Where’s Charlie Cinnamon?
Doing One Heck of a P.R. Job!
 
by Ron Levitt
Executive Editor

Charlie Cinnamon is known as the theatre P.R. guru! Actually, the title should be more like the media’s favorite South Florida Entertainment Public Relations Practitioner because has literally has spent his entire adult life, for some 50 years, publicizing and promoting just about every important entertainment event and theatrical show.
 
And, that statement needs clarification, because those who know Charlie Cinnamon best realize he hardly looks 50 years old himself. The standing yarn among many journalists is that Cinnamon must have started working when he was 18 months old.
 
It is perhaps his workload which keeps him so youthful—because he is constantly laboring whether at home or office on the items he likes so much—hotels, restaurants, theatre and the entertainment industry,
 
That dedication to his client’s interests and reputation for providing factual information to the media is why literally hundreds of actors, directors, theatrical employees, hotel owners and business leaders—as well as radio, print, and television media—know whom you are talking about by just mentioning the name “Charlie.”
 
His impressive career started several years before he arrived in Miami. Cinnamon is a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York University. He launched his public relations career first as promotional director for the original Theatre de Lys in Manhattan; then moved into the hotel, theatre and entertainment industry when he moved south.
 
Cinnamon is most strongly identified with legitimate theatre. Most theater insiders recall that as public relations director for the Coconut Grove Playhouse, he was a key associate of Producer Zev Buffman, a relationship which lasted nearly three decades.
 
It all began at the Grove Theatre when Waiting for Godot premiered there. He later became Buffman’s National Press Representative, representing a growing theatrical circuit which in addition to Broadway ventures included nine theatres across the U.S.
 
New assignments came to “Charlie” naturally. He was National Press Representative for The Little Foxes which introduced Elizabeth Taylor to the stage, for the Elizabeth Theatre Group (Taylor and Richard Burton), and for Jerry Herman’s Jerry’s Girls which starred Carol Channing, Leslie Uggams and Andrea McArdle. There were so many other theatrical names which got the Cinnamon treatment in the media that it is literally a Who’s Who in Theatre.
 
But, he also paid attention to his adopted home in South Florida. He is credited with creating the now nationally famous Coconut Grove Arts Festival and has represented Miami Beach in numerous projects, including the Miami Beach Festival of the Arts, which he also founded.
 
Other clients (too many to list) include being a consultant for almost 40 years to Judy Drucker for the Concert Associates (Pavorotti), Great Artist Series, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, Walt Disney World, major motion picture campaigns, national trade shows, loads of personalities from the performing and visual arts. Just a few weeks ago he was busy promoting legitimate theatre at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, The Coconut Grove Playhouse in Dade, the Kravis Center in Palm Beach County, the PlayGround Theatre for Young Audiences in Miami Beach, the new \Sinatra Theatre at Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, The Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, in Sunrise, Clear Channel Productions, an art gallery on Las Olas Blvd. (the Native Visions Gallery).
 
His association with the top restaurants is almost legendary. He has represented Barton G. (catering) since almost his arrival in town and the hugely popular Barton G. Restaurant, which has received international acclaim as a dining experience,
 
Watching Charlie work is a lesson in how to win friends and influence people. He will simultaneously be setting up an interview for Liza Minnelli, and minutes later, scheduling press briefings for the new The World of Erotic Art Museum in Miami Beach and then ordering a photo shoot of Valerie Harper for a local publication. That took place in an hour or so; the rest of his day is spent on similar assignments.
 
There have been so many career highlights. He was awarded the coveted Carbonell Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts; Man of the Year by the City of Miami Beach Fine Arts Board; The Distinguished Service Award from the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Maxie Award from the New World School of the Arts. And, his awards list goes on and on, deservedly.
 
He shows special pride in serving on the WLRN board for eight years, launching the campaign which brought the Miami HEAT—a new national NBA franchise to Miami and his ability to bring Elizabeth Taylor here for the Community Alliance against AIDS which resulted in raising $2.1 million for medical research.
 
Also high on his accomplishment list is his orchestration of a benefit for Miami City Ballet and the Princess Grace Foundation; his execution of the Tribute to Ted Arison which netted a half million dollars for the New World Symphony and the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, and his co-chairmanship of a ball which introduced the Wolfsonian Foundation, now part of  FIU, to South Florida.
 
Next month, he will be busy handling details for the 25th anniversary of the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, an organization in which he has been associated for many years.
 
