Drama Desk Panel: Putting The Spin on Theater

The relationship between theatre and press has always been one of mutual wariness and respect. Bad writeups (or worse, no writeups at all) in a popular newspaper can hurt a show's box office, while many theatre fans scramble to purchase papers with good articles on hot shows, making celebrities of the journalists who cover theatre. Last week, the Drama Desks presented a panel of theatre writers, producers, and press representatives who discussed this tentative tango. Downstairs at Tony's Di Napoli restaurant in Times Square, many theatre journalists crowded in to listen to the best in the business discuss their art. The panel was comprised of Jersey Boys co-author Rick Elise, The Publicity Office partner Bob Fennell, theatre owner and producer Stewart Lane, New York Post columnist Michael Riedel, and David Stone, producer of both Wicked and The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Newark Star-Ledger theatre critic Peter Filichia served as moderator.

"[Spin] has become an important part in what goes on in the marketing of Broadway," Filichia began after the panel was introduced, and spoke about the influence of David Merrick, a legendary producer who was shameless and ruthless in his methods of theatrical promotion. Stewart Lane said that Merrick earned a reputation for "thinking outside the box" when it came to pushing his shows, as evidenced in the famous tale of his advertisement for Subways are for Sleeping and for his hyping 42^nd Street as "Broadway's 'Latest' Hit"– because the curtain rose at 8:15.

Merrick's truest talent was to get people talking about his shows, the most valuable publicity a production can have. Word-of-mouth can even overcome negative reviews: Mr. Lane pointed out that the producers of Mamma Mia! were so concerned for their show's chances that they took it on tour around America before opening it on Broadway. When it arrived there, the New York Times called it "junk food for theatre." Even that dismissal was not enough to damage the show's success, and through word-of-mouth, it's one of the most popular shows on Broadway. Indeed, the panel agreed, word-of-mouth can even trump Tony Awards, as evidenced by Mamma Mia!'s enduring popularity with no Tony wins, and the impressive box office of Wicked the morning after it lost the Best Musical Tony to Avenue Q.

Equally crucial to a show's success is marketing the show to the right audience. By promoting a show to the people who will enjoy it most, press agents and advertisers can overcome negative critical reaction. Stewart Lane believes that All Shook Up failed because there is not a large Elvis following in New York, while Thoroughly Modern Millie succeeded because it was marketed to tourists out of town who would most enjoy an old-fashioned musical comedy. "Who's going to come see the show," he asked rhetorically, "and where do we find them?" When Riedel complained that many shows these days seem to be written for and marketed to teens rather than adults, Filichia, a strong supporter of attracting young people to theatre, earned a round of applause by responding, "What's wrong with that?"

Press, too, needs to know its audience. "More and more," Michael Riedel said, "we're seeing a divide between word-of-mouth and what some of the critics like or don't like." He referred to the New York Times' tepid reviews of Wicked and Jersey Boys, and the defiant popularity of these shows despite those reviews. "I think that critics have become almost a little too elite for their own good, and they're somewhat detached now from what the public likes to see," he said, and after explaining that he writes his column for himself, and not for "some teenage girl in Jersey," went on to claim that the Times has "gotten away from its audience" due to Ben Brantley's "elite" taste in shows. Legendary Times critic Frank Rich, he said, "had the taste of his readers," a most important quality for a critic.

When asked about his own power as a theatre columnist, Riedel said that he does not believe he can "kill a show the way Ben Brantley can, with one stroke of the pen," but admitted that generating early negative press about a show can damage its chances for survival. "I can," he said, "define a show before anyone else gets there." By attending out-of-town tryouts and early previews, he believes he can get a head start on predicting a show's success on Broadway. "I can codify it and say that this is a show that's in trouble. Once that label is around a show's neck, it's very difficult to take it off. On the other hand," he continued, "if I like something that I see early on, I'm very happy to become a champion of it." For example, he said, after Jersey Boys' press agent, Adrian Bryan-Brown, convinced him to see for himself that the show was not merely another "jukebox musical," he wrote it up as "more intelligent" than what audiences might expect. He described Bryan-Brown's spin as "subtle and effective" because "it was based on truth. That's the best spin, really," he continued, and added that if a press rep tries "to spin a flop into a hit, it rarely succeeds."

"Most of the press agents I deal with have been upfront with me about things," Riedel continued. "I don't expect press agents to air dirty laundry of the show to me. I have other people who do that," he quipped. Honest press agents and producers, he said, are "entitled to have their say and their point of view, and as a reporter, I'm obligated to carry that. But I don't think you can be a press agent and survive in this business very long if you're lying to the New York Post and the New York Times and the Daily News ." He dealt once with a dishonest press agent, he said, and no longer covers that agent's shows. A "good relationship" between writers and press agents is necessary in order to get accurate, and interesting, stories.

"Defining the word 'spin' can be very difficult in this era," Mr. Fennell said, "because we all take our examples from the political spectrum.... The fact of the matter is, there's a lot of lying that goes on, and the word 'spin' has been attached to that." To avoid that negative reputation, he said, theatrical press agents have to be quick to "tell our stories before somebody starts to tell it for us– and tells it wrong." He would only lie to a reporter, he said, if someone's health was involved. "I can't barter my honesty," he said simply.

Fennell complained about theatre forums on the web that get a rumor and spin it in the wrong way, creating a story that doesn't exist. To illustrate, he recounted a performance of A Raisin in the Sun at which Sean Combs was terribly ill, but struggled to go on. By intermission, he could no longer perform, and his understudy was sent on to finish the show. Fennell contacted the Associated Press to make sure that audiences would understand that the actor was ill, and considered the matter closed. When he went online the next morning, however, he found stories of Combs storming out of the theatre and refusing to perform. He had to contact the site administrators to have the inaccurate stories removed. "We live in an age where Ben Brantley's first three or four paragraphs about Taboo were about what was going on backstage. And where did he get that information?" he asked, semi-rhetorically."From me!" Riedel exclaimed. "From you and from the chat sites," Fennell agreed. "I happen to find that a little chilling." The crowd applauded.

A good press agent will know how to market a show to the audience that will enjoy it most, and how to minimize the damage of negative reviews or weak box office. Still, it is impossible to spin straw into gold, and a well-written, well-acted piece of theatre is always the best selling point. "The most important marketing you can have," Elice summarized, "is to have a good show."