nytheatre.com's Listing Structure, Process, and Philosophy
Below is information about show listings on nytheatre.com. See also the following related topics: How to List Your Show on nytheatre.com; Getting Your Show Reviewed; Advertising on nytheatre.com; Marketing your show on nytheatre.com; Interviews and Podcasts.
nytheatre.com Listing Structure
There are two general types of listings on nytheatre.com: Now Playing Listings and Coming Attractions. Now Playing Listings only contain shows that are running in the current week (Monday - Sunday). Coming Attractions only contains shows that begin performances in the future (after the current week end).
Thus, when you send in your listing, it will appear first on the Coming Attractions page, and then on the appropriate Now Playing page(s) once performances begin.
Coming Attractions are displayed chronologically. Now Playing listings are displayed on separate pages, by genre: Plays, Musicals, For Kids and Families, Cabaret/Comedy, and Late Night. There are also Now Playing listings that display the new shows that begin performances in the current week, and a set of pages that list shows by neighborhood. See the sidebar at left for links to all of these pages.
We will use your press release to help us determine which genre your show belongs to. It's helpful if you provide the information explicitly (e.g., call the show a "play" or a "musical" or indicate that it's suitable for a certain age group).
Festivals and other special events are generally posted on the Festival Calendar page. Events that will play only one or two performance are generally listed on the Now Playing: One Night Only page.
We list shows playing in all five boroughs of New York City plus suburban New Jersey (Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union, Passaic, Middlesex, Somerset, and Monmouth Counties). At this time, we do not generally list shows outside this geographic area—but watch for coverage of suburban New York to be added in 2008.
We generally do not list stand-up comedy, opera, or dance unless the event seems to be of interest to our readership. Our cabaret and comedy (sketch/improv) listings are limited to productions that have an important theatrical or music theatre component.
Indie theater listings are, also, automatically posted on the indietheater.org website.
nytheatre.com Listing Process
Here's a step-by-step rundown of how listings are handled by our staff.
- Listing submissions are reviewed by our editor. As soon as your listing has been reviewed, you'll receive a confirmation email (or an email indicating that the listing info is incomplete).
- Confirmed listings immediately appear on our Coming Attractions page. They will appear as unlinked listings at first.
- Our staff then creates a detailed listing page for your show. We strive to complete this within a few days of receipt of your listing, but during peak periods this can take longer.
- Once the detailed listing page is complete, it is uploaded to nytheatre.com. A link to this detailed listing will appear on the Coming Attractions page at this time.
- Your listing will automatically move from the Coming Attractions page to the appropriate Now Playing page(s) on the closest Sunday night before your first performance.
- Your listing remains on nytheatre.com until the closing date you provide. That's why it's very important for you to advise us of closings—there's nothing worse than frustrating a potential audience member because you neglected to tell us that your show had closed!
- If your show has been reviewed on nytheatre.com, the listing and review will remain on nytheatre.com indefinitely (in our archive).
- If your show has not been reviewed on nytheatre.com, then the listing is removed immediately upon closing.
nytheatre.com Listing Philosophy
All of our listings services are FREE, both to the audience/readers and to the companies/artists whose shows we list. Listings on nytheatre.com are not ads; each one is prepared by our staff, with the intent of providing the most accurate, independent, and comprehensive information about all of the theatre options available in the NYC area.
With all of our theatre coverage—which includes listings, reviews, and other content on nytheatre.com and our network of websites (nytheatrecast.com, indietheater.org, mobile.nytheatre.com, the nytheatre i and nytheatre mike blogs, nyte.org, and the plays and playwrights blog)—our primary goal is to give theatregoers as much information as possible so that they can (a) learn about all of the many choices available to them, and (b) make good informed decisions about which of these choices they'll most enjoy.
Let's Work Together
We never charge theatre companies for listings, virtual coupons, or any of our other services. We want your scarce dollars to fund your work, not ours. As a nonprofit corporation ourselves, we ask for in-kind support in the form of publicity. You can help us spread the word about nytheatre.com in any of a variety of ways:
- Add links to nytheatre.com (and indietheater.org) on your website. We appreciate a general link to our home page, plus specific links to reviews, nytheatre voices articles, and other special features about your company on nytheatre.com.
- List nytheatre.com as an in-kind contributor to your company. This is especially appropriate if we're providing Virtual Coupons for your show.
- Set aside a small amount of free advertising space in your programs for nytheatre.com. We will provide simple, hassle-free copy and images for you to use.
- Include nytheatre.com materials in your press kits: nytheatre voices articles, nytheatrecast postcards/announcements, show listings, and reviews are all appropriate for insertion.
- Quote nytheatre.com reviews in your advertising and marketing materials.
