Art isn't easy; pushing a radical idea only works if your audience is willing to pay to participate. It's easier to find audiences for experimentation in high-population areas like Orlando and Tampa. However, how does one forward edgy theatre in a sleepy burg like Lake County's Montverde, whose population hovers around 1,000?
â┚¬Å”It's a combination of getting the right space and the right people involved, and then you have to carefully make the right first steps,â┚¬Â says Outside the Box founder and artistic director Wm. Andre Provencher.
â┚¬Å”I mean. I'm a gay director, and everyone knows that. However, we still need to build our audience before we throw out edgier pieces like Extremities or Keely & Du.â┚¬ÂÂ
Provencher feels he's found an essential combination in this small town, whose mayor Troy Bennett has cooperated to open doors for the fledgling theatre company presenting their first season in 2012.
â┚¬Å”He's been a great supporter of Outside the Box,â┚¬Â Provencher says of the mayor. â┚¬Å”He really wants to see the art scene grow and thrive out here.â┚¬ÂÂ
In fact, the future of dynamic theatreâ┚¬â€Âincluding the LGBT theatre Provencher has been very involved inâ┚¬â€Âmay not big metropolises. It may be more important, more vital, in the small towns like Montverde, where people still can live a life insulated, where many local LGBT, including students, suffer in loneliness and silence.
â┚¬Å”I'm actually doing this under the umbrella of Hat Box Revue,â┚¬Â Provencher says.
That's an important distinction. In the 1990s, Hat Box Revue was pushing the envelope of LGBT theatre, using storefronts, bars and public events to present incendiary works to Central Florida.
In Montverde, he takes a gentler approach: â┚¬Å”I'm starting by opening it up to more family-friendly fare,â┚¬Â he says.
In fact, years of directing throughout Central Florida formulated his new approach: â┚¬Å”I've been directing all over the place. I used to send my concept or vision to several different theaters. And they'd always say, â┚¬ËœWe love your ideas, but they're a little outside the box.
They're a little scary; we're a little concerned.' So, if the opportunity is not coming to me, I'd just create my own.â┚¬ÂÂ
â┚¬Å”Montverde has a wonderful space there that they're offering to us for use,â┚¬Â Provencher says of his new artistic home. â┚¬Å”Montverde is wholesome values Americana, but they're also very supportive of us. And I want to keep things in line with thatâ┚¬â€Âmeet them halfway, but also with a few campier, more fun things. I mean, we're doing Bad Seed next year.â┚¬ÂÂ
It still affords Provencher a chance to be creative: â┚¬Å”I can do a lot of things by introducing the audience to strong acting without a lot of setsâ┚¬â€Âwhich in itself is a radical idea: focusing on the performances and using the audience's imagination,â┚¬Â Provencher says.
Knowing his core audience, 2012 is a season of crowd-pleasers and newer pieces, all with unique approaches; Oliver!, A Civil War Christmas, and Crime of the Heart are their first three shows. Also, to attract an audience in this tough economic time, Provencher is trying to keep ticket costs between $5 and $10.
Over the next years, besides moving into more socially conscious and challenging works, Provencher is working to apply for nonprofit status.
