obnoxious "hairspray" radio commercial

[Amneris]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 6:58pm

I was just in my car and heard the most obnoxious commercial ever. I love "Hairspray" but, if I hadn't seen it and heard this, I would question whether or not to purchase a ticket till after Diana DiGarmo left. Basically it's her talking about how amazing she is, How she was a major success on American Idol and 65 million people voted her for and how she had an acclaimed cd/ did WSS and saw Hairspray and decided she should play the funniest role on Broadway because it spoke to her and reminded her of herself. And how she called for an audition and made the entire creative team laugh in stitches. It just seemed really in your face and obnoxious. I heard she is really good in the show but, I don;t think this is such a great marketing tool.

That's just my personal opinion and it sort of upset me that there are soooo many talented people out there who will never get seen and because of Idol, these kids automatically hit the great white way.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:01pm

oh gosh, i heard that too today. it was pretty annoying.

she might as well have jumped around and screamed "BUY TICKETS TO THIS SHOW! CLEARLY THEY CAST ME JUST TO HELP TICKET SALES."

[jv92]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:02pm

I agree.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:10pm

I was in the supermarket when I heard it and its just redicious to say the least. I love the part "One day last July I saw Hairspray and was immediatley interested in playing Tracy's best friend Penny so I asked for an audition..." and the whole "I played Maria in West side story in San Jose" (or wherever it was, like people even give a crap)Sad sad commerical.

[Expressboy69]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:12pm

i hate that commercial!!! but it was so funny because right after she was done talking about how "famous" she is, everone in my car was like "who the **** is Diana DiGarmo?"

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:20pm

I haven't heard it yet, but I don't really listen to the radio. It sounds really obnoxious. Honestly, if I didn't know anything about the show... after hearing a commercial like that, I wouldn't buy tickets. I think American Idol is crap, and it would actually give me a reason not to see the show.

AKA, I would definitely not see the show just for her. If I were a casual observer... I would actually decide against seeing that show.

But I love Hairspray...
~JKor

[dutch46mill2]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:28pm

Well it may seem annoying but obviously she was called upon by the producers to spout what was scripted. Your producers not asked you to do appearances to promote your musical?This commercial is intended for the general public those on the inside may find it annoying. Cut her some slack, yes she came in as a replacement or stunter but you gotta give her credit for what she has done with the part of Penny.She also was on Entertainment Tonight last week and was promoting Hairspray and on Sunday with Naomi Judd show promoting Hairspray and Broadway.
Go and see her in Hairspray. I don't think rude comments are warranted.

[ABoyLikeThat]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:33pm

I agree that it sounds like a bad marketing ploy but I guess they decided they'd give it a shot. It sounds very scripted though (I wonder who wrote that?) and not very like Diana. She's a sweet girl who I hardly ever see brag. It's sad though because she's actually really talented and a hard worker and worked really hard to not only land the role, but also play it well/to the best of her ability. Regardless of American Idol and all that hoopla, I don't think anyone can negate that she plays a darn good Penny. It's definitely not something 99% of the people that were on American Idol could pull off.
Updated On: 3/9/06 at 07:33 PM

[Amneris]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:37pm

There were no rude comments made by anyone. It's just a stupid commercial that should have been scripted better if they intend to bring their ticket sales up. People can read her bio in the playbill. What they should have done was had her singing something from hairspray. She could have done "you can't stop the beat" and sold hundreds of tickets instead of making people want to turn off the radio. And I recall myself saying that I heard she was great in the role. One of my friends saw her first performance and it's still all he's talking about.

[ABoyLikeThat]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:44pm

That would've been much more effective, I think. Lots of long text reading is just boring and this seems to be pretty long.

[NJgirl]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:46pm

it plays alot here in NJ....it is not a very good radio ad at all. I was just telling my friend recently how badly written this commercial was..lol. Not Diana's fault Im sure bc the commercial was scripted and she was probably told what to say. However, I got a chance to see her this past weekend (Hairspray is my fav show) and was pleasantly suprised with Diana and loved her as Penny. At least when they got a celeb, they got a celeb who could sing and carry off the role which Diana does with ease.

