Ashley Hufford, Content Creator and Theater Influencer

Monica Holt: If you spend any time in the theater corner of the internet, you already know Ashley Hufford. And if you don’t, well, that’s exactly why we made this episode. Welcome back to CI to Eye. This is Monica Holt. Ashley Hufford has spent the better part of the last five years doing something deceptively simple: getting people to fall in love with theater. Ashley is a content creator, a video editor by day, and one of the most recognizable voices in the theater fandom online. With over a hundred thousand followers across platforms, she’s cultivated an honest, approachable, and infectious way of loving theater out loud and with absolutely no reservations. She’s not a critic. She’s not a publicist. She’s an enthusiast. And as it turns out, in a world saturated with polished content and promotional noise, genuine enthusiasm might be the most powerful marketing tool the theater industry has.

Ashley’s perspective matters to us here at Capacity because she sits at a fascinating intersection. She understands storytelling, she understands audiences, and she understands how people discover and fall in love with things. For arts leaders thinking about how to reach new audiences and deepen community, understanding how creators like Ashley think is now essential. In our conversation, we chatted about what it actually takes to build a theater community online; what our industry is still getting wrong about influencer relationships; and why opening your rehearsal room door could be the most powerful thing you can do for a show’s future. Let’s dive in. Ashley Hufford, welcome to the podcast. I am so delighted to be talking to you. Thank you for making the time today.

Ashley Hufford: I’m really excited to be here.

Monica Holt: I’m so excited to be chatting with you because I, of course, know you the way I’m sure a lot of folks listening know you, which is just this wonderful voice for the theater community that you’ve been online for the past several years. And I cannot wait to hear how you got into that. But first, we do like to start every episode by just hearing a little bit about, who is Ashley and when did young Ashley first experience art or music in her life?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. So I grew up outside of New York. I grew up in Westchester, a town called Rye. It’s like 45 minutes outside of the city. And so I was very lucky where I’ve been going to Broadway shows since I was a very little kid. One of my earliest memories is that my mom and her two friends who all had daughters around the same age, we all went to see Beauty and the Beast when I was like four. And so I’m very lucky that it’s just kind of always been a thing. And then I loved theater. So I did elementary, middle school, high school theater, and then every birthday, my present was a Broadway show. My grandma took me to see Mamma Mia three years in a row because I was like, “Oh, I love Mamma Mia.”

Monica Holt: Stop. You are the tradition audience. Go back and see Mamma Mia every summer with Grandma. I love that. Were you then immediately like, “I want to be on Broadway” or “I want to be behind the scenes”? How did that manifest in your life?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah, so I was never talented enough to be on Broadway. I’m not a talented singer. I’m not a talented dancer.

Monica Holt: You’re in good company here.

Ashley Hufford: Right. I was Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank in high school. That was my career achievement of my performing career.

Monica Holt: Sure.

Ashley Hufford: I think it’s hard when you’re someone who loves it so much and you’re like, “I just don’t have it and it’s fine.” I just was very aware …

Monica Holt: Whatever it is, it is not in me.

Ashley Hufford: It’s not in me.

Monica Holt: I’m so glad it’s in other people.

Ashley Hufford: But I went to film school, so halfway through high school I sort of switched. I mean, I still was a theater kid, but I got really into movies and so I started making movies because I was like, “Oh, I’m a storyteller. I love telling stories. I don’t need to be an actor to do that. I can be a writer. I can be a producer. I can be a director. I can be an editor.” And that was sort of how that came.

Monica Holt: Okay. So you’re looking at film production. You go to NYU.

Ashley Hufford: Yeah.

Monica Holt: And is the training at NYU in film?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. So I went to NYU Tisch for film school. The film program there is amazing. I did two years. I was only film. And then I did an internship at The Colbert Report my junior year of college.

Monica Holt: How fun!

Ashley Hufford: It was so fun. And I also was like, oh, I think I want to work in television.

