Did you like the Publicist Parade? I learned many things, and here are two of them: 1. I send out press releases way too late and 2. I miss blogging when I don't get to do it. Decide for yourselves whether or not those two points are at all related. Here's what I didn't write about but wanted to this week:Is this black thing New York City Opera's new logo or is it just an image for the upcoming season?Because...And I mean...I also thought a lot about anticipation this week, which perhaps I will flesh out at a later point. I finally watched the … [Read more...]

Are you sick of me? If you are, then next week on Life's a Pitch is just for you! All week long, I'll post interviews with other NYC-based classical musical publicists. Each independant publicist or firm has been asked the same set of questions, and hopefully no one cheated and shared answers (ahem).  All your (well, at least my) publicity questions are sure to be answered, and by New York City's finest, so tune in starting Monday! … [Read more...]

It's no small wonder magazines are folding. Here's what happened yesterday: I filled out an application to join MediaBistro and it asked me whether I wanted a free subscription to New York, Wired, Gourmet or W magazines. Erm...Wired?And then I thought, speaking of magazines, where the Murray Perahia have my New Yorkers and Vanity Fairs gone off to? And why didn't I get the last two issues of my beloved Domino, may she rest in peace. So I got on the horn with Conde Nast, only to learn that they had removed a "3" from my address for no apparent … [Read more...]

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...]