Open Call Announced for Reasons to be Pretty Ad Campaign

Want to appear in an ad campaign for the upcoming Broadway production of Neil LaBute’s Reasons to be Pretty? The producers of the show have announced an open casting call for “real people with real bodies all shapes and sizes” to serve as models. Led by casting directors Bernard Telsey and Will Cantler, the auditions will be held on January 8 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at the offices of Telsey & Co., 311 West 43rd St., 10th Floor. According to a news release, professional models need not apply.

"Those who audition should be willing to show their body and tell a short story centering on the body part that they are insecure about,” the news release specifies. Explains Telsey, the well-known Broadway casting director and one of the play’s producers, “Neil’s powerful play is universal in the way it taps into our emotions about body image. We’re looking for real people of all body types to help us create a campaign that expresses what this play is about.” Drew Hodges, whose ad agency, Spot Co, is creating the campaign, adds, "Neil LaBute is an extremely provocative playwright, and we want the ads for the Broadway production to reflect that sensibility.”

SpotCo has engaged photographer Howard Schatz to shoot the campaign, which will center on the body parts of eight real people chosen from the January 8 audition, with expanded video interviews set to appear on the play’s website, DoesThisPlayMakeMeLookFat.com.

Previews for Reasons to be Pretty will begin on March 13 at the Lyceum Theatre, with opening night set for April 2, directed by Terry Kinney.