In the past, it was difficult for these theater companies to come up with their schedule. They want to save some of the big productions for nights when potential audience members are free and will want to come see it. It can be disastrous for both theater companies if they end up having an opening night on the same evening. Unless they wanted to call all of the local theater companies and spend hours on the phone, it may be impossible to know whether this would happen or not.
The Minnesota Theater Alliance has created a centralized website that includes a full schedule for each of the member theater companies in Minnesota. This makes it easier for any member company to take a look at the schedule and see what else is going on every night of the year. These companies can take a look at the schedule and if there are several other big productions in the area on the same night, they may make some adjustments to their own plans to get the biggest impact.
This works well for all member theater companies. There is less overlapping, making it possible to share the audience, rather than competing over the same audience. And since many of the supporters of the performing arts want to support more than one production, having that schedule open for everyone makes it easier to increase ticket sales for both.
Financial assistance
The Minnesota Theater Alliance works hard to fundraise to come up with the necessary funds to help many of these theater companies succeed. While ticket sales have done well throughout the state of Minnesota, there are times when these theater companies may need additional funds to help them put on a production, pay the performers, expand, or do other tasks that help them provide the best shows to their audience.
While it is possible for these individual companies to do the fundraising on their own, most are small and localized, which can make it hard for them to have the reach that the statewide Minnesota Theater Alliance can have. Rather than wasting resources towards fundraising, rather than to great productions, these companies can become members of the Alliance and submit an application for some of the funding they need.
The Minnesota Theater Alliance works to provide some of the best funding that is necessary. They have the necessary tools and marketing to fundraise on behalf of all the theater companies in the state, making it easier to support the arts, rather than having all the companies use the resources or compete against one another.
Trade publications
The Minnesota Theater Alliance helps to produce a trade publication for anyone interested in the performing arts in the state. Whether you are currently in performance positions or just want to see what is going on in this industry, the Minnesota Playlist can provide some of the information you need to stay up to date.
Awards program
The Minnesota Theater Alliance is working with similar groups in San Francisco and Chicago in order to provide some unique services to the performers in Minnesota. One of these is the award program known as the Iveys to help recognize the hard work that the different professionals in the industry are able to do each year. Eventually, the Alliance will be able to handle some of their own awards, but this agreement with the other groups helps to bring the service to Minnesota performers earlier than could be done on its own.