 st. louis . metroeast . theatre |
st. louis . metroeast . theatre |
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Nicole Hudson and Aaron Banks
With more than 100 theatrical organizations, the St. Louis metro offers practically everything a performing arts junkie could want - except a professional outlet dedicated to what's happening on St. Louis stages. Nicole Hudson and Aaron Banks plan to change all that with 3rdRowCenter.com, an online resource for performance and venue information, reviews, message boards, and more.
3rdRow team: Hudson calls herself the "mom" of 3rdRowCenter.com, and it's not hard to see why. As co-founder and CEO, she first came up with the idea of a comprehensive online resource for St. Louis theater after moving back to her hometown from New York City, where she'd lived for nine years. For technical support, she turned to long-time friend, Aaron Banks, a professional database programmer.
Like second nature: With her mix of expertise in theater, marketing, online production, and strategy, Hudson realized it was a natural next step to create St. Louis' premiere online performing arts portal. She earned her theater degree at Northwestern University, where she did a little bit of everything, including producing, directing, lighting design, stage management, and even playing violin in the pit. After graduation, she participated in Disney Theatrical Productions' inaugural internship program, and worked on Beauty and the Beast and the first workshops of The Lion King. Next, she was hired by Cameron Mackintosh (producer of Les Miserablés and The Phantom and the Opera) to spearhead the company's online efforts (she was told they needed "someone who knew theater and wasn't afraid of computers"). Since then, Hudson has worked as an executive producer for several interactive marketing firms. She's also continued to produce and perform.
Theater tech: While Banks calls Hudson the true "theater aficionado," he has his own theater chops. The son of actress Mardra Thomas, Banks grew up around theater, and performed throughout his childhood and teens, including in productions with Hudson at Edwardsville High School. Later, he attended Morehouse College, where he left theater behind to play saxophone in a jazz band. He currently works as a database programmer for a large insurance company. But, he says, "theater's always been a part of me."
Hear the people sing: While working with Cameron Mackintosh, Hudson was given a unique opportunity. "In planning the website for Les Miz, they had the foresight to see what kind of impact the internet could have on marketing," says Hudson. In her work with the show, she launched the first large-scale site solely dedicated a musical. The robust site allowed Hudson to exploit her already deep experience with theater in the online space - she was an early adopter of Usenet groups for theater - and pioneer innovative, theater-related features, such as discussion groups, role-playing activities and ticket giveaways.
Creating the hype: When describing the local theater scene, Hudson says. "St. Louis has a unique blend of enthusiasm, talent and support - proportionate to the number of people, I'd say the level of interest here is even greater than that in New York." Her goal, with 3rdRowCenter, is to harness that energy and help attract the audience it deserves. "If you hype it," she says, "they will come." Banks is equally excited about what the site can give to his hometown: "There's just so much out there to see and do," he says, "Now there's no excuse not to."
