Around Easter 2013, I register my first-ever solo show in the June Cabaret Fringe Festival, and nominate La Boheme as my preferred venue. It's "Adventures with a Brazilian". I'm doing two performances - I figure this will be enough, given all the other commitments in my life and the fact that we are going to Russia (conference for my husband, holiday for me) in the middle of June. Both shows need to be in the first half of the month. It'll be good to do two shows rather than just the one.
I need a pianist to accompany me. It's like choosing a partner for the "Prom" - you need to get in quick, or be left lonesome. There are several candidates. I dwell on this choice (probably for too long), then approach Emma whom I met at Cabaret Summer School. Emma is very busy in June; she is already playing for two musicals, and is also developing her own children's opera, "Space Encounters". She sends me the list of her available dates and times, and I contact La Boheme to work out times for the show.
I begin to wish that I had organized this earlier. La Boheme has only a few times left. I try to coordinate their availability with Emma's. They offer me a time-slot which would have Emma rushing to another theatre afterwards, with too little time to spare. Eventually they move things around a bit to accommodate us. Yesssss! It's locked in.
My show is the first event in the festival, after the opening party. I need to get my publicity organized.
Last year I had some very expensive glamour photography done, with a view to using one of the pictures as a publicity shot. Before I can use it, I must first pay more money to the photography studio - a licence to print the photo. I rationalize that it's cheaper than getting more photos done.
I send the photo to Rod, my graphic designer, and ask him if he could photoshop a macaw into the picture. I'm visualizing a cartoon bird flying in the corner of the picture, but Rod presents me with a very realistic-looking macaw sitting on my shoulder. It looks as though he's whispering in my ear.
I order 1000 postcard flyers and a few posters.
A restaurant near my office offers to hand out flyers, and they also laminate a poster and affix it to the coffee machine. It feels very strange to walk along the street and see my face in there.
I contact a community radio station to see if they would like to interview me. They would. This is the first time I've ever been on radio. When I was about 13, I was selected from my class to take part in a radio program. The night before the event, I was so nervous and anxious I could not sleep. By morning I felt so ragged that I couldn't go to school. Someone else did the interview in my place. I've always felt disappointed that I sabotaged myself so completely and lost that opportunity.
This time it's easy. The interviewer phones me a couple of days beforehand, and invites me to submit some questions for discussion. I send them through, and arrive at the radio station. I'm expecting a five-minute segment, but he has expanded it. He has organized "intro" and "outro" music, and also a musical interlude to punctuate our conversation. He makes me feel entirely at ease and I have no trouble at all responding to his questions.
This is fantastic, because now I'm equipped for next time. Who knows whether this interview will sell any tickets? But next time I could approach the mainstream stations with confidence.
I mail flyers to everyone I know. The Law Society also offers to promote the show in its weekly email newsletter, and I get about four weeks' advertising that way. And I publicize the event on social media as well.
I place little piles of flyers in various cafes and other places I regularly visit.
Bookings start to materialize. I monitor the ticket sales about once a week, knowing that most people will probably leave it til a few days before the event.
I feel I've done a good job with the publicity. No way am I going to be playing to an empty room.
I need a pianist to accompany me. It's like choosing a partner for the "Prom" - you need to get in quick, or be left lonesome. There are several candidates. I dwell on this choice (probably for too long), then approach Emma whom I met at Cabaret Summer School. Emma is very busy in June; she is already playing for two musicals, and is also developing her own children's opera, "Space Encounters". She sends me the list of her available dates and times, and I contact La Boheme to work out times for the show.
I begin to wish that I had organized this earlier. La Boheme has only a few times left. I try to coordinate their availability with Emma's. They offer me a time-slot which would have Emma rushing to another theatre afterwards, with too little time to spare. Eventually they move things around a bit to accommodate us. Yesssss! It's locked in.
My show is the first event in the festival, after the opening party. I need to get my publicity organized.
Last year I had some very expensive glamour photography done, with a view to using one of the pictures as a publicity shot. Before I can use it, I must first pay more money to the photography studio - a licence to print the photo. I rationalize that it's cheaper than getting more photos done.
I send the photo to Rod, my graphic designer, and ask him if he could photoshop a macaw into the picture. I'm visualizing a cartoon bird flying in the corner of the picture, but Rod presents me with a very realistic-looking macaw sitting on my shoulder. It looks as though he's whispering in my ear.
I order 1000 postcard flyers and a few posters.
A restaurant near my office offers to hand out flyers, and they also laminate a poster and affix it to the coffee machine. It feels very strange to walk along the street and see my face in there.
I contact a community radio station to see if they would like to interview me. They would. This is the first time I've ever been on radio. When I was about 13, I was selected from my class to take part in a radio program. The night before the event, I was so nervous and anxious I could not sleep. By morning I felt so ragged that I couldn't go to school. Someone else did the interview in my place. I've always felt disappointed that I sabotaged myself so completely and lost that opportunity.
This time it's easy. The interviewer phones me a couple of days beforehand, and invites me to submit some questions for discussion. I send them through, and arrive at the radio station. I'm expecting a five-minute segment, but he has expanded it. He has organized "intro" and "outro" music, and also a musical interlude to punctuate our conversation. He makes me feel entirely at ease and I have no trouble at all responding to his questions.
This is fantastic, because now I'm equipped for next time. Who knows whether this interview will sell any tickets? But next time I could approach the mainstream stations with confidence.
I mail flyers to everyone I know. The Law Society also offers to promote the show in its weekly email newsletter, and I get about four weeks' advertising that way. And I publicize the event on social media as well.
I place little piles of flyers in various cafes and other places I regularly visit.
Bookings start to materialize. I monitor the ticket sales about once a week, knowing that most people will probably leave it til a few days before the event.
I feel I've done a good job with the publicity. No way am I going to be playing to an empty room.
No comments:
Post a Comment