Same Show New Season

If you’re like The Colonial Players, you produce a holiday production every season. And you might even produce the SAME holiday show every year (or every other year.)

So, HOW do you keep the look of your annual show fresh and exciting and still fit the design into the overall brand identity of your organization?

First and foremost: consult the director.

It’s the director’s job to breathe new life into an annually-produced theatrical event

The director understands that part of their job is to balance innovation with tradition. They might want to put their stamp on the show, but they also need to work within the parameters of the material and consider the expectations of a public that has come to see the holiday show as an integral part of their family tradition. If the director’s new production stays too close to the same-old, their production might look stodgy; but if they stray too far from the tried-and-true, they risk confusing or alienating the audience.

A Christmas Carol 2018

In the case of the 2018 production of A Christmas Carol, the director sought to exploit the macabre elements of the story by focusing on the supernatural. This was conveyed onstage via special effects and non-traditional casting and costuming of the ghosts. In an effort to capture the tenor of terror in this interpretation, the 2018 poster design depicts Ebenezer Scrooge encountering Marley’s ghost on a London street. Whether the ghost is actually there - in broad daylight not less - or a figment of Scrooge’s imagination is a matter of interpretation. Either way, it’s scary. The narrative focus is further emphasized by a starkly simple design featuring a monochromatic color palette.

The audience knows it’s their usual holiday favorite, but they also know that something else is happening here. Something that they (hopefully) cannot wait to see!

A Christmas Carol 2012

A Christmas Carol 2010

The 2018 approach stands is contrast to the fun, “enlightened” Ebenezer who is depicted in the 2010 and 2012 productions. The 2007 version also featured Marley and Scrooge, but this director preferred to focus less on terror and more on the comedy in the script. And the 2016 version sought to capture the magic of the show.

A Christmas Carol 2007

A Christmas Carol 2016

So, even with the same source material, the same brand look and often the same actors, there are many different ways to market your holiday show to the pubic.

Your production’s graphics are often the first line of communication between you and the public. Like any good theater branding effort, you want to assure the audience that the show will be the same classic tale they’ve grown to love…but also communicate that the story is being told in a unique way that they dare not miss!