THEATER REVIEW:Playhouse wins Telly Awards

In the theater, they give out awards for acting, directing, set designing and myriad other accomplishments, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that they also hand out trophies to the people who publicize these activities.

These are called the Telly Awards, and the Laguna Playhouse recently won three of them for its DVD brochure heralding the theater’s 2006-07 season.

In the 27th annual Telly Awards competition, the playhouse and Edge Films were awarded bronze Tellys in the “direct marketing” and “charitable/not for profit” categories and one silver Telly ? the highest honor ? in the “entertainment” category.

“This is an exceptional acknowledgment of the innovative marketing we have been implementing this year at the Laguna Playhouse under the creative direction of our director of marketing and development, Greg Patterson,” commented the theater’s executive director, Richard Stein.

“The playhouse has been experiencing significant growth this past year with a more than 20% increase in our subscriber base alone,” Stein noted. “Our new DVD is proving to be a strong new sales tool for us this season as we are continuing to realize continued growth in subscriptions.

“The DVD brochure was the playhouse’s first crack at that method of publicity, and obviously it’s working. The attention-getting message included graphics, audience testimonials, tourism information and interviews with playhouse principals.

The Telly Awards have been given out since 1978 and honor local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video, film productions and works created for the Internet. More than 12,000 entries are submitted annually from all 50 states and many foreign countries.

The playhouse’s new season, which began recently with the interactive comedy “Shear Madness,” playing through Sept. 3, is chock full of premieres ? none of the shows on its 2006-07 schedule have been seen in Orange County.

Upcoming productions include “Sonia Flew,” “A Marvelous Party,” “The Pursuit of Happiness,” “The Ice-Breaker,” “The Master of the House” and “The Verdi Girls.” Dark nights again will be filled with the audience-involving comedy of “Late Nite Catechism,” versions 1 and 2, along with the return engagement of “Sister’s Christmas Catechism” for the holiday season.

The playhouse is promoting its new season with a campaign entitled “Design Your Own Subscription,” in which audience members select at least three plays, along with performance dates, seating and price ranges.

More information is available from the theater at (949) 487-2787 or online at lagunaplayhouse.com.