Remember the Baton Rouge Chorus? Well, we had a concert last month called “On the Road Again”. The premise was that a family of 4 was going on a road trip across the country to go to Becky’s wedding and their silly GPS gets them lost along the way. As the family/audience traveled from place to place the chorus would sing a corresponding song, whether it be “San Francisco Bay Blues”, “Carolina in the Morning”, or “Tuxedo Junction”. It was pretty awesome. Here are the best tips and tricks from putting on this show that I learned along the way – just in case you should ever need to put together a concert or charity event. (25% of the profits went to the Baton Rouge Food Bank)
1. Keep with the theme
Take advantage of your theme wherever you can. We covered tables in maps, we covered containers in maps. The stage decorations stayed in theme – from a giant red car in the middle of the stage to a road sign pointing all directions. Take a few minutes to brainstorm anything and everything that reminds you of your theme. Or just make a Pinterest board :)
2. Think about the traffic pattern
We spent some time thinking about the best place to put the ticket table and the food bank donation table. The pattern’s going to be different for everybody, but we wanted to make sure that the audience wasn’t going to be confused as they were coming in.
3. Buy lunch for the performers to keep things simple
Each person paid $8 and chose a sandwich from a local deli and the lunch was delivered directly to us between shows. It was simple and nobody had to leave – so we didn’t lose anybody.
4. Write “please print” on the silent auction item forms.
This will make everybody’s lives a little bit easier as you’re trying to announce the winners.
5. Don’t forget to thank the people who helped.
Donna bought flowers for the day – some were to decorate the ticket table, and some were for the people who really helped us – the people who volunteered their time, and the director. Also, we’re (actually, I think Annette is) sending out thank you notes to the sponsors of the show. I think we’re even including a picture of the chorus :).
6. Look for sponsors: Door Prizes, Silent Auction
This is a great way for people in the community to help you out. Check with your local businesses and vendors – places that you stop in all of the time. Also, if anybody is crafty you can make something to auction off. Stay tuned for another post about the cards that I auctioned off at the concerts.
7. Take the ice cream out of the freezer early.
We learned this one the hard way after the first show. If you’re going to serve ice cream to your audience, make sure you take it out of the freezer early enough so that it has time to melt a little bit before you scoop it.
8. Keep it classy
A wise man once told me, “Remember, 50% of your audience is tone deaf, but none of them are blind” – or something like that. Keep the costumes classy – something upbeat and something a little bit flashy. Not too shabby, huh?
If any of the video becomes available from the show, I’ll let you know!!
