Marquee Players In DC Theatres

A great deal has been made recently* (including by me) about the use of out of town artistic talent at theatres here in the DC area. At this year's Helen Hayes Awards, for the first time, I knew or knew of about half of the nominees, which given that I have been working in this town for over ten years, seemed a little strange. The number of out of town nominees who were not in the "Non- Resident" category was staggering.

I understand that at the end of the day, theatres have to put asses in seats. No one wants to play to an empty house, and I want my checks to clear. Theatres in town, especially the larger ones, bank on having names on the marquee that will accomplish that goal. Certainly you will get a lot of people coming to see Stacey Keach as Lear, especially with Robert Falls as director. Even non- theatre people have heard those names, and are impressed enough to risk their hard earned money against the chance of seeing something phenomenal.

But given the number of incredibly gifted designers based in this area, it is shocking how many artists from out of town are brought in to design at theaters here each season. Designers are not marquee players. No one, other than my dad, is coming to see a show because I designed it. And here's a little secret, no one, outside of other designers, are coming to see a show because it was designed by Ming Cho Lee, or Walt Spangler, or Howell Binkley. This is not to say the work of these artists is not of great quality, but there are designers living and working in this town to rival the work of these (and many others) coming in from outside the DC area. And if we are not selling tickets based on our name, what sense does it make to bring in someone from out of town that you have to pay travel expenses, housing, and per diem for, just because they are well known within a very small sphere?

As a final note, I would like to say that while it is true that actors and directors ARE marquee players, it is important to remember that it is theatres who made them so. Artists like Stacey Keach and Robert Falls and the rest of the long list of talent who grace our stages have intelligence and talent and dedication, but they also had theatre who invested in them, promoted them and MADE them stars. The same is true on a smaller scale here in DC. Rick Foucheux, Holly Twyford, Sarah Marshall and others are household names in Washington because not only are they gifted and smart and hard working, but because local theatres have invested time and attention to promoting them as such. Need stars on your marquee? Then make your local talent household names.

*And by recently I mean since I started working in DC.