Who do we perform for?

The organisation that I work for is having a meeting in London later this year and half the team have already booked to go and see Mamma Mia whilst we're down there. Here in Manchester the worldwide premiere of Ghost is well underway and has been picking up rave reviews, as well as big audiences. And the NODA website assures me that over 40 million people attend local amateur dramatic performances across the country each year.

But are we all aiming for the same audience and performing for the same reasons?

It got me thinking (well you have to do something on the train from Liverpool to Manchester don't you!)

My workmates are going to see Mamma Mia because they've heard it's a good show, or they like the music. They don't much care who is performing it; they're safe in the knowledge that as it's a West end production it will be good. They will also be paying loads of money for their tickets!

The Manchester crowd are going to see Ghost largely because they liked the film many years ago, with some going out of curiosity and apparently a few because it's got Richard Fleeshman in it. They're also going because their friends are (and it's quite exciting to have something premier in Manchester rather than the West End or Broadway!)

But why do people come and see shows that we put on as Belper Musical Theatre?

My Mum comes (and brings a minibus load of friends) because I'm in it and because we're not too far away from Sutton Coldfield. It obviously helps a great deal that we're also very good at what we do.

But if we want to get audiences of 200 people every night, then we either need significantly bigger families and more friends, or we need to work out what our audience want.

And I reckon that brings me back to the main question. Who do we perform for?

We're a membership society, so we perform to meet the needs and wants of our members don't we?

We put on shows that have great chorus numbers, because we're a great chorus.

But we got a nomination for Best Musical for our incredible production of the King and I, which had little chorus work.

So when we pick a show, who is it for?

Is it to get a big audience?

Is it to show off our chorus skills?

Or is it just to put on a show that we fancy doing?

Share your thoughts on here!