An Old Timer and a Medium Timer were sitting at a table near mine the other day, and this is what I heard:
Old Timer: Did you see those reviews for XXXXX?
Medium Timer: Yep. Fantastic!
Old: How long was the line at the box office the next morning?
Medium: At the box office? There was no line.
Old: Too bad for them.
Medium: Just because there wasn't a line doesn't mean they didn't sell tickets. There was no line . . . because it's all online.
There was nothing too revelatory in their conversation, but it did get me thinking.
It wasn't too long ago that the day after a show opened, you went by the box office on the way to work to see if people were waiting in line to be the first to buy tickets.
Not so much anymore.
What other things are we doing right now that will be antiquated in a few years? What thermometers are we using to judge the temperature of our shows that will be obsolete tomorrow?
Great businessmen and great producers are the ones who can figure out the answers to these questions . . before tomorrow comes.
