MIND THE GAP(r):
Global Advertising & Public Relations
  • Home
  • About
  • Kent in London and Dublin 2015
  • Contributors
    • Anthem
    • From Hear to There
    • International Wit
    • Newish
    • Advertising Herstory
    • Why Go Europe
  • Past Courses
    • Kent in London 2013 >
      • 2013 Contributors
      • Get to Know...
      • Area of Expertise >
        • Account Planning
        • Fashion
        • Film
        • Food
        • Humor
        • Social Issues
        • Social Media >
          • Conservation
          • Hospitality
          • Ronald McDonald House
          • Soccer
        • The Music Industry
      • Photos
    • Kent in London 2012 >
      • London Calling 2012 >
        • Kent in London
        • London Top Ten's
        • Travel London
        • Favorite Places and Things
        • Preparation
      • 2012 Contributors
      • Area of expertise 2012 >
        • Creative Strategy
        • Global Marketing
        • Media Strategies
        • Music
        • Social Issues
      • 2012 Photos

Cast Members Take Center Stage In "Dirty Dancing" Tour Publicity

3/8/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
By Meghan Caprez, Anthem

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” This is just one of many lines in “Dirty Dancing” that made generations of Americans drool over the late, great Patrick Swayze. Having seen the film many times on television, I was excited to hear the national tour of the movie’s stage adaptation was making a stop in Cleveland at Playhouse Square.


Picture
Being the curious (and abundantly nerdy) public relations major I am, I asked myself, “What part do the actors play in the promotion of this show?” After a bit of research and interaction with members of the cast, it seems they have their hands in several different aspects, believe it or not.

After the show on March 5 (the U.S. tour’s 200th performance!), I met Emily Rice – the actress who plays the eccentric Lisa Houseman – and she shared her experience promoting the show as a cast member.

“We have two marketing people, Andrew and Melissa, and they do the stuff on Instagram and everything for us,” Rice said about the show’s social media efforts. “They tell us what hashtags to use and encourage us to use them.”

Andrew Cole and Melissa Cohen are practitioners from Type A Marketing, an agency solely dedicated to promoting Broadway and national tour productions. The duo created a Dirty Dancing Marketing Guidebook, a 38-page instruction manual that takes readers through everything from branding to social media to publicity specifications for the tour.

While specific hashtags are not mentioned in the guidebook, the cast of the U.S. national tour has been using #dirtydancingontour to connect with fans. In fact, after posting a picture of the program on my Instagram account, ensemble cast member Rashaan James II responded, adding the hashtag to my image while thanking me for coming to see the show.

Outside social media, actors are also essential in media relations efforts. Not only do photos of their performances make appearances in print and online features, the actors also dance their way onto the small screen by visiting local broadcasters. For example, “Dirty Dancing” leads Josh Drake (Johnny) and Gillian Abbott (Baby) stopped by Cleveland’s Fox 8 March 5 to teach “New Day Cleveland” co-host Natalie Herbick some moves from the show. If that doesn’t warm your heart and make you want to see “Dirty Dancing,” I don’t know what will.

If I learned anything from my experience delving into the world of “Dirty Dancing,” it’s that actors aren’t merely stepping into the spotlight on stage; they are performing marketing tasks on a daily basis and are an integral part of the success of the show’s promotion efforts.


1 Comment
Bentley Hale link
11/28/2020 06:59:16 am

Nice bblog thanks for posting

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Kent in London and Dublin 2015

    Kent State Global Advertising and Public Relations students spent 2 weeks in London and Dublin visiting agencies and working on their websites. Here are some of the articles they produced. 

    Archives

    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.