Angela Mitchell always loved theater. She performed all sorts of roles over the years, learning firsthand about the anguish suffered not only by actors but others in that world as well.
She's now turning to a new stage of sorts online — the blogosphere — to promote DramaGoodies, a line of T-shirts, gifts and home goods created on CafePress.com. The items good-naturedly poke fun at the trials and tribulations of those who tread the boards.
“Nobody was doing this so I thought I'd give it a try,” she says of the shirts with sayings such as “Upstage me at your own risk” and “Exits, pursued by a bear.”
“I created our shop simply because I'd thought of slogans or ideas that made us laugh, or that saluted our favorite shows, movies and more in a respectful way,” Mitchell adds. “I also wanted to give a little moral support, and have some fun with the hardships of life in the theater.”
The most popular slogan at the store so far is “Line?” “It's the most frequently asked question in any rehearsal, especially as you near opening night,” she says. Another is “YOU, you're ‘doth protesting,’ like, way too much.”
“I made that one because it makes me laugh, even though I was sure nobody would buy it,” says Mitchell.
Mitchell is the founder of Paranoid Public Relations and Creative. To promote DramaGoodies, she's using her blog at http://paranoidcreative.blogspot.com, plus press releases, Google AdWords, link exchanges and online classifieds. She also is an active participant in online forums and message boards. “There, though, my primary goal is discussion and interaction, so DramaGoodies is part of my signature but not something I aggressively push,” she says. What's next? Mitchell plans to run ads on selected theater-industry Web sites and in related publications.
