Catch Des Moines recently made its Broadway debut. No, not onstage, but as an official sponsor of “The Bridges of Madison County,” a new musical.
Meetings Focus was invited to attend the premiere at Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City, which was also sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership, in an effort to raise awareness about the city, in particular from Washington, D.C. and New York City metros.
“Our main goal with this ongoing campaign is to make sure planners on the East Coast are thinking of Des Moines, as we always want to be top-of-mind for groups with potential business for a city of our size,” says Tiffany Tauscheck, vice president of marketing and development at Catch Des Moines. “We also want them to know arts and culture are huge parts of our city.”
Catch Des Moines provided tickets to potential association clients, including members of the Association of Junior Leagues International and a representative from the National Association of Health Underwriters. The CVB is now focusing its efforts on arts organizations as well.
“I think this sponsorship can only help Des Moines,” says Deann Cook, at-large director for the Association of Junior Leagues, who also happens to be a Des Moines native looking to bring one of the association’s annual conferences to the area. “It’s something people identify with; they know that book, they know that movie, and it ties back in to Iowa with the setting.”
Tauscheck said it made sense to sponsor “The Bridges of Madison County” (based off a 1992 best-selling novel and subsequent 1995 Clint Eastwood-directed film of the same name) due to the story’s setting in Winterset, Iowa, a town 40 minutes from downtown Des Moines. The story details the lusty romance between an Italian housewife and a traveling National Geographic photographer.
“We have a great relationship with the Madison County Chamber of Commerce and it’s not unusual for us to assist with groups that want to do FAM trips or visit the nearby region,” Tauscheck says. “We are currently setting up a promotion to give away a pair of tickets to the show. Whoever wins those will be sent to the Madison County Covered Bridges Festival in October.”
So far, “Bridges of Madison County” has garnered mostly positive reviews and praise for its lead stars Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale, who are well known among Broadway aficionados. Even detractors of the novel and film have admitted the source material lends itself to a strong musical production, led by famed composer Jason Robert Brown.
A number of celebrities were in attendance at the premiere, including Brooke Shields, Jonathon Groff, Tony Shaloub and David Hyde Pierce, but sadly, no signs of Clint Eastwood or Meryl Streep. However, Catch Des Moines was more concerned with its East Coast guests and hopes the sponsorship will allow the city to stand out among the other meetings competition in the expanding Midwestern market.
“We’re always working to reinvent ourselves and come up with new and creative ideas, so hopefully we’ve accomplished that,” Tauscheck says.
