Alliance Theatre Composer Brings Atlanta's Newest Holiday Musical

Atlanta composer and actor Christian Magby (composer, Incredible Book Eating Boy at the Alliance, Deon Owens on CW series "The Flash") has teamed up with fellow longtime theatre alums to bring the city its newest holiday musical, "Mother of God" the musical. The show runs December 7 - December 23 at Southwest Arts Center.

Based on one of the greatest known stories of all time, "Mother of God" takes the historical text of the Bible to reimagine the untold story of Mary, the woman who risked it all to bring into the world the Savior humanity desperately needed. Audiences will be enthralled and uplifted by this daring journey of courage, hope, and faith which questions the idea of duty and who assigns it to us. Do we allow society to dictate our place in the world and higher calling, or do we take it upon ourselves to make this decision? When we do answer the call, how will we respond when we go through the trials and tribulations required of us to make it to the other side? These are the questions our heroine Mary faces as a woman of the time. Many know the story of Jesus, but this is the story of Mary of Nazareth. A woman ahead of her time. 

Creators Christian Magby and Christian Albright pondered what happened to Mary before and after Jesus’s birth, and decided to explore what that narrative might look like from her perspective. “I hope the audience can find themselves in Mary,” said Christian Magby, actor, and Mother of God producer. “Not only relate to her story but also the question of how we as people respond when what we’ve always known and faced become challenged. Will we be ready for that call?”

Truly a local Atlanta production, co-creator Magby made it a point to source from the city of Atlanta to bring the production to fruition. "We wanted to create this production pulling as much talent and creative from the city of Atlanta as possible. It took time, but it's been worth it for us. Every single person has brought their own unique essence to make the show complete," said Christian Magby.

“Mother of God” was previously run at Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival and is brought by an entirely Atlanta local creative team.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Presented by Christian Magby (in association with Buicentennial Productions)

Book and lyrics by Christian Albright

Music and lyrics by Christian Magby

Direction by Jade Lambert-Smith

Music supervision by CBD (director of Incredible Book Eating Boy at Alliance Theatre)

Choreography by Victor Jackson (choreographer/creative director for Jennifer Hudson, Lil’ Wayne, and August Alsina)

At Southwest Arts Center | December 7 - December 23, 2022

The estimated show runtime is two hours and fifteen minutes. Concessions will be served and tickets may be purchased online at www.motherofgodmusical.com To learn more about “Mother of God” the Musical, visit www.motherofgodmusical.com or follow on Instagram at @motherofgodmusical.  

ABOUT CHRISTIAN MAGBY

Christian Magby is an actor and composer based in Atlanta.  He can currently be seen in the CW hit series, “The Flash,” as Deon Owens, the Still Force, the latest cosmic force to be introduced to the Arrowverse. Magby can also be seen in the Oscar-nominated, Amazon feature “One Night in Miami,” directed by Regina King, starring opposite Leslie Odom Jr., Aldis Hodge and Lance Reddick. Magby has worked in the music departments for the NBC/Universal musical films “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Pitch Perfect 3.” Recently, he was the composer and orchestrator for the world premiere of the musical The Incredible Book Eating Boy at Alliance Theatre. He has worked as an actor and music director in many of the theaters in Atlanta, including Aurora Theatre, Horizon Theatre Company, Theatrical Outfit, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, among others. His newest musical Mother of God will be premiering this December at Southwest Arts Center. SCAD Grad. YEA Alum. Follow Christian on Instagram @christianmagby.

ABOUT JADE LAMBERT-SMITH

Jade Lambert-Smith, is a theatre practitioner who is intentional about curating opportunities and increasing visibility for innovative creatives. She is a proud director-dramaturg, who previously served as the theatre director and troupe director at Tri-Cities High School, instructor of acting at Spelman College and as artistic associate, dramaturg, and teaching artist at the Alliance Theatre. Jade Lambert-Smith is the master motivator and arts advocate behind media company Lambert-Smith Media. Through the mission of LSM she currently manages an arts coaching and consulting firm, The Everyday Actor that encourages creative visionaries to take consistent daily steps towards their dreams. She is also the founder of PG Entertainment, a family-focused production company committed to developing innovative and inspiring arts experiences for today’s modern family.

