Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Why you and your career are like teenagers.

Provided you're "eating right", you're growing every day.

I know it may not seem that way. At times you may feel like you're not going anywhere, that you're making no progress, that you'll never be "tall enough to ride this ride". I feel this way all this time.

But remember when you were a kid and every time you saw grandma or your parents' friends they alway said, "My oh my, look at how you've grown!"

And remember how you didn't know what in the name of growth spurts they were talking about because you didn't feel any different?

It's hard to feel growth from the inside. But trust me, grandma and everyone else can see how you're changing.

So keep eating your veggies (studying) and getting your exercise (doing shows), and you'll be one of the big boys soon enough.

And unlike a teen, there's no end to how big your career can grow.

Closing the circle on the customer.

When a customer buys a ticket to a Broadway show for the first time we have an opportunity as an industry.  An opportunity to close the marketing circle on that customer and never, ever let them leave.

When a customer buys a product, they are much more likely to buy a second product that is similar in nature.

In other words: Sell one show, and it's easier to sell a second, and a third, and so "fourth".

It's our job as producers to close that circle on the customer, directing them to other shows, even if those shows are our competition. 

So how can we close it?

- Could the theater owners put videos in the lobbies of box offices (and bathrooms?) showing video loops of all the Broadway shows (maybe only in their theaters, if they wanted to keep their circle smaller).

- What about similar shows teaming up to recommend each other with a sign at the exit that says, "If you loved Rent, you'll love Spring Awakening".

- Or my favorite . . . the endorsement:  When political candidates bow out of a race, what do they do?  They endorse someone in their own party.  They may have lost, but the party lives on.  When shows close, couldn't they "endorse" a show that's still running?  (I got Brooklyn to send out an email with this message on Altar Boyz years ago - I offered them a commission on any tickets sold on the offer they sent to their subscribers).

Producing theater in NYC is competitive.  I've had Producers tell me I shouldn't be blogging on some of the subjects we've discussed.  They think I should save my ideas for myself, because keeping business practices private strengthens a business.  They think I should just sell my shows.

My feeling?  Circles, when closed, are round.  If a customer isn't going to see my show, as long as they see another one, I don't mind.   

Eventually, they'll come a-round.

Get your philosophy on . . .

I got an email from a 17 year old reader from Miami, FL who is taking classes at my alma mater this summer.  We'll call him David . . . because that's his name.

One of David's classes is called "Theatre in New York" and it's a class "dealing with the philosophy of performance, particularly in relation to theatre seen both on and Off-Broadway.  The class culminates in a presentation where I, as part of a group, must answer the question, "What is Theatre?""

David's group has decided to ask all sorts of folks in and out of the biz for their answer to that question.

Tough question, right?  At first I tried to come up with a clever answer like the urban mythical Harvard applicant who when asked on his application to "Use the space below to describe yourself" answered with one word.  "Brief." 

Here's what I came up with.

What is Theatre?

Theatre is the only art form that exists in the present tense.

Film was.

Books were.

Theatre is.

What is Theatre to you?

Use the space below to comment your thoughts.  To quote our good friend, David . . .

There are no parameters, no rules.  It can be as long as you want, as short as you want, as specific as you want, as broad as you want.  We thank you for sharing your time to help us with our project (and our grades).

"Well, we're moving on . . . down!"

Off-Broadway shows have always graduated to Broadway.

But in the last 5 years, we've watched a bunch of Off-Broadway shows graduate early.  Like smarty-pants Juniors with a lot of AP credits and perfect SAT scores, shows like Avenue Q, Spelling Bee, and Title of Show, have moved on to the big time and the bigger budgets, instead of staying Off-Broadway, like they would have 15 years ago when Off-Broadway was more fertile ground.

The logic behind the skip-a-grade mentality?  If you have a commercially viable product, and if you're raising one million bucks, why not raise two or three, and get the built-in marketing machine that comes with a Broadway address (Tony Award eligibility, press attention, tourist attention, more advertising dollars, etc.)

Here's my question:

Could it work the other way?  Could what goes up, also come down?

If Producers shoot for Broadway for the branding that comes with it, then after they get it, could they ever retreat to where they came from, or where they belonged in the first place?

I'm not talking a 'hit' and run here.  I'm talking the shows that are at the end of their Broadway runs, whether that's a few weeks after the Tonys or a few years.

Could Spelling Bee, with its brand firmly in place after its Broadway run, have moved to a smaller theater Off-Broadway?  What about when the hard-workin' Xanadu decides to call it quits.  Could it move and take a majority of its audiences with it, with a minority of its expenses?  Or what about those great plays that get expelled prematurely, like the acclaimed Journey's End.  Broadway-ending grosses of a couple hundred grand a week would be like Xmas weeks Off-Broadway (certainly those grosses would drop, but then again, so would expenses).

