This Friday -- Join the Party with #35Below!

Theatre is one of the oldest human art forms, but somewhere along the way, it developed a stigma as being for “old people.” There’s plenty of sociological and cultural history that can explain this — cost, tradition, increasing accessibility to movies / television, etc — but it’s not the “why” that we’re concerned about. The more important question is, how do we change it? We’ve tried a number of different methods over the last ten years or so to get a younger audience into the theatre with specially priced tickets, but these initiatives were met with varying degrees of success. Even when we present new plays like The Miracle at Naples that might appeal more to us hip young urbanites (kidding, guys, kidding. I’m 27), it’s remained a constant challenge.

Then about three years ago, we formed a committee of staff members under the age of 35 and thought about what we could do that would get people like, well, us into the theatre (most of us were honestly surprised to find that we already offered $25 tickets for anyone under the age of 35*), and in March of 2010, we threw our first official 35 Below Wrap Party for Becky Shaw. This exclusive after party gave 35 Below patrons a chance to meet and hang with the cast & crew of the production, plus access to cheap drinks and a live band, all for the price of an already-stupidly-cheap ticket.

Let’s recap: $25 gets you (1) tickets to a play, plus (2) an after party with (a) a live band and (b) cheap drinks. All personal bias aside, this is probably the single best deal you can find for a night out in Boston.

Our next 35 Below event is a special pre-show party THIS Friday, March 8 at 6:30pm. Join us at Five Napkin Burger on Huntington Avenue for some complimentary food and cash bar in a private room, before we head over to the theatre as a group to catch the 8pm performance of A Raisin In The Sun. We'll also be hosting our next #Twittermission event that night, with answers from Raisin Assistant Director Omar Robinson, so make sure you tweet your questions to the @huntington ahead of time!

After that, our next 35 Below Wrap Party is Friday, March 29, after the first preview performance of Ryan Landry’s “M”, and then we have another one coming up on Friday, May 31 for Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn. 35 Below patrons can purchase $25 tickets are any Huntington performance, but the Wrap Party itself is the best deal on the block, so tickets go fast. Both events are sponsored by our friends at Magners USA because c’mon, who doesn’t like a little hard cider with their German film noir puppets and scathing Feminist comedy? (Don’t answer that)

Here's a (slightly older) video giving you a look at one of our 35 Below parties. We hope to see you at our next one!

*Because we believe that theatre should be accessible for everyone, regardless of age, we also offer a limited number of $25 tickets to every performance for absolutely anyone. Simply ask when you call the Box Office, or check the Prices & Seating tab on our website for location information when buying tickets online.

Join us for the 35 Below Fall Crawl — Monday, November 14

It's been nearly two months since our last (totally awesome!) 35 Below Wrap Party for Candide (actually 53 days, 6 hours, and 47 minutes, but who's counting? What? Oh. Right), and quite frankly, I think we're all starting to feel a little antsy for another rockin' shindig, am I right? Of course I am. Unfortunately, our next big party's not for another 2 months (January 6, to be exact, to celebrate the first preview performance of God of Carnage). I know, I know. Bummer, right? I hear ya.

But fear not, True Believers! Your prayers have been answered! Join us next Monday, November 14 for our first inaugural 35 BELOW FALL CRAWL! We've been looking for new ways to keep the 35 Below energy going between and beyond our events, and as our pea coats and scarves start to make their way out of storage, we thought we'd offer you some solace from the coming cold. What better way than a tour through some of our favorite Boston hot spots for a night of drinks, mingling, and general merriment?

(Insert obligatory reminder that $25 tickets are available for patrons 35 and under at any and all productions and performances, even those without an awesome post-party, including but not limited to such wonderful Huntington productions as Before I Leave You and Captors AHEM)

So here's the deal: join us after work (or instead of work if you work evenings, although we do not condone skipping work without informing your supervisor ahead of time) for snacks and drink specials, as well as trivia (trivia!), free giveaways (free!), and lots of good times (LOTS!). Did I mention there's going to be a scavenger hunt? Because there's going to be a SCVNGR hunt, with lots of slick swag for the winner(s).

We'll be hitting up a few different gin joints over the course of the evening, so if you can't join us right at 5pm, not to worry. Here's the plan, starting off in the South End at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA:

• 5pm — Masa (439 Tremont Street). Right around the corner from the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, Masa is known for its classy margaritas (Habanero Watermelon! Ooh!) and tasty tapas -- both of which you'll be able to sample.


• 6pm — Tremont 647 (647 Tremont Street, natch). Just down the street from the Calderwood. Human Resources Coordinator Michael Comey is known for holding court here at Sunday brunch (occasionally, his concept of "brunch" also includes dinner, as well as dessert)

From there, we'll head down towards Mass Ave and the BU Theatre / Avenue of the Arts:


• 7pm — Parish Cafe II (493 Massachusetts Avenue, corner of Tremont Street). A popular Huntington staff hangout, due in large part to their enormous selection of over 100 beers. Plus, if you manage to drink all 100 beers in under six months, you'll be inducted into their Mug Club (along with several members of the 35 Below team)


• 8pm —Symphony8 (8 Westland Avenue). Another great pub close to the BU Theatre, Symphony8 has also been gracious enough to host us for some of our fantastic opening night parties (not to mention, provide us with some great food for our 35 Below parties).

Join us at one stop, or stick around for the whole night. The choice is yours! Got friends? Bring 'em! Don't have friends? I'm sorry to hear that, but there'll be plenty of potential new friends for you to meet! Along the way, mingle with our 35Below club members, creative team, and Huntington staff.

One more time, that's Monday, November 14. Put it in your Google Calendar. Share it on Facebook (and scope out all the other hotties who will be there! The 35 Below Team is not above Facebook stalking. It's cool, man, we all do it). Tweet it up. Check in on FourSquare, or +1 it (does anyone else actually Google+ besides me? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?).

Whatever you do, we'll see you there!

— Thom Dunn
Web & New Media Manager

(PS: Oh, and don't forget — you might want to bring a coat. I know, I know, it's hard for me to accept, too. But I do look pretty hip in this new pea coat!)