TheatreArtLife: As production people, we spend a lot of time planning how the show is going to run, sound and look, as well as creating an environment that is safe so the audience will enjoy themselves. Just last month, I was working on one of our largest shows of the year, 2,500 tickets sold. We would be converting our recreational space into a concert hall.
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I can’t imagine having a show cancelled the night of opening. I know how much work and mental effort goes into making a show. A person can put their soul into a show and to have it cancelled before the outside world can see it must be devastating. I really enjoyed reading this from the perspective of someone who didn’t break down emotionally and instead with the rest of the team took matters into their own hands. I don’t think this article will leave my mind any time soon. There are some valuable lessons and tips to take away from this article on the steps that should be taken quickly after an incident like this occurs. I think the most important step that I took away was communicating from the get go. Communication is so important and if you wait to tell the audience, the rest of the team, anyone else, people will be more upset and the situation could become more chaotic.
Wow. I mean a cancellation always sucks but having to deal with it even more so. Whenever I have gone to something and it is cancelled it is generally cancelled because of weather or some other very specific incident that could not be controlled. This was simply because the artist didn’t get on the plane; they chose not to as it seems. Hearing that news just minutes before I would be entering a theatre would be very emotionally wrecking and especially so if I took off or rerouted my schedule to go to this event. This issue is that most people will get angry and that anger goes onto the theatre instead of the artist as it should have in this case. Luckily it seems like they dealt with it very well and taught them to prepare for future occurrences. I found this article stressful too both from the perspective of an audience member and from the perspective of a member of the production team. This is just an all around bad situation to find yourself in and dealing with it is all you can do.
To have a show canceled just moments before the house opens would be utterly terrifying. It is moments like this that make me happy to not be in the public relations portion of the entertainment industry. The hardest part of this situation would be dealing with all the angry people who had just spent the whole night getting ready for this event. For it to have been something so simple as the talent not getting on a plane feels outrageous and as though they were cutting things too close, to begin with. I think the greatest lesson is what they said a the end, "We learned that an angry crowd would take their frustrations out quickly. Crowds get rowdy. Customers will be disappointed and confused. We must take this into consideration when making the cancellation announcement, and dispelling the crowd gathered at the entrances. Safety and crowd control becomes the priority."
This is absolutely crazy. I really don't understand how something like this could have happened to a professional performance. Cancelation's suck and it sucks even more when its something so out of your control like a plane flight while also being something that totally could have been prevented as a plane ticket can be. I know from past experiences that cancelations could be handled poorly by all of those involved in the process especially for those who may have shown up to the theatre prepared for this show to open. This team seemed to have created a plan and held a calm and hopefully taught them how to deal with this kind of issue in the future. It’s hard to have something you’ve worked on and helped bring to light for so long come crashing down just before the opening. Some things are just out of control in the real world and the best we can to combat these issues and take them in stride when they appear the best it will be for ourselves and our work in the end.
This was a surprisingly brief article about the logistics of a cancelled event and I’m pleased to see the author expressing emotion over the event, but keeping it separate from what the article was written to get across - don’t panic and get stuff done. Last minute cancellations are a fiasco to handle with so many things to be changed and so much information to get out to so many parties. I think the most important thing to handle in these situations - also noted by the author - is to get the venue staff on board with the change and distribute the information to the patrons not to come and to wait patiently on the chance of a reschedule or cancellation with refunds. All people really want to know when something they spent money on gets cancelled is how they will be compensated for the missed opportunity so by saying the event is cancelled but not to just give up and throw away your tickets is the most important information in this situation.
Cancelling a show is something not many people get to experience, especially at the collegiate level. We only have few shows to perform and we treasure each and every one of them, but even as professionals cancellations are extremely rare. I think of the few cases where a producer would cancel a show. Most of those circumstances are pretty dire; of course, this situation the star was unable to make it. Ultimately, I'm sure there is a person viciously doing the number crunching minutes prior to the big decision. One thing I did find odd about this particular article is that a major concern was a rowdy and confused crowd. That was something I would not have initially thought of as a concern when cancelling an event. I definitely could understand the disappointment and perhaps frustration, but to be worried about physical violence seems a little extreme. I did like how the article broke down the response very methodically and discussed who would be contacted and in what order. Ultimately, a cancellation is something, especially as a SM/PM, to always have a plan for. Because the only thing worse than telling an audience an hour before curtain is telling them while they are in their seats.
It is rather upsetting that we work in an industry that is so prone to change and complete upsets, but that is the world we live in. These things are to be expected and even counted on. It would be nice to have a perfectly fool proof system that we used and worked every time, but that is not what theatre is about. The excitement and wonder of whether or not something is going to happen is a part of the theatre magic. The precariousness of live theatre where anything can and will happen is really exhilarating on some level. It is impossible to prepare for every possibility and relies on the art of stage management to get through and figure out each unique problem that comes up. I think this is a part of our world that has to be embraced and used as a tool to make more shows and theatre in the future that is better and more spontaneous and more prepared.
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