Frequently Asked Questions

What is Broadway Baby?
Broadway Baby started as a website that allowed you to publish your theatre-related CV on the web for free. And it still does. You can keep it up to date at any time via your Profile page, and add any new professional credits. When you register with Broadway Baby, you get a unique internet address such as http://www.broadwaybaby.com/johnsmith. In 2003 Broadway Baby started offering reviews of Fringe shows, and it proved rather popular. Very popular, in fact, and now our reviews section is by far the most active part of the site. In 2008 we enhanced the profile pages to include social networking features such as friends and profile chat.

Who writes Broadway Baby Reviews?
Our policy is to use theatre practitioners to write reviews. Our goal is to offer constructive criticism of the shows we see. Over August, the team swells in an attempt to cover the largest arts festival in the world in Edinburgh, and it's an ongoing aim to get the additional members of the reviewing team writing in a style which we'll be proud of. Hopefully we're getting better at that every year.

If you are interested writing for Broadway Baby, then you'll need to have experience in theatre, and definitely have the ability to write. Please email the editor at editor@broadwaybaby.com with a brief summary of your experience and a sample of your writing. If you're looking to write reviews for the next Edinburgh Festival, please let us know your availability (dates and times) and genre of interest (theatre, musicals, dance, comedy, etc), as this is important in trying to schedule the team. Like the majority of free review sources in Edinburgh, we can't pay you for your time - but we will provide you with a press pass and full schedule of shows to review.

Advertising on Broadway Baby
Broadway Baby accepts banner advertising for your shows. To keep things cheap, we offer a flat-fee rate per week (depending on the month) starting from as little as £15. If you're interested in advertising, take a look at our advertising page.

How do I submit a press release?
Send your releases to editor@broadwaybaby.com. We prefer plain-text Word Documents rather than PDFs, and you should include a JPEG image with your story sized at 500px wide. Due to the large number of releases we get - especially close to start of the Edinburgh Festival - releases without images, or with >7MB attachments, or PDFs using non-standard fonts, may be put to one side. There is an old saying, "Keep It Simple, Stupid", which holds true here. Your press release should just be text, and your image photographic without text overlays. The very things which you hope may make you stand out can also be a barrier to getting your show publicity if it creates extra work when time is tight. A tip is also not to send us a release which is a long list of quotes from other reviews you've had. Reviewers don't tend to read other reviews (less it put phrases into their heads), and if you've already had a ton of reviews, we're more likely to think you don't need another.

Can you come and review my show?
Well - if you're at the Edinburgh Fringe - see the list in the box-off below, but the answer to that question is "we'll do our best". If there's an appropriate reviewer available in your time slot, then we really will do our best to schedule you in. Creating the review schedule is a challenging task. In 2007 we had 15 reviewers covering the Fringe, each with their own specialisations (the Comedy Critic probably didn't have many useful things to say about an edgy piece of Physical Theatre) - so we have to juggle this along with trying to get into your show as early in the run as possible. Typically we won't schedule in a show if the only available dates are the last couple of nights in the run. Our goal is to give the Fringe-going public reviews of shows they can see. Equally, if a show is likely to be sold out for the entire run, there's little point writing about something you can't buy a ticket for. Outside of Edinburgh, please give us as much notice as possible of your press night. We now have reviewers based in London, Brighton, Manchester and Reading.

I found a profile page of myself Broadway Baby, but I haven't registered
You've probably been added by another member of the site as part of a production they've created a homepage for. Some of this goes back to the original version of Broadway Baby, where show pages were commonly created by show publicists. For example, if you're appearing in 'Hamlet' and the publicist decided to publish a homepage for the show on Broadway Baby, when they entered the cast list a profile for you will automatically be created.

How can I update a record about me that someone else created?
Please drop a line to editor@broadwaybaby.com with details of the profile in question.

The answer to my question isn't here, or I'm in a bit of a muddle with my data.
If you've got a bit lost and need assistance, drop me a line at editor@broadwaybaby.com and We'll do my best to help out.

Taking a show to Edinburgh?

I'm going to Edinburgh this year - how do I get my show reviewed?
Although we'd like to review every show at the Festival, there simply isn't time to see them all. However, there are plenty of things you can do to make your show easier to slip into our reviewing schedule.

