New CITY OF STORIES Viral Videos Promote Chicago Theatre

A new series of professionally shot web videos promoting Chicago's neighborhood theater scene is debuting online today, the work of a new non-profit named Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres. The group's plan is to release one You Tube video every two to three months as part of a new viral marketing campaign promoting Chicago theater titled "A City of Stories."

The campaign kicks off today with the launch of "Café," a 90-second monologue written by Chicago playwright Robert Koon.

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Popular local actor Marc Grapey plays a regular Chicago Joe musing why an outdoor café on the city's lakefront has installed faux tropical palm trees for ambiance. As the beach scene backdrop dissolves into an empty Chicago stage, A-list Chicago actor Mary Beth Fisher's voice over notes "Chicago is full of characters, and with hundreds of theaters all around the city, you can meet them all."

Five different videos have already been shot, professionally produced, and are cued up to be posted every two to three months, supported by a viral campaign encouraging widespread sharing over social media networks.

Visit Chicago-CityOfStories.org to screen and share "Café," or subscribe to the group's YouTube or Vimeo channel to screen, share and receive updates as soon as new videos are posted. The videos are also easily screened and shared via the group's Facebook and Twitter feeds.

The core message of the series is to encourage viewers to discover the hundreds of theaters, thousands of artists, and millions of audience members which, with their talent, passion, creative energy and diversity, make Chicago "A City of Stories." "Our goals are to celebrate the work of Chicago artists and theaters, to educate the public about the depth and breadth of live theater options in the Chicago area and to build audiences across the entire spectrum of productions," says Penny Penniston, a Chicago playwright and producer, and founder of Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres. "We are striving to raise the profile of the Chicago theater community, to strengthen its role in the cultural life of the city, and to enhance its prominence on the national theatre scene."

Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres is encouraging members and supporters of the local theater community to pick a video to share on their social media feeds at least twice per year. "If everyone in our community shares a video on their social media feeds at least twice per year, the message will reach hundreds of thousands," said Penniston.

For more, visit Chicago-CityOfStories.org.

To create the series, Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres filmed backdrops of familiar Chicago locations, then commissioned local playwrights to create a monologue for a character in that location. A local actor was cast and the monologue was professionally shot using the location as a green screen backdrop. Each video ends with a transition to a theater space and the tag line encouraging people to explore the depth and breadth of the local Chicago theater scene. Chicago's creative community has turned out in force to participate in the campaign. Future videos are written by local playwrights Nambi E. Kelley, Mia McCullough, Tom Mula and Penny Penniston, feature voice overs by Chicago actors Richard Henzel, Barbara Robertson, Joe Foust and Sandra Delgado, and star faces familiar to Chicago's theater fans including Robyn Coffin, Dexter Zollicoffer, Marti Gobel and Amro Salama.

The videos are all directed by Penny Penniston with Brass Line FilmWorks. Mary Ann Dezulskis is producer/creative consultant. Jason Chiu is director of photography. Editing and finishing is by Beast/Method/Company 3. Audio mix is by AirStream. Casting by Paskal Rudnicke.

Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to grassroots marketing and advertising for the Chicago theater community. The mission of the organization is to promote the Chicago theater community as a whole, not the work of any particular theater.

To that end, in addition to serving as a portal to the group's "A City of Stories" video campaign, Chicago-CityOfStories.org also features handy links like "See a Show," which aggregates Chicago's top online theater listing and review sites, a "Theater Attendance 101" page with a FAQ section, links to other key organizations promoting Chicago's theater community, and a "Get Involved" page with tips on how to support Chicago theater. Visit Chicago-CityOfStories.org for complete information, and stay tuned until mid-May, when Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres will release the second of five videos in its "A City of Stories" campaign.

Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theaters' board of directors combine a love of theater with decades of experience in marketing and advertising.

Penny Penniston has written television, radio, and print ads for national brands such as Purina, Hoover, Hardee's, Red Lobster, Clearasil and Metamucil. In 2002, Penniston's PSA spots for the League of Chicago Theatres (starring George Wendt & Meshach Taylor) won a Summit Creative Award. In addition to her extensive advertising background, Penniston is a published author and award-winning Chicago playwright.

Sabine Cummins is with Channel Factory, an Innovative video, content and influencer platform, driving strategic thinking for top brands and agencies. In addition to her background in digital media and on-line marketing, Cummins is a long time fan of Chicago theater.

Laura Jones Macknin has been a project manager for upwards of 18 years, advising corporations and NPOs about marketing strategy. She does work for James Consulting Partners, Hemispheres and NRG research. She is also a Chicago actress. She has performed with Bailiwick Repertory, City Lit, Court Theatre, The European Repertory Company, The Goodman, Griffin, Idle Muse, New American Theatre, Next Theatre, Oak Park Festival, Red Theatre, Shakespeare -on-the-Green, Stage Left, Theatre Y, and Victory Gardens. She is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Motley Crew.

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