But then there's the hour-long session I had on Friday with Marc Beaudry, a gentle giant of a man who was the tech and operational head of our street event this summer at Just For Laughs.
This was one of the most intense, interesting, eye-opening and enlightening discussions I've had in a long time. I talked a bit, I listened a lot and in doing so, I learned a ton. (One of the things I should learn is that you can't measure informational input by weight, but I digress...)
Within his astute 60-minute overview of the stumbles and opportunities of the Festival at large, Marc recounted this story almost matter-of-factly:
During rehearsals (which were, obviously, outdoors to replicate show conditions), he noticed quite a sizable crowd gathering every day. They watched intently, and hung around until the end. "If we were better prepared," he said, "we could've sold them thousands of dollars worth of beer, food and merchandise."
And then he dropped this pearl:
"These days, the rehearsal is part of the show."
And better still, one of the most profitable parts of it.
I speak from experience, unfortunately more on the "buy" than the "sell" side. A few months ago, my wife and I paid an ungodly sum to watch Peter Gabriel run an orchestra and a very elaborate digital stage presentation through the paces four hours before showtime. And this Thursday, I'm part of a team that's helping raise funds for the David Suzuki Foundation by selling VIP Packages to Sir Paul McCartney's concert. The package includes tickets in the first eight rows, a pre-show reception and--the kicker--access to Sir Paul's soundcheck.
Price of EACH ticket? $2,000.
We had 100 such tickets to sell. Note I use the past tense; we sold out in a couple of days.
I also witness this year after year directing the Gala shows at Just For Laughs. My friend Len Blum loves coming to rehearsal even better than coming to the show itself; you get to see the trials and tribulations of putting together that night's performance, and in the case of a William Shatner rehearsal that Len sat through a few years ago, you worry and wonder if the show itself is even going to happen at all.
Why the fascination? The answer, methinks, is two-fold.
- These days, everything in showbiz is so well-packaged and massaged,
that perhaps the "real show" is the true-life, warts-and-all experience
of the packaging and massaging itself.
- Once out there, every TV show, every live show, every film is just about instantly available everywhere, immediately and in hi-def. The actual rehearsal is the last bastion of holdback. Never mind the after-party; welcome to the Pre-Party !
While so apropos in the business of show, this "behind the scenes" magic works in business everywhere...probably even yours. What may be mundane to you is often fascinating to your customers, your suppliers, or even the public at large.
Case in point: the Web 1.5 phenomenon of Blend-Tec's "Will It Blend?" series. Before exploding into an Internet sensation of over 117 million views, what was it?--a homevideod lab experiment that tested the power of the blender on non-traditional items. The company's "rehearsal" literally became the show.
So, to put some action items on Marc's insight, next year's Just For Laughs will open up the curtain, allow customers a different vantage point, and financially exploit "the storms before the calm."
But if today's rehearsal is tomorrow's show...what is tomorrow's rehearsal?
Uh Marc...gotta spare hour or two?
In he meantime, here's Sir Paul's soundcheck from the 2008 show he performed in front of 200,000 people in Quebec City.
For free.
For now.