About a month ago, I posted (here) about how box offices aren't open during and after performances:Presumably we are all 100% behind the artistic product we put into this world, so logic would dictate that the time patrons would be most willing to buy additional tickets would be directly following a performance they've just enjoyed. With that in mind, why aren't box offices open after 8pm? They close when the performance starts, so love your experience or not, you're not buying another ticket after the show unless you go home to your computer. … [Read more...]

My friend Joe e mailed me this morning, attached the following, and asked, "Does it seem like ads might now be more important than news?" … [Read more...]

Aliza and I went to the equality rally hosted by the cast of Hair yesterday and were only mistaken for a couple once, far as we could tell. (To which she said, "Hey mister, she's my sister!" Sisters? We're close.)David Hyde Pierce and Cynthia Nixon were both fantastic speakers. The Mayor and the Governor showed up, which made me mildly regret snapping at a Bloomberg caller about term limits and The American Constitution the other day. The group behind the rally - which was apparently organized in just ten days - is called Broadway Impact. … [Read more...]

Circa once a week, I'll post an interview with someone who knows a whole 'lot more than I do about specific marketing and publicity topics. This week, I'm very excited to talk to my very first critic (well, for the blog, anyway): Denver Post arts critic Kyle MacMillan. Here's Kyle on having something to actually pitch, on enjoying the new-found benefits of a one-paper town, and on thinking globally/acting locally. An alumnus of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, Kyle MacMillan has been an arts critic for more than two … [Read more...]

Question: Why don't either of the two massive banners for the Lincoln Center 50th Anniversary at the Time Warner Center tell us how or with whom we will be celebrating? (The second banner hanging to the right of this one is identical.) What kind of programming and which artists will the festivities include? Are we not excited enough about this to put an exclamation point after "Anniversary"? That's too bad. Was there not space to maybe list some of the features of the new plaza? What's my motivation for going to LincolnCenter.org/50? Lots of … [Read more...]

You had me at "when the moon", Broadway revival of Hair cast, but you've taken audience participation - or rather, cast participation - to a new level. From Perez Hilton, courtesy of my sister: … [Read more...]

After recently writing about Alvin Ailey's Extension program (dance classes for "real people"), I decided try it out last weekend. It didn't hurt that Sunday was a beautiful day, but the scene around the building was quite lovely and inviting. There were attractive actual dancers (not that "real people" can't be attractive, too...) hanging out on the steps outside, and the ground-floor studio is all-windows so passersby can see what's going on inside (ahem).That said, I'm glad my class was on the sixth floor; no need to use Real People Zumba to … [Read more...]

For the first time in a very long time, I spent an entire day with high school boys. No, I'm not The Cougar, I simply went to the Star Trek movie and then to the Village Vanguard to see jazz pianist Brad Mehldau this past Saturday.As previously planned, my mom, Aliza and I got to the movie theater at Lincoln Center precisely one hour and a half early for Star Trek. I'd guesstimate we were about People 29, 30 and 31 in line at that point, and out of those people, we probably doubled the number of women. That said, after posting about the … [Read more...]

On Wednesday night, my friend Joe and I discovered that we will both be taking our Treky moms to see the Star Trek IMAX for Mother's Day. Joe and I get along quite well, have similar jobs, etc. so there's no great shock that our upbringings may have been alike, but we were wondering: is the Mother's Day/Star Trek movie correlation some kind of stealth marketing agenda? Are there great throngs of people with Treky mothers we don't know about? Chauvenist norms would seem to dictate that releasing the movie around Father's Day might sell more … [Read more...]

Speaking of advertising on ArtsJournal, an ad for the 2009 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera caught my eye:Columbia University and the National Endowment for the Arts are pleased to announce the 6th annual Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera. This 10-day intensive workshop brings writers and editors from across the country to New York City for a total immersion in the world of classical music and opera. The twenty-four fellows will attend nightly performances, participate in writing workshops, take … [Read more...]

I don't really do publicity for free. Well, I suppose this blog is free ("  "), and on occasion I'll write a friend's bio or look at a website for free. And I have lunch with people and brainstorm about PR more than I probably should for free, and sometimes I pitch artists who aren't mine for the sake of good stories everywhere for, what I guess is technically, "free". But generally, this is my job; concert/show tickets and clothes must be bought and rent must be paid, usually in that order. Which is why it's totally ridiculous that … [Read more...]

You'd think from the number of times I've mentioned my jury duty on this blog I had served on a three-month trial. In actuality, I only spent 2 days on jury selection, and wasn't even chosen to serve, probably due to the fact that, when given the opportunity to ask anything of one of the defense attorneys, I asked if he truly believed in every client he chose to represent. Next. The other defense attorney possessed an uncanny ability to not connect with any of us. One woman in the front row had written down "reading" as a hobby on her jury … [Read more...]

I am much-delayed in posting this: my sister forwarded it along to "keep me occupied" during jury duty.  My expert opinion is that this is a Good Promotion. I was going to make it relevant by suggesting some string quartets I'd like to see "jersey swap", but I honestly couldn't come up with any. … [Read more...]

Last week, Judith Dobrzynski at Real Clear Arts posted this thought:With newspapers and magazines shrinking faster than the ozone layer, coverage of events like this concert will disappear except for blogs. And that creates a large problem for arts institutions dependent on the media for free marketing and PR, especially those in the performing arts.  I was talking about this very subject last week with the PR head of an important music institution. Though he hasn't lost coverage by mainstream … [Read more...]