it's still not enough. But attempts are being made to spread the word.
I think many theaters do try and work together to get the word out. They are all trying to work that out. I believe there are a large people who will see if they knew about it. But how to inform the populace?
Many of your ideas are in implementation... and I can give you a ton of excuses why many of them take so long to be enacted (it's hard when most of theatre is dependent on volunteers who have other jobs) but I am positive that progress is being made.
And I'm normally a pessimist.
And as for the ages of the audiences? There are a number of younger people seeing theater. The Rocky Horror Show sold out its run at BCT last year and you can't tell me it was populated with an over 50's crowd. The Empty Space produces a lot of avant garde works that appeals to a more youthful crowd. The Spotlight and BCT have youth theater programs as well and the Gaslight do shows that appeal to entire families.
Too much theater? Can that be said? Is there ever too much art? And in an area with nearly half a million people in it should it be hard to fill 1500 seats a weekend?
but I still talk to people who think the only theatre in town is the Melodrama... and I mean the one on China Grade Loop.
I appreciate your work getting the word out. Good press, bad press, any press... informing people that there is stuff for them to do is what we are trying to make happen.
Now if I can only get the Californian to start writing reviews again...
Oh man. Roger Mathey has spoken...
Can't wait to see the commercial.
Roger is right, about most everything here.
Especially about people still thinking the Melodrama is on China Grade.
We take A TON of phone calls from people asking when we moved.
I've almost got my rebuttal speech down, but this still amazes me because that fucking place closed down like what? 9 years ago?
WRITE-on!!!!....my brotha!
....PRO-ACTIVE is the only way the Arts are going to be noticed in Bakersfield. If Artists, Musicians, and Actors think that doing their thing, quiet and removed, in dark little venues, is enough to ATTRACT the community, they're wrong.
.....now you know Mohammad went to the mountain. But that's because he could see it. The rest of us mortals cant see nothin' beyond our noses. ....thats why you sometimes need to bring the mountain to the people. 'Doing' the Art will never be enough, you have to 'bring' it to the people (check out paperback writer and zowietown).
In the last week I've hit with 8 media outlets in this town about my currently running Art show "BAKERSFIELD-life as it should be", which afforded me 6 straight days of media coverage for the event(the MEDIA has been berry-berry good to me).
....You don't get this crap to happen by sitting on your ass.
And the "creative" aspect can make it all the more fun, if not effective. I still think Nick's Hockey CD and Condors Half-time, local live band productions, where pure genius!
Look, I could tell you to come to THE EMPTY SPACE this Saturday and see the best executed watercolor you have ever seen,....or I can tell you about a string of cow-pies I have hanging from the ceiling there,.....
....because its all "cow-PIE-IN-THE-SKY!
potty mouth
I have always wanted to capture more of that backstage juicy goodness but I find that when I stick a microphone or a pen in an actor or director's face they want to put their best face forward and plug plug plug! Me, I'd rather be laid back and show people the fun we have being obcessed artists. Maybe it'll happen on it's own someday as people get more comfortable. Muhahaha.
to say theatre, film, and television are dying is crazy talk! that's like saying entertainment is almost extinct... there is interaction everywhere... if you're not getting it, then you're not doing something right whether it's marketing, your production, whatever... think about what you're saying and read the comments your fellow artists have posted. sheesh...
btw, i don't throw shoes at my tv. that would break it. i throw spongy footballs or house slippers. lol.
chingpea is such an angry girl... hehehaha.
Greetings from Canada! I'm visiting family here but couldn't stay away from reading your site. It's all so funny and entertaining and even shared it with my family here.
Keep up the great work!
I just finished reading the full article (only had time to get 1/2 through earlier today) and I definitely agree that audience developement is a HUGE issue. I fully realize the irony of my resistance in publishing my own passionate opinions (which NL points out in this article). Before I launched theatreaddict.com I had envisioned myself writing stirring, controvercial pieces that would get people talking but have found that for the time being I am more comfortable simply promoting the hell out of every show possible and welcoming others to jump in the fray and have their own voices heard. I, personally, would love to write like NL and Rob have...a well thought out piece from my own point of view that stirs the pot. However, at this time it's pretty tiring just to be able to see a few shows each weekend and do some pictures and podcasting.
I am definitely guilty of attempting to accomplish loads of marketing by spending a few minutes in Bakersfield each week and then hours on MySpace and other websites trying to get the word out. For now, unfortunately, it's the best I can manage living "up on the hill" in Tehachapi. NL's point is with me. I find it exhilirating when I interview an actor and tell them and their friends about my website and local podcasting face to face. We're not going to change art in Bakersfield by growing a bitchin' myspace friend's list anyhow.
My dream (at least in the addicted to theatre side of my life) is that I might be able to change some things in my career and move to Bakes next summer. If that happens, hopefully I'll be out in the streets doing some real guerilla marketing (to people that aren't on myspace, maybe even!). Plus I'm missing out on all the drinking and parties every weekend.
One of these days, Nick, I promise I will dive into the pool of controvercy big time and stir up some s h * t. For now, I'll promote the shows and leave the stirring to you guys :P
-Your local theatre addict...
It's good to think that we here in Bakersfield (the less sunny end of the smoggy Central Valley) can entertain folks not just throughout the San Joaquin, but all the way to the land of Canucks! Thanks Meilani!
As for you Aaron. You're sneaky. I know you have something up your sleeve.
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