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How to List Your Show on nytheatre.com

Below are guidelines for submitting your show to be listed on nytheatre.com. See also the following related topics: nytheatre.com's Listing Structure, Process, and Philosophy; Getting Your Show Reviewed; Advertising on nytheatre.com; Marketing your show on nytheatre.com; Interviews and Podcasts.

If your show is an indie theater production, your listing will automatically be posted on both nytheatre.com and indietheater.org. If you're not sure what an indie theater production is, visit indietheater.org now.

nytheatre.com Listing Guidelines

  1. The following information is REQUIRED to list your show:
    1. Show Title
    2. Date of First Performance
    3. Date of Last Performance (or indicate "open ended run")
    4. Venue Name
    5. Venue Address
    6. Performance Schedule -- days and times
    7. Ticket Price (if there are special prices for students, seniors, etc., include this as well)
    8. How to buy tickets -- if you are using a ticketing agent such as Theatermania, Smarttix,or Ticket Central, indicate this information and provide the full URL that links directly to their ticketing page for your show. It will look like this: http://www.theatermania.com/ticketing/index.cfm?int_showid=123456 or http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=ABC2&aid=2 or http://www.ticketcentral.com/PromoCode.asp?PID=5432
    9. If you are not using a ticketing agent, include the box office phone number where customers can order tickets and/or the website URL where customers can order tickets online
    10. Producer or Producing Company
    11. Author/Creator of the show
    12. Well-written, concise synopsis of your show (click here to find out what makes a great synopsis)
  2. The following information is helpful to include in your listing—it will make the listing more interesting to our readers and will also be useful to nytheatre.com's editor in determining whether to assign the show for review:
    1. Members of the cast
    2. Director
    3. Design personnel (sets, lighting, costumes, sound, etc.)
    4. Additional members of the creative team (composer, fight director, choreographer, etc.)
    5. Your company's website
    6. Your show's website (if different)
    7. Other websites where audiences can learn about your show: a MySpace page, a blog, a YouTube video site, etc.
  3. Listings should be sent via email to listings@nytheatre.com. Send the listing just once to this address for both nytheatre.com and indietheater.org. You should receive a confirmation email within 48 hours. If you don't receive the confirmation we probably didn't get it, so in that case please resend.
  4. Listing information should be in the text of the email (definitely preferred), or may be attached as an MS Word document (.doc only). Please do not send PDFs. JPGs and other graphic formats will not be opened.
  5. Please send original emails only. Emails that contain other emails as forwards will never be opened (they look like spam!).
  6. Listings should be clear, with all the required information easily accessible. Please avoid unnecessary formatting such as columns, artwork, etc. Please don't send us formatted email "blasts" or newsletters—always send a properly structured press release.

nytheatre.com Listing Deadlines

Please send listings at least 10 days before the first performance! Each listing is reviewed individually by the nytheatre.com editor and at least one other member of our staff. Help us provide you and our readers with excellent, interesting, accurate, and timely listings by giving us all of the information we need ON TIME. Nothing frustrates us more than not being able to post a listing of a terrific show because it didn't arrive early enough.

So, to repeat: listings should be submitted no later than 10 days before the first performance. If the show opens on September 15, we need to have the listing by September 5.

How to Write a Great Synopsis for Your Listing

A great synopsis has the following qualities: it's concise, it's clear, it's vivid, it tells people interesting and useful facts about your show, and it does not contain hype. Your synopsis needs to answer three of the five "W's" of traditional journalism: Who, What, and Why. (Where and When will probably be covered by the other items in the listings guidelines.)

"Who" means the principal creative people involved in your show; their credentials are of some interest, but don't list everything everyone in the show has ever done. "What" means the basic description of your show. What's the story? What can the audience expect? Who are the main characters and what happens to them during the show? "Why" means what makes this show unique, interesting, different. It's especially important to indicate what's distinctive about your show when it's a revival. If you're doing a show that gets done a lot (such as a play by Shakespeare or a popular contemporary piece like Two Rooms or Five Women Wearing the Same Dress), explain the special perspective or concept that will distinguish your production from others.

But do all of the above without resorting to hype! Hype means using adjectives that sound good but don't actually mean anything substantive, such as "great," "wonderful," "excellent," "hilarious," etc. Hype also means quoting from reviews or other sources. nytheatre.com strives to be as objective in our listings as we can be; we won't use this kind of material in our listings.

Finally, don't be vague, general, abstract, or fuzzy. Here are two synopses of the same play (neither being perfect). Which would you go to see?

BAD SYNOPSIS: A troubled thirtysomething couple try to find meaning and fulfillment.

BETTER SYNOPSIS: Jack and Anne, a young couple in their 30s, cope with a number of events—his wanderlust, her desire to have a child—that threaten to destroy their marriage.