"In the near term, however, the answer seems to be pursing a sort of event-driven theater that does what only theater can do, something akin to the crowds that have sprung up around Spring Awakening, Rent, The Blue Men, or Cirque du Soleil. The Denver Center did an amazingly effective job of this with 1001. The local papers were very kind to us, and an overwhelmingly large number of the older audience were very responsive, but reaching out to younger audiences via the local club scene and word of mouth made all the difference. The DCTC publicist told me that the cheap seats were sold out for much of the run, which is unusual for them - usually they're full for a week or two and that's it. This tells me that we need to take a page from hip-hop, punk rock, and the indie and rave scenes and reach past traditional media outlets, which are usually prohibitively expensive anyway, and we need to put something on stage that makes a difference in the lives of people our own age. I see too many plays by my peers that seem specifically intended to digestibly package the lives of twenty- and thirty-somethings for an older, wealthier crowd, one that might be liberal it its beliefs but is deeply conservative in its tastes and actions. Fuck that."
From my friend Deron's blog:
"Placebo Sunrise was a show that was so incredibly good that when I saw it I immediately regretted it was closing that weekend, because everyone who was important to me wouldn’t have a chance to see it. When I think about what the theatre experiences that have knocked me out have in common two thing comes to mind: 1)Their ability to wholly transport you to another world with its own unique rules and life and 2) Their robust theatricality. Placebo Sunrise had both of these attributes from the very moment you set foot in the theatre and walked down the long hallway to sit down in what appeared to be a mock up of a traditional vaudevillian theatre. A host named Louis greeted you and pulled off that rare feat of being utterly charming while still in character. He gave you a refreshing orange and vodka infused drink and immediately convinced you that you were staying at some weird and wonderful resort. When the show began the heroes, Garvey and Super Pants were hanging from their feet by bungee cord in front of a backdrop that was sketched on white butcher paper. Totally surprising, totally hilarious. They didn’t have to say anything at all before we were laughing and on the edge of our seats. But then the scene ended and the butcher paper backdrop was ripped down to reveal this huge two story set of a 1920’s hotel. It was amazing, it was magic, it was a totally minding blowing moment which is so incredibly difficult to pull of genuinely in theatre. I can’t really remember what exactly happened in the rest of the play except that it was little like a Marx Brothers movie directed by David Lynch and that’s the kind of show I had always wanted to see. The other moment that sticks with me is that this woman, maybe a mermaid even was pushed out on this giant turtle in the midst of this hotel farce and sang this gorgeous torch song. And the whole piece was hilarious, I think any art that really works for me is something that has a generous sense of humor. This show was MOMENTUOUS."
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