Monica Holt: Yes!

Ashley Hufford: So I was like, I like movies, but I actually think I like TV more and I really liked working in live television. So I interned at Colbert. I interned at Jimmy Fallon and then I interned for the NHL.

Monica Holt: I feel like this also starts to speak to the Heated Rivalry content of it all. But we can —

Ashley Hufford: It really does. It all leads there.

Monica Holt: Okay, great.

Ashley Hufford: I intern at the NHL my senior year of college. The NHL walkout happens. So they are off for six months. I actually worked at New Victory Children’s Theater and doing a video internship. So I was doing that right after graduation. And then the NHL called, because the lockout was over and they’re like, “Hey, the NHL’s coming back next week. We have a job for you starting tomorrow. Can you do it?” And I was like, yes, because I just needed a job. So then that led to this sports career. And then I worked in sports for a long time.

Monica Holt: When you were working on stories for the NHL and just working in sports generally, were you already thinking in that moment, “Oh, I love storytelling. I know how I like to connect stories with audiences.” How were you bringing that lens to the sports world in terms of capturing audience attention and that type of work?

Ashley Hufford: It’s 100% that, because I will tell you, I did not really care about the score. I cared so much more about players and player stories. The best thing I ever did is I worked for Bleacher Report, which is like a sports website, and I got to go to the Olympic Media Summit and I interviewed a hundred Olympians in four days. And that was the best thing I’ve ever done because no one has a better story than an Olympian. It’s just really interesting talking to people who are really good at luge. You’re like, “How did you get here?”

Monica Holt: How did that happen?

Ashley Hufford: Ice skating, you kind of understand, but when you’re like, “How did you get into rifle and horseback riding and snowboarding?”

Monica Holt: When did this all come together for you?

Ashley Hufford: And so I think for me, I cared so much more about telling stories than I ever cared about the outcome of the sporting event. And then at Bleacher Report, my last year there, I was part of the Instagram stories team. And so I basically traveled around the country and I would document events. I went to the Rose Bowl and I went to the Army Navy game and I went to March Madness, but it was all through the Instagram Stories lens and Snapchat. And it all sort of leads to where I am now. So it’s kind of crazy.

Monica Holt: Absolutely. Yeah. So you’ve since moved on from the world of sports, but your day job still revolves around storytelling and content creation because you are now the director of creative content at Red Wine & Blue, which is a nonprofit focused on civic engagement around women in swing districts. Could you share just a little bit about your role and the organization’s mission?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. So I have been at Red Wine & Blue for almost five years and I basically run our video team. So it’s very storytelling focused. We talk to women located all throughout the country and we tell their stories, we share their experiences. A lot of what Red Wine & Blue does is local organizing. So we really focus on [the] local, hyper local level. And it’s people organizing within their own communities. So teaching women how to talk to their friends, talk to their family, talk to their community members, and help to make change.

Monica Holt: Well, and I think to see someone who is spending the day working on mission driven work like that and then spending her free time engaged with art, I’m always going to say, no matter what you do, art is political, whether it’s saying something or not saying something. So I imagine having those two vantage points creates some really interesting perspective as you’re engaging more broadly in the world.

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. Theater is inherently political, so it all overlaps and is all connected.

Monica Holt: That’s right. So this does all lead to what I think perhaps you’re best known for today, which is your presence as a community leader and content creator in the arts, in the theater community. You have over a hundred thousand followers across platforms, but I don’t think this was initially what you set out to do. So what drove you towards presenting your life in the theater world online?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. It starts out a couple years before the TikTok of it all, which is: 2016 happens. It’s a rough year for everybody. I’m feeling terrible.

