WCT News

Fox on the Fairway Update

 Winfield Community Theater is pleased to announce cast selections for its upcoming show, “The Fox on the Fairway,”  written by Ken Ludwig and directed by David Andreas.  Join in the fun of a hilarious romp which pulls the rug out from underneath the stuffy denizens of a private country club.  Filled with mistaken identities, slamming doors and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it’s a furiously-paced comedy that recalls the Marx Brothers classics.  A charmingly madcap adventure about love, life and man’s eternal love affair with...golf.   This play does contain adult situations and language.
 
            The cast includes Alex Payne as Justin Hicks, Caitlyn Godfrey as Louise Heindbedder, David Schmeidler as Henry Bingham, Arty Hicks as Richard “Dickie” Bell, Shelley Pinnegar as Pamela Peabody and Paula Steinbacher as Muriel Bingham.
 
            Performance dates are May 9, 10, 16 and 17, 2014 with curtain at 7:30 p.m.  Please note this a change from the originally scheduled dates due to a conflict with Holy Week/Easter activities.  Season ticket holders may call Julie, 620-221-1610, or send her an email at [email protected] confirming the new date they wish to attend.
 
            Tickets are $9 and will be available after April 7 at the Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce in Winfield (620-221-2420), McIntire Income Tax Center in Arkansas City (620-442-6227), and online at winfieldcommtheatre.com.
 
            The show is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., and sponsored by The Trust Company of Kansas and Winfield Convention and Tourism.

StagePlays

WCT has joined the affiliate program for StagePlays.com. If you haven't used StagePlays, they are a great source of scripts and books for and about theatre and drama. Now, when you order from them using the link below or one of the links that will be appearing on our blog and website, WCT gets a percentage of your purchase price. This will help us fund our programs and and you get the theatre books you want.

WCT StagePlays Link.

Tickets for The Foreigner

Tickets are now available for The Foreigner, WCT's Fall show. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Winfield Chamber of Commerce, 123 East 9th in Winfield and in Ark City, McIntire Tax Center, 199 West 5th Ave. Tickets will also be available at the door before the performance. Individual tickets are $9.00 and can be paid for with cash or a check.

If you wish to use a debit or credit card or PayPal account, WCT has online ticket sales through PayPal. Tickets purchased this way include a $0.30 handling charge and must be ordered by noon on Friday for that weekend's performances. Online ordered tickets are picked up at the door the night of the performance.

All the details can be found on the ticket page on the WCT website.

Follow the Production-The Foreigner

We're trying something new for The Foreigner. We will be documenting the rehearsal process and all the pre-opening activities on our Facebook page. A photo album has been created with the first rehearsal pics and what the theatre looks like right now. Over the next 6 weeks, we will post pictures showing the set being built and the cast working onstage and off. We will also be including the marketing materials and other promotional activities.

You can find WCT on Facebook here.

Costume Shop

Mark your calendars - a costume shop work day has been set for June 12th at 9 am.

Facebook Involvement

WCT has a Facebook page and we would love to have more people get involved on the page (and in the theatre, of course). Under the Boxes tab, there are opportunities for dicussion of WCT shows and the theatre in general. We have started one for suggestion of show you would like to see us do. But feel free to start another discussion. Or post fan pictures. They can be from rehearsals, auditions or anthing theatre related.

If you aren't a fan, please join us.

The Realities of Play Production

Usually this blog just deals with facts and dates of WCT shows but a post on another blog needed a response and this is a good place to do that. A little public education in the economics of theatre.

Seth Godin is a marketing guru and proposes an interesting idea for theatres in his post, Organizing Customers. The short synopsis is a local high school group did a production of Grease and paid $3000 for the royalties. Surprised at the high price tag, Mr. Godin suggests that theatres form a cartel to negotiate for significantly lower royalties. Interesting idea but first lets get some theatre facts involved.

1. While Grease first opened in the 70's. it had a recent Broadway revival which increases its desirability for production. It has always been a very popular show and so the royalties will be higher for this show than for a less well known musical. And a producer will sell more tickets because the audience knows and wants to see Grease.
2. The was no mention of the number of performances for this production but that was a factor in charging the $3000 royalties. The royalties for WCT's next show, Love Letters, are $75 a performance. Musicals are higher.
3. Also a factor is the size of the theatre used for the production. The larger the theatre the higher the royalty.
4. That $3000 probably includes script rental. Unlike plays where the scripts are bought and kept by the theatre/cast, musicals are generally used and returned. So for Love Letters, about $45 was spent on scripts. This can be a huge cost with a large cast since you have to have a script for each cast member.
5. How much of that $3000 did the school get back when the scripts were returned. Part of the rental fee is a refundable deposit. For a recent musical, WCT received back @ $400 of the royalties when the scripts were all returned.

Mr Godin suggest theatres joining together to negotiate for lower royalties.

Imagine contacting 3,000 high schools and finding 500 willing to join together and agree to act as a buying cartel. Now, the organizer can poll the directors at these schools and find thirty plays they'd be willing to put on next year. Go to the rights holders of these plays and say, "We're going to pick six of these plays. Each of the six will get a huge number of customers as a result, perhaps twenty times as many as you usually get. But to be among the six, you need to lower your price by a factor of ten."

For this to work, the cartel will have to choose shows that are not getting produced often. No publisher is going to cut the royalty of the top seller. There is a reason they aren't getting produced as often, lack of interest. Directors aren't interested in presenting or the audience isn't interested in seeing. Choosing a season is hard enough without having to choose from a reduced set of shows. And everyone in the cartel will be choosing from the same set of shows. Two theatres in the same area choosing the same shows is not good for either theatre or the potential audience.

Are royalties high and could theatre's band together to reduce them. Yes.  The national organizations could work out discount deals with publishers for royalty reductions. Much like AAA has negotiated discounts with hotels for their members. But the savings will not be the 90% Mr. Godin suggests. However, I think most theatres would go for even a 5-10% reduction.

Online Tickets Available Now

Individual tickets for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum are now online for purchase. Online tickets are handled through PayPal and allow you to use either a PayPal account or debit/credit cards for payment. The cost is $8.25 a ticket. Tickets are picked up at the door. Season tickets will be available through August 22.

Tickets will be available for purchase with cash or check through the local sources and at the door. Details will be posted soon.

Help this Weekend

WCT needs people to help cover the WCT booth at the Cowley County fair this weekend. All you will have to do is hand out materials and take completed season ticket orders. If you can help please email us at [email protected].

New Show Pages

Thanks to John Dalton we have added three new show pages to the WCT website and added pictures to a fourth.

Funny Girl

Odd Couple, Female Version

Annie Get Your Gun

Schoolhouse Rock