A Chorus Line's New Cast

America’s longest running musical ever, A Chorus Line, has casted 17 new dancers. This gave so many people the opportunity to do what they’ve always dreamed of. Not necessarily get the leading role in a Broadway show, but be able to dance in one of the most well known musicals known to the Broadway stage. In its most recent audition, Mario Lopez was welcomed to the cast. He is known for his phenomenal dancing on Dancing with the Stars and also for his role as A.C. Slater on the 90’s hit teen sitcom Saved by the Bell. Lopez will be joined by Deidre Goodwim, who played Velma Kelly in Chicago. This cast will without a doubt wow the audience more so than ever before. Tickets to the show are available and offer group discounts. For a quick preview of the show, click on the following link. http://www.broadway.com/gen/general.aspx?ci=551849

Top 10 Shows

According to its ticket sales the top 10 most lucrative shows, according to Broadway.com, are no secret. This applies only to last weeks ticket sales. The Frontrunners (by gross) are as follows, and are no surprise. At the top of the list, Wicked!!!! Bringing in $1,506,420, The Lion King at $1,206,587, Jersey Boys at $1,131,348, The Little Mermaid at $1,007,862, and Mary Popins at $1,162, 183. I'm really glad that The Little Mermaid is doing extremely well considering it just opened recently and there have been mixed reviews about it. It's already bringing in more ticket sales than many shows that have been running for a while. The 5 underdogs are Passing Strange $198,628, The Homecoming $162,990, Xanadu $168,990, Les Liaisons Dangereuses $87,613, and Thurgood which grossed $79,175. All of these numbers are calculated based on 2 or 3 preview performances. The data was provided by the Broadway League.

Hairspray's New Star

One of the hottest shows on Broadway right now is Hairspray. I saw it 5 years ago when it first came out. Since then, it has been drawing a lot off attention especially because of the movie that was released in 2007 starring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken. On Broadway, the character of Link Larkin, the leading male role, was being played by Ashley Parker Angel, who you probable already know form the pop musical group O-town. He began this role in January 2007, but is unfortunately not currently performing because of an unspecified medical leave. His role is being subbed by Aaron Tveit, a rising Broadway star. You may have seen him in Hairspray immediately prior to Ashley Parker Angel or on tour with Rent. He was also part of a national tour of Hairspray. Tveit has also starred in the off-Broadway production of Next to Normal and is expected to star in the new show Saved, which begins preview May 9th. He is extremely talented and will be, without a doubt, a huge star.

Rent is Staying for the Summer!

Broadway’s seventh longest running show Rent is extending its term. The producers announced the last show was going to be on Sunday June 1st. It had planned to close and no longer be on Broadway in the Nederlander Theatre. When the announcement was made that it was closing, ticket sales skyrocketed. The producers decided to keep it throughout the summer to create more revenue. As of right now, the show’s last performance is scheduled to be on Sunday September 7th. The show is currently starring Tamyra Grey, who is known from American Idol season 1, as Mimi, Adam Kantor as Mark and Declan Bennett as Roger. The show’s final performance is being widely advertised with commercials featuring its original cast members. If you haven’t had a chance to see Rent, I highly recommend it. It’s my favorite show. The movie that was released in 2005, that featured most of the cast who performed it on Broadway was phenomenal, but nothing compared to the live performance.

Word Of Mouth Reviews

The best way to promote any show, as well as anything on the market, is by word of mouth. When it comes to promoting Broadway shows, there are plenty of television ads, radio ads, and so on. Most of the time, the music is playing to give the viewer or listener a preview of what to expect, like in the video clip of Young Frankenstein on Broadway.com. The only problem is that these promotions are created by the producers of the show, so are, of course, going to show the best clips, best songs, hired actors to say they loved it, etc. So how does the consumer know if the show is actually any good? I came across an even more effective way of getting Broadway reviews to the public. It’s called Word of Mouth. It’s actual people who have seen the show and voice their opinions about it. There are people of different ages and demographics so the reviews aren’t biased. I was reading information on the show Legally Blond on Broadway.com because I was considering seeing it over Spring Break, when I came across a link for Word of Mouth. There is a video clip of people expressing their opinions and a paragraph underneath with their picture, name, age and thoughts on the show. I think this is a much more credible source for show reviews. Below is the link for Legally Blonde’s Word of Mouth. I would recommend checking this out before deciding on a show from paid advertisements.

http://www.broadway.com/gen/General.aspx?ci=547334

Young Frankenstein Comes to Broadway!

