Spreading the word

At the time of writing, performances of the latest show I’ve had the pleasure to be involved with, directing as part of SUSU Showstoppers (the musical theatre society), titled The Drowsy Chaperone, are well underway! In fact, almost as soon as they’ve begun, they’ll nearly be over, with our final shows on this Friday (10th) and Saturday (11th) at 7.30pm in the Annex Theatre on Highfield Campus before there’s a new show in there next week; no rest for the wicked!

(If you’re looking for an alternative light-hearted evening’s entertainment, please come along and say hello, as it’d be great to meet you there!)

Show week is always a curious feeling from the view of a production team member, particularly when you see members of your cast rushing around before every show to get ready while you’re safe in the knowledge you’re not going on stage that night! With the show fully prepared in terms of rehearsing, there’s very little the Directors can do every night except watch, enjoy and occasionally cross your fingers whenever you know a big production number is coming up!

Of course, there’s no need to be worried. For me, it’s the greatest sense of pride I think I can experience and why I love being part of the theatrical world as, when the lights go down on opening night to signal the start of the show, you get to appreciate the impact of every small task or piece of work leading up to that first moment, even when they seemed menial at the time. They all come together to form a fully-fledged production. It’s always a feeling that sends a shiver down my spine, seeing how far the show has come from its early days, and how much everyone involved has improved on the stage and developed their skills off it.

The Drowsy Chaperone has been no exception, with a shorter (and more intense!) rehearsal period than any show I’ve previously known due to everyone involved being so busy beforehand! As a result, the level of talent and commitment on display from the cast and production team has had to be outstanding, the creativity and endeavour of the technical crew incredible, and the band brilliant – and thankfully, all of the above has rung true, and we’ve got what we hope is a great show on our hands!

 The cast and production team of The Drowsy Chaperone! Credit: David Aggus

The really surreal element is how I get to watch every night and observe a show which, due to a previous project being unfortunately cancelled, I didn’t know anything about before the start of the year (and found just by browsing YouTube one November night!). Somehow only four months later it has morphed into a project involving over fifty people!

It’s strange to see how such a small idea has grown and grown over the time period. However, it’s because of the hard work of first the production team, then the cast in auditioning and rehearsing, and finally the technical crew and band in making it all happen, that it has somehow all come together on a huge scale beyond anything I and my co-Director Andy could ever have imagined at the start – and we can’t thank them enough!

Aside from sorting any loose ends props-wise (looking for rubber chickens on Amazon the other day probably demonstrated to my housemates that it’s a very unusual show!) our only job has been to try and sell the show to as many people as possible. This is a tougher task than usual, with it not being too well known, despite its previous success with Tony Award wins and the like in the United States.

Once again, the task of spreading the word and getting The Drowsy Chaperone out there has been facilitated by a hard-working cast (selling tickets to friends and families, and flyering outside in occasionally less-than-perfect conditions!), some wonderfully creative individuals (my Producer, David, has been working round the clock on some amazing material!), and engaging publications, all of whom have reached new potential audience members and pointed them in our direction.

From preview interviews in the Students’ Union entertainment magazine, The Edge, to working with SUSUtv (the Union’s television station) to film the trailer (see below!), and working with Surge Radio (the Union's radio station) to have it broadcast through their Culture department, there are loads of ways to get involved with spreading the news, so if media or marketing is your thing, there are opportunities aplenty here at the University of Southampton!

Our trailer for The Drowsy Chaperone, as created by SUSUtv

We’ve also been working to welcome in as many reviewers we can from The Edge and Surge, as well as independent bodies like the Daily Echo and the Soton Tab, including a visit from the National Student Drama Festival (NSDF). Hopefully by the end of the show we’ll have lots of feedback on how we can do better next time!

Thankfully, the reviews we’ve received so far have been very positive indeed – The Edge described the show as “impossible not to love” and gave it four stars out of five, whereas SceneOne, a local company, described it as “something special” and “highly recommended” – so here’s hoping for more of the same in the near future!

Regardless, I couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved in The Drowsy Chaperone. It’s been quite an experience from start to finish, working with a larger cast and team than I’ve ever done before, but somehow it’s all come together to form a production which everyone can take a huge amount of pride in. 

Best of all, though, it’s been an honour and a privilege to work with everyone so closely over the past four months, and their achievement in bringing the show to life cannot be emphasised enough – and for that, I can only thank them! Here’s hoping we can get the word out there, and give them the audience numbers they deserve! 

Robin