Not everyone's a contender for national talent shows, and not everyone wants to be a contender. But there's no reason why you shouldn't show off your skills to a smaller audience. Local talent shows are an excellent way of learning how to perform in front of a crowd and finding out whether others appreciate your talent.
Many communities would benefit from a talent show that they can not only participate in, but also help organise. Working on a project together is a fantastic opportunity to get to know your neighbours at a time when close-knit communities are becoming rare. The better you know each other, the more trust and understanding develops and so the neighbourhood is likely to become safer and livelier.
Getting the Word Out
The first thing you'll need to do is suss out if there's actually enough interest in the community for you to justify your efforts in putting together a show. Even if people sound enthusiastic, will they want to participate in the show or just attend as an audience member? There's no other way of finding out than direct communication. Set aside a few evenings to go and chat to your neighbours. Or use an occasion like a parent teacher evening at the local school to catch up with folk. With any luck you'll get your first helpers on hand and will be able to schedule a first meeting with the team.
Once you've begun organising you can turn to advertising the event by word of mouth, posters and flyers.
Selecting Participants
How professional do you want the event to be? If it's a community talent show, you should really let anyone participate provided their talent is appropriate to be shown to an audience of varying ages, and is entertaining. It's really all about having an occasion to come together and celebrate community spirit.
The best way of gathering participants is by collecting names from the word go. If someone shows interest as soon as you tell them about your idea, get their name, email address and skill, and stay in touch, updating them on progress, auditions and rehearsals.
Speak to local schools, community centres and care homes. They'll probably be happy to help spread the word for you by putting up posters and telling students and colleagues.
If you have too many people sign up, organise auditions. Not confident enough in music and other talents? Get some local music or drama teachers on board.
Sponsors and Funding
Whether or not you've decided to donate all proceeds to charity, you'll incur some extra costs along the way, for which you should plan ahead. So try your luck at getting sponsors. This could let you afford a better venue, free refreshments and extras such as printed programmes. Target local companies who you think would be interested in giving something to the local community. Similarly, approach local celebrities who you could invite to chair the jury, for example.
To get a full house ticket prices should be symbolic. As it's a community talent show people won't be expecting to see the world's best talents so don't expect them to pay a high price.
Venue
A venue could be indoors our out but an outdoor setting requires a lot more work and equipment, from stage lighting to folding chairs to diesel generator rental to power everything.
Indoor venues could be your local school hall, community centre, church hall or theatre. Make sure there is sufficient room for the crowd you're expecting, and that there is a backstage area for participants to practice and prepare.
Outdoor venues could be parks or village greens, school sports grounds or the local stadium. You'll need indoor rooms for auditions and rehearsals, however. And ensure the area is accessible to all, and that there are toilet facilities available.
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