That is the question they are asking down in Atlanta, where a local theatre group, Actor’s Express, is putting together “Love Jerry,” a tale of a man who has a sexual relationship with his young nephew. Getting pub for “a theater community that’s just emerging onto the national scene” is what this production is all about:
To get more mouths talking, Express marketing director Sherry Ward has held meetings with local abuse survivor groups. She knows, though, that some of her most important work will be in crafting the images and taglines attached to the show’s publicity.
“We are kind of starting at zero with this one,” she admits. “The challenge has been that when (you are) doing a musical about child abuse … some people might think it’s campy, but we also don’t want to go too dark.”
With that in mind, initial poster concepts featuring a man putting candy in a child’s hand were jettisoned as being too frank. Now the promos are more suggestive, featuring an eerie shadow of a man in a clown nose staring into a room. (The clown refers to a somewhat supernatural character who tempts Jerry.)
Sounds world class all the way.
