Safe is Risky

Today I was watching TED, and Seth Godin, a marketing genius, said, "Safe is risky." One of his books, The Purple Cow, discusses how to make businesses stand out, how to do something different. We need to do this in theatre, too. We need to come up with some outside of the box ideas to market our shows (and maybe even to use to create our shows).

One of my crazy ideas is to do a show with monkeys. Yes, you read that correctly, a show with monkeys. You are thinking "WTF," right? Well, here is the idea. You take a straight play and train (or block) monkeys to walk around in costumes. Have people do the voice overs and watch a play performed. Now you are thinking, "How did he get here?" Well, I was thinking of some really untraditional casting. I thought, "How far could I go?" Then I went there. Monkeys.

Now you are starting to imagine plays being performed by monkeys. Yes, you are buying into the idea. Now for the title of the play . . . Inherit the Wind. Yes, I realize all the legal problems with doing this, but think of the potential. You get families that just want to see monkeys and some people who just want to see it for the sake of classical art.

I am sure there were a lot of people scared about the Muny in St. Louis using a real helicopter in Miss Saigon, but by doing that they did something risky and got a lot of attention, and I still talk about the performance of Miss Saigon I saw with a real helicopter.

The point is to think outside the box. Don’t be afraid to go too far. Your friends and colleagues can always bring you back in. But push yourself and see where you land.

Just Read

I met with a graduate student yesterday from Julliard. She asked if I had a moment to talk, and of course I made time. She was very smart, and in the conversation she asked if there were any books I would recommend. Well, of course there are. Some of them are even listed just a little way down on the right side of this blog. So I thought I would cover some of them.

For beginning producers, I recommend CTI’s Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals. It is easy to read and understand, and they have a great index of terms. Many of the great producers and managers of our time write about their specialties. Fast and easy read.

For more advanced people, there is Donald Farber’s Producing Theatre. It is full of legal information, but everything you will have to know. It is not the easiest read, but push through and read it all. You will learn a lot. I had the pleasure of meeting Donald in his fabulous NY apartment, and I have to say I was so impressed.

For the marketers out there; you should read Purple Cow by Seth Godin. It talks about how to make your product or company different and stand out. Easy read and full of “out of the box” thinking, which I love.

The last book is What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. Brilliant. My best friend told me he makes all his employees read it. If you are into social media and want to hear some of the ideas that Google used to rise to the top, you should read this.

Call me a nerd, but I love books about theatre, business and marketing. I say read them as much as possible and you will have an edge on your competition. What other books do you like? Leave other books in the comments section.