DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY has built a national reputation providing publicity services to the performing arts and live entertainment. Clients include Los Angeles area regional theatres and Performing Arts Centers – Hollywood Bowl, Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (formerly Valley Performing Arts Center), The Broad Stage, Pasadena Playhouse, Ford Theatres, A Noise Within, Boston Court Performing Arts Center, Long Beach Opera, Long Beach Ballet, Dizzy Feet Foundation, Disneyland, Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney’s El Capitan Theatre, and KCRW FM, on the occasion of moving to new studios.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY provides a full range of publicity services, including the placement of stories and interviews in print, television, radio, and online media both in Los Angeles local markets and national outlets; soliciting reviews; supervising video shoots and photography of productions; advising on publicity advertising, marketing, and promotional strategies and national tour supervision. We are highly experienced in producing press events, and we offer a range of advisory services on how best to present and extend projects to the press and the public.
Theatre and other attractions
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY currently represents Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within, Boston Court Performing Arts Center, and The Broad Stage. The company also has a long history with Broadway musicals and other larger attractions from the original Evita, which ran for two years at the Shubert Theatre in 1980 to the two year run of Wicked and as part of the team of publicists for The Book of Mormon (2012, 2014 engagements) at the Pantages Theatre, the recent Los Angeles production of the Las Vegas hit Absinthe at L.A. LIVE (2017), and Allegiance starring George Takei (2018) at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.
Other important productions include Born for This, the story of Bebe Winans, Love Letters with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal, Spring Awakening (2015 revival), Danny Elfman’s Music from the films of Tim Burton, Val Kilmer in Citizen Twain, SILENCE! The Musical, John Leguizamo’s Ghetto Klown, Shrek the Musical, The Pee-wee Herman Show, Spamalot at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, The Producers, The Lion King, Sing-a-long Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl, The Vagina Monologues in Los Angeles, Fosse, Chicago in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Ragtime, and the first Los Angeles productions of Evita, Cats, Dreamgirls, Little Shop of Horrors, and Amadeus.
The two engagements of Wicked (seven weeks in 2005 and two years in 2007-2009) gave DAVIDSON & CHOY the opportunity to make a wide range of placements including two appearances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and appearances on “The Dog Whisperer” and “Deal or No Deal.”
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY currently represents the Hollywood Bowl’s summer musical – beginning with Guys and Dolls starring Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessica Biel, Scott Bakula, Ellen Greene and Beau Bridges, followed by Rent starring Vanessa Hudgens and directed by Neil Patrick Harris, Hairspray with Harvey Fierstein, Marisa Jaret Winokur, Drew Carey, Darlene Love, Nick Jonas and John Stamos; The Producers with Richard Kind and Jesse Tyler Ferguson; Chicago with Ashlee Simpson, Samantha Barks, Drew Carey, Lucy Lawless, and Stephen Moyer, directed by Brooke Shields; Hair with Kristen Bell, Beverly D’Angelo, Jenna Ushkowitz and Benjamin Walker, directed by Adam Shankman; and Monty Python’s Spamalot with Eric Idle, Christian Slater, Craig Robinson, Warwick Davis, Merle Dandridge, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
The 2016 offering was A Chorus Line with Mario Lopez, Robert Fairchild, Spencer Liff, and Krysta Rodriguez, and directed by original cast alumnus Baayork Lee; and the 2017 productions were Mamma Mia! with Corbin Blue, Dove Cameron, Jamie Camil, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Lea DeLaria, Hamish Linklater and Steven Weber, and directed by Kathleen Marshall, and Sondheim on Sondheim conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, directed by Sarna Lapine, and starring Carmen Cusack, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jonathan Groff, Matthew Morrison and Vanessa Williams. DAVIDSON & CHOY Publicity also represented the introduction of Sing-a-long Sound of Music to the Bowl, now an annual tradition.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY represented Cirque du Soleil in Los Angeles for 25 years. Work includes guiding Cirque through eleven visits to “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and visits to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Conan,” “The Late, Late Show with James Corden,” as well as the full complement of local outlets, including 150 print and 20 television placements. Shows include Cirque’s permanent show IRIS (2011) at the Kodak Theatre (now Dolby Theatre), Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, TORUK – The First Flight (based on James Cameron’s Avatar), nine touring “Big Top” productions and The Beatles LOVE, Mystere and Nouvelle Experience in Las Vegas.