It is probably appropriate that someone like Charlie is so closely associated with plays like The Phantom of The Opera (which recently made its third appearance here since 1992). Like Phantom, Charlie is behind the scenes. “The big difference,” a Cinnamon fan noted, is that “Charlie doesn’t need a mask to
create a star. His winningsmile and winning ways do it better”“Charlie doesn’t need a mask to create a star. His winning smile and winning ways do it better.”
 
PHOTO IDS
1. Charlie Cinnamon

Iris Acker Uses Radio/TV to Promote Arts

Iris Acker‘s broadcast of arts related subjects is among the fastest growing radio and television destinations for South Florida arts and theatre personalities.
 
Acker has enjoyed 20 years producing and hosting On Stage for television. Starting on WLRN, then Cable Tap in Miami. WXEL has broadcast On Stage for Broward and the Palm Beaches. Now Comcast has taken over for WXEL. Her many fans boast it’s the “only show devoted solely to the performing arts in South Florida.”
 
Through the years every theater has been represented in the show. Most actors have been seen either on tape or on the set in a live performance. All the dance companies have been showcased as well as the Opera.
 
Most visiting celebrities have been interviewed and Acker says her favorites include Hal Linden, Robert Morse, Valerie Harper, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty.
 
For the past five years, Iris has added radio to her roster. Currently on WDNA 88.9F.M., she can be heard most Fridays promoting the current  “On Stage” productions.
 
Equity actors read her monthly column in the Equity National Newsletter. Considering her shows an inducement for audience attendance, she hopes to continue encouraging all to GO TO THE THEATER.
 
Tune in to Cable Tap to see On Stage With Iris Acker every Saturday & Sunday @ 8:00 M & 4:00 PM. Comcast times will be announced shortly.

Phyllis Apple Built Million Dollar Agency
from a Borrowed Typewriter

Phyllis Apple is a one of a kind public relations executive. She has put together a team of excellent writers, organizers and creative people at her North Miami Beach office to become the number one p,r, firm handling real estate clients in South Florida,
 
But, according to those closest to her in her expanding office, that is not the reason this lady from Aventura  is so unique,
 
“She energizes people.” one co-worker said,   “She is a dymano.”
 
That dynamic personality and ability to represent major clients with the media is why names like Donald Trump, Ugo Columbo, Willy Bermello and a string of other class developers which make up the Apple dream list of clients.
 
Phyllis Apple herself -- an  83-year-old grandmother -- credits her own philosophy for her firm’s success…”never giving up.”
 
She started The Apple Organization -- well-known for is Granny Smith Apple logo -- when she was 55. Today, 28 years later, developers, merchants, reporters and editors know the firm as one which provides good works and reliable reporting, It has grown into an agency with well over a million in billings annually,
 
“I am relentless,” Apple admits. “When I go after something, I most often get it. And this quality works for my clients, as well. When they want something, I never give up until l get it.”
 
Apple never hides her age. She thrives on it. She arguably is the area’s oldest and most savvy promoter, with no retirement in sight. She comes from a family which has a long lifeline. Her mother lived to nearly 102.and her aunts well into their 90s.
 
“You make the most of what you have,” this New Jersey native says. She launched her public relations firm    after a divorce and a career of raising three children. She had been a reporter for the Charlotte, N.C. Observer and had taught school briefly in North Carolina, But, she had spent most of her time working for the PTA and organizing fundraising groups for charity events. She took that organizational skill into launching a public relations firm when she moved to South Florida -- at first going door to door in the Designer District of Miami looking for clients. Today -- with a reputation as a real estate maven -- clients come looking for her.
 
She had started her firm as a home business with a borrowed typewriter, she admits, Today, years later with an array of computers and media savvy staff, she is busy providing magazine articles, press releases, organizing groundbreaking activities, and replying to press inquiries for a host of clients in a geographically expanded network.
 
But it is not all work, Somehow she manages to find time for golf, tennis and creative writing, as well as for pro bono work for a slew of charities and non profit do-gooders such as the AIDS Foundation, Project Newborn, the Children’s Home Society and many more. Despite her image nowadays as a successful businesswoman, there are sides of Phyllis Apple generally unseen by the press, the public and her clients. This ex-World War II Navy WAVE places the greatest value on her family -- several grandchildren, two daughters and a son. Remember the actress Linda Evans  (from TV’s Dallas)-- who coincidentally at one time was a spokesperson for a Florida real estate development? Well, many people will say that Phyllis Apple is a Linda Evans look-alike. Apple modestly says, “ I should only be so lucky.”
 
PHOTO IDS
1. Phyllis Apple