Internet Podcast Calls for Elimination of the Term “Community Theatre”

Internet Podcast Calls for Elimination of the Term “Community Theatre”

Newark, DE – “Your Neighborhood Stage”, the national community theatre podcast (and a friend to StageMagazineOnline.com, though opinions on each site are their own), has launched a campaign seeking to eliminate the term “community theatre” from everyday use. In an episode entitled “Episode 3.17: A Theatre Revolution Begins” show co-hosts Chris Laning, Rob Scardino, and Staci Cobb discuss the campaign along with several other ideas designed to turn around what they see as the decline of the local theatre scene.

Calling the term “tainted”, Laning contends that “community theatre” no longer carries any marketing punch and “inspires nothing more than a yawn” even from people heavily involved in theatre.

The episode was recorded on Sunday evening, April 20th, before a live studio audience on the virtual-reality social networking site, SecondLife (http://www.SecondLife.com). Various members of the studio audience participated in the discussion via voice and text chat.

The episode was released on April 22nd, and can be downloaded from or listened to at http://www.NeighborhoodStage.com.

The current Broadway-down model for new play release prevents local theatre companies from performing hot new shows for several years. In the case of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera”, it has taken nearly 20 years for the first non-professional productions to take place. A “grass roots” approach would allow new shows to been seen more quickly and by more people, creating larger fan bases for the shows long before they take the Broadway plunge.

Local theatres with their own venues are encouraged to spin management of the physical venue off into a separate organization and focus on play production. This would ultimately allow one venue to serve many producing companies; reducing the amount of time a venue is “dark” and increasing the quantity and variety of theatrical offerings.

A flexible season ticket would allow individuals to custom tailor their own theatrical seasons by letting them choose what shows they see and when and where they see them. This will encourage more people to purchase season tickets resulting in a more stable revenue stream for theatres. It will also potentially lead to theatrical shows being as common of a last-minute entertainment choice as movies are currently.

This particular episode of “Your Neighborhood Stage” was designed to start the conversation. Further discussion of the ideas is planned for future episodes.

ABOUT “YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STAGE” THEATRE PODCAST – “Your Neighborhood Stage” is the national podcast for people who work or play in theatre. Hosted by three theatre veterans, Chris Laning, Rob Scardino and Staci Cobb, the podcast brings news and information to theatre folks around the world. Each episode spotlights a different local theatre organization, lists new shows available for local production, highlights a particular play or musical, and includes Broadway and other theatre related news. The show is produced by Neighborhood Stage Productions, LLC. For more information on “Your Neighborhood Stage”, visit the website at http://www.NeighborhoodStage.com, or contact Chris Laning (chris@neighborhoodstage.com).