ABOUT MOTHER OF GOD THE MUSICAL

Mother of God is Atlanta’s newest holiday musical making its debut at Southwest Arts Center in December 2022. An inspired reexamination of one of the greatest-known stories of all time, Mother of God follows the untold story of Mary. The woman who risked it all to bring the world the Savior humanity desperately needed. In the ultimate female hero’s journey, the show questions the idea of duty, societal expectations, and how an ordinary woman facing extraordinary circumstances rose to the calling of a lifetime. Many know the story of Jesus, but this is the story of Mary of Nazareth. A woman ahead of her time. To learn more about Mother of God the Musical, visit www.motherofgodmusical.com or follow on Instagram at @motherofgodmusical.  

Show Creators Christian Albright and Christian Magby (left to right)

EllePR Named Top Atlanta PR Firm

In a recent analysis of over 150 Atlanta-based public relations firms, Expertise included EllePR in its ranking of the Top 21 firms. Each agency was scored on more than 25 variables across five categories, with criteria including: 

1. Reputation

2. Credibility

3. Experience

4. Availability

5. Professionalism

To view the entire list, click here. 

We're Hiring! Social Media Manager PT/Remote

Are you a skilled and results-driven social media enthusiast with a passion for all things food & lifestyle? EllePR is seeking an organized self-starter to curate content, craft engaging posts, and grow social media audiences and engagement levels for Elle PR clients. Our ideal candidate has 3+ years of experience managing social media for brands, loves staying up to date on the latest social media trends and tools, and is comfortable with remote working. Prefer someone in the Atlanta area. This role may require occasional face-to-face meetings. 15 - 20 hrs per month initially with the opportunity to grow.

Responsibilities:

• Craft engaging, on-brand posts that fit within the guidelines of provided brand strategy

• Load posts ahead of time into the social media calendar for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

• Schedule and optimize posts

• Engage in daily conversations with followers and relevant accounts and respond to comments/questions

• Keep abreast of current events and food and lifestyle trends

• Collaborate with strategy team to optimize performance of accounts

• Monthly reporting

Skills:

• 3+ years brand social media management experience

• Strong, witty writing skills and understanding of brand voice

• Personal computer and smartphone

• In-depth knowledge of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

• Experience demonstrating growth of social channels (analytics)

• Highly organized, comfortable with virtual workspace

• Experience with Microsoft Word, Google Apps, Excel, Powerpoint, InDesign

What We Offer:

• Competitive pay

• Remote working

• Flexible schedule

• The chance to curate great content and work with awesome brands!

  To apply, please send your resume, links to your personal social media profiles, and social media portfolio to info@ellepr.com.

3 Ways Consumer Brands Can Earn More Media Coverage

You have a great product or service. And you want the media to talk about it. Every brand stands to benefit from an article, video, or social media shout out touting their brand, but in today’s crowded marketplace, how can new and established consumer brands get in front of relevant media and catch their attention?

Media relations is a topic we think about daily at EllePR, so we have outlined 3 points that will help your brand improve its media relations efforts whether you have a PR agency or not.

Here’s what you need to know first: JOURNALISTS ARE BUSIER THAN EVER! You must make your business “media-friendly” by getting to the point and highlighting your unique brand attributes right away. You also want to make it easy for journalists to learn more or contact you. The more helpful content about your brand that is out there (i.e., on your website, social channels, etc.), the more likely someone will share it or take the time to follow-up with you or your PR rep for additional information.

Here are a few starting on improving your media relations game:

1). Make it easy to learn what you do, who you serve, and why you exist via a well-branded company website. We cannot overstate the importance of your business website – this is your storefront. Make sure it includes all relevant company info, is visually appealing, and easy to understand. Don’t make media (or your customers) go digging to get the relevant factoids on your business!

Cheat sheet on what your website should include:

• Who you are

• What you do

• Who you do it for

• Key team members

• Brand story (do you have a mission statement?)

• Why/how your brand got started

• A Contact Page listing the email of a RESPONSIVE team member or your PR rep

Make it easy for journalists to follow-up with someone from your company (or preferably a PR rep) to get more information or schedule an interview. We suggest listing the name and email of an actual person who is prepared to interface with the media on your brand’s behalf versus simply listing a generic "info@companyaddress.com" email.

2). Get to the point. Put your USP up front, in bold, and reiterate it throughout all of your company messaging. Why is your brand special? What attributes have you and your customers found to be the most interesting, helpful, exciting?

3). PLANT THE SEED and share it! Create and share engaging brand content to entice both media and your target customers.

Things to consider when creating content: How can people best use your product or service? What kinds of partnerships make the most sense for your brand? Think about ways to make your business more accessible to broader audiences. Can you piggyback your brand onto current events, changing seasons, or otherwise trending topics?

