Tickets are not just tickets at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, where new season subscription packages have gotten creative. For example, the theatre’s new Netflix subscription, a spin-off of the popular streaming and video-on-demand service, is targeting young professionals and young families.
For a charge of $5 a month, patrons ages 18 to 30 can attend any Theatre Centre show in the upcoming 2017-2018 season anytime they want, as many times as they want. Just like Netflix, access is unlimited.
It’s part of the theatre’s new initiative to attract younger audiences, said officials.
“American theatres have a tradition of attracting an older demographic, but we’re going to challenge some traditions next season,” says Theatre Center Executive Director Todd Olson.
“Chattanooga is diverse in many senses, and to be a vital arts organization we need to accurately reflect our community,” Mr. Olson says. “There’s a place for all at our theatre, and we aim to provide artistic experiences that keep everyone coming back.”
Theatres everywhere are facing the same challenges in attracting younger audiences, and Mr. Olson says the Theatre Centre recognizes that there’s a need for new paradigms to bring them in.
"The stories we put on the stage are our major product,” Mr. Olson says. “If we want to court younger patrons, we need to stage works with a younger appeal. We have an exciting season ahead, and the 18-19 season is right around the corner. So there is much in store for the under-30 crowd.”
In June, the Theatre Centre produced an original Shakespearean adaptation called A Midsummer Night's Disco, which went beyond staging the traditional work of the Bard and interpreted it as a full musical experience from the moment patrons entered the door to the theatre. Adult beverages were served, and with an accommodating theatre in the round, audience members got to their feet at the end of the production to join the cast in dancing to disco music. The cast was comprised of younger actors, and the show attracted a younger audience in addition to typical patrons.
Mr. Olson says the new Netflix subscription reflects the priorities of younger patrons.
“The Netflix option plays to the wishes of younger audiences, with flexibility and affordability front and center,” he says.
The theatre’s 2017-2018 season opens Sept. 15 with a musical, multicultural production of the Tony Award-winning The Wiz. The rest of the season includes: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, A Room with a View, Boeing-Boeing and Hello Dolly. Youth productions include Charlotte's Web, The House at Pooh Corner and A Year with Frog and Toad.
To take advantage of the Netflix offer or to purchase any subscription package, call the Theatre Centre box office at 267-8534 or visit TheatreCentre.com.