• Increase ticket prices even higher than proposed;
• Outreach to Retirement/Seniors Residences;
• Take OLT groups to perform in Retirement/Seniors Residences;
• More outreach to schools;
• Pursue idea of a weekday school matinee and see if we can overcome the issue of actors and crew with weekday jobs having to take one day off during the run;
• Outreach to girl guides/scouts with pre- and/or post-show educational add-ons;
• Find ways to get more people to try theatre for the first time;
• Target families by adding pre-performance family activities;
• Target “geek” culture and “steam punk” culture by having events where people can come in costume (this would require the right sort of programming);
• Have every play director team up with a high school or university student to shadow them who then might introduce friends to the theatre. Sends a message that the OLT is youth friendly;
• Contra marketing with other theatre companies: ie. place ads in each other’s house programs;
• Team up with other theatre companies to create a Custom Pick-8 subscription (ie. choose plays from more than one company at a reduced price);
• Offer product that people can’t get anywhere else;
• Present a One-Act Play Festival (possibly by offering a venue for local Fringe shows to be performed post-Fringe) ;
• Program plays with large casts including children/extras who will bring friends to see them;
• For plays that are attractive to families, make the foyer kid-friendly;
• Sell concessions in the auditorium aisles during intermission; allow patrons to take alcoholic beverages into the auditorium;
• Make presentation to government agencies (offering special government rates);
• Do a separate marketing campaign to target younger people (rather than using the same “look” for everyone);
• Appeal to wider cultural/ethnic communities;
• Market to neighbouring condos;
• Add post-show shows, (ie. midnight/late-night show). Make OLT a Nuit Blanche venue;
• Use empty seats to introduce theatre to new and/or youth audiences;
• Offer free tickets to students accompanied by patron;
• Buy ads on OC Transpo buses;
• Offer dinner-theatre packages in partnership with neighbouring restaurants;
• Add a Pay-What-You-Can night, or Ten-Buck-a-Ticket night (including cheap beer);
• Create a cheap-date night dinner-theatre package;
• Do community outreach by offering cheap or free tickets to low income/marginalized people;
• Update the look of the Lobby from the 70s;
• Always have one family show per season. Market OLT as a birthday party venue;
• Advertise student/child rate, rather than just student rate (as long as show isn’t inappropriate for children) so parents think to bring their kids;
• Offer a Pantomime at Christmas;
• Add a banner across the outdoor sandwich board saying “Good Seats Available” or “Almost Sold Out”;
• Have an OLT presence at festivals and community events by handing out free coffee (for example) and coupons for discounted tickets;
• Present mini-shows in shopping malls to promote the OLT;
• Have a better, more visible, electronic board on the theatre exterior to attract drive-by traffic.
• Don’t change OLT’s winning programming formula; ie. don’t stop targeting the older demographic (who are more inclined to become subscribers and appreciate the sense of OLT community) in an attempt to attract a younger audience;
• Current subscribers could be OLT’s best salespeople. Try to grow the current demographic with a “Take a Friend to OLT” promotion; ie. give subscribers a 10% discount for every new subscriber they introduce (either for their first season or in perpetuity). Allow subscriber parents discounted tickets to bring their children.
• Edgier programming to bring younger generations into the theatre
o Improv
o Dating
o Sleep No More (as an idea for expanding the type of play we host)
• Engage young people
o Ex. During Flare Path have history teaches bring students
o Campaigns to encourage attendees to bring their children/grandchildren
• Promo activation – have volunteer actors handing out coffees on the canal with an OLT magnet.
• Engage Universities for students to create online marketing material
• We need to tell OLT’s story more effectively

• Increase Sponsorship
o For hospitality
o Product placement in shows
o Corporate packages – team-building workshops and shows
o Volunteers to bring business and grant ideas to staff and board
 There could be incentives for finding sponsorship – ex. A successful new sponsorship means a certain number of free tickets.

• Improve Legacy Marketing

• Increase fundraising capabilities of the Board

• Ask people to run for election who are affluent and influential in the community

• Leverage 150th Anniversary for Grants and Marketing

• Use play themes to create promotions/donation opportunities

• Naming the building after a large donor

• Increase 50/50 draws

• Increase number of and quality of clothing and furniture sales

• Use the desk in the lobby more effectively for promotions, donations, etc.

