New York Times: The Fine Art of Selling a Show

This is a must read and must hear.
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/theater/21posters.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/21/theater/20100321-lacage-interactive.html


By ERIK PIEPENBURG
Published: March 16, 2010

REMEMBER when a poster with a little French street waif or a pair of cat’s eyes was enough to sell a Broadway show? Now, with advertising trying to stand out on television, the Internet and mobile devices, choosing the right Broadway campaign often means finding a look that is flexible enough for different platforms, and one that also catches attention quickly.
For the coming revival of “La Cage aux Folles,” Sonia Friedman, one of the producers, hung poster candidates on her office walls for a week, then asked herself, “Do I want to live with this for the rest of my life?”

Ms. Friedman and Drew Hodges, chief executive of the advertising agency SpotCo, discussed SpotCo-designed posters that were rejected for “La Cage,” which begins previews on April 6 at the Longacre Theater. An interactive feature on these and other options, including the final version, is here.

THE CONCEPTION “Something very simple with a lot of wit felt good,” Mr. Hodges recalled. “We just got some fake eyelashes and a fake mustache and laid them down on a scanner. It seemed sweet and had a wink, literally. It says, 'This is a show that has a lot of charm and cleverness.' ”

THE VERDICT “It's quite clever, but it doesn't draw you in,” Ms. Friedman said. “If you do a comedy logo, it's not taking on the other aspects of the play. If you do a sexy one, it's alienating the audience from the other aspects.”

ABOVE, CENTER

THE CONCEPTION “This image was based on posters from the south of France from the 1940s through the 1970s,” Mr. Hodges said. “Here we kept adding more stubble to the legs and bumping up the calf muscles. We embraced that these guys were guys, and that there was humor in that. But if you don't notice the stubble, you don't get the gender crossover. Then it's just a woman with shoes. That's no fun.”

THE VERDICT Also a no-go. “We all agreed that the Cagelles were at the heart of this production,” Ms. Friedman said, referring to the show's chorus line of female impersonators. “They are so dominant that we wanted to feature them in the art but in a way that reflects our production, as opposed to how people would imagine transvestites looking. As the curtain goes up, the Cagelles are in silhouette behind a colored gauze. It's pretty much what we ended up with in the final art.”

ABOVE, RIGHT

THE CONCEPTION “This one was very intentionally made to reflect disco graphics, Fiorucci, nightclubs like Xenon and Studio 54, and the lushness of that period,” Mr. Hodges said. “In some ways it's very successful in doing that, but less successful at all the other things that are in the show. It's a little too cold. It's also a little too sexual.”

THE VERDICT “I don't think it's our show,” Ms. Friedman said. “It feels quite aggressive, and 'La Cage' isn't aggressive. We wouldn't do art that we think will appeal to the tourist who is probably going to come to New York to see 'Phantom.' We would exclude the audience that will come, the target audience, New Yorkers and the serious musicalgoer.”