This is the truth. I get most of my information on what to see or not based upon what I read here. The previous ad campaign for Grey Gardens just didn't make someone want to go see this show. I hope the new strategy works for them. Whether one likes it or not, at least it grabbed my attention.
The saving grace of the campaign, from my perspective, is that it foreshadows the headlines that are projected on the front of the house as the show begins and the expository narration introduces us to the characters. As well, when Edie opens Act II with the newspaper clipping, we get a second tie to "sensational journalism."
Yes, the story and everything else about this show are lovely and beautiful, there is a bit of ACCESS HOLLYWOOD and EXTRA about the whole enterprise. Again, very creative approach, completely appropriate for summer tourist sales.
Keeping fingers crossed... Updated On: 5/7/07 at 10:29 PM
When I first saw the ad in the NY Times, I could not stop laughing. (And this was in the lobby of a Starbucks...) I think it's brilliant! The original artwork is beautiful, that's a definite, but it doesn't really tell anyone why they should see the show. A woman in a hat holding a mirror in front of her face? What's the draw? Norn, tell your friend that this girl thinks she's a GENIUS.
It's like writing "Norma Shearer for the win!" in a Joan Crawford biography.
The overall look on the website is fantastic, but if I saw that little blurb on the side of an NYC bus I probably wouldn't be very grabbed. I'd be confused why a Grey Gardens ad looked so much like a Wheaties box. The original poster (fan in face) is so elegant and subtle, and catches the eye just as effectively. But if new advertising is what the show needs, they might as well give it a shot.
Judy, Liza, Barbara, Bette, these are names I shant forget.
Honestly, I am glad they are doing something to boost their sales. I'm glad they are trying. If one thing doesn't work, completely change your tactic. More than some other shows of this season can say.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
What did the original artwork say about the show at all? I mean, it was beautiful, but I said nothing to those who didn't know the doc. This at least tells something about the story, and given the media hoopla surronding the Beales in the 70s, it's a genius marketing campaign.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
Exactly. I loved the original artwork, but it didn't tell you anything about the show other than it might look beautiful.
"I've got to get me out of here
This place is full of dirty old men
And the navigators and their mappy maps
And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes
While you stare at your books."
My 2007/2008 Season:
Grey Gardens (7/5)
110 in the Shade (7/6)
Mary Poppins (7/7)
Xanadu (7/7)
Deuce (7/8)
Spamalot (7/8)
Jersey Boys (8/25)
The Year of Magical Thinking (8/25)
Mauritius (11/2)
Young Frankenstein (11/3)
Rock 'N' Roll (11/3)
Pygmalion (11/4)
Mauritius (11/10)
Mauritius (11/21) Mauritius (11/21)
Sunday in the Park with George (3/6)
South Pacific (3/7)
Gypsy (3/8)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (3/9)