Monica Holt: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Ashley Hufford: A, the world is bad. I go through this big breakup — my high school college boyfriend and I break up. So I’m in not a great place. And so I make this list of like, I live in New York, what makes me happy? What are things in New York that I’m not taking advantage of? I’ve always loved theater, but at this point I’m probably seeing one Broadway show a year, maybe two Broadway shows a year. I’m not really paying attention the way that I used to pay attention. And so I make this list and I was like, I should get back into theater. Let’s see more theater. And so I make this goal and I called it A Show A Week 2017 and I document it on Instagram, but I don’t have followers. It’s just like for me personally. And my goal is to do one show week every week of 2017, but then I also made a big effort to try to learn more about Off Broadway theater and regional theater.

And I finished the year — I think I ended with like 56 or 57 shows. And the next year I started seeing more theater. I think I saw like 80 shows in 2018 and then just a lot in 2019. And then midway through 2019, I get recruited for a job up in Toronto. So I moved to Toronto in June of 2019 and Toronto has a really, really great theater scene.

Monica Holt: Oh yeah, a great theater scene and such a rich history there. I mean, I always think about the 1972 Godspell with Martin Short and Eugene Levy and Gilda Radner, but I think the out-of-town tryout with the original Ragtime was there. And so in addition to all these connections to Broadway, I think what you were also probably noticing was there’s a great local theater scene there too.

Ashley Hufford: Yeah, really great theater scene. So I’m seeing a lot of theater by myself. I’m working all the time because I’m working for the Leafs and the Raptors and I’m at every home game. My schedule’s crazy. And then COVID happens. And so I am living by myself in Toronto.

Monica Holt: Oh my gosh.

Ashley Hufford: I know like three people and I’m losing my mind. I think I had downloaded TikTok in February, but I hadn’t really played around with it. And I just start making videos talking about theater because I’m bored at home. And the first video that I make, and I think it’s probably like my fourth TikTok, maybe my fifth TikTok, is a video of me just organizing my playbills in my closet. And that video gets like 300 or 400,000 views. And I was like, oh, this is fun. It’s like a dopamine hit.

Monica Holt: That’s wild. No, this is fun. Exactly.

Ashley Hufford: And so then I start making videos and I start getting more followers. And then there’s this children’s book, John Robert Allman’s book, A is for Audra. And every page, it’s like A is for Audra, B is for Bernadette, C is for… And so I was like, I’m going to do a series where every day I turn one of the pages and I do a video on the history of this Broadway diva. And that first video, the Audra video, blows up and I gain like 10,000 followers overnight.

Monica Holt: Well, and also you were taking a new platform, you understood how to use it and they wanted that view too.

Ashley Hufford: The content.

Monica Holt: So you were right moment, right time, right idea.

Ashley Hufford: Right. 100%. So that was kind of the first series where I went from having, I don’t know, a thousand followers, a few other followers to like 14,000 followers in a week.

Monica Holt: What does that feel like to go from being used to just seeing theater, having it be a somewhat private, maybe social, but mostly private experience to suddenly what you’re sharing is public. Strangers know your face.

Ashley Hufford: It’s weird because in some ways it didn’t really, at that time didn’t really hit me because we’re all at home, right? But by September of 2021, when theater’s reopening, there was a whole community on TikTok of all these creators. And it was a bunch of people who I’d never met, but we were interacting every single day. And so it was really interesting because by 2021, it was the first time I had ever met Kate Rankin and Grace Walker, even though we’ve been communicating online basically daily having these conversations about theater for like months.

Monica Holt: Well, and from the other side, it just brought me so much joy to see all these creators in a moment where none of us could be together. But then slowly over time, theater came back, but also you all started to meet. And it felt like, oh, this thing that made me feel part of a community [and] reminded me about how our community keeps growing… now watching that become part of your day-to-day life. And it really — I have to say, I felt like your heart growing three sizes like the Grinch because I was just like, this is… Theater always survives and this is how it brings people together. And it just made me so happy just seeing this happen. But how does the fact that your videos are seen by a large group of people… does it change the way you think about your voice and the types of content you want to put out?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. I mean, I’ve always said, I am not a critic. I’m just not made for that life. I understand the value of theater criticism, but for me, I want to uplift theater and I want people to see more theater. I don’t think anyone goes to make a show and is like, I want to make a terrible play or a terrible musical. I don’t think there’s anyone going into make theater to be like, “This is going to be bad.” So if I see something that I don’t love, maybe I’ll post a story and be like, “I saw this,” but I’m not going to probably do a whole thing about it.

