Programmes

My thoughts on this equates with that of Maljo - $4 seems pretty cheap considering the $15 - $25 you pay for a program at a well-known & professional show - of which most will be big glossy ads of the corporate sponsors. Of your $20, $20 is going straight into the promoters pocket. Having said that, you are right Gordon, we will be walking away with a heap of unsold programs (yes, it's my production that has the very nice looking but hideously expensive programs) The theory was that we are not putting on an 'amateur' production - we are putting on a 'community' production - as professional as we are able - and to provide an A4 photocopy for a program returns it fairly and squarely to amateur status. The idea of incorporating the price into tickets is a good one, but I would never implement this at a cost-per-ticket rate. Another possibility (which we considered, but ran out of time to implement) is to get corporate sponsorship for the programmes - a couple of hundred dollars in total from 3 or 4 patrons would have had the effect of bringing our program price down to the requisite $3. Of course, then we would have had to sacrifice space in the program to run those sponsors ads.... I will continue to provide professionally presented programs at my shows - it takes little effort, provides patrons with significantly more information than the A4 sheet, and, IMHO, prepares the audience for a more professional experience (which hopefully, the show will then provide :-) ) I will also make another comment that is bound to bring howls of dissent - community theatre is cheapened by the ubiquitous raffle. Why not just lift prices by $2 or $3 and forgo it?? I cringe every time I'm asked to buy a raffle ticket - knowing that I'm looking at a 'prize' of a cheap bottle of indifferent wine, or a box of chocolates... Again, it returns the production to amateur status with a resounding thud. Perhaps I'm a snob. That's quite possible :-) But my strongly held opinion is that if you are going to put on a production, you should be making it the most professional that you are able - and this carries through from programs, to sets, costumes, choice of music, cast, crew and every other facet of the production.