Malcolm Gladwell, in his best-selling book The Tipping Point, describes a number of types of people that generate word of mouth, including a "maven," whom Gladwell describes as someone who influences what other people buy or places that other people patronize. As experts in their particular fields of interest, mavens are the go-to people for advice on what's hot and what's not.
On a related note, theater producers have begun to experiment with new digital forms of marketing, including plying bloggers with free theater tickets in the hopes that they will write about their shows and influence other people to come see them.
Attention theater producers: I am a maven. So ply away. (I don't know if mavens can be self-appointed, but I'm not one for protocol.)
As I've demonstrated amply in these pages, I have knowledge and opinions about musical theater, and I have no compunction about sharing those views with others. I'm the unofficial musical dramaturg for the Boston Gay Men's Chorus, the resident expert on all things Broadway. I'm a professor of musical theater at the Boston Conservatory of Music, responsible for shaping the minds of the current and future theater queens of America. And my blog is slowly but surely building up a loyal following.
I have no shame: send me free tickets. I promise to be fair but honest in my estimations of your respective shows. I'll even come to a different city: have blog, will travel.
Um...unless it's a touring company of Lestat. I'd sooner watch an all-day marathon of The 700 Club.
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