I don’t think every show is for every person, but I think there is a show for every person. There’s so many people that are like, “Oh, I’m not a musical person.” I’m like, “You know what? I think there’s probably a musical I could find that you might like, but also then go see a play. There’s so many plays.”

Monica Holt: Well, but that’s so interesting because one of my questions was, how do you decide what shows to see? My guess is you see most shows, but is that shaped entirely by just what you want to see? Are there some that are invitations or is that… How does it all lay out if you’re looking at your next month of what shows you’re going to see?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. So it’s definitely a mix because for The Reservoir last night, I was like, “Oh, I should go see this.” I went online, there was a $30 TodayTix ticket. I was like, “I’m just going to grab it and go.” But then I also, I’m very lucky where now I get invited to a lot of stuff or I can reach out and I can ask and be like, “Hey, can I come see the show? I can make a video.” Most of what it is, is people being like, “Hey, would you like to come see the show? We’ll give you two tickets. There’s no requirement.” Obviously the idea is that they hope I make a video, they hope I talk about it. And most of the time I will, mostly because I like, A, talking about theater and B, I want to promote these shows and I want people to see shows.

But I’m seeing a lot. And last year I saw like 308 shows, I think, something nuts. And so this year we are being more discerning because I’m like, “I can’t do it again. I can’t do 300 shows again. That is nuts.” And I’m also seeing a lot at Edinburgh Fringe.

Monica Holt: In case people don’t know, will you explain what Edinburgh Fridge is?

Ashley Hufford: Yes.

Monica Holt: Okay, great.

Ashley Hufford: So Edinburgh Fringe is like the biggest theater festival in the world, I believe. It is over the course of the month of August in Edinburgh, Scotland. And when I tell you the entire city is dedicated to theater, there are thousands, I think over 3000 shows. Every place is a venue, every basement, every hotel lobby, every alleyway is a theater. I went for the first time two years ago, I saw 36 shows in four days. It is like constant, constant, constant, constant. It’s like summer camp.

Monica Holt: Well, that’s so fantastic because then you’re also, you are self-curating, right? That’s one thing that I was talking about with my former colleague, Deborah, in the fall is the only way to develop a point of view on art is by seeing a lot of art.

Ashley Hufford: Seeing a lot of art.

Monica Holt: Knowing more art, getting to know artists, understanding your own perspective and your taste, that’s what creates the richness of sharing then in those experiences. So I love hearing this. And it’s not just impressive in terms of the amount of culture and art that you’re taking in. You also post very quickly. Like just this week, I knew that it was Shmigadoon Press Day. I knew that you were there. And then I was talking to you the next day and between that afternoon and when we spoke in the morning, it was online. And I’m curious twofold, one, how you do it so quickly and two, do you think it’s necessary in terms of audiences and what your goals are?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. So first, because I worked in sports for so long, I just learned how to edit really fast. Because again, when I was at hockey, I worked on live games and I have to turn around this goal package before the next goal is scored because once this game is over, no one’s going to care about this anymore. We have to get this content turned around fast because this is when people are talking about it. And so I think that mindset and the ability to be able to edit really, really fast is from all those years of doing it so quickly.

And I think especially with theater for the most part, unless you’re doing a video on like The Lion King or Hamilton or Hadestown, these are shows that are coming in for a short run. The speed is really important for that reason because a lot of these shows are here for two weeks, three weeks, maybe two months. The sooner you get it up, the sooner people can get in. And it’s important for shows that need to sell, but equally important for audiences where this show is going to sell out and if you don’t go now, you’re not going to be able to get in.

