Accelerating Media Coverage for Stick Fly

One of the hallmarks of a well-run media campaign is the growing saturation and acceleration of content delivery as the event approaches. In the case of Lydia Diamond’s Stick Fly – now in previews and opening Dec. 8 – this means more online content and more media placements. In any given production, some of this may be the result of diligent Public Relations and Marketing staff behind the scenes; some is the reporter/newspaper/magazine staff printing material as it becomes especially timely.

Let’s roll back the clock a little and see some of the recent coverage and its timeline.

• November 22, 2011
  Lydia herself wrote a feature for Broadway.com entitled “Stick Fly Scribe Lydia R. Diamond on Getting ‘Lucky’ with Producer Alicia Keys and Director Kenny Leon”. This was posted to Broadway.com on November 22, 2010.The Wall Street Journal ran an interview with Alicia Keys, including two questions and responses about Stick Fly.
• November 20, 2011
  The Boston Globe’s Laura Collins-Hughes wrote an excellent preview of Stick Fly. This piece, entitled “Local playwright gets Broadway debut”, ran in the November 20, 2010 issue of the Globe. A year ago, this might have been Louise Kennedy doing the piece, but I believe that she is still on leave to write her book.
• November 18. 2011
  Playbill.com ran an info piece to mark the start of previews on that same day. The simple title to this surprisingly long piece is “Stick Fly, With Dulé Hill, Mekhi Phifer and Tracie Thoms, Lands On Broadway Nov. 18″.Broadway.com ran a short piece entitled “Producer Alicia Keys Brings Martha’s Vineyard to Broadway as Stick Fly Begins Performances”, which oddly enough starts with “Broadway gets a new taste of the upper crust…” We Bostonians tend to think of the Hamptons as more upper crusty than Cape Cod (where Stick Fly is set), but hey.
• November 16, 2011
  Playbill.com ran a news piece on how people who bought tickets on the 16th had a chance to meet Alicia Keys and the cast. It’s interesting for the layman/laywoman to see how they emphasize the theatre, television, and film credits differently. The title is a deceptively curt “PHOTO CALL: Alicia Keys, Dulé Hill, Tracie Thoms and Stick Fly Cast Sign Posters Outside Theatre”, as it has a full description of the show details.
  
  
• November 14, 2011
  BroadwayWorld.com announced the cast meet-and-greet, noting that Alicia Keys would be there with the cast and that they would all be signing autographs on November 17th. That’s two days more notice than the production website’s subscribers (see below). The title? “Stick Fly, With Dulé Hill, Mekhi Phifer and Tracie Thoms, Lands On Broadway Nov. 18″. The headline linking from elsewhere on the website? “Alicia Keys and STICK FLY Cast to Sign Autographs at Cort Theatre 11/16”. That’s star power for you.TheatreMania.com’s coverage of the same was much shorter (less than half the linked article above) and seemed primarily to serve as a link to the site’s ticket purchasing system. To be fair, these are businesses and it’s super convenient. Their title? “Alicia Keys and Stick Fly Cast Members Set for November 16 Event at Cort Theatre” both ways.

On the production end, the Stick Fly website has a sign-up list for updates on the production and any rich media content that they add. Subscribers got an announcement of a cast meet-and-greet (media coverage here) on November 16 (the meet-and-greet was on the 17th) and regular announcements of new videos (the latest on the 14th, prepping  subscribers for the meet-and-greet notice two days later).

As with any show, they pick up a social media boost from mentions by famous actors, celebrities, etc. Most news mentions of Alicia Keys also mention her involvement with Stick Fly, and a number of the actors have had various star features that also get the name in print.