Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical

Skittles Commercial
The Broadway Musical
Poster featuring title and performance information for Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical. The central image: the head of a red- and green-eyed cat barfing a rainbow
MusicDrew Gasparini
LyricsNathaniel Lawlor
BookWill Eno and Nathaniel Lawlor
PremiereFebruary 3, 2019: The Town Hall, New York City

Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical is an advertising musical with book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Will Eno and advertising creative director Nathaniel Lawlor, with lyrics by Nathaniel Lawlor, music by Drew Gasparini, and choreography by Raja Feather Kelly, artistic director of the New Brooklyn Theatre. The show was directed by OBIE Award-winner Sarah Benson, artistic director of the Soho Rep, starred Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Michael C. Hall. Producers on the musical were Jason Georgan, Patrick Milling-Smith, Brian Carmody, Allison Kunzman. It was created by Mars, Incorporated, parent company of confectionery brand Skittles, and produced by advertising agency DDB, commercial production company Smuggler, and marketing companies ICF Next and Tribal Worldwide in lieu of a Super Bowl commercial for Super Bowl LIII.[1][2][3]

The show had a single performance at The Town Hall on 43rd Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue in New York City at 1pm on Super Bowl Sunday, February 3, 2019. Proceeds from the performance and related merchandise were donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, with additional matching funds donated by Mars.[2]

Prior to the public announcement of the musical in January 2019, the show was identified as Winter Live Industrial during auditions, a reference to industrial musicals.[4][5] Two promotional videos were released: one featuring Hall appearing to discuss his participation in the show with a psychiatrist, and the other, the cast recording a version of the show's second song, "Advertising Ruins Everything."[6][7] The marketing team described the promotion of brand awareness in the three weeks leading up to the Super Bowl as the campaign's primary purpose; the show itself served as "purely proof of concept" and was not televised.[8][9]

  1. ^ Soloski, Alexis (2019-01-30). "Who Needs a Super Bowl Ad? Skittles Ups the Ante With a Broadway Musical". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  2. ^ a b Richards, Katie (3 February 2019). "How Skittles Merged Theater and Advertising to Create a Weirdly Wonderful Super Bowl Musical". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  3. ^ "Behind the Curtain of Skittles' Broadway Show". www.shots.net. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  4. ^ "What WAS Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical?". The Ensemblist. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  5. ^ "Skittles announces Super Bowl Sunday commercial will be a broadway musical". 94.7 WLS | WLS-FM. 2019-01-16. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  6. ^ Evans, Greg (2019-01-21). "Michael C. Hall To Star In One-Show-Only Broadway Skittles Musical". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  7. ^ Beer, Jeff (2019-01-28). "Skittles ruins ruining advertising by singing "Advertising Ruins Everything," which is great". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  8. ^ Richards, Katie (February 3, 2019). "How Skittles Merged Theater and Advertising to Create a Weirdly Wonderful Super Bowl Musical". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  9. ^ "2019 LIA Press Releases | London International Awards". www.liaawards.com. Retrieved 2019-02-11.