Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Recruiting new/young people

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   We have a great thing going in our very new theatre group.  We have had exceptionally good attendance at our shows, but the audience is very heavily weighted in the elderly category.  We would like to attract a younger audience, too, without losing our faithful fans.  Any suggestions?  We are in a very rural area, sparsely populated.  I have heard that all volunteer groups are having trouble attracting young volunteers, too.  What can we do to appeal to the people in their 20's and 30's?  I realize that they are raising families and trying to build careers, but people used to volunteer and do those things, too.  Any ideas?

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Guests Guest	Topic: Recruiting new/young people Posted: 11/05/01 at 12:21am
	We have a great thing going in our very new theatre group. We have had exceptionally good attendance at our shows, but the audience is very heavily weighted in the elderly category. We would like to attract a younger audience, too, without losing our faithful fans. Any suggestions? We are in a very rural area, sparsely populated. I have heard that all volunteer groups are having trouble attracting young volunteers, too. What can we do to appeal to the people in their 20's and 30's? I realize that they are raising families and trying to build careers, but people used to volunteer and do those things, too. Any ideas?

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Guests Guest	Posted: 11/08/01 at 11:42am
	I think your problem is the same everywhere. As you said, the younger people are busy earning a living and raising a family. They call it having a life - but we know that there is no life outside the theater. The big theater in our community had a production of "Psycho Beach Party" a year ago directed by a 30something director. It brought out a whole new group of people - both actors and audience. Most of the younger actors disappeared again but some of the younger audience are still coming back to see other shows. Psycho Beach Party upset some of the older people in the audience so be ready for a few negative comments. There are several other plays in the same genre. Our audiences are also on the elderly side so we orient our shows to them. We still have a problem finding the younger people we need to fill out our casts.
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