Celebrity Challenge and The Non-Profit World

Its been a while since I initially posted. Fortunately, the reason for my lack of updates has been an influx of work during February. Nevertheless, that's still no excuse for neglecting this blog.

In less than 24 hours, my non-profit client will hold their annual fundraising benefit. Dubbed the Arts2Life Gala, the event will raise money to fund all Wingspan Arts programs. An extremely worthy - and essential - organization, Wingspan Arts is dedicated to providing high quality arts education programs for school-aged children. Personally, I could have benefitted from a Wingspan Arts type of organization while going through middle/high school. I don't believe that each and every child is a "student" and it's nice to show kids that, through a creative outlet, they have options in selecting future careers.

Michael Patrick King of Sex and the City fame, along with playwright Stephen Belber, both wrote original new works to be performed during the event. Both are absolutely brilliant pieces. At the eleventh hour to ask a celebrity to perform both plays.
Unfortunately, that meant I spent more than a week crafting letters, faxing over requests, and dealing with absolutely rude assistants (for those publicists who make their assistants do the dirty work).

My efforts were not in vain as Josh Lucas, poised to star in "The Glass Menagerie" on Broadway, agreed to perform Stephen Belber's piece. Unfortunately, after he agreed, he learned that he was needed in a performance on Broadway and had to cancel last minute. We were extremely disappointed, but very appreciative that an actor of his magnitude had agreed to be involved with the event. With three days left until our curtain opened, I was back at square one.

And that's when I had an absolutely awful encounter with a C-list celebrity publicist who literally had a meltdown when I followed up on the initial request. Rather than rehash the awful experience - I'd love to hear how other public relations professionals deal with celebrity publicists (a breed unlike any other in our industry).