Marcia Pendelton (Marketing Specialist) is the founder and president of Walk Tall Girl Productions, a boutique marketing, audience development and group sales agency for the performing arts with a special emphasis placed on the theater. The mission of the New York-based company is to make the arts accessible to the widest possible audience.
WTGP has been immersed in assisting commercial theater producers and nonprofit theatre institutions with developing diverse audiences since 2000. The company specializes in bringing communities from the African diaspora into performance spaces.
WTGP has had a successful 20-year record as an audience diversity expert because of
- In-depth knowledge of Black history and culture
- Expansive experience in communicating with different communities
- Significant contacts with community-based organizations; arts, education and culture institutions; faith-based, civic, social and professional groups, and influencers
- Innovative approaches to building new audiences
- A deeply-rooted belief that the arts are essential
Recent WTGP marketing clients on Broadway have included Choir Boy, Saint Joan, August Wilson’s Jitney, and Sweat as well as providing significant group sales support for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations. Additionally, WTGP has served as an audience development consultant for multiple productions at The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Apollo Theater, MCC Theater, Playwrights Horizons, The New Group, Signature Theatre, Keen Company, Classic Stage Company, Vineyard Theatre, The Billie Holiday Theatre, and The Transport Group.
Because of its commitment to making productions that center Black narratives accessible to multicultural, multigenerational and multiracial audiences, WTGP produces A Black Theatre Preview (BTP). BTP brings attention to and celebrates the presence of Black artists on stage on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and beyond through an evening of conversations, panels, and performances. The event also includes a theater marketplace that offers production details and discounts, as well as information from Black Theater service organizations and conferences. BTP producing partners have included AUDELCO, Inc., Project1Voice, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and The Kumble Theatre/LIU Brooklyn. The company also publishes a weekly e-newsletter (Walk Tall Girl Productions presents Black Theater Online Weekly) that features interviews, reviews, special events and news from the Black Theater community.
About WTGP Founder/President
Marcia Pendelton received a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from St Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, PA) and earned an MFA in Theatre Management from the University of Maryland (College Park). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Black Theatre Network and is a member of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and the Harlem Arts Alliance. Her work in audience development has been featured in Ebony Magazine, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Daily News, ABC.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Our Time Press. She has been honored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the National Action Network, the Black Theatre Network, the AUDELCO Awards, What’s the 411, BOLD/AEA Black History Month Honors, Riant Theatre Company Trailblazer Award, and Emmanuel Baptist Church.
