A look at the shows that drew a lot of attention

With 200 reviews posted this year on the OnStage Colorado website, I thought it’d be fun to just look back on the most viewed.

Many factors can influence the number of people who read a particular review. Sometimes I’ll notice a review from a year or more ago getting attention from people in other states and even other English-speaking countries (the ones from Nigeria or Uzbekistan are likely up to no good; or it’s a bot). A theatre company looking to perhaps stage a particular show may have found it on a Google Search, or someone researching a theatre company may have stumbled across it.

(L-R) Chris Kendall, Dwane Carrington, Abbie Apple Boes and Edith Weiss in ‘A Jukebox for the Algonquin’ at Miners Alley. Our review was the second-most read of 2024. | Photo: Sarah Roshan Photos

Organic search is a big driver as well, and someone searching for information about a show they’re contemplating seeing will often see our reviews near or at the top. In the case of a show in the No. 4 spot below — Jesus Christ Superstar — a lot of the search traffic came from outside Colorado. Big national tours like that one have lots of people looking for a review to evaluate if they want to cough up the big bucks for a Broadway show.

In this Top 10 list, most of these shows rose to the top because the theatre companies themselves were savvy about taking a positive review and sharing it widely. Smart arts marketers know third-party endorsements can drive ticket sales, so they’ll promote the reviews on social media, newsletters, websites and the like. Not doing so is a big missed opportunity, and it really doesn’t require a ton of money, time or effort. For our friends in the theatre community, we always encourage you to squeeze whatever promotional juice you can out of a review. Even if it’s not a rave, you can usually find something to blurb about!

Anyway, here’s the list, with links to the reviews:

  1. School of Rock – PACE Center/Veritas Productions
  2. A Jukebox for the Algonquin – Miners Alley
  3. Newsies – Performance Now
  4. JC Superstar – Denver Center
  5. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Vintage Theatre
  6. The Full Monty – Miners Alley
  7. Cabaret – Breckenridge Backstage Theatre
  8. These Shining Lives – Firehouse Theater
  9. Gem of the Ocean – Aurora Fox
  10. Impossible Things – The Catamounts