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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>What Were They Thinking:
Keep it Gay<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>“<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The theater's so obsessed with
dramas so depressed</I></FONT></SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><BR><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white">It's hard to sell a ticket on Broadway</SPAN><BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white">Shows should be more pretty; shows should be more
witty</SPAN><BR><SPAN style="BACKGROUND: white">Shows should be more... what's
the word?<SPAN class=apple-converted-space>
</SPAN>Gay.”</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 2.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>~ <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">from Mel Brooks’ “The
Producers”<o:p></o:p></I></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 2.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white"><FONT size=3>The
speed with which public attitudes have shifted towards greater acceptance of the
<EM><SPAN
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender (</SPAN></EM>LGBT) community has left many
marketers scrambling to tap this sizable segment of influential consumers.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white">How
influential?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: black">National surveys have put the collective buying power of
the LGBT community at over $800 billion annually.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Gay households, in particular, have a 23
percent higher median income</SPAN><SPAN class=apple-converted-space> than
straight households</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black"> </SPAN><SPAN
class=apple-converted-space>and – while it is important not to treat any
community </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">as
a group with monolithic preferences and perceptions –</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"> they
tend to be<SPAN class=apple-converted-space> more brand-</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
class=apple-converted-space><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white">specific and
brand-loyal in their purchases.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Which marketers love.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
class=apple-converted-space><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri"><FONT
size=3>The 2014 Gay Games, and the estimated $40 million worth of consumption
the event is bringing to Cleveland and Akron, has created a wonderful
opportunity for local businesses to support and court the LGBT community.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri">And
</SPAN><SPAN class=apple-converted-space><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white">because both
positive and negative p</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri">urchasing
decisions are often made on the basis of a business’ perceived inclusionary
practices, many local businesses attended training on cultural competency from
The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri">Local
theater companies need no such training, nor do they have to devise marketing
strategies to bring in members of the LBGT community.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“They have always been there,” suggests
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white">Bill
Rudman, artistic director of the Cleveland-based Musical Theater
Project</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri">.
“</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white">Without gays and
lesbians on stage, behind the scenes and in the audience, there would be no
Broadway.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Or us.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white"><FONT size=3>One
reason is that the stage is often the first place to reflect social
progress</FONT><A name=secondParagraph></A><FONT size=3>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In fact, </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>a new breed of plays
about life in the LBGT community is currently replacing the explicitly political
and exclusively tragic plot points found in such groundbreaking 1980s and 1990s
dramas as “The Normal Heart,” “<SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #252525; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">Torch
Song Trilogy</SPAN>” and “Angels in America.” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Shows like the recent Broadway production
of Geoffrey Nauffs’ “Next Fall” simply place the everyday concerns of Americans
in a queer context. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>With approximately 7,000
Gay Games participants and 20,000 spectators coming to town, several local
theaters purposefully offered LGBT-centric plays during the week of August 9 –
16.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Did these productions
experience a bump in attendance?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>For more of this “What
Were They Thinking” series installment, go to:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><A href=""><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_f26c7710-25ae-11e4-9d60-0019bb2963f4.html</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>