The company also represented Los Angeles engagements of three productions from The 7 Fingers (Les 7 Doigts): Cuisine & Confessions, Traces, and Psy; consulted with Blue Man Group in Las Vegas, and also represented engagements of Cirque Eloize, Slava’s Snowshow and the Moscow Cat Circus.
The company represented the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts from its grand opening through the first three seasons, dance at The Music Center of Los Angeles County (1983-2015), Geffen Playhouse for five seasons, and the Reprise Theatre Company for most of its history, led by artistic director Jason Alexander, which presented productions of over forty classic musicals from 1997-2011.
Disney Theme Parks and Resorts
Since 2002, DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY has provided publicity services for Disney Theme Parts and Resorts, including the recent publicity campaign for Frozen – Live a the Hyperion at Disney California Adventure which opened the summer of 2016, and its predecessor Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular which ran for a remarkable 13 years, with a total of 14,000 performances to 13 million park guests before closing in January 2016.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY also created publicity campaigns for Snow White (2003) and Mickey and the Magical Map (2013) at the Fantasyland Theatre at Disneyland and participated in campaigns for the openings of Cars Land and World of Color at Disney California Adventure Park, Finding Nemo the Musical at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Twice Charmed and Toy Story the Musical for Disney Cruise Lines, and work on the 50th Anniversary (2004-2005) and the 60th Anniversary (2015) of Disneyland.
Since 2007, for Walt Disney Imagineering, DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY provides an annual campaign for its international Imaginations Design Competition, in which college students create new designs for Disney theme parks and resorts culminating in a five-day intensive experience at Imagineering headquarters in Glendale for the finalists.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY has represented Disney’s El Capitan Theatre since 2004. One of the few movie theatres owned and operated by a film studio, the venue provides unique experiences that accompany its exhibition of current Disney film releases.
DAVIDSON AND CHOY’s work for Walt Disney Theatricals includes Los Angeles engagements of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and High School Musical.
National Touring Shows
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY oversees publicity for North American touring shows, beginning in 2007 with Walking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular (2007-2010, 2014-2015), which made Pollstar’s top arena attractions each year of its forty-month tour. This show, which performed in venues such as STAPLES Center and Madison Square Garden, featured seventeen life-size and very realistic dinosaurs, the tallest of which, the Brachiosaurus, almost touched the scoreboard in many venues. Walking With Dinosaurs was the subject of stories in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Christian Science Monitor, and featured on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America” (twice in 2007 and 2014), “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Live With Regis and Kelly,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “CSI,” ESPN Sports, “Fox and Friends,” Al Jazeera, Univision “Despierta America” and National Public Radio. The Baby T Dinosaur made more than 120 appearances on local market television programs.
DAVIDSON & CHOY managed all of the publicity, including a separate advance promotional team, which toured a dinosaur around the country for both on sale events and interim publicity visibility.
DAVIDSON & CHOY oversaw publicity for the very successful MythBusters: Jamie and Adam Unleashed! Tour. (2012-2015) with Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage.
In 2009 and 2010, DAVIDSON & CHOY oversaw the North American tour publicity for Star Wars: In Concert, narrated by Anthony Daniels (C3PO). This arena tour featured an 86-piece orchestra in an evening long program of music from the first six Star Wars films, performing in sync with scenes from the movies assembled by Lucasfilm Ltd., and projected onto one of the largest touring, state-of-the-art LED screens. In addition, DAVIDSON & CHOY oversaw publicity for The Lord of the Rings In Concert: The Fellowship of the Ring tour featuring Howard Shore’s complete Academy Award® winning score performed live on-stage by more than 200 musicians with Peter Jackson’s complete award-winning epic projected digitally on an immense 60-foot screen.