• Increase rental income by attracting new sub-let tenants to OLT Warehouse (Barbara Kobolak, President of Kanata Theatre attended this Table)
• Offer “Warehouse Sponsor” advertising space on OLT truck
• Sell one of the two condo units
• Repeat the warehouse “garage sale” of surplus items
• Rent three of the nine existing Warehouse parking spots
• Sell 100% of 2100 Thurston and seek “out-of-town” space at half the current operating cost

In general there was virtually unanimous support for a new kind of summer season, with an emphasis on attracting a different kind of audience – younger people, maybe families with children, tourists, or different ethnic groups.

The idea of two different events alternating day by day was widely supported, although many felt that they need not be two plays – one of the shows offered could be something completely different. Ideas raised included:

– a sing-along musical review (using just a piano, and perhaps focussed on music from a specific genre, or show – Glee was mentioned as an example)
– a kids event of some kind (maybe a summer panto?)
– poetry reading
– monologues
– improv
– movie nights (with popcorn!)
– a variety show

If we did go with two plays, then some felt they should be connected in some way – e.g. a single playwright (Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare). There were differing views on whether cross-casting would be a positive factor, or not.

It was recognised that the technical requirements would have to be similar and/or minimal, to make rep possible. (Not only with the show changing from one day to the next, but also with less lead time for set-up.) Set and lighting were noted as needing particular attention – perhaps the same designer for the two events. And casts should probably be small.

There was considerable interest in looking at different times of day or evening, depending on the type of event. A family show could be a matinee (even on weekdays), while a show appealing more to a younger adult crowd could be late night. Or, we could offer two events on the same day, with a discount for attending both. In each of those cases, we would likely want to keep the performances fairly short. Given that people enjoy the light evenings in summer, maybe 5pm “tea-time” shows would be popular.

One cute idea was to alternate a “bring the kids” show with an adult “escape the kids” show – offering a discount for the two, of course!

Linking an event at the theatre in a package with dinner at a local restaurant, or even with a night at a hotel, might particularly appeal to tourists, and people who live a bit out of town – again with a discount. (This idea of course need not be just for summer shows – it could apply to the regular season.)

Given that Ottawa hosts many other festivals during the summer (mostly music, but also Fringe) it was considered important to check what else would be happening, and also to see what opportunities might exist for co-operation or partnership, particularly with Fringe. Could we bring a venue and a production to Fringe? Or could we cooperate with another theatre in town to offer a discounted package of tickets? This would facilitate joint publicity as well.

Other Related Ideas

A number of ideas for other events came up that were not specific to the 4-week repertory concept, but could add to our summer season.

– could we remount other shows from Indi groups around town?
– could we offer a “best of fringe” night, a little later in the summer?
– what about a “pay-what-you-can” performance during a run?
– offer a workshop to watch/act/crew/volunteer – a “pay-to-play” event?
– have an event involving the kids, linked to the summer drama camps
– how about advertising OLT and its productions by busking in the market and around the city? – especially if we were staging a musical review of some kind.

Overall impression

There was sufficient excitement around the concept of a summer season, or even an “OLT Summer Festival”, that these ideas should definitely be further explored.

OLT Operations and Management:

• Consider decreasing the number of plays per season and the number of performances per play. This would allow the OLT to increase revenues through rentals to other companies.
• Consider dividing the theatre into 2 – 250 seat theatres. Capital funds would allow this.
• Contact a developer to determine the value of the OLT building with a view to working with a developer involved in mixed-use buildings where a new theatre could be built
• Consider selling the theatre and building a smaller one
• Consider engaging a facilities management company to maintain the theatre
• Determine the current and future plans of the City of Ottawa for community theatre and whether these plans include the OLT
• Decide whether to keep the OLT Co (actors, directors, volunteers) or keep the OLT building. Should the OLT close, the OLT Co. of actors, etc will go elsewhere.
• Need to review staffing levels with a view to reducing the number of staff and-or salary reductions: $250K is spent yearly on productions; however $550K spent on salaries
• Volunteers feel they are being asked to work harder to increase revenues in order to pay salaries
• Volunteers feel pressured to sell more tickets and feel they are seen as responsible for the decrease in sales and revenues
• Volunteers want improvements in relations between paid staff and volunteers. There has developed a ‘we versus them” attitude.
• The OLT is a creative artistic family that can come up with more sophisticated answers than ‘we need more funds”

