Playbill will present the fourth annual PLAYBILLder Award for Marketing at the 2021 Roger Rees Awards. The award, first given in 2018, recognizes comprehensive and engaging marketing plans utilizing a Broadway-quality program created with PLAYBILLder.
The winning school will be spotlighted on Playbill and receive a free PLAYBILLder license to be used on a future production, a commemorative framed copy of the winning program, and $500 for the theatre department. Any high school located in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Orange and Rockland counties, or Westchester that uses PLAYBILLder to create and publish a program for a school theatrical production is eligible. In light of the current health crisis, schools can also submit prospective marketing plans and programs created as a project rather than for an actual production.
"Well beyond the challenge of getting to a single production's opening night, ensuring that school theatre programs have funding and community support to keep going for each new generation of students has never been more important in this time when so many arts programs are struggling in the wake of COVID-19," says Logan Culwell-Block, Playbill’s director of PLAYBILLder operations and community engagement. “It's so vital that the school's community—both families and local businesses—get involved and invested. PLAYBILLder is a natural partner for creating and supporting sustainable theatre in schools, offering an easy-to-make, Broadway-quality program in which the entire community can take pride. Everyone at Playbill is elated to once again shine a spotlight on the incredible students, teachers, and community leaders working behind the scenes to make their productions and programs a big success even under the most challenging circumstances.”
READ: 5 Tips for Building Sustainable School Theatre Programs Using PLAYBILLder
A panel of judges from Playbill will select the winner, evaluating entries based on the quality of the PLAYBILLder-created program—including layout, imagery, and text; the level of student participation in the marketing plan as a whole; creativity in any non-PLAYBILLder marketing materials; and excellence in community engagement through the use of PLAYBILLder's advertising section. While simply using PLAYBILLder makes schools eligible for the award, schools are also encouraged to submit additional materials including a brief paragraph outlining the goals and inspiration behind their marketing campaign; a description of student involvement in the campaign's execution; links to or screenshots of social media posts, flyers, and posters; and any other advertising materials created for the production.
Supplemental submissions, which will be accepted through Friday, April 2, may be emailed to [email protected].
Launched in 2013, PLAYBILLder is an easy-to-use online tool for building fully licensed and Broadway-quality Playbill programs, both print and online-only. PLAYBILLder can be used for school and community theatre productions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other special events. With fully customizable areas for cast and song listings, cast bios, headshots, photos, and more, PLAYBILLder provides everything needed to make a professional program exactly like those found on Broadway. With fully featured advertisement templates, PLAYBILLder is also an invaluable tool for fundraising and developing community involvement. The online platform allows programs to live online—with options for sharing with friends, family, and community members—and PLAYBILLder's affordable professional printing service allows hard copies to be produced and delivered.
The Roger Rees Awards is the New York Metro Area student award program that recognizes distinction in student performance and outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre. It serves as the Greater New York Regional Award program of The Broadway League Foundation’s Jimmy Awards, a.k.a. The National High School Musical Theatre Awards. Notable past winners have included 2015 Best Actress Marla Louissaint, who recently appeared in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; and 2018 Best Actor Andrew Barth Feldman, now starring as the title role in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway.
For more information on the Roger Rees Awards, click here.
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