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The Business of Show Business
(2015-11-19) Alford, Madeleine
Regional theatres in East TN and Southwest VA face an imminent threat of financial disaster. Financial disaster that stems from the struggle to get audiences into the theatre. This struggle is persistent across America but, in East TN and Southwest VA theatres must battle religious, monetary, and cultural inhibitions. Some of the inhibitions are constant but there are some artistic and cultural demands that are always in a state of flux. This constant flux requires theatres to be flexible in their art and at times make small artistic sacrifices. Regional theatres that refuse to change with times and cling to their high artistic ideals find themselves losing money hand over fist. To prevent this major loss of money theatres must find a way to become inclusive of all different audiences. They must be inclusive without losing the art that makes regional theatre vital to the artistic life of America. Failure to fix this problem will lead to regional and repertory theatres in East TN and Southwest VA and across America to close their doors for good. So the questions remain, how can regional theatres in East TN and Southwest VA keep up with the ever changing artistic demands? How can they remain inclusive of all demographics? One way theatres can accomplish their goals is by a combination of exclusivity in marketing and inclusivity in production choice