“Tecumseh!” Has Breakout Year

Presented By Classic Brands

Our Litter Media cameras sat down with Scioto Society CEO Brandon Smith as the season for the outdoor drama Tecumseh! was winding down, with their final 2021 show on Sunday, September 5th.

Smith said “Its been almost shocking, really, how many people have come through this summer. We were really anticipating doing very, very low crowds that averaged maybe 300-400 people per night, but it has certainly been more than that. In fact it might wind up being that we have the largest attendance in the past decade. So it has been a great summer. People have been happy to get out, people have been so nice to each other this year. We have a lot of family reunions at the theatre this year- people that haven’t seen their family in the last year are coming together and its been a wonderful experience.”

Smith also said the need for a smaller cast in the show has led to many positives, including them being of the most close-knit casts since he’s been back as the producer.

Smith also wanted to thank the community along with the Ross-Chillicothe Foundation, Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau for their support, which was essential in them getting back on stage in 2021.

“Outdoor drama as an industry has led the way this year on how to reopen theaters, safely. Of the four to five big ones (outdoor shows) that opened this year, I believe all of those folks were having very high attendance”, Smith said. “With only one exception, none of the shows had anyone that got sick, which is incredible when you consider we are talking about hundreds of thousands of people going through these theatres. We all did it the right way. We did it slowly and deliberately and it has paid off.” 

Smith says theatres and sports events around the nation collaborated with each other on what was working for their returning to outdoor entertainment.