Choosing a Season for Kirkwood Theatre Guild

A question I am frequently asked is "How does KTG pick the plays they do?". There really is quite a bit involved in this process.  First, in August, we form a play reading committee of about 10 volunteers.  This is one of the most popular areas to volunteer in, the play reading committee always seems to have a great time together. The members are polled for play ideas and the play reading committee is encouraged to submit possibilities as well.  KTG produces 4 shows a year.  Usually it is comprised of three "straight" shows (meaning non-musical) and one musical.  The committee reviews hundreds of ideas and vote to narrow the list down. They then each read several plays and bring feedback to the group.  Another vote produces a list of about 20 plays they will all read and discuss. 

So what are they looking for?  We are in search of plays that will attract top directors, good artistic talent and a large audience. The plays should be technically challenging but not too difficult to produce. How many scene changes, licensing expense,costume costs, how big of a cast, height of set, length of play, language content, how often has it been in STL...these are all considerations. The committee then submits a recommends a season of 4 with 2 alternatives to our Board of Governors, who then vote on the selection. Some years they take the slate as it is recommend or the Board subsitutes another play.

So we have just announced our 83rd season to start in November 2013.  The first exception was that we will have 2 musicals next year.  The first show, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is a smaller musical done by Joe DiPietro, an author we are rather fond of. Our January show is a brilliant drama, All My Sons, by Arthur Miller, in March we will present a comedic farce, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, not a musical.  We close next May with the recent Broadway hit, 9 to 5 (you remember the movie). 

What's next? We'll be begin looking for shows for 2014-2015!