Top 10 Theater Items for Online Auctions
It’s important to know who your supporters are when you run an online auction. They are your bidders! What are they specifically looking for?
I majored in Theatre in college and have been a part of many productions and theatre companies. From my time in the theatre, I know that theater goers have great passion for the art form. If the item is up their alley, they will bid with passion too!
Keep in mind supporters of theater companies are also actors, directors, designers, and playwrights themselves. They would be glad to duke it out with one of the theater patrons for an exciting item.
For me, it’s fun to think about what types of items would get my old theater buddies buzzing.
My top 10 theater items ranging from "easy to come by" to the "hard to get" are:
- A subscription to your theater’s upcoming season
- A Walk on Role in every production this season
- Tickets to opening night of the musical ‘Wicked’ at a nearby theater
- A Playbill of ‘The Iceman Cometh’ signed by Kevin Spacey
- A trip to New York including Airfare, Hotel Stay, and tickets to a Broadway Show
- Orchestra seats to ‘The Book of Mormon’ with a meet and greet with the cast after the show.
- A dinner with Patti Lupone
- A singing lesson with Bernadette Peters
- Tony Kushner will read and critique your play
- A Master Class for a group of up to 10 actors taught by Meryl Streep
The world of theatre can be a small community. There could easily be an actor in the cast of your latest show whose old college roommate is now famous! Maybe the director of your upcoming spring show has a lot of connections in L.A. or New York. Don’t be afraid to think big and to ask everyone WHO they know. Everyone is always so busy they probably don’t stop and think about who they could reach out to. They may have an old friend who could get them house seats to the latest show on Broadway in a snap.
When you think about the specific types of items your community gets excited about, it can get the wheels turning on who can help you get those items. You can even ask specific people for hel with specific donations. Remember, it’s actually pretty flattering to have someone approach you and say “We know tickets to this show would get people bidding like mad and we also know that if anyone can get them it’s you!”