Don’t stretch this too far, but chances are you can make your business more relevant by suggestive selling that does not feel like selling.

For example, say you have a spirit brand. You could create tasty, easy recipes featuring a popular sparkling water or juice brand and distribute on your website and via social platforms. This gives you great content to share directly with your target customer as well as suggestive ideas for media who might be writing a piece on creative holiday cocktails.

Where do you share this great content? Your blog or website, on social media platforms, in targeted email newsletters, and in media outreach.

Spinsucks recently released an article highlighting “4 Ways to Help Media find and Understand Your Brand” that goes into greater detail on best practices for social media and online networking sites.  This is a great starting point if you do not currently have a marketing team advising you on these points. Click here for the full article and let us know your thoughts!

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How to Grow Your Brand with Video

At this point, you probably know your business should be using video to engage existing, new, and potential customers through your digital and social channels. However, knowing and doing are two very different things, so we put together a few quick pointers to help you get the ball rolling.

1). What’s the goal of your video? Do you want to introduce your startup, share a new product launch, or tell your brand’s origin story? Would a series of videos be most useful in helping you achieve the desired outcomes?

2). What resources do you have? Now that you have a general idea of what you want, how are you going to make it happen? Do you have an in-house production team or a marketing budget that allows you to bring in experts?

3). How will people consume the video? Where will you distribute the video? If you plan to share to Facebook, for example, it’s great to use captions since up to 40% of consumers are more likely to finish videos with subtitles. You can also keep in mind video length when you know how you will share.

Hubspot recently released a handy guide on “How to Get Started with Marketing Videos” that breaks down the steps a bit further. This is a great starting point if your team is new to video marketing! Click here for the full article and let us know your thoughts!

"Life of a Beer": Lyric Ale with Orpheus Brewing's Jason Pellett

In this "Life of a Beer" segment, Orpheus brewmaster Jason Pellett shares an in-depth look at how he created Lyric Ale.

Former White House Creative Director + Atlanta Portfolio Center Spur Social Change

MEDIA ALERT

Miami Ad School at Portfolio Center Hosts Socially Charged Student Idea-A-Thon

What:    Miami Ad School at Portfolio Center students will be tasked with catalyzing social change at the design college’s unprecedented 24-hour Ide-A-Thon beginning Thursday, July 14. The Idea-A-Thon will give students of Miami Ad School’s Atlanta campus the opportunity to develop strategic, innovative and actionable plans that combat police brutality and vigilantism. Students in New York, Miami and San Francisco will join these efforts at their respective campuses, resulting in over 8,000 hours of brain power dedicated to reconciling a divided nation.

Former White House creative director and digital strategist Ashleigh Axios will join students on Friday, July 15, to help mold initial concepts into real-world plans. During the following week, students will use feedback gained during Friday’s panel presentations to finalize their ideas. The school’s influential board of directors will select the strongest ideas to circulate within their broad-reaching circles, feature in social media and upload to fundraising site CrowdRise.

Why:    Last week’s shootings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and five police officers left the U.S. in a state of shock, mourning and concern. Extremists on both sides have changed the conflict to fit their radical views, leaving an already divided country further at odds. Educational institutions must empower students to spearhead social change. Miami Ad School believes that, through collective creativity, its students can be part of a long-term solution that will heal and unite a hurt nation.

When:    Friday, July 15
9-10:30 a.m.    Student brainstorm with Ashleigh Axios
2-4 p.m.    Students present their final projects to an expert panel
Call Noelle Jackson (404-938-8377) to set up live shots and interviews during these times.

Where:    The Portfolio Center, Miami Ad School’s Atlanta campus
125 Bennett Street, Atlanta, GA 30309
Parking: Ample parking in official school lot

Interviews:    Ashleigh Axios, former creative director and digital strategist, White House
    Pippa Seichrist, co-founder and head of innovation, Miami Ad School

Contact:    Noelle Jackson  ∣  404-938-8377  ∣  noelle@ellepr.com 

About Miami Ad School
Founded in Miami, Florida, in 1993 by Ron and Pippa Seichrist, Miami Ad School encompasses a network of 15 schools throughout the world that offer degrees and curriculum tailored to meet the needs of the world’s preeminent creative agencies and brands. In addition to cutting-edge degree programs, Miami Ad School empowers and equips its students with the resources to develop socially charged creative campaigns like The Trevor Project and Underground Stations. U.S. locations include Miami, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco; International locations include Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hamburg, Lima, Madrid, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Toronto. Follow Miami Ad School on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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