Behind the curtain, performing arts companies are extending their hands to groups with customized programs. From Broadway to the Las Vegas Strip, there are options ranging from meeting cast members backstage to participating in improv workshops, giving groups a personalized touch that far exceeds the usual group discount seating.
"What we’re hearing from consumers more than ever is they want a very unique experience and are willing to pay for it," says Ken Davenport, a Broadway and Off-Broadway producer and president of the website Broadwayspace.com. "Unique is recession-proof. Groups want to take part in something nobody else has taken part of. We provide something they can’t get down the street."
Show-Stoppers
According to Davenport, popular requests from groups are "talk backs," which are 15- to 30-minute meet-and-greets either preceding or, most often, following a performance.
"There are usually a couple of actors, a technician talking about the creation of the show," Davenport says. "Groups seem to love any interaction. We also often do a dinner before the show. Part of one of our programs is actors will go to dinner with you. You can get the star at the table with the CEO, a performer can do a roast, sing a song, provide added entertainment."
Off-Broadway shows are more flexible for groups than Broadway productions. Davenport’s company, Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, produces the Off-Broadway The Awesome Prom, an interactive production that offers customized performances and even team-building options.
"We do a lot of corporate parties. We did a private event for a large group, where we branded elements of the show for the group," he says. "We changed the name of the high school and the varsity jacket in the show to be customized to the company’s name. We brought people up to be in the show—it’s always very popular to see the boss up on the stage. We can do acting classes and improv workshop classes."
Other Off-Broadway shows that cater to groups include FuerzaBruta, which can customize performances and offer backstage tours, photo ops with the cast, pre- or post-show receptions with artists and other special requests. The popular show Stomp offers private group buyouts for the 349-seat theater. Avenue Q brings out the puppets used in the show to demonstrate to groups how they work.
Command Performance
Offbeat, eclectic Blue Man Group, which performs in New York at the Astor Place Theatre, also offers group buyouts and customized performances at the theater or on-site. Options include integrating the meeting message or business goal into the show.
Blue Man Group’s other resident locations—Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and Orlando—offer similar opportunities.
In Orlando, Blue Man Group is popular with meetings, as is Cirque du Soleil resident show La Nouba.
"Both are very good with trying to customize what customers and clients want," says Tammi Runzler, senior vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando/Orange County CVB. "They can do meet-and-greets with different performers. Sometimes they have performers available for pre-show and post-show receptions. Blue Man Group characters come in costume to talk with attendees. La Nouba does the same thing."
Both are available for off-site performances.
"If you are having a reception and just want a taste of Cirque, some of their performers will come and do a performance at a reception outside the typical Cirque venue," Runzler says. "There are safety and security issues—some aerialists might not be able to perform."
The CVB also works with local performing arts companies such as the Orlando Ballet or Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as improv actors and theater groups such as Mad Cow Theatre and Broadway Across America-Orlando.
"The overall message in Orlando is we feel fortunate to have mainstream and non mainstream performers, artists and talent," Runzler says.
Cirque shows in Las Vegas can be tapped by groups for discount tickets and other special options, depending on the show.
"We are quite established in assisting companies in meetings, conventions and incentives in getting show tickets, special concessions and special requests," says Aaron Hinterleitner, sales and service account executive for the Resident Shows Division of Cirque du Soleil in North America. "We give them everything from phenomenal discounts, payment options, access to merchandise they can buy in bulk for incentive bags, such as CDs and programs. Once they purchase a block or buyout, we take it to the next level."
Buyout options include photo ops with artists and customized group cocktails from the bar. Other options include a meet-and-greet with some of the artists prior to the early show.
Some of the resident shows in Las Vegas, such as Ka, LOVE and O, offer backstage tours for select VIPs within the group, letting them experience the actual workings of the show, including wardrobe and makeup. Cirque also offers groups dinner and show packages at select restaurants and partners with Maverick Helicopters for a combined helicopter tour of the Strip before the show.
"Off-sites are rare, but we do have a special events division in Montreal, where we send clients to inquire about getting acts to showcase," Hinterleitner says.
That division works with corporate clients hosting events in Montreal and other cities to incorporate a customized performance in their meeting space.
From the director of Cirque’s La Nouba and O, among others, Franco Dragone is the man behind La Reve, set in an aquatic theater-in-the-round at Wynn Las Vegas. La Reve offers the VIP Indulgence Package which comes with champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and truffles, larger seating as well as a monitor backstage to show what’s taking place underwater during show.
During backstage tours, groups witness the inner workings of the show, including the opportunity to walk on a catwalk and get onstage.
"We can also do pre-show receptions with any one of our 30 food and beverage outlets on the property," says Autumn Andrews, entertainment sales manager for Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
The production can bring members of the cast to mingle at a pre-show reception in the theater and can even organize dinners onstage.
Customized Service
Another troupe catering to groups is improv-based sketch comedy experts The Second City Theatre. Based in Chicago and Toronto, The Second City also features Second City Communications, the corporate services division that is available to travel to meetings just about anywhere.
"Corporate groups are our bread and butter," says Tiffany Smith, group sales and dinner/show manager for The Second City in Chicago. "If a group wants something special or private, we can do an actual buyout and customize the space for the whole group. We find especially with corporate groups, comedy opens people up. They talk and network more easily."
The Chicago and Toronto companies can host receptions before or after the show and can customize a drink for the group, as well as host question and answer sessions and meet-and-greets.
For off-site events, Second City Communications goes a step further in catering to meetings.
"At its core, Second City is about engaging an audience and grooming new talent," says Abby Mager, account director for Second City Communications. "We take those principles and apply them to the corporate world. We engage an audience by writing custom scenes, discussing topics in a way that is interesting, using humor to reinforce learning points. We groom talent using improv skills and we go out and train companies on how to gain those skills and apply them to the work world."
Options include using Second City Communications as at a meeting kickoff or in the keynote slot, offering improv workshops and exercises and performing at a general session.
"When we’re approaching a corporate audience, we have a pool of performers we pull from who know how to address a corporate audience," Mager says. "They can make on-the-spot links, and we’ll do our homework—the client lets us know about their industry—that’s what makes us successful when our guys get onstage."
More conventional performing arts companies are available for groups such as the Boston Ballet, which offers a pre-show talk given by a member of the company. Boston Ballet, which performs at the Boston Opera House, can provide tours of the facility. Groups can also participate in a program called Ballet Stories that offers a dance class as well as detailed information about the production and the company.
The Houston Grande Opera is another performance company that caters to groups. It promotes its pre-performance opportunities with the dramaturge and can offer pre-performance space for meet-and-greets or post-performance backstage tours and special talks with the artists. Champagne receptions can be held in the alcove or the Green Room, with the artists available to mingle and speak to the group.
