About us
Behind every show, every opening night, every run that somehow comes together, there’s a quieter reality most people never see. Artists repeating the same performance week after week. Producers balancing funding gaps, venue negotiations, and endless paperwork. The work asks a lot physically, creatively, emotionally, and the business doesn’t make it easier. Productions want to pay artists better. Audiences expect more for less. And with every new project, there’s an unspoken question: what if it doesn’t land?
Audience Lab exists inside that tension.
We started it as a newsletter and community built from real conversations with producers, independent artists, and creative directors, people navigating what it actually takes to get the work made. Not the vision, but everything in between. We document what they say, what they’re dealing with, and the patterns that start to emerge when you listen closely.
Who we are
Two outsiders working across the edges of the industry.
Serge Labelle
Serge spent decades inside the industry — Olympic coaching, then six-plus years at Cirque du Soleil leading international liaison, partnerships, and marketing. He understands how deals actually get made. He reads rooms, relationships, and opportunities in ways that aren’t written down anywhere. He operates from inside the circle.
Yuko Nakamura
Yuko came from cross-cultural facilitation between Japan and North America, then asked to learn from Serge almost as an apprentice. Over time, that became a true partnership. Yuko translates not just language but intent — and questions assumptions that insiders accept as fixed. Yuko operates from the edge of the circle, connecting dots.
Join the conversation
We don’t have the answers. But we’re in the room with people who are living these questions, and we’re documenting what we hear, as it unfolds.
If this feels close to your own experience, this is where those conversations continue.