Let us know what you're doing well in advance of the Festival - Send a press release to editor@broadwaybaby.com, along with at least one JPG image we can use along with the show (500px wide please). We also do preview stories as well as reviews, so you'll have two bites of the cherry if you keep us up to date.
Are you holding a Press Event? - Typically most of the big venues will hold a press launch which gives you an opportunity to pitch your show not only at Broadway Baby, but many other publications reviewing shows. Go along equipped with press packs and mingle with the press, who can easily be spotted with their press passes dangling around their necks. Neil Cooper, critic with The Herald, really slags these events off in his "advice from the media" in the EdFringe guide for performers - but as The Herald, by Neil's own admission, only has a small section to fill with Fringe reviews, you can see why his needs are different (Actually, Neil says he doesn't even consider shows from Oxford or Cambridge - which goes to show how wrong he can be). For publications trying to cover far more of the Fringe, these events are useful in getting the inside track on which shows are likely to be causing the buzz; something not usually apparent from their programme listing alone.
Get a good press agent - they're worth their weight in gold. No, really. Get a good press agent, and one who is experienced with the Fringe. Your goal should be to get the press in at the beginning of your run, when a good review can make a real difference to your ticket sales. An enthusiastic amateur may shy away from the job of cold-calling journalists, and a one-man band may have too many acts on their books to give you the attention your show needs. Choose your agent carefully and make sure they have clearly defined objectives and target publications. A good press agent will cost you more than you think, but can fill your house - so consider it a wise investment. The Fringe Office maintains a list of PRs who regularly work the Festival. If you pick someone from that list, you're probably on the right track.

Having been on various sides of the 'fence' in Edinburgh, here are some other tips for those taking a show up to Edinburgh.

Target The Free Press First - You can spend a lot of time and energy getting The Scotsman in to see your show, only for them to sit on the review for weeks due to some complex Fringe First reasons. A leading venue press & marketing manager suggests (and Broadway Baby happen to agree!), you should concentrate your efforts on getting the free press in during the first week. The free press includes Broadway Baby, Three Weeks, Hairline, One4Review, Edinburgh Guide, etc.
Flyering the mile - Opinion is divided on this. Research by the Fringe Society suggests a large chunk of people make their mind up based on the flyer, but personal experience suggests otherwise. There's very little targeting going on, and most of the flyers you hand out generally end up in the recycling bins located at either end. The best advice is to view flyering the mile as a 'treading water' activity - fill up duty rosters with it when there's nothing more targeted to do.
Showcase - If you have a musical or visual piece, then the street stages offer a much better way to showcase your production and if the passing audience are interested then they'll take a flyer. Be aware that these are hard work on your performer's voices, so try and be sensible with the schedules. There are also 'Best Of..' shows running throughout the festival which give you an opportunity to do a five minute slice of your show within somebody elses - and if the audience like what you do, they'll buy a ticket for your show too.
Share your audience - If you really do want to flyer, then build a relationship with the Producer of shows in the same genre as yours, and flyer their queue (allowing them to flyer yours).
Word of mouth is king - It seems most visitors to any festival have a handful of shows on their must see list prior to arrival, and then fill up their diaries from recommendations they hear in coffee shops and venue bars. Paper your houses for the first week to ensure every seat has a punter in it who can talk about your show. Once you're up and running, make sure you're working your venue bar at least 45 minutes before your show goes up and talk to everyone in there - especially the people flicking through the Fringe programme looking for something to see!
Advertise Smarter - Buying ad space is expensive, and you'll need to budget at least £2,400 to get a quarter page in the official Fringe programme (which is pretty much an essential). There are plenty of other publications - yes, including Broadway Baby - who are only too willing to part you from your meagre budget. So think outside of the box. Try and understand who your audience will be, and think what influences them. Website advertising on edfringe.com is effective, but it's not cheap - a banner during August is £1,450 per week! That said, there's a website for every market, and if, for instance, your show is the comical adventures of a Virgin Atlantic trolley dolly, then V-Flyer, a Virgin Atlantic community site would give you direct access to people who may not normally visit the Edinburgh Fringe, but your show would give them the excuse. The thing to remember is that the average audience size at the Fringe is often quoted as being 6 people. If you only do the minimum to attract your audience, then chances are your audience size will be less than average; and that's not something to relish.