I’m pleased to report some positive news regarding the Pasadena Playhouse. I heard back from the Operations person today. She reported that the Playhouse Board had a long meeting addressing many of the issues that I have pointed out (although I don’t know if they included the suggestions from my last post). She indicated that there was a great deal of acknowledgment that within the past couple of years, communication with the subscribers had not been well maintained. She indicated that one of their prime goals in this reorganization is to mend that.
I am very pleased to hear that. The first step in fixing relations with the subscribers is to recognize the problem exists.
She indicated that she will personally do her best to get the online media back up and running properly, that they are bringing in a new ticketing and email system, and that (in my case) she has confirmed our information is in the database. She also hinted that, pending approval, they will have some big announcements in mid-July.
Again, I’m please to hear this. I do want the Playhouse to survive and thrive.
She also indicated that both the Executive Director and Artistic Director were willing to sit down and discuss the issues with me. I’ve deferred that for now—I want to see what they do in July, plus I want to have concrete suggestions to give her. I did suggest that she read my favorite producing blogs (The Producers Perspective, Live 2.0 (from the fellow behind Goldstar Events), and Confessions of an LA Theatre Producer). I also suggested that the Artistic Director should work his way onto Downstage Center the next time he’s in New York.
So, the big question: Will we resubscribe? I can’t answer that yet, which I guess is a good answer (and certainly a better answer than my earlier ones). I want to see what their recovery plan is; I want to see what productions they program; and most importantly, I want to see how the subscriptions are priced and how the payment plans (if they have one) work. I also want to see how things change for returning subscribers—what are they going to do to repair relations with the subscriber base. I don’t want to give up our good seats, but they were getting a bit pricey, and I might want to do single tickets for specific productions until I see how things stabilize.
