If you can organise a star, say, by the name of Barry Humphries and combine it with a list of celebrities that will be attending the opening night, you will get media attention to any arts event you may put on.
The media call today was choc-a-bloc. A Channel Seven news crew with a very dapper looking anchor, Angela Bishop with heels that almost competed with Dame Edna's, Fairfax photographers, News Limited photographers and journalists from every major news paper. We all set up and waited for Dame Edna to arrive and perform one musical number, Back with a Vengeance.
Barry Humphries knows how to do a media call. His dry wit undertones a most consummate professional. He banters with the journalists and stages the most perfect eye-twinkling photo opportunities that will guarantee to please any page 3 editor.
The lavender wig, the diamante jewels and the throwing of gladioli are images we all know and perfect for that media grab that journalists love. Or, as Dame Edna puts it, "just an Australian actress coming back to her roots."
When asked by one of the journalists what politicians would be coming to see Dame Edna at the opening, his reply was swift:
"None possum. Look, if there is one thing you all should know, politicians don't read books, they don't listen to music or go to the theatre."
Dame Edna quickly turned it around on the media scrum. "Now, who here has been to this theatre before? Come on, can I see a raise of hands."
A few stragglers put their hands up.
Dame Edna relished it. "What we're learning about the Australian media this morning!"
1 comments:
Fascinating little socio-cultural experiment there.
I've been thinking alot lately about cultural gatekeepers - be they media, publicists (who decide who is valid/significant enough to attend/review certain events), or bureaucrats.
Your observations feed into the debate as I see it.
As does your earlier post about the recent Sydney forum on the arts. How different these events might be if the cultural conversation was jacked open as wide as possible, instead of tightly moderated through the conventional echo chambers.
Thanks for the report Nick :)
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