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In terms of publicity, ESP has been producing/maintaining the
following PR avenues for several years:
 | the season brochure, |
| audition postcards, |
| production postcards, |
| advertising in newspapers, |
| submission for events calendars, |
| invitations to reviewers and feature writers, |
| the playbill, |
| the box office phone message, |
| e-mail notices, and |
| the website. |
The addition of the website presents a whole new way to compile and maintain
production information in advance of deadlines. It has also allowed us to
build our audience and our talent files. As a director or
producer at Elden Street it is essential to meet the deadlines for publicity and the
playbill, but if you make an effort to submit all of the information listed to the
website, it will make the other deadlines a much easier task.
| Season Brochure
 | John Styrcharske has been primarily responsible for the Season Brochure
in recent years. |
| Typically, the "publishing company" graphic and media blurb is used.
 | Directors/Producers wanting to provide artwork and show descriptions, should contact
Richard Downer immediately upon show selection.
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| Performance Publicity
| Washington Post ads for Performances are normally placed in the Sunday paper prior to
opening night before auditions. An additional ad is placed on the Weekend
section of opening day. |
| Performance post card announcements are typically sent out 3-4 weeks
before opening to
the ESP Mailing list. This is a bulk rate mailing which means no additional cards
can be added to the mailing without inclusion on the ESP Mailing list.
| Extra postcards will be printed and provided to the cast and crew for mailing. A
full stamp must be used for mailing, as the bulk rate mark is only for the large list
mailing. |
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| Other notices: The publicity chair is a board level position. A "media
list" is maintained and notices (press releases) are sent when possible for calendar
submission, PSA and potential "feature story." These notices, depending on
content provided by the production team to the Publicity Chair should go out about a month
prior to opening. |
| Reviewer invitations are sent out 3-4 weeks prior to opening. |
| An e-mail notice list is being compiled from website submissions, contact the webmaster
about using that list. (reserved for Elden Street productions only). |
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| PLAYBILL GRAPHIC DEADLINE: 3-months prior to opening night -- if different from season
brochure. |
| PLAYBILL DEADLINE: All information must be submitted to the Playbill editor two weeks
before opening night. This allows time for the editor to format the playbill and return a
proof copy during tech weekend. |
| PLAYBILL MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE PRINTER ON MONDAY BEFORE OPENING. |
| Elden Street has established a policy of only running enough programs for the first
weekend on the first run. After opening weekend, a second version is printed for the
remainder of the run to correct any errors/omissions. |
| THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF ITEMS WHICH MUST BE SUBMITTED/VERIFIED FOR THE PLAYBILL. (not
all of these items are "required" for every show, but please ask if you need
clarification on any item).
| Correct Spelling/Listing of Title and Author Name(s) |
| Production dates and times |
| Special Acknowledgements (publishing company, sponsors, grants, dedications) |
| Contractually Required Information |
| Cast List (shown as "Ensemble")
| Include character and performer names, please list what "order" they are in
(alpha by actor, alpha by character, in order of appearance, as listed in the script) |
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| Crew list (shown as "Production Team")
| Include technical position and technician names |
| The WATCH adjudication lists the following categories for judging, please coordinate
with these titles
| Director |
| Musical Direction |
| Choreography |
| Stage Combat |
| Set Design |
| Lighting Design/Master Elec. |
| Set Construction/Master Carp. |
| Sound Design |
| Set Painting |
| Costumes |
| Set Decoration/Dressing |
| Make-up/Hair |
| Properties |
| Special Effects |
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| Non-adjudicated positions
| Producer |
| Stage Manager |
| Technical Director, if different from Master Carpenter/Designer Position |
| Conductor |
| Orchestra |
| Box Office |
| House Management |
| Graphics |
| Publicity |
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| Crew members and/or assistants should be listed as "assisted by:" on a line
following the primary technical lead for a category. |
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| Biographies will be included for all cast members and technical positions (designers and
above).
| Cast and crew are encouraged to submit "professional" biographies. While humor
and witty bios are not prohibited, any jokes or references not understood by the entire
audience may be omitted/edited. |
| Length of bios are determined by size of cast and space in the program. |
| Editorial license is held by the program editor. |
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| Director's Notes. |
| Show history and dramaturgical information may be submitted for possible inclusion. |
| Special warnings about the production (age recommendations, language, content, nudity,
fog, strobe lights, special
effects, loud noises, etc.) |
| Scene information (number of acts, intermissions, setting, running time, list of songs,
list of scenes) |
| Special Services - (signed performances, special performances, "special"
pricing, receptions, parties, sold out info) |
| Acknowledgements (in-kind services or products provided to the production in exchange
for publicity or free) |
| Audio and Photo warnings |
| Print Advertisements for the program should be cleared with Richard Downer before
agreements are made. |
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| AUDITION/CALLBACK INFORMATION:
| The Dates will be posted as soon as the annual calendar is set, but it is up to the
director to submit the "particulars."
| Correct Spelling/Listing of Title and Author Name(s) |
| Dates and Times of auditions/callbacks |
| Any changes to date of auditions/callbacks |
| Place of auditions/callbacks |
| Age ranges |
| Sex of roles |
| Special ethnic requirements, or "family resemblance needs" (alternatively,
multi-ethnic casting desired) |
| Type of readings/monologues/songs requested |
| Audition attire (dress for movement, etc.) |
| Special Dance audition information |
| Special accents |
| Secondary information contact (phone or e-mail) |
| Publishing Company or other Special Credits required in advertising |
| Performance Dates |
| Special Rehearsal information |
| Important names in the crew that would enhance audition turnout. (Choreographer,
Director, Music Director) |
| Pre-cast roles |
| Callback times/dates |
| website address
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| If all of this information is correct, preparing the Washington Post Ad and Postcard
should be simplistic. |
| We are developing an audition e-mail list. Please contact the webmaster about
using it.
|
| DEADLINE: Prefer six months ahead of audition dates (since actors are
always looking ahead on the calendar), drop-dead date one month prior to auditions.
