Who Am I?

I first saw Cats when I was about 6 years old, and do you know what I remember about my first time seeing it? I remember that the white cat was my favorite, and I remember that at intermission Old Deuteronomy stayed on stage and signed Playbills. I distinctly remember my mom gently nudging me out of my seat, telling me to take my Playbill up on stage and give it to Old Deuteronomy. I was nervous as heck and had no idea why my mom wanted me to do this crazy thing, but I did it anyway, and now I have a signed Playbill and an incredible memory to go along with it.

Musical theatre has always been a part of my life, but over the past decade or so things have changed for me. Theatre has gone from being a part of my life to being my passion, bordering on an obsession. I've gone from enjoying musical theatre to feeling a need to be a part of it.

My biggest struggle over the past few years has been trying to figure out where I fit in with the crazy and unpredictable world that is theatre. I know that I'm not an actor. I don't feel qualified to be a director. And while producing is definitely a long-term goal of mine, it's not really where I feel that I fit right now. I know that I want to be involved in the creative development side of musicals, but I'm not a writer or composer. So who am I?

I've done so much research into different theatre jobs that I feel qualified to teach a course on the subject. But with all the different jobs there are in theatre, I can't say that I've found one that really fits me. Dramaturg is the closest actual theatre "job" that sort-of-kind-of-in-a-way-maybe fits who I am, but it still doesn't feel completely right.

After all this research, I finally realized why I can't find a job that fits me. It's because it doesn't exist. At least not yet.

I'm not sure why I remember the white cat from Cats, but I definitely know why I remember going on stage with Old Deuteronomy. It's because it was a little something extra that made me feel connected to the show. And this is what I want to do for musicals. I want to create that connection between the audience and the show.

There is definitely a place for this kind of service in theatre, especially in today's world where everyone wants to feel connected to everything. In fact, there are already plenty of musicals making these kinds of connections, and it's paying off big time for them. Shows like Once, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Hamilton are all using various forms of audience engagement, but the thing is, the ideas all come from different places. A director might come up with an idea; the writer might come up with an idea; an ad agency might come up with an idea. But in all my research I couldn't find any kind of job that specifically specializes in this. So I decided to create one!

While a quick Google search of "audience engagement in theatre" produces some intriguing results, including some people who are in the same boat as I am, it only proves that this is just the beginning for this new trend. I've decided to seize this opportunity to create the perfect theatre job for me. So please say hello to the new audience engagement specialist for musicals!

As an audience engagement specialist, I will be helping musicals find creative ways to connect with their audiences. While it's currently a very limited market, it's also a quickly growing market, making now the perfect time to throw myself into it. More and more musicals are starting to navigate the world of audience engagement, and I want to be there to help them. It's a perfect combination of my lifelong theatre passion, my 15 years of marketing experience, and several years of theatre production experience, and I can't wait to get started! As a matter of fact, I've already gotten started on a few things, which leads me to some changes that will be taking place with Row L Seat 1.

For starters, I'll be shifting the focus of Row L Seat 1 to focusing exclusively on audience engagement. In just a few days, when you go to www.RowLSeat1.com, you'll see a very different website. The new website will reflect these changes and the updated focus of Row L Seat 1. I'll also be updating the Row L Seat 1 Facebook and Twitter sites to reflect this new focus as well.

So what does all this mean for Row L Seat 1 in the Central PA area? Don't worry - it's not going anywhere anytime soon! I still love supporting theatre in this area, and I'm happy to help promote the amazing theatres and actors we have however I can. Row L Seat 1 started as a blog, and I plan to keep the Row L Seat 1 blog active by continuing to publish news, events, and reviews related to theatre in Harrisburg and the surrounding area. The website that you're on right now will remain unchanged and dedicated exclusively to Central PA theatre. The only difference is that from now on the link to get here will be www.RowLSeat1.blogspot.com. I also created a brand new Facebook page specifically for the blog, which you can find (and like!) at www.facebook.com/theatrekim. I'll be blogging under the pseudonym "Theatre Kim," which is were the Facebook page name came from.

The reason for these changes is simply because I now have two very different focuses. Most people who are interested in Central PA theatre probably don't have an interest in my audience engagement services, and vice versa.

I realize that the coming weeks might cause a little bit of confusion as this transition to break Row L Seat 1 into two very different focuses occurs. I promise it's for the better, and I also promise to try to make the transition as seamless as possible. As always, thanks to everyone who reads or follows Row L Seat 1, either the "old" one or the "new" one, or better yet both. Your support means so much to me, and I look forward to sharing my new adventures with you soon!