Falcon Theater Becomes First Area Theater Company to Incorporate “Tweet Seats” in Performance

Cast of The 39 Steps

malady helvetica, sans-serif;”>From the New York Times calling Twitter at the theater the “unsavory confluence of social media and the arts” to the St. Louis Shakespeare Theater’s artistic director calling “tweet seats” a “national trend”, the use of social media during performing arts is a hot topic in arts communities around the country, inciting passions on both sides of the social media fence.  Falcon Theater, long known for its edgy, quirky musicals and appreciation for the classics, has decided to jump into the fray head-first by initiating a Social Media Section during the run of The 39 Steps, February 10-25, 2012 at Monmouth Theater in Newport, Kentucky.  Inspired by the feedback they’d received– often surreptitiously during the show, or at intermission– from past partnerships with social media savvy patrons, including local bloggers, Twitter users and Yelp Elites, Artistic Director Ted Weil and Director of Marketing Julie Niesen Gosdin thought that there had to be a way to incorporate this phenomenon in a more organized way.  After participating in a divided, if enthusiastic, conversation about the idea of “tweet seats” with other arts supporters on Facebook and in person, Weil and Niesen Gosdin realized that their upcoming show, The 39 Steps, would be a great test for this controversial way of interacting with the audience.