Revenue Generating suggestions:
• A play (1 week run) involving young people – perhaps towards the end of the summer
• Pantomine show before Christmas and during the Christmas school break
• Weekly classes for children throughout the school year with a per formance at the end
• Build into the season a family show
• Consider an overarching “theme” for the season and market it hard
• Consider holding an Awards Gala
• Consider screenings of cult movies or big events like the Academy Awards, Tonys, Golden Globes
• Like Museum of Nature, open theatre to monthly dance, food, relaxating get togethers
• Like Centrepointe, open theatre to Sunday afternoon tea

At the January 16 Town Hall meeting the board’s proposal to cancel all three Tuesday evening performances and add a Sunday matinee was presented and discussed in two workshops. Alternative options were suggested from the focus/discussion groups. There was almost universal approval for adding another Sunday matinee. A Saturday matinee was discussed but was rejected as several volunteers noted that having to perform twice on one day was too onerous. The groups therefore concentrated on how many Tuesday performances to drop.
1. Cancel all 3 Tuesday performance nights

Pro:
+ should reduce direct expenses (staff salaries, royalties, etc.) by at least $500 per show, or $9,000 per annum
+ will increase the availability of the theatre for evening rentals, especially for a double evening
+ Tuesdays typically have the lowest audience numbers so re-allocation would involve the fewest patrons

Con:
– 19% of surveyed patrons said that they might not be able to attend any other evening, and these patrons tended to be longer term subscriber patrons; however, OLT has their names so they could be contacted
– no potential renters for the evening space have been identified, so additional revenue may not materialize
– in any case the daytime is free to rent (eg. UofO class lectures) during the week, regardless of which evening performance is cancelled

2. New Opening Night and re-scheduling of the performance run

This option is a composite of several ideas presented during the group sessions. The idea is to cancel the first week of the 5 weeks that a performance normally occupies the main theatre space (2 weeks for rehearsals and setup followed by 3 performance weeks). Instead of starting on a Tuesday of the third week, the run would start on the Friday (it could also start on a Thursday or leave the Thursday for a preview where volunteers and media would be encouraged to come and create a “buzz” re the play). Therefore, the Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday, would be dropped. If this were done for every performance, 8 weeks could be freed up, which could be staggered throughout the season or grouped to provide multi week blocks for other activities. The net effect on stage rehearsals would only be a loss of 3 days, if the theatre was rented for the dropped normal first week. It was noted that the first week now typically uses less than the full 7 days, so if 6 days are lost, 3 days are gained (Tues, Wed, Thurs) by opening on Friday and if the prior week is not rented then 9 rehearsal days are gained. It was also noted that OLT provides more stage time prior to the start of performances than other theatres.

Pro:
+ responds to suggestions from the Town Hall meeting
+ should have 3 day direct cost savings ($9,000) similar to dropping 3 Tuesdays
+ other Tuesdays would be available for the Tuesday dropped; same for the Wed or Thurs performances ( which are rarely fully booked) so should be able to accommodate the re-scheduled patrons
+ opening night is on a night more likely to be preferred by a younger audience, which OLT is trying to reach
+ notably other theatres prefer an opening night at the beginning of a weekend to better create a buzz
+ creates blocks of a week that could be rented or used for other initiatives (e.g. performances of drama competition winners or importation of other artistic performances – dance, music,….)

Con:
– non-Tuesday performances are better attended, so it would affect more patrons, although they should be accommodated on other weeks that are still offered as performances are rarely sold out during the week
– Friday night openings might conflict with NAC or GCTC on a couple of opening nights during the season, which might leave OLT with less media coverage for those openings
– as with the all Tuesday cancellations, there is no immediate demand for renting our theatre for a week block

There was independent suggestion that Tuesdays become special discounted performances for seniors, similar to what movie theatres are doing. There is some concern this could result in a net revenue loss.