After a very successful show in Battleford last Tuesday, we boarded a plane in Saskatoon and headed for Toronto. The venue was the perfect size for our show -- but it was hot. Thankfully we were able to borrow some fans to help move air. Keith built us a duplicate set in his garage in TO, and it worked perfectly. Now we just have to figure out how to get it back to the farm! The audiences in TO were small but appreciative, and Malia and Shelby rocked the show, despite the heat. They had a little time for shopping and meeting with friends, a well deserved reward after a long summer. I took a side strip on August 26 to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary's, not far from Stratford. If you are a die-hard Expo or Blue Jays fan, this is a must see. I hope to get Randy there one day. After a tour from staff members Wayne and Scott, I met with Bill Rayner, the person who submitted the nomination to get the Canadian AAGPBL ladies into the Hall back in 1998. The nomination were accepted on the first ballot. Jackie Robinson is the only previous inductee who was honoured in this way. Quite an achievement for Bill -- and for Arleene, who was instrumental in the process. We're headed back to Saskatoon tonight. Looking forward to our wheels touching down on prairie soil.
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I am sitting in my hotel room in Battleford, getting myself mentally braced for the events of this week. We have four shows total -- one in Battleford tomorrow night, two in Toronto on August 25 and 26, and a final show on Sunday in Saskatoon. That will close off the first, very long chapter of our Diamond Girls journey.
And what a journey it has been. We did better than we ever dreamed in Edmonton. Three sellouts out of six and another that was damn close. We had an overwhelmingly positive response. One patron told me Diamond Girls was her second favourite show out of all the ones she has seen. To be named in the same breath as Nashville Hurricane, a juggernaut of a show at the Big Fringes, was a huge honour. Since July 5th (when we started at St. Mary's Anglican in Regina) we have made new friends, learned a lot (and learned at the same time that we have a lot left to learn -- if that makes any sense), and have been humbled by the good wishes of our friends and family all over the country. Diamond Girls is a feel-good show, and it feels damn good to be doing it. It also feels damn good to think about sleeping in my own bed in just one week. Later. Last night I went to see the "other" baseball show -- The Hesitation Pitch. It was a wonderful script performed by a terrific cast. Satchel Paige visits Morrin, Alberta and gives a little advice to the playwright's grandmother, pitcher Ellen "Smokey" Murdoch. It would do very well in front of SE Saskatchewan audiences!
We have two performances left in Edmonton -- with two sellouts so far. Over 400 patrons have picked Diamond Girls out of the list of 216 shows. Before we leave Edmonton, I have to mention the camaraderie and support of performers like TJ Dawe, Jem Rolls, Jeff Newman, Alix Cowman, Mind of a Snail, and Rob Gee. We have come to realize they are not our competitors. They are our friends. They come to our shows and we go to theirs. We praise one another on social media because that way we all win. As much as we have enjoyed the Fringes, we are eager to get on to the next phase – performing in Battleford, Toronto, and Saskatoon. Tickets are starting to move for the Toronto performances. Thank you Joanne Millard for suggesting we make the trip! We can hardly wait to meet our Ontario audiences and visit the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary's. A Blue Jays' game? I sure hope so! We have received a few inquiries about adding performances to the tour but so far have only been able to accommodate Swift Current. Our dance card is full! And so are our hearts. Thank you, Edmonton. In the last few weeks, I've learned a lot about fringing. I only have to watch the seasoned fringers -- the ones who are still handbilling relentlessly even when their show is pretty much sold out -- to know how you get people into my venue. This is a grueling business -- not that I compete at that level of intensity. Still, it's near impossible to walk past a line of people in our age demographic (over 50!) and not pull out my handbills.
Five or four star reviews displayed on posters definitely help your case. But one on one contact is the best way to generate interest in a show. And then there's the process of orchestrating a sell-out. If opportunities present themselves to offer comp tickets to volunteers, you do it. Volunteers are your best bet for word of mouth, which is the second best way to put bums in seats. In Regina, Saskatoon, and Edmonton, we have had at least one sell-out, and our numbers in all four fringes have been respectable. Other perfomers would crave the numbers we have. I know -- I've been there myself! The beautiful thing about Diamond Girls is that people connect to the subject matter immediately. You can see it in their faces. At last, something not so "fringy." Something we can learn from. Something that makes us proud as Canadians -- and as prairie folk. Audience response has been fabulous. Marci was there with tears running down her cheeks after the show on Tuesday -- a late gig that shouldn't have been well attended, but we were well over half full. People love it. As for the reviewers, we got a 4 and a 3.5 here in Edmonton and loads of praise for Malia. The Edmonton Journal says "Becker . . . is arresting to watch, moving nimbly between characters, batting a thousand all the way." Sweet. We opened yesterday at the Telus Phone Museum, just a half block off the main Fringe site. What a sweet little venue! Seats 100 and our tech Nicole is lovely. We had a lively audience of 64. Malia has been working on some new ways to interact with the audience, and they went over very well. Brenda and Brian from Estevan were here, as well as one of Mary's nephews -- Gene's grandson -- and family. Vic, Lynn, Rema, and Lyle were also familiar faces. Hoping for a favourable review here. Keep your fingers crossed for us! There is another female baseball play here -- called The Hesitation Pitch. It's about a woman who played ball in Medicine Hat and was written by her grandson. We will certainly see that one! We only have six shows here in Edmonton, so we have to make hay. Fringers have been friendly and interested in our pitches -- especially when Maggie the Mascot is along! |
Maureen UlrichPlaywright Archives
September 2018
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