DAVIDSON & CHOY also supervised the publicity for the 2011 national tour of threesixty entertainment’s Peter Pan, in which the CGI animated scenery, including the 400 square mile flight from London to Neverland, was projected onto the ceiling walls of its performance tent venue.
Dance
For three decades, the company has had extensive experience representing dance attractions and venues all over the Los Angeles region including at Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, The Broad Stage, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, UCLA Performing Arts, Shrine Auditorium, Dolby (Kodak) Theatre and The Music Center from 1982 to 2015 including the entire The Joffrey Ballet residency and the first 10 years of Dance at the Music Center. This year, DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY began working with the Dizzy Feet Foundation, co-founded by Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman, for National Dance Day.
These include stints with American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as well engagements of The Bolshoi Ballet, Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Houston Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet (The Kirov Ballet), Nacional Ballet de Cuba, National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the inaugural season of LA Dance Project under the direction of Benjamin Millepied, as well as the entire ten year Music Center residency of The Joffrey Ballet and first ten years of Dance at the Music Center.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY was the publicist of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival, which introduced Pina Bausch Tanztheatre Wuppertal to North America (The Rite of Spring and Café Müller), as well as later engagements of Nelken (Carnations) and Nur Du. We also worked with Twyla Tharp Dance on three occasions – at the Olympic Arts Festival, at the Music Center in 2001 and to celebrate Tharp’s 50th at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2015. DAVIDSON & CHOY oversaw three tours of Mikhail Baryshnikov and White Oak Dance Project
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY represented the UK company Motionhouse on North American Tour, and also has represented engagements of Abraham.In.Motion, Africa Oye!, Akram Khan Company, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, BODYTRAFFIC, Complexions, DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion®, Garth Fagan Dance, Feld Ballets NY, Savion Glover, Jessica Lang Dance, LA LA LA Human Steps, Marcel Marceau, Mark Morris Dance Company, Moiseyev Dance Company, Morris Dance Group, Martha Graham Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Momix, Mummenschanz, Nederlands Dans Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Peking Opera, and Shaping Sound.
Festivals and Other Performing Arts
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLCITY represented four World Festivals of Sacred Music (2002-2011). Originated by the Dalai Lama and headed by Judy Mitoma, then Director of the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance and Professor of Dance in the Department of World Arts & Cultures, this event brought together performers from all over the world, with Los Angeles based artists, all of whom shared a spiritual aspect to their performances.
In 1984, DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY helped create an international, national, state, and local presence for Los Angeles as a cultural center with its campaign for the Olympic Arts Festival, a twelve-week event that included more than 50 productions from around the world as part of the XXIII Olympiad, and the subsequent 1990 Los Angeles Festival. The firm also handled publicity for the cultural activities presented in-conjunction with the 1994 World Cup and the 1987 UK/LA Festival, a festival of arts presented by the British Consulate that included a Royal visit by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
Following the Olympic Arts Festival, Los Angeles Music Center Opera retained DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY for publicity services for its first ten seasons. The firm guided the Opera through its initial major growth period as it evolved from a presenting into a producing organization.
In fall 2001, DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLCITY worked with the Anschutz Entertainment Group team to open Kodak Theatre (now Dolby Theatre) at Hollywood & Highland. DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLCITY continued its association with the venue providing publicity services to the Kodak Musical Theatre Series and other attractions at the venue including The Kirov Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY also represented pianist David Helfgott, the real-life subject of the film Shine at the Hollywood Bowl and at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (including an appearance of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”), provided oversight of Van Cliburn’s 1994 sixteen city North American tour marking his return to performing, and Francis Ford Coppola’s presentation of Abel Gance’s classic silent film Napoleon at the Shrine Auditorium with live orchestra conducted by Carmine Coppola.
DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY has served STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theatre, AEG Goldenvoice, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Irvine Barclay Theatre, Los Angeles Master Chorale, California Institute of the Arts, Center Theatre Group, the Alex Theatre and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Prepared October of 2017