[dutch46mill2]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:47pm

Comments in this thread that say " I won't see it now until after she's gone" and Who the f*** is she" I find offensive and unwarranted . She is doing her job at the theatre very well and yes she is known by American Idol and the producers are using her to promote Hairspray. She's just doing her job and if her promoting get people to Hairspray good if not it does bring people to think about Broadway. Everybody wins it is a business.
She is appearing monday at MISCAST $50. gets you wine , mezzani nne seat and the show at 8:30.That's my promotion for a good cause. I think Diana is incredible and I hope you take the time to meet her.
Updated On: 3/9/06 at 07:47 PM

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 7:52pm

no one has said anything about her performance in this thread. we're talking about whoever wrote the script and had this poor talented girl read it.

i understand you backing her, but there's no need to protect her and get brass when people have opinions that differ from yours. THAT is unwarranted. we're not being rude, we're not saying she's not talented. Hell I saw her, I think she can sing her face off and have no issues with her.

[Amneris]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 8:00pm

If I get out of a reading early enough monday I might just come and support a good cause. But, no need to get in a huff.. it just would have been better had she sang because um that is what she does best. This commercial just made her come off in a wrong way and people who do not know her may take it the wrong way saying "gosh what a nasty girl" and I am sure that is not the case on her part. she seems like the definition of glinda's bubble hehe.. a nice girl from Atlanta but, PLEASE just do away with that commercial.

[NJgirl]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 8:10pm

the point is..no matter how good she is in the role, no matter how much I liked her, and how much I love the show.....that radio commercial is crap! Its pretty sad that I can say I like the ridiculous Mamma Mia radio ad theyve been running here more than the 'Spray's. Theyve couldve given Diana something much better. The long drawn out reading of a script makes you want to change the channel. Hairspray's songs are infectious...mixing a bit more of the fun into that commercial would've worked to their advantage.

[dutch46mill2]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 8:11pm

Sorry to all if I got brassy, protective... This 18 year old has blown me away ever since Idol when she was a 16 year old. She is a hard worker,incredible poise,very funny and very giving person.
I hope you all get to meet her you will be richer for it.

[Marie2]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:52pm

What are the Hairspray producers thinking? Take a nice girl like Diana and script her to sound conceited? Way to go, Hairspray! Maybe they'll read the dislike for the spot and change it to something that is more genuinely Diana. I saw Hairspray at the Wednesday matinee and the girl was out at the stage door for at least half an hour, maybe longer, signing autographs and posing for photos. I'd hate to see this commercial giving people the wrong impression.
Sounds like a lame attempt at humor gone awry.

Diana as Penny, btw, was amazing. What I liked best was how she did little things throughout the show to remain in character so if you looked over at her she still seemed like Penny instead of just an actress waiting for her turn. I'd love to see her back on Broadway again after she does the Brooklyn tour.

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 12:54am

This makes Diana sound like celebrity trash. I cant believed she wanted to do that. Can somebody give me a link for the radio spot?

Updated On: 4/19/06 at 12:54 AM

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 1:00am

Does anyone have a link for the radio spot?

Updated On: 4/19/06 at 01:00 AM

[Ionlywanttosay]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:32am

Haha. Yes. She played Maria in West Side Story at our theatre (AMTSJ) this fall, however, after I moved. When I heard that news I was a bit, shocked, but, supposedly she did quite well. And, oh my, that radio commercial sounds terrible. I definitely agree, they should have simply played her singing a song or the like -- people don't like her THAT much to buy tickets after an inane bragfest. I second the - does anyone have a link?

[Al Dente]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 10:20am

Excuse me but why are so many of you jumping to the "Diana's a great person, leave her alone, she's awesome and amazing" nonsense? Are people not allowed to express an opinion on an obviously poor choice for an ad campain? Get over it, no one said DeGarmo sucked, just that the commercial did. Big Deal.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 10:24am

Actually, they cast her mostly based on talent, and the boost in sales has been a really nice surprise.