My New Play: Theater Publicity Resources for Producers, Directors and Playwrights Who Want to Sell More Tickets

Theaters CAN Get on Television

Can you picture yourself on TV talking about your new play? Want to make it happen? I suggest you read the new book "Get on TV" by Jacqui Jordan. I was a corporate TV producer for 5 years and know that Jacqui knows her stuff. Just the section on creating a low cost Demo Reel--even if you have never been on TV before--is worth 100 times the price of her book!

Here are MY tips for adapting Jacqui's advice specifically to promoting your new play (or mine):

1. Fair use general includes a few lines of dialog or up to 4 measure from a song (check your production contract to help stay out of trouble)
2. Show a BIT of the play (or song), then cut to interviews of actors, directors and patrons for reactions
3. Use all those stage lights to shoot better video images
4. People love to look behind the scenes, so bring give them a back stage pass
5. People love tips they can use in real life, so teach viewers how acting, drama, comedy or theater can make them a better mom, dad, teacher or soccer coach
6. Provide "B-roll" or raw footage that the TV producer can cut into their/your segment
7. Don't be afraid to pitch a whole show around your play or your theater--it's about as easy for a producer to pitch a hole show as it is to pitch a single segment--oh, and have back-up ideas ready for your pitch meeting or call.

TV is a blast. Jacquie's book makes it easy. I highly recommend it. ISBN 1-4022-0591-0. Click here to see Jacqui's demo reel.

New Opening Number for "Big Feet, Big Love"

The new "Big Feet, Big Love" opening number is recorded and off to the engraver for transcription. I was thinking of something to capture the feeling, the theme, the core of the show--like "Tradition" in "Fiddler on the Roof." I don't know if my songwriting rises to that level, but the opening number is called "Eat More Pop Corn" and each character sings about how they are not getting what they want out of life. Of course, if they keep doing what they've been doing, they will NEVER get what they want--it's kind of like eating popcorn when you are thirsty. Strangely, the song came out with a nice Gordon Lightfoot sort of sound. Nothing wrong with that! Give me a few weeks to get the lead sheet back and work with the song and I'll see if I can post a video here for your amusement.

To learn more about my new play, click here.

Rodney's Theater Television Challenge

I challenge you to find the local public access television channels in your area, put them in your Rolodex (or Outlook) file, and pitch them SOME-thing to do with your next play. I dare you! Heck, I'll even give you a link that makes it easy:

Rodney's Link to Public Access TV Channels

When I took the challenge, I found 3 stations and a dozen shows practically next door. These were all the type of small shows I used to struggle to produce in college (I lost count at about 50 segments). Nobody EVER sent me a press kit, but I would have LOVED to have a fun guest help me on a segment. So, take the challenge then click the link and share your results with me via e-mail.

Tell Rodney Robbins what happened when you took the challenge.

Theater Publicity and Your Next Headline

Everyone who does theater publicity needs a Swipe File. A Swipe File is a box, a file folder or a little part of your brain that keeps track of great headlines and story ideas from "out there." Now, if you are going to swipe publicity ideas (and we all do), you might as well steel from the best. This morning, news anchor Robin Meade ran a great segment on "Morning Express with Robin Meade" it was called:

Good News in a Bad Economy

This is a great subject for theater publicity! Why? We could all use a little good news right now and newspapers and media outlets want to run hopeful stories. Every person you hire, every smart financial move you make, every first-time (or long-suffering-veteran) actor you cast, every new musical you produce is automatically Good News in a Bad Economy. Your story is automatically topical, newsworthy, interesting, unusual and useful for the readers and viewers. You just need to pitch it that way to get media coverage that's almost automatic. Try it this week and share your results using the "Comment" link below.

To read more of my news releases click here. To read a fun biography, one that won't put your media contacts to sleep read mine (Rodney Robbins) here.

4. The Fourth Use for a News Release

News releases are useful tools for getting your story to the press, and hopefully, to the theater going public. But even if you get coverage in the newspaper, a magazine or a blog, chances are only 50-50 that the readers will read your story. Why? What people read first, what people read most, what busy people with kids and jobs and layoffs and car repairs and sick pets actually "read," is the pictures and captions, maybe the headlines, seldom the stories. So, the forth use of a news release is to dream up photo opportunities.

