Katharine Quinn (Photo by Yassine El Mansouri)
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
Early this month was a hectic time for Katharine Quinn (she/her) as she was navigating the Tony Awards season and the demands of her job. As a digital strategist for Broadway shows, she and her team at And That’s Showbiz were doing their final push to promote its current client.
Suffice it to say, she did her part. Her current client, Maybe Happy Ending, went on to win six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor for Darren Criss and Best Director for Michael Arden, both serving up some LGBTQ representation at this year’s awards.
“That last week before the Tonys was nuts to get out more content to help the show,” Quinn said by phone from New York. “Now we can celebrate the show.”
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Quick tips on using social media to enhance local theater
It is no secret that local theaters are struggling, with grants being pulled and attendance still not back at peak levels. Could social media be the key to solving some of those problems?
Although it’s a different ballpark, social media strategist Katherine Quinn of And That’s Showbiz did offer her own insight on how her practices might be revised for regional theaters.
“First, every theater is a completely different situation,” she said. But there are some practices that work regardless.
- Finding out where your fans are: In a general sense, find them and listen to them. They are likely amplifying the things they love about your company.
- The brand is the theater. Do they have ongoing content? There is a shift toward that right now and every production or every company has to also think about being a media company. Allocate some resources if possible.
- Engage with influencers, but do so methodically and strategically. Invite people who will advocate for your space and your show. Maybe offer access others don’t have to post about. Are there cultural influencers in Dallas (North Texas) to approach? They will be the first people sharing about the theaters and their shows.
- ………….
Hailing from Dallas, the queer-identifying strategist has been based in New York, building her company, which is only two years old and has already landed high-profile clients like this year’s Maybe Happy Ending and 2023’s Tony Award-winning The Great Gatsby musical.
Quinn was recently named a “Broadway Woman to Watch” due to her clever approach to storytelling that bridges shows and audiences online. Her work has earned New York Times coverage and driven a 21 percent web traffic spike after influencer collaborations.
Social media is hardly new to Broadway, but with her company, Quinn has brought the new medium to a centuries-old art form.
Her company has two arms: marketing and media production. The marketing side focuses on fan-forward digital marketing for Broadway. And That’s Showbiz’s media side produced its own content.
And Quinn is obviously doing something right in record time.
“The Great Gatsby has the highest following of any Broadway show of our season,” she said.
The idea for all this stemmed from the pandemic.
“I was obsessed with the Bridgerton musical on TikTok. These two young women were writing a musical in front of our eyes, and I was so into how different that was,” Quinn said. “They ended up winning a Grammy and I had a following of 40,000 within a couple of weeks.”
The power of social media in this context got her to thinking. As the pandemic devastated the theater business, she began to think how marketing could help the industry comeback.
Plus, she’s a theater gal herself.
“I wanted to talk to my community,” she said.
Quinn was a writing associate on some shows already, but she discovered how content was driving people to the shows she’s working on through TikTok.
A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Quinn performed on stage for a few years, including regional theater in Dallas and even a stint at Disney Tokyo. Her long game, though, was directing and choreography.
“I still have my hopes and dreams. Last year I got to be an associate director, and I’m not opposed to more choreography, but with my schedule right now, I just don’t see it,” she said.
“Once the company is a bit more autonomous and I have pockets of time, then yes.”
Quinn talked about how theater has always been her safe space. She’s a self-described weirdo who happens to be queer. Today, she has a team that’s predominantly queer.
“I have a nonbinary partner, also, so the world feels beautifully queer all the time,” she said.
“We still don’t have gender parity on Broadway on stage or ‘behind the table,’ but I’m grateful to be in the space and have the opportunity to champion and work with Queer and female voices on Broadway.”
Despite having no traditional marketing experience, Quinn has carved her own career path into what she calls a perfect marriage.
“It’s kind of wild and amazing but you can’t discount the effect and the numbers. And in our second year, we are nonstop moving and shaking,” she said.
Plus, as a director, she can turn that perspective into her content. She’s also a content consumer. And a theater fan.
“It’s like I have this huge sandbox to play in that I love so much,” she said.