The American Theatre Wing is one of the most resourceful institutions that no one knows anything about.  Yeah, they created The Tony Award, but they didn’t stop there. They do a whole bunch of stuff including handling an industry-wide internship/networking program, supervising the Jonathan Larson Grants, and producing one of the greatest hidden treasures for people looking to pursue a career in the theater:  the Working In The Theatre video series.

There’s a Working In The Theatre discussion on just about everything, from theatrical design to cast albums.  There’s even one about Off-Broadway hidden deep in the vaults that includes a spirited conversation between me and some other Off-Bway folks.

But none of them compare to the most recent panel about . . . you guessed it . . . marketing.

ATW put four of the best pitch people on Broadway in the same room and grilled them on what it takes to sell a show.

Tune in to hear the esteemed John Barlow (John Barlow), Damian Bazadona (Situation Interactive), Nancy Coyne (Serino Coyne), and Drew Hodges (Spotco) talk about how they design a campaign, what they say to clients when they don’t like their shows, and yes, why marketing Broadway is like “selling dreams.”

Oh, and you’ll also hear one of my favorite new phrases, “It’s like buying a Big Mac in Berlin.”

Thanks ATW, and thanks to the four participants and their moderator, (Variety reporter Gordon Cox) for putting it all out there.

Click here to watch.

After you’re done, come back to the blog, and tell everyone what you agreed with . . . and what you didn’t.