Two People In The Audience

“Serve Who Shows Up.

No matter the size of a group, I show up and give them my best. I’ll bring the same energy and heart to a room full of five people that I will to a room of 500. And I’d suggest you do the same.

Truth be told, you’ll never know how full or how empty the rooms will be for the things you create, but every single person who shows up makes an investment of their time to see you. It can sometimes get discouraging when things aren’t as busy as we would like or when we don’t see the crowd out in the audience we were expecting. But if there are people out there, even a few, that’s an accomplishment and for us a responsibility.

Serve who shows up, and I promise you’ll make a big impression, even if the audience is small.” -Michael Roderick

There’s an old adage in the theater: you don’t perform if there are fewer people in the audience than in the cast.

I don’t know that anyone follows this and it certainly contrasts with another adage: the show must go on…But one of the greatest shows I’ve ever done was the day after our opening of a play called Waste of Shame. The play was written and directed by my good friend and uber-talented artist, Ron Klier. (At the old Elephant Lab space, now the Broadwater Plunge bar.) Opening night was great. Sold out house, tons of energy, and great audience feedback. Everything you hope for in an opening, especially a World Premiere.

The next day?…There were two people in the audience. (Well technically three, if you count Ron.). And those two people were comps.

Our cast size?…Three.

Backstage, we debated what to do. Should we perform or just tell the two people the show was cancelled and offer to have them come another night? We didn’t want it to be a weird experience for them.

After deliberating, we decided to do the show anyway. No pressure. Have fun. But we made a pact to give those two people the best show of their lives. We felt enormous gratitude that they were there.

The show was incredible. Way better than opening. All three of us felt so connected and alive in the play. We could feel that the two people were with us in every moment. That gave us confidence to keep trusting. To keep playing free and loose and live in the world of the play.

When the show ended, the two people gave us a standing ovation. They were super enthusiastic. And on the way out, they told Marcy, our box office manager, that it was one of the best pieces of theater they’d ever seen.

Oh, and they insisted on paying full price for the tickets too.