Every press release you send, every single one, should have a little line at the bottom that says something like this:

PHOTOGRAPHY SUGGESTION: Your readers might enjoy seeing our dancers in one of the bizarre and wonderful poses created by our master choreographer.

It doesn't have to be dancers--your subject could be the beautiful lead actress, the studly male lead, the comedy relief, the costumes, the sets, the grizzled lighting designer or a shot of your new radial arm saw blasting out jets of saw dust. As long as it's visually stunning, or at least interesting, people will look and you'll get the publicity you're looking for.

Photography Suggestions

Send your own photos. With tighter deadlines and smaller staffs, bringing a picture that is truly suitable will really help. Check the media outlet's website, or call, for details on the picture formats they can use.

Simplify the background. I hate theater publicity shots with bright costumes, busy stages, tiny actors and black windows. Ick! Sets, even the best sets in the world, look like crap in a newspaper photograph or tiny web thumbnail. Sorry. Faces, on the other hand, look great! Especially angry, sad, happy, crying, smirking, expressive faces. Cut the background down to a single, solid color or vague abstract shapes and more people will look at your pictures and read your captions.

Two shots are best. (A "two shot" is any shot with two actors, especially one from the waist up.) Group shots won't usually grab the viewing audience-the faces are too small and far away. Close-ups are good if the story is about one particular actor.

Think Hollywood, not Broadway. I believe Hollywood publicity experts understand how to use film better than Broadway producers. A publicity still is not a theater marque poster, it's more like a headshot.

Pitch the Photo Editor. Don't forget that you can use your press release to brainstorm publicity photo ideas, to send out with a photo suggestion included, and to call or send a photography pitch to the photo editor. Theater publicity doesn't get much easier than pitching a cool photography idea then showing up with your actors while an experienced photo journalist helps make your show, or mine, look like a million bucks.

Next time, the fifth use for a news release. This one will suprise you.

3. The Third Use for a Press Release

You've use the news release writing process to fine tune your idea. You've sent out your press release to a dozen (or a hundred) local media contacts. What ELSE can you do with a press release? You can use it to help you write a pitch letter or plan a pitch call.

Pitch Letters

A pitch letter is not a press release. It is much more personal than a standard press release. It is specifically slanted to the exact media outlet you are contacting, even the exact person you are contacting. It is the difference between a new play submitted with a form letter and a new play submitted with a personal letter from someone you know. "Jim, I heard you just got back from London. Hope you had a great time. Here is information about that new play we talked about last week." Only with a reporter, it might read, "Dear Jim, I loved your article about the London theater scene--especially that story about meeting Alasdair Middleton, author of The Enchanted Pig. We are having a meet the author event to publicize our premier of Big Feet, Big Love. We would love to have you stop by on Wednesday evening ..." Some event. Different, more personal pitch.

Pitch Calls

TV and radio people often prefer their pitches as phone calls rather than letters. Why? There world is very fast paced and they have a million things going on at one time. You can use all your research, facts, photograph ideas and so on to condense everything down to a 10-15 second pitch. It's hard to write a good 10 second pitch without having finished writing a good press release. You need that factual basis, that clearly thought through feeling that you get with a news release. You need all your information close at hand so you can pick and choose the most important information to include in a very brief pitch. This pitch should also be personalized. I know from calling and being called that pitch calls for the completely wrong show or idea or play are unwelcome and annoying. Don't pitch a how to show to a news program. Don't pitch hard news to a fluffy morning show.

Pitch Letter and Pitch Calls Summary

Remember, news releases are broadcasting; pitch letters are narrow casting. You might send 250 news releases on the off chance that some daily four counties away will write about your new show. You might only write three pitch letters and make four phone calls using the same information. "Janet, I'm calling you first to tell you about this special event we have planned. It's exactly the kind of thing I know you love to cover!" With a pitch letter, it's all about them! People appreciate that.

Read more about Rodney Robbins, author and playwright, here.

