Over the past two weeks, Iowa City’s theater fans had the opportunity to attend and provide direct feedback about the musical-in-progress, “The Boy with the Sun in His Eyes.”
Over three different days, the creator of the musical, Steven Gross, held workshop-style performances that allowed the audience a chance to offer their opinions about its current state. Gross created several ways to receive the audience’s input. The audience could write their reactions in-person on an index card, scan a QR code to fill out a survey, or tell Gross directly.
There were originally more performances scheduled than were held, but they had to be canceled or moved due to the frigid weather. This put a small damper on Gross’ initial idea of holding a few talkbacks after the shows to try to get a perception of what viewers’ thoughts were right after watching the piece…