Monica Holt: It’s really nice to hear you talking about that lens because I think this is where there is this mythology of the content creator, influencer world for people who aren’t in it, is really understanding what the motivation is. And I love that we keep coming back to your motivation being you just want more people to experience and love good theater. When someone messages you that they went to see a show because they saw you talk about it, what does that mean to you?

Ashley Hufford: It’s the best. It’s really funny right now because I sort of switched up my content strategy again where I just talk about anything I care about. So I’ve been talking a lot about Heated Rivalry because it’s a show I really love and a book I really love. And I’ve been getting a lot of people that follow me from Heated Rivalry and then are like, “Oh, but you also like theater.” And so a girl messaged me yesterday and was like, “I followed you because of Heated Rivalry, but I saw that you talked about the show Mexodus, so I went to go see Mexodus and it was so good. Thank you.” And I was like, “That makes me so happy.”

Monica Holt: I mean, truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Ashley Hufford: Right.

Monica Holt: I’m curious from your perspective how well you think the theater industry is growing in their understanding of influencers broadly, and is that evolution — are you watching it change every season a bit with what’s going on?

Ashley Hufford: No, absolutely. It’s really been in the last two to three years that there’s been a huge shift in terms of them realizing the value of influencers, the value of content creators, the value of getting people into the spaces. City Center is my favorite. New York City Center has always been ahead of the game in terms of that and they’re so appreciative in a way. So Tuesday they do an invited dress for whatever show they have. They do a party beforehand and Michael Rosenberg, who’s the president, CEO of City Center, comes and he always gives a speech and he’s like, “Because of you guys, our shows can now run for two weeks because you’re bringing more people in to see City Center shows. You’re bringing younger people into City Center shows.” They are aware of what we’re doing and that it’s a mutually beneficial thing. I want people to see your shows. You want people to come see your shows. We can all work together to accomplish this goal of people seeing more theater.

Monica Holt: It’s having folks who love and support the industry come in and be the surrogate for the people that we are most interested in inviting. And that for me is first time, people who don’t know.

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. This season has kind of been the first season where I feel like I am being invited into spaces more than I used to be, in a cool way. Where I feel like now they’re starting to realize, oh, we can’t open a show on Broadway with no one having any idea what the show is. People are going to pay money to come see your show. They need to know what your show is and they need to know what they’re going to expect. And I feel like people like producers or whoever, not to call anyone out, they like the idea of being like, “Oh, we’re a little bit of a mystery. No one really knows what this is.” I’m like, “Yeah, but if I’m coming to New York and I’m seeing one show, am I going to go see The Lion King because I know what The Lion King is, or am I going to go see this new musical that I’ve never heard about that I know nothing about?”

Monica Holt: Exactly. Also because what you’ve done has emerged as this organic invitation to theater rather than glossy promotional product placement, for lack of a better word. Is there something in particular that you wish more theaters or arts organizations were doing to deepen these influencer relationships?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah.

Monica Holt: I’m just thinking, is there one way that we can help you create more content for your followers that we know that they want to see?

Ashley Hufford: I would love to be invited into more rehearsals. One show that did it really well was Maybe Happy Ending. They brought us into a tech rehearsal. They brought us into a lighting rehearsal. We sat and watched two hours of lighting one scene of Maybe Happy Ending and I was like, “This is the coolest thing ever.” Because now when Maybe Happy Ending opens, not only have I seen the show, but I can tell you about what it’s like. I can tell you about what the music sounds like. I can tell you about what the scenic design looks like. And because of that, you’re now going in being like, “Oh, this sounds like a really fun show.”

Monica Holt: And it’s this — for a long time there was a lot of preciousness about, “the final product is what the audience sees.” And I understand that. I am not overall objecting, but when we are in an age where arts education is diminished, all of these access points we know are being compromised, how are we creating more moments of legibility, transparency, and understanding to be invitational? We don’t lose anything by sharing the process.

