Interview: Theatre Life with Heather C. Jackson

Since this column began, I have always made it a point to acknowledge the people that are instrumental when it comes to putting these interviews together. It’s not just me asking an interviewee cold. There is generally a marketing or publicity person that helps to coordinate things.

Today’s subject Heather C. Jackson is one of those people. She is the publicist for Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) and is truly a publicity goddess when it comes to doing her job. Heather started at STC in 2014 and remained there until 2016. She then left for awhile and returned in 2023. Prior to working at STC, Heather was the Public Relations Manager at Baltimore Center Stage.

Working in public relations has it’s challenges. When things are going well with a production, the publicist’s job less stressful. It’s when the reviews or a show are not as positive that the publicist has to face the negativity head on in order to make the show sell. Read on to see how Heather combats negative reaction.

Heather’s talents are not limited to publicity by any means. She is also an accomplished costume designer whose work has been seen at many local theatres and beyond.

Select credits include 9 to 5 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, The Effect at Studio Theatre, Gospel of Loving Kindness at Mosaic Theatre Company, Pramkicker at Taffety Punk, A Charlie Brown Christmas at Redhouse Arts Center, Lost in the Stars at Annapolis Opera Company, and many productions at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.

Next time you see a production at any given theatre (hopefully STC), please think about how you heard about that show. It might have been a TV interview, or a news item that peaked your interest. Those types of things don’t just happen. It’s a publicist like Heather C. Jackson that’s working incredibly hard to make sure STC’s productions are visible. Without her, there might not be an audience and without the audience there is no show. In the words of Arthur Miller “Attention must be paid”.

Heather C. Jackson is truly living her theatre life to the fullest.

Growing up, did you have any idea that you would be working in the performing arts?

I don’t know if I knew, but it was always part of my childhood passions, everything from reenacting movies to recreating classic movie costumes for my dolls and sketching costumes for favorite TV shows. I think I tried to do a one-person scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a book report in fifth grade! I discovered Shakespeare very early and read many of the plays as a teenager out of my dad’s old complete works volume.

In addition, my mother and uncle loved musicals, so listening to original vintage cast albums and watching MGM films was also big in my house. I think my first theatre outing was the national tour of Peter Pan when I was maybe five?

So, performance, costume design, and theatre in general were hobbies from very, very young, and definitely something that was always part of my life at home and school.

Where did you receive your training?

I studied Theatre and English in my undergrad, at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and my MFA in Costume Design at University of Maryland, College Park, which has a stellar design MFA program. Many of the alums are working all over DC as well as nationally.

What was your first professional job in the arts?

I think my first professional theatre jobs, between my two fields, would have been pretty close together. My first costume design job with a professional contract would have been with the (now defunct) Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. It was Desdemona, a play about a handkerchief, featuring our region’s own Beth Hylton, who I’ve worked with several times since. I had been paid to design before then, but largely for schools and colleges.

Shortly after that I took my first job in theatre publicity/marketing at Center Stage in Baltimore, where I was the Communications and PR manager for six years, before coming to work at STC for my first tenure here. (I returned back to STC in 2023.)

The general public does not understand the importance of a good publicist. Can you please explain to those that don’t understand the position exactly what the job of a publicist is?

The easiest way I tend to describe it is that if you hear, see, or read anything about STC or one of our shows that isn’t obviously an advertisement, I probably had a hand in it. From getting press in to see the shows to review, to pitching and fielding inquiries to do interviews and features on actors, artists, and staff, I’m moving the pieces behind the scenes. Once a story is in motion, I usually schedule and sit in on interviews and photoshoots and manage getting all the assets to the various people who need them.

I also handle any stories, reviews, or general coverage of the institution as a whole, whether that is announcing our season or special events, the purchase of our new building, or touting a staff member’s achievements in other regions of the press. I track any mentions of our theatre, plays, and artists, so we are sure we know what’s out there, and circulate it between various departments.

Basically, it’s my job to be familiar with all the departments and roles at the theatre, and who to reach out to in any department in the case their work intersects with a story. In addition, I get the joy of being one of the “admin” side of the organization who spends a lot of time with and getting to know about our visiting casts and artists, which is one of my favorite parts of the job.

It is very easy to publicize a show when the reviews are great. It is much harder when the show isn’t critically acclaimed. How do you deal with that kind of a situation in order to attract audiences when a show needs help after negative responses from the press?

At the end of the day, I can’t control critics, they write what they feel and experience, but we are always proud of the strength of our work and our shows, as well as the talented people who work on them. In that way, a big part of my job is knowing all the possible storytelling angles of not just the play itself, but the cast, creatives, and even the set and props if there is something fun there. Maybe an actor has a local connection, a passion to share with a niche outlet, or are a popular name that folks want to hear about. Or the props or scene shop had to make something incredibly obscure for a show. My focus then is on landing interviews and features that might raise interest beyond the reviews.

Here is a scenario. You are given the chance to pick any play you want to costume design at STC. There are no limits on budget (I know…..fantasy) or concept idea. What would your choice of play be and what would be your costume concept?

Well… ironically one crossover that I dreamed up a year or two ago that I would have loved to do has now been done or is being done, so I have to think of a new one! So I’m not sure I have an answer for that one at this time…. But, at the end of the day, much of my work until recently has been in Shakespeare, and I love the ways that it can be reinterpreted if there is a strong vision. It must make sense, of course; you can’t slap a play in a period or style that can’t be supported by the story, but finding one more way to create a new visual world on a famous story is always something I’m very excited to do. And honestly, one of my absolute favorite plays that I’ve ever wanted to design – but as you said, only with no budget limit – is Cyrano de Bergerac.

What would you like audiences to know about the 25/26 season at STC?

It’s already so much fun! I’m writing this hearing the absolute joy and energy pouring down from the rehearsal hall with Guys and Dolls. Then On Beckett, Hamnet, and Othello are on the horizon, and each is uniquely exciting. Also, we are currently hearing spectacular reviews of our co-production of Paranormal Activity in its first two cities. Lifelong critics who didn’t think it was their thing are raving about it in Chicago and Los Angeles, so I’m very excited to experience it and share it with our D.C. audiences—it should be pretty wild.