Theatrical Marketing Portfolio
Case Study:
Heathers
The Musical
In February of 2016, Phantom Theatre Company produced the regional premier of Heathers The Musical. I was brought on as both stage manager and marketing head for the theatre company. Based on the cult classic movie, the musical follows Veronica’s descent into the popular high school click of girls named Heather.
Logo Design
With Heathers The Musical being so young in the theatrical cannon, I was given full creative license for the logo design. The show is told through Veronica's narration of her diary, so I wanted the logo to feel like Veronica had drawn it in her diary. I began with a hand lettered design that I digitized in Adobe Illustrator. Including the croquette mallet and red scrunchy was a nod to the iconic aspects of both the musical and movie. The overall poster design came from a staged photo shoot. The logo design and wording were added digitally so that I was able to add changes when needed. The poster followed the theme of Veronica's diary entries. I added the cup of blue drano and Veronica's monocle to the poster as a small joke for the die hard fans of the movie.
Social Media
Once the logo and poster were completed, I launched a social media campaign to raise awareness for the show. I allowed the cast and director access to Phantom Theater Company's social media pages, so they were able to post previews from rehearsal. Several of our posts were picked up by Heathers The Musical's accredited social media pages, which furthered our show's awareness.
Promo
Photos
In addition to rehearsal photos and video's, I created a staged photo shoot to create promo shots for the show. We were unable to get into our performance space until tech week, so all staged shots were taken in the rehearsal space. I also created headshots for the cast bio’s for the program, so we would have a clean consistent look.
Marketing
In addition to the social media campaign, we littered Central Pa with small 4x4 posters. We held a Heathers night at Carley's Piano Bar featuring music sung by our cast. A couple weeks before the show, I was able to secure a spot on Good Day PA, to discuss our show. I created all the questions, dialogue, and an outlined press release for the segment.
Production Photos and Results
During tech, I captured production photos to use as additional promo shots. I also captured video of the production to show future donors Phantom Theatre Company's capabilities. The show sold out all 3 days and sold about 20 standing room only tickets per each night. To this day, Heathers The Musical is the most profitable show produced by Phantom Theatre Company. Through our marketing and social media, we had patrons drive from several different states to join us. We were also able to have original Heathers The Musical cast member Katie Ladner, come see our production.