Theater Publicity and Plan B

Theater publicity doesn't have much to do with flying a sea plane in Alaska, but this story does. A veteran pilot was planning a trip deep into the bug infested tundra. In preparing for the trip, he purchased a new emergency locator  beacon. He bought the newest, snazziest, most high tech gizmo he could find, but since his low power, beat-up, low tech old beacon still worked, he kept it with him. Sure enough, a freak storm knocked him down into the water and he barely made it to dry land. Ten days later, he was finally found when a passing rescue helicopter "heard" his rescue beacon--that's right, the old, beat-up, low tech plan B emergency locator.

When you are in charge of theater publicity for a new show, you need a plan B.

• Counting on radio spots?
• If they don't click, you'll need to go to radio interviews fast.
• Planning on using photographs?
• If that doesn't work, you'll need to go to press releases quickly.
• All excited about setting up interviews with your big name director?
• If he's unquotable, you'll need to be able to switch seamlessly to media savvy actors.

If you have "cast" or hired a Publicity Manager, all he'll have to do is move on to the next stage of his ongoing media blitz. But what if you don't have a Publicity Manager? You are surrounded by creative people--let them help you draft a plan B, then maybe even a plan C. If the goal is to sell more tickets, it's hard to get too much publicity.

New Opening Number for "Big Feet, Big Love"

Bowing to pressure from successful Broadway shows, I have given my new play a Jerome Robbins style opening number. The new opening number is called, "Eat More Pop Corn" and serves to kick off "Big Feet, Big Love" with a fast moving production number that not only gets the juices flowing, but also introduce each of the main characters and what drives them. 

The title comes from the saying, "You can never eat enough popcorn to quench your thirst." Which is so true that when you say it out loud, it sounds like a no-brainer. Still, all of us, at one time or another, has wasted days or years trying to get what we think we want. It can be both sad and liberating to learn our very struggle for happiness is making us miserable, that our heart wants what is bad for us, that we don't understand ourselves very well, that we are trying so very hard because we can't admit that we're headed in the wrong direction. I've certainly felt like that. 

So, "Eat More Pop Corn" quickly gets to the root of each characters problem, and gives everyone a great excuse to dance. Do you want to take a peak at the lyrics? Write to me, Rodney Robbins, and I'll share them with you.

I Was Wrong

In writing class, they told me, "You have to care about the people in the car before you see the car crash." So, for my Valentine's Day musical "Big Feet, Big Love," I opened with a little guitar solo and a character revealing scene. However, on watching a biography of Jerome Robbins, I noticed that basically all his musicals opened with a big production number. That's just what people expect. While I can't say that they are always necessary, it certainly doesn't do any harm to give the customer what she wants--I believe Dick Big would agree with me. Besides, any excuse is a good excuse to add a little more song and dance to a musical. So, now I'm working on a new song for the opening of my show. I promise it will be something BIG.

Headline: Recession Hits The Arts

You saw it coming and here it is. The Charlotte Observer headline reads, "Cutbacks Are Front and Center for Arts Groups." The Observer article goes on to say that "Actor's Theater of Charlotte ... plans shows with smaller casts and will trim one play next year." If the politicians are willing to cut teacher benefits and salaries, they are certainly willing to cut funding for the arts. When Washington Fat Cats give $100-billion to greedy investment bankers and brain dead CEOs who have proven they can't manage money, there just isn't as much left for those of us who actually broke even last year.

So, whatcha gonna do?

Well, ahem, what would you expect me to say in a theater publicity blog? Get out there and sell! Don't bitch and moan (much) about your funding being cut, just talk about your new (more affordable) show and how perfect it is for your local audience. Share testimonials from local people who enjoyed the show. Give free previews. Get on the radio. Let the tax payers see their tax dollars at work. Get on the air and share cost cutting techniques with other business owners. Show people you are just like them, making do in a tough financial situation. Give a little. "We know times are tough, that's why we're offering this free show at the high school." "We, as actors, know what it's like to be judged and to scrounge around for a job--that's why we're hosting this free job interview workshop called, Act Like You've Got the Job." For more media hooks, click here.

The whole point of publicity (rather than advertising) is that is is impartial and FREE (or at least very low cost). So, even though times are tough financially, these are good times to do MORE theater publicity.