Many of you are probably familiar with the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein; well it’s now on Broadway. The hysterical film that was released in 1974, starring Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle, has come to the big stage and is stirring up just as much hype as the movie. I happen to love Mel Brooks and all of his works, but this particular movie was one of my favorites. The show stars Roger Bart as Dr. Frankenstein and Shuler Hensley as the monster. It is currently playing at the Hilton Theatre on 214 West 42nd street. The show, which is just under 3 hours long, opened on November 8, 2007 and has been extremely successful so far without much advertising. According to Broadway.com, the show has filmed a short commercial which will be airing on television sets nationwide and gives the viewers a little preview of the hit musical. To see the commercial before it hits the air or to get tickets, copy and paste the link below. I can’t wait to see it live!
http://www.broadway.com/gen/General.aspx?ci=561656

Adam Pascal and Facebook...con't

As I said in an earlier entry, facebook is a great way to promote musicians and talented individuals. It is also a way to keep fans updated with news and events regarding their favorite artists. I recently received a message from Adam Pascal's facebook page stating that he is sick and unfortunalty has to cancel the rest of his shows this week. The link to his website, adampascalmusic.com, is posted below to check on further rescheduling dates. Facebook also allows his fans to communicate with one another about favorite songs, concert dates, tickets and celebrity gossip.

Ursula in The Little Mermaid

Sherie Rene Scott is a very successful and talented actress who is starring as Ursula in The Little Mermaid. She's been performing on Broadway for almost 15 years. You may have seen her in Tommy, Grease, Rent, Aida, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. She's also been in numerous off-Broadway plays such as The Last Five Years, Landscape of the Body and Debby Does Dallas. Aside from all her theatrical accomplishments, Sherie Rene Scott is the founder of Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records, a Grammy nominated label dedicated to cast recordings and theatre musicians. On top of all this, she is the mother of 3 year old Elijah. Sherie loves playing this role because she always looks for projects that interest her and now she is able to play a quirky villain.
Sherie Rene Scott is a great role model. She is able to handle so many stressful positions and occupations and always seems to be cool, calm and collected. She's also the best at everything she does. Sherie has a lot to be admired.

How to Promote for Broadway

I spoke to a friend of mine, Robert Worshinski who graduated from Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY in 2007. He was a Marketing Major with a minor in theatre production. Robert gave me a short lesson about how to go about promoting a show.

Q-What is the first step to promoting a show?
A-The very first thing you have to do is make a budget for the entire production. About 15% of that budget is used for the show's promotions. The rest goes into the characters, set, playbills, costumes, etc.
Q-Isn't the playbill part of the promotion?
A-Well yes, but it's not the same budget. It's separate from the show's advertisements. In the back of the playbill, there is a list of people who have helped and organizations who want to advertise their companies in the playbill. There are names of people who deserve special thanks. The show couldn't have been possible if it wasn't for these people.
Q-So how does advertising for the show work?
A- First, you have to figure out who your target market is for the particular show and what media outlets would reach them the best. For example, Les Miserables, would attract an older audience, so advertisements would be more successful in a news paper, than in a kids magazine. Whoever is making the ad has to create story boards and present it to a board of directors and if the advertisement is liked, they have to delegate the work. It's a very long process.
Q-What are the most common advertisements for this industry?
A-Ads for Broadway shows are usually in news papers, radio advertisements, tv commercials, magazine ads, in the back of playbills, and on the internet. More recently, I've been hearing a lot of ads on radio stations.
Q-What do you think is the most successful way to advertise?
A-Definatly the internet. Internet pop-ups and banner ads always seem to generate the most interest. It is also the best way because you can track your advertisements. You can see the amount of clicks it had and how long the reader was viewing that page. It's also a great way to reach your target market because you can strategically place these ads on the sites you know are frequently visited.

Adam Pascal and Facebook

Rent is one of the most successful theatrical productions right now on Broadway. Adam Pascal, who stars in the show as Roger, has recently been promoting himself on facebook. He also played Roger in the movie which was released in theatres in 2005.

By creating a facebook profile, he is able to reach a much larger fan base. The fans are able to read biographies, view pictures and listen to his music that will be released on his upcoming album for free. By doing this, he is also able to generate more interest. Those who have never heard of Adam Pascal may stumble upon his facebook page on one of their friend's pages and be introduced to his music and productions.

This is a great way to reach the public. Because facebook is used by millions, Adam Pascal is now able to reach more people on the iternet than any other promotion.