April 16 was Honors Lit Day at the Booth Theatre. And no, theatregoers didn’t have to take an exam to pass this class. Brooklyn Public Library and No Book Bans partnered with John Proctor is The Villain to give away over 700 copies of various banned books in America to audience members after the show. These banned books discussed LGBTQ+ themes and racism, spanned a wide age range and even included The Crucible, the play John Proctor is The Villain is based on. This initiative was just one way theatre marketer, Alison Rhen, said she takes action through advertising.

“[This campaign] speaks to the social world that we're in right now, and we are doing our part in order to do right by the world,” said Rhen.  

Alison Rhen said she has always loved theatre growing up but tried to hide it in her college years at Michigan State University. There, Rhen switched her major multiple times until she finally decided to study advertising. It was only when she joined the Wharton Center for Performing Arts’ marketing organization, Rhen said she realized she could pursue her passion for both theatre and advertising.

Now, Alison Rhen is an account manager at SpotCo, an entertainment marketing company responsible for some of Broadway’s most iconic logos and branding. Rhen said that joining the partnerships team during the reopening of Broadway let her look at theatre advertising through a new lens: activism.

“I always love it when a show advocates for what they stand for on stage, off stage because it shows you mean the message that you're sending people home with,” said Rhen.

Since joining the SpotCo team three years ago, Rhen has worked on a variety of advertising campaigns, but she said the Broadway partnership with Headcount, a voter registration organization, has been the highlight of her career.

Rhen teamed up with other agencies and 27 Broadway shows to launch an initiative with Headcount to check the voter registration status of theatergoers for the 2024 Presidential Election. In total, this campaign checked 47,000 people’s voter registration status and registered 8,000 new voters.

 “[The Headcount campaign put] us in the middle of the larger social conversation happening throughout the country. We get to band together and say, ‘Well, this is what Broadway is doing to do their part.’ So that will always be the thing I am most proud of to this point,” said Rhen.

Another project Rhen worked on was Beetlejuice the Musical’s  “31 Day-0s of Spooky Fun” campaign. Each day in October 2022, Beetlejuice the Musical did a different partnership activation to reach new audiences. Rhen said that her favorite partnership was with Sleep Out. Sleep Out is a non-profit organization that provides resources to support young people experiencing homelessness and exploitation. The company of Beetlejuice raised money and then slept outside for a night to show their solidarity and raise awareness.

“We got to use our voice to advocate for people who needed it and I think that is one of the most important things that partnership teams have the ability and are called upon to do,” said Rhen about the Sleep Out event.

Rhen’s advertising campaign for Suffs has even made an impact outside of the New York City community.

Rhen onstage at Suffs holding the South Dakota sign as part of an activation event to represent the 36 states that ratified the 19th Amendment. Photo courtesy of Alison Rhen.

The Times Square billboard advertising the Headcount partnership with Broadway. Rhen said this campaign is her “crowning achievement to this point in [her] career.” Photo courtesy of Alison Rhen.

t's really cool to watch some high school in Montana, who would have never otherwise gotten to talk about the 19th Amendment, get to do these things and use the title treatment that we came up with,” Rhen said.

This widespread effect on the theatre world is only one reason Rhen said she is motivated to advocate through advertising. With her passion for theatre at the heart of her work, Rhen said she is driven by the true purpose of theatre to take action.

“Theatre can be more than just making a dollar. It's always been designed to say something and do something and advocate for something, and we have the power and the resources to do that work,” said Rhen.

Rhen’s efforts to mix activism into her work has paved a unique path in traditional theatre advertising. Looking forward, Rhen said she wants advertisers to create more organic digital content to draw new audiences into the theatre world and encourage engagement with their initiatives.

“We have to completely move forward with the reinvention. And so we aren't beholden to the old ways, while we do get to honor and acknowledge and learn from those, we're expected to come in ready to shake it up,” said Rhen.

Rhen’s advocacy through advertising is just one way the Broadway community is getting off of the stage and into the streets. Her philosophy is simple:

“We always ask communities to show up for us and buy tickets. It would be hypocritical not to show up for them.”

Alison Rhen combined her love for theatre and her degree in Advertising Management to create advertising campaigns that call theatergoers to action. Photo courtesy of Alison Rhen.