A Drink in Hand, A Wedding to Organize
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois
Against the Grain Theatre, a small opera company in Toronto, has become famous for presenting the best opera in a small setting in the country. With the arrival of Nancy Hitzig as their general manager, they have begun to work hard to get the word out about their gem-like productions. We asked Ms Hitzig, who is the former manager of education and marketing at Opera Atelier, to discuss the company's strategy for Figaro's Wedding. (The production opens tonight and runs to June 2)
CHARPO: Tell us about the first sit-down where your advertising strategy for Figaro was hashed out. Who was there? Who proposed the ideas? What ideas stuck and which not?
HITZIG: Our collective meetings are always around a kitchen table! Joel [Ivany, artistic director], Caitlin [Coull, communications director], Toph [Mokrzewski, music director], Cecily [Carver, community engagement advisor], Miriam [Khalil, founding member] and I gather around the table with a drink in hand to figure things out!
We wanted to approach Figaro’s Wedding as though it were a real wedding. We discussed a real engagement announcement in the Globe and Mail, having Christopher Plummer (or some other awesome Canadian actor) walk Susanna down the aisle, pop-up performances at local wedding shows, and other zany ideas. In the end, we decided on strategies that gave us great reach online and really helped tell the story to pique people’s interest.
We confirmed that all our promotion materials would be like a save-the-date - things that would make the audience members feel “invited.” We often find that the audience wants to feel like they are a part of something greater, an essential part of the art. That was where the proposal video and “meet the wedding party” video came from. [see both below] We wanted to get our audience revved up and excited to attend the wedding of the year!