Ashley Hufford: And I think people are worried that I’m going to go and be like, the lighting was garbage. I’m very aware a lot of these spaces are sacred and very vulnerable. I’ve now been to a couple of rehearsal run-throughs where they do the whole show in a rehearsal room. Everyone’s in street clothes. They’re standing on boxes. The first one that really did it was Shucked and it was so cool because we knew nothing about Shucked, didn’t know a single song, did not know the plot, and we got to watch the entire show. And then I was like, “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life and we’ve got to talk about it.” Now I’m going around and being like, “No, you all have to see Shucked. This is going to be the show.”

Monica Holt: Right. Let you be the surrogate for the fans, for people who might come in for the first time and see the show. I’m curious, as you have gone from someone who was attending theater to see it, to someone who’s creating content online, to someone who is a leader in the fandom of theater — which is just such a fun thing to think about — what have you learned about the power of that kind of fandom? And are there ways that those of us, whether we’re in the Broadway industry or more broadly in the arts industry, that we can be better tapping into the fandom from an institution perspective and an invitational perspective?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. So I’m an enthusiastic person and I love enthusiastically loving things and I find theaters so ripe for that because of the fact that you can really engage in every part of it when it comes to a show, a cast album, an actor, a performance, whatever. One show that does a really, really good job of it is Operation Mincemeat. They have really tapped into the fandom of it all. They always do all these promotions, all of these things like Golden Fan where they’re looking for the person that bought the one millionth ticket in the world to see Mincemeat, weird stuff like that, but it just really fits. And I think that’s the biggest thing is I’m creating events and creating opportunities for people to fall in love with your show and fall in love with your performers and fall in love with your things. That keeps your fans craving more.

So Titanique did a thing for their box office opening where they had a costume contest and people got in line and then the whole cast showed up and they were taking selfies and they were talking to people. The fact that Marlon Mandel was walking along the line taking selfies with people, that’s so fun! That’s so fun.

Monica Holt: Well, and I love hearing you talk about some of these examples because I think a lot of times we can get stuck in thinking about new ways of promotion or new ways of doing things can take too much time or too much money. But a lot of what you’re talking about is just really trying to connect with the audience and what an audience wants. And I think we can take little gems of these lessons to whatever art form people are working on in the moment.

Ashley Hufford: And I also think that people get confused. They think if we’re doing a behind the scenes shoot, we have to hire a camera crew, we have to hire a sound guy. I’m like, you don’t need to do any of that. Get a 25-year-old with an iPhone, shoot it, and post it. That video that feels authentic and that feels genuine is always going to do better than anything high-end produced.

Monica Holt: And it’s just in this moment of evolution where we keep seeing kind of half and half and people being unsure how to jump in fully. And I think for folks who are struggling with where to invest their money, some of it is: just try the cheap and cheerful thing and get moving. But we have to be staying tuned in. Even if you’re a director of marketing and you’re not usually in a certain space online, get tuned in, find your friends there, because they’re going to help steer you in the right direction to ideas that you might not have had.

Ashley Hufford: And almost every city is going to have the local influencer. And even if that person is not doing theater content, invite them. And then you start a relationship with that person. So even if they’re like, “Oh, I can’t make this show,” you’re like, “Well, we’d love to have you in for the next show.” I think wherever you are, you can find that audience to market to, and there are people that are wanting that content. And also numbers are not always the thing. Wherever you are, you might find a local influencer that has 5,000 followers, but they would have a crazy amount of engagement and those 5,000 followers are going to every restaurant they recommend and seeing everything they’re saying to see.

Monica Holt: I think that’s so well put. Do you have a specific memory, whether you were involved or not, of where the kind of audience energy tied to online community changed the trajectory of a production?