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| PRODUCTION INFORMATION:
| The production dates, times and the season flyer "blurb" will be posted as
soon as they are determined |
| An enhanced "production-specific blurb" is encouraged from the director. |
| The show graphic should be selected as early as possible and forwarded to webmaster@eldenstreetplayers.org or mailed
for scanning |
| Special Acknowledgements (publishing company, sponsors, grants, dedications) |
| We will post cast and crew lists, please provide by e-mail to webmaster@eldenstreetplayers.org |
| Include character and performer names, please list what "order" they are in
(alpha by actor, alpha by character, in order of appearance, as listed in the script) |
| Include technical position and technician names
| The WATCH adjudication lists the following categories for judging, please coordinate
with these titles
| Director |
| Musical Direction |
| Choreography |
| Stage Combat |
| Set Design |
| Lighting Design/Master Elec. |
| Set Construction/Master Carp. |
| Sound Design |
| Set Painting |
| Costumes |
| Set Decoration/Dressing |
| Make-up/Hair |
| Properties |
| Special Effects |
|
| Non-adjudicated positions
| Producer |
| Stage Manager |
| Technical Director, if different from Master Carpenter/Designer Position |
| Conductor |
| Orchestra |
| Box Office |
| House Management |
| Graphics |
| Publicity |
|
| Crew members and/or assistants should be listed as "assisted by:" on a line
following the primary technical lead for a category. |
| Biographies and headshots will also be posted when received.
| Cast and crew are encouraged to submit "professional" biographies. While humor
and witty bios are not prohibited, any jokes or references not understood by the entire
audience may be omitted/edited. |
| Headshots should be in JPG (or GIF, if necessary) format and reduced to a minimum size
(under 10KB).
| Please title headshot images as lastnamefirstname.jpg (ex. HuseTodd.jpg) |
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| Director's Notes will be posted when provided. |
| Show history and dramaturgical information may be submitted for possible posting. |
| Special warnings about the production (language, content, nudity, strobe lights, special
effects, loud noises, etc.) |
| Scene information (number of acts, intermissions, setting, running time, list of songs,
list of scenes) |
| Special Services - (signed performances, special performances, "special"
pricing, receptions, parties, sold out info) |
| Acknowledgements (in-kind services or products provided to the production in exchange
for publicity or free) |
| Show trivia and stories may be submitted, but may not be used. |
| Rehearsal/Publicity/Archive Photos may be submitted, but may or may not be used
depending on quality, size and time involved. (photos should be reduced in size to near
10KB) If they are not pre-reduced, the posting will take longer as the Webmaster will need
time to reduce them.
| Photos should be submitted with appropriate captions and names of people in the shot. |
| Use JPG or GIF format |
| Name the files as SHOWNAME001.JPG, SHOWNAME002.JPG, etc. (i.e. OurTown001.jpg). You may
reduce the name of the show to something intelligible (i.e. LongDays001.jpg) |
| NO AUDIO, VIDEO, EXECUTABLES OR DOWNLOADS WILL BE POSTED |
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| Copies of reviews, articles and publicity notices.
| We have permissions with the Times
Community Newspaper to reprint (i.e. retype) any
articles related to Elden Street on our website, until their website is back online at
which time all articles will be converted to hyperlinks. |
| We DO NOT have permission to reprint Washington Post, Journal, or Connection stories at
this time.
| If they are online, we will, of course, post a link to the article. (be aware that the
Washington Post archive is a fee-based use) |
| We are still seeking permissions with these local papers to reprint articles related to
or productions and theatre. |
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| Directors, Producers and Stage Managers may submit rehearsal calendars and related
cast/crew scheduling information to the Webmaster for possible posting.
| But again, this information is posted in "spare time," not on deadlines.
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| Effectively, we want the show site to be an online program plus. This will make playbill
production easy.
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| WEBSITE DEADLINES:
| There are no "deadlines" for website submission, but the earlier you turn it
in, the better shot it has on being posted before opening night and the more useful it is
to the publicity chair for placing ads, creating postcards and editing the playbill. |
| As the production nears, alternate forms of publicity and the playbill take precedence
over the website. |
| Be aware that the website is NEVER a top priority at Elden Street. The first purpose it
serves is to give people the dates, times, directions, and ticket information about the
production (which are posted before the season begins). Everything else is secondary and
will be treated as such. NOTHING IS A RUSH FOR THE WEBSITE and will be posted when the
Webmaster(s) are able. No cast members or crew members should be told to
"expect" any information to appear online, particularly within a given
"timeframe." |
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Page Last Updated:
12/04/2004
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