It was three hours before showtime. From the second floor windows of the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv I could see the rain pounding on the outdoor balcony. It rained all Thursday. And the day before that. And before. An unusual European winter that swept the streets empty and kept everyone cuddled up at home.
Not me, though. I was all revved-up to begin our two shows at the Cameri Theater, first in English, then Hebrew.
But would the crowd battle the elements? Wade through the flooded streets of Tel Aviv? Wrestle with the over-crowded parking lots? Even when the weather is good and the sidewalks are teeming with pedestrians, I’m always worried that the seats will be empty. It’s a recurring nightmare of mine, that I’ll get on stage and no one will be there.
Since I set out on this undertaking of running an English show in Tel Aviv, a city that has over a million and a half visitors every year, tens of thousands of local English-speakers and no regular-running English-language theatrical production – I’ve been deeply involved in promoting and managing all aspects of our production. So, I knew that tickets had been sold. But still, I wanted to see the people instead of their names on envelopes.
Promoting our English show has been a whole different ball game, compared to our Hebrew version. To get the ball rolling on this project we need to sell tickets, and even though we currently perform only once a month in a 100-seat venue – with thousands of potential ticket-buyers , it’s still a big challenge.
Since we began performing in 2003 and throughout our years on the road with the show, we’ve mainly focused on selling the show to organizations, company events, kibbutzim, moshavim, community events and festivals abroad and in Israel. They buy the show, bring the crowd and we don’t have to worry about selling tickets. Once in a while we would book a show at the Cameri and sell tickets, but that was always geared towards potential buyers.
Slowly people began stepping out of the elevator, some drenched, others well-wrapped, turning towards the theater doors, taking their seats and preparing for something they knew very little about. The musicians began playing, the lights dimmed on and there in front of me was not even one empty seat. A theater full of passersby, their smiles flooding our stage and eyes eager to set out on a special Israeli adventure. And, oh, what an adventure it was!
Join us on our next adventures. See show dates here…
The show ended and the crowd made its way out. Through the doors I could already see the next crowd for the Hebrew show. They were waiting patiently, but eager, like me, set out on our next Wandering Israeli adventure.