Ashley Hufford: Actually, Maybe Happy Ending is a really good example of this because Maybe Happy Ending famously almost didn’t even open and then were having not great numbers and then suddenly now have been running for over a year. Obviously you have Darren Chris. People love Darren Chris. But I really do think that people love the show and there has been such good audience engagement around the show that even when Darren leaves, I think they’re still going to be able to find their people. And at the same time, they’ve also created a really good job of like, people want to see their understudies. That’s, I think, the other big thing is creating your show not just around your leads, but also around the people who are alternates. The understudies, the swings. Queen of Versailles obviously isn’t open anymore, but they made a whole event when Sherie Rene Scott got to go in for Kristen. And that was one of my favorite shows of the year because the energy was so good.

Monica Holt: Absolutely. Well, and you think of Caroline Bowman going in in Sunset Boulevard, too. Like that was —

Ashley Hufford: That’s a great example. Great example.

Monica Holt: Beautiful moment. Theater and particularly Broadway are still talked about a lot as being inaccessible. And I think you’re passionate not just about introducing people to theater, but making sure it does feel financially accessible.

Ashley Hufford: Yeah.

Monica Holt: What tips do you give to your followers for finding affordable tickets?

Ashley Hufford: I do think there are so many ways to get tickets to a lot of shows. There are definitely shows that you cannot get a cheap discount ticket to. If you are under the age of 30, if you’re under the age of 40, but definitely under the age of 30, MTC, Lincoln Center, Second Stage, they all have programs for tickets that are like $40 or less. If you qualify for TDF, which is the Theater Development Fund, they have a membership, I think it’s like $40 a year. And if you fall into one of these million categories, you qualify and you can get discounted tickets to Broadway shows. And they have a ton of different shows, like comedies, dramas, off Broadway. But right now you can go see… & Juliet, Chess, Death Becomes Her, Wild Party are all on there. That’s a really good option of ways to see affordable theater.

If you have TodayTix, there’s so many lotteries and rush and there are a lot of ways to see theater.

Monica Holt: One of the things I wanted to know from your perspective was if there are folks following you online or otherwise who haven’t been to the theater since they were a kid, what would you want them to know before they walked back into one?

Ashley Hufford: Just go in with an open mind with the idea of like, you’re watching live people put on a live performance and that is so special. And the show that you are seeing, you’re the only person that will ever see that. You and the people in this room with you are the only people that are ever going to experience that, even if you go see the show again tomorrow. That’s so cool. When you see a movie, if you go see that movie again, you’re seeing the same movie, but theater’s not like that.

Monica Holt: And it’s not just what the artists are doing on stage, it’s how people are reacting to them.

Ashley Hufford: Right, correct. I always joke about Hadestown, being in the room for the gasp. The gasp changes every single night and it’s so exciting.

Monica Holt: That’s exactly right. And also this summer I was in London and I had tickets to see Evita on a Tuesday. We talk a lot about Andrew Lloyd Webber for whatever reason on this podcast. It just cannot be helped these days, but we had tickets to see Evita on Tuesday and when we landed all of the videos — it was previews week — all the videos had just started coming out of her on the balcony. Ms. Zegler. And so I was like, “Well, clearly we’re going to need to see this twice.” So we got tickets for that afternoon. When we saw it that day and the scene came up in the theater and people in the theater who were not online 24 hours a day saw the video of her outside, there was an audible gasp throughout the audience because it was the fifth performance. By the time we saw it Tuesday night, less of the audience was surprised about…

Ashley Hufford: Right!

Monica Holt: And so it’s just always interesting to see how audiences evolve. No, I’m so glad that you said that. Okay. What is giving you hope about the future of theater right now?

