I went to see Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan perform on Broadway last week.

What was interesting to observe was how little most people in the audience were enjoying the act of ‘going to see Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan perform on Broadway’. There were complaints about the fact that they doors didn’t open early enough. A lot of whining about the lack of adequate toilet facilities for the ladies. Annoyance at having to stand up when the stragglers arrived late and needed to get into the middle of the row. Grumbles about the comfort of the chairs and loud gasps when a phone began to ring mid-performance (agreed on that one, it must be very frustrating for the actors). Two ladies in my row even dosed off for a bit during the first half. Did I mention it was a matinee?

The acting of course was superb, but you can watch Bill and Carey in some great movies from the comfort of your living room for almost free, no queuing required—so why go to the theatre at all?

The reason we pay with time, effort, inconvenience and money isn’t always for the experience, it’s for the story we get to tell. We all want to be in the spotlight like Bill and Carey at some point, even if we don’t acknowledge it and the price of admission is worth it to be able to say;
“I went to see Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan perform on Broadway last week.”

How are you helping your customers to step into the spotlight?

Image by Edinburgh Film Festival.