Student Blog: The Importance of Publicity Directors
Learning to Reset in a Creative Slump
“What publicity endeavor are you most proud of?”
I was recently asked this question during an interview, and it caught me by surprise. During my two terms as Publicity Director for Villanova Student Musical Theatre (VSMT), I have fallen into somewhat of a routine. I make two horizontal promotional videos for each production- one in rehearsal and one in costume- and I make other fun posts showcasing the cast, crew, and everyone involved in the production. However, during our most recent production, I started to hit a mental wall.
From April 17-19, VSMT produced a scaled-down version of Falsettos. Admittedly, I knew very little about this show going into it. It would be my fifth show doing publicity for VSMT, and I approached the task with my typical “publicity package.” However, I quickly realized that my usual upbeat, dance-filled videos would not cut it for this production. I learned about the deep messages that course throughout Falsettos, and was captivated by its entirely sung-through nature. Our budget for our spring shows is extremely small, but there was something so beautiful about the simplicity of six black boxes building an entire universe. Additionally, instead of tracks we had a singular piano player who provided all of the music for the nearly 3-hour production.
Slowly, I started to find inspiration.
Through my Falsettos publicity endeavors, I aimed to capture the heart of the story. The promotional videos were still meant to be entertaining and enticing, but I did not lean away from the more vulnerable moments in the show. Through a series of videos, and one meticulously crafted poster, I felt my creativity kick back in. Not only did Falsettos reinstill confidence within me regarding my PR abilities, but it also served as another reminder about the magic of theater. Our “teeny tiny band” of seven performers left their souls out on the stage each night, and the tears that consistently ran down their faces in the final scene made me want to do the production justice and fill as many seats as possible.
angles in Falsettos
A few weeks ago I watched a series of reels made by Ken Davenport where he encourages high school theater organizations to incorporate more theatrical business positions into their organizations. I was instantly drawn to his words. I have performed in productions since I was around five years old. Performing will always be my first love, but my time in college so far has also given me such a passion for content creation. I have been given the incredible opportunity to be in charge of capturing people I love doing what they love, and I would not trade it for the world.
While publicity can become tedious at times, I remind myself of its importance. The social media managers and publicity directors of the world are the ones creating visibility for productions. In turn, we create a lasting archive. Without us, productions would just be a memory, but with publicity efforts, these stories will live on forever.
Falsettos served as a perfect reset for my publicity career. It forced me to take risks and to step out of the “norm” that I had slipped into. Now, each time I’m asked, “What publicity endeavor are you most proud of?,” I hope that my answer changes as I continue to grow and discover new alleys of creativity.
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