Ashley Hufford: Looking at the season at first, I was kind of being like, “Oh, there’s not a lot of shows coming in. I’m a little sad about it.” And then I was like, “Oh, the reason there’s not a lot of shows coming in is because shows are staying open.” & Juliet is still open, Maybe Happy Ending is still open, The Outsiders is still open, Operation Mincemeat is still open. That is a really good thing. And I also think we’re getting so many incredible regional premieres to the point that there are shows that want to come to Broadway, that want to come in, that just don’t have room. Last year I think was kind of the end of this backup of shows that were the pre-COVID era, where shows that have been workshopping that got completely stopped because of COVID now were sort of able to come in. And now we’re getting this post-wave of these new musicals, these new plays.

In 2017, part of my show-a-year, I saw School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, and that’s coming to Broadway in the fall. And I saw that show almost a decade ago. These development processes are so long, and I’m really glad that they’re still happening.

Monica Holt: Right. And that we’re still seeing the fruits of labor that didn’t just get dropped off.

Ashley Hufford: Yeah.

Monica Holt: Ashley, we have gotten to our quickfire culture section. What is one piece of culture — a TV show, a book, et cetera — that you are currently obsessed with? I might know this already.

Ashley Hufford: Okay. So we have already kind of talked about this, but I got to go Heated Rivalry. I read the books in 2021, so I’ve been following the creation of the show for a little bit and I just started making videos about it because I wanted to talk about it. And it’s funny how many people I’ve gotten who follow me from it and then who later on will be like, “Oh, I didn’t know you also like theater.” And I was like, “That’s really funny. But yeah, I also really like theater!”

Monica Holt: All are welcome from all vantage points. Absolutely. Okay. If you could go back in time, what live performance or event would you like to have been present at?

Ashley Hufford: Ooh, that’s a really good one. It’s sort of cheating because obviously there is a pro shot of this, but it’s the original Into the Woods from 1991. And again, I’ve watched the pro shot, so it’s sort of fake because I have seen it. I also would love to see the original Ragtime. That would be amazing.

Monica Holt: Well, the first time that art reached an audience. Right?

Ashley Hufford: Yeah. Right. Where you’re like, “Oh, we’re seeing something that’s transformative.”

Monica Holt: Love that. What is one free resource, which can be in any field, that you think more people should use?

Ashley Hufford: I love a library, so I’m always going to be like, join your library. But The New York Public Library specifically, and I think a lot of people can actually join The New York Public Library no matter where you live. They have a program. And the Performing Arts Library in New York is incredible. Exceptional. Highly recommend.

Monica Holt: The best. I will say, New York Public Library is our most suggested resource so much that we have invited Brent Reidy, who is the director of the research libraries, to be a guest later this season.

Ashley Hufford: That’s so funny.

Monica Holt: And then finally, if you could broadcast one message to executive directors, leaders, staff at arts organizations around the world, what would that message be today?

Ashley Hufford: Open your doors. Bring people in. Don’t be afraid to show people your rehearsal processes, your workshops, your readings. The more people see what you’re doing, the more likely they will come to your shows. People are so afraid of showing early work. And again, I’m aware that is a intense, personal, vulnerable thing. But I think opening those doors and letting people kind of fall in love with the process is just as important as getting to see the final thing. And in a lot of ways, I think it’s better.

Monica Holt: Beautifully said. Ashley, thank you so much for the time today. It’s such a joy to spend a little time with you and thank you. Really appreciate it.

Ashley Hufford: This was so much fun.

Monica Holt: Thank you for listening to CI to Eye. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please take a moment to rate us or leave a review. A nice comment goes a long way in helping other people discover the show. And if you haven’t already, click the subscribe button wherever you get your podcasts. We’ve got some great episodes coming your way and I wouldn’t want you to miss them. A huge thanks to our team behind the scenes, including Karen McConarty, Yeaye Stemn, Stephanie Medina, Jess Berube, and Rachel Purcell Fountain. Our music is by whoisuzo. Don’t forget to follow Capacity on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube for regular content to help you market smarter. You can also sign up for Capacity’s newsletter at capacityinteractive.com. And I hope you’ll reach out to us to let us know who you’d like to hear from next on CI to Eye. I’m Monica Holt. Thanks for listening.