Deals would need to be struck with the unions to ever attempt such a transfer, but if it's a close-or-move situation, why wouldn't they be reasonable?

There'd be a zillion other challenges: new design, tech costs, limited marketing dollars, and so on.  It would take the perfect storm of a show to ever give it a shot and a producer with some serious poobahs.

But someone will, and someone should.  As a Producer, it's your job to do the due diligence on this and any other idea that could extend the life of your show.

Downsizing is part of every other business, why shouldn't it be a part of ours?

Where's the Tony Award ticket police when you need them?

Shortly after a show opens on Broadway, all 800 or so Tony Voters are invited to see the show, even if it's months before the nominations are out. 

As many have reported, one of the biggest challenges facing Tony hopefuls is the same challenge that faces our presidential hopefuls:  voter turnout. 

I've had to work the phones on a few shows, trying to make sure every one of those voters had seen the show I was on at the time.  On Ragtime, the alleged book-cook, Garth Drabinsky, used to call me himself at the end of every day to get an update on the % of Tony Voters who had seen the show (We never broke 70%).

It's definitely an issue that needs addressing. 

But I want to address the opposite issue.  What happens when they do come . . . and it's not them.

Tony Voter ticket fraud occurs more frequently than Donna Murphy misses shows.  Voters call in for tickets, and then pass them along to their friends, their assistants, and so on.  Sometimes it's because they've seen the show already (opening night, etc.) and other times it's because they just don't want to see the show.

I've been in plenty of a box offices and watched as freckled-faced AMDA students came up asking for their Tony tickets, claiming to be people I knew that were in their 70s.

What do you do?  Turn them away?  Risk irritating an actual voter?  (I did turn someone away once.)

800 voters.  At 2 tickets each, that's 1600 tickets or the equivalent of a full house at The Marquis Theater.  That's about $100k worth of revenue that we give away, or 1% of the capitalization of a 10 million dollar musical. 

If we're taking money out of the pockets of the investors and good locations out of the hands of the public, then we need to insure that the people sitting in those prime orchestra seats are the actual decision makers.

How?  It's time for all Tony voters to be issued photo identification by the League, just like a college ID, that is updated every year with a "validation sticker" (it's important the shows are not the policeman on this issue, for fear of voter backlash).  That ID has to be shown in order to pick up your tickets, and those tickets can only be picked up at the box office, 30 minutes prior to showtime.

Will it solve the problem?  No, just like underage drinking, it will probably never go away.  But, required IDs do make it a lot harder for people to get their hands on the good stuff. 

Ironically, instituting this policy will cause voter turnout to drop because those already low turnout numbers are counting for tickets used . . .  not valid tickets used.

But let's let it drop, because then we'll realize how important that first issue really is.

Merch madness.

I fell in love with the movie Better Off Dead (and its leading lady, Diane Franklin), when I was 14. 

In addition to using my allowance to buy the movie on VHS (which cost $79.99 at the time), I also bought the poster and the soundtrack.  They didn't have Better Off Dead t-shirts . . . so I created my own with a silk screen press I made in shop.

When a consumer is crazy about something, they want to re-experience it in any way they can.  They want to show it off. 

They want to buy merch. 

As marketers, we're always looking to find our most passionate customers.  Sometimes we forget to look in the  most obvious of places.

Our most passionate people are standing in line at our merch stand.

People willing to fork over $65 for a zippered Wicked hoodie are also the ones most likely to tell their friends that they "just have to see that show!"  These are the types of people that are the keys to any successful word of mouth campaign (for Fyiero's sake, they're willing to pay to wear an over-priced sweatshirt probably made in a sweatshop featuring your logo!).

Like the 800# idea, reaching out to your merch buyers is another way around Ticketmaster and Telecharge, allowing us to talk to our BEST customers directly. 

So, how do you take advantage of it?

Collect contact info at your merch stand.  Create partnerships with your merch company so that they give you access to the people that buy merch online (or start your own merch company).  Offer a gift certificate for tickets that they can buy for their friends.  Stuff the merch bags with flyers.  Train your sellers to sell the show as well as the shirts. 

Merch stands are mines of golden customers.  And they're there in our lobbies.

Now if only Diane were in the lobby . . .

Survey says! It's nice to meet you.

Thanks to all of you who completed my survey! 

You gave some terrific feedback, and it was just cool to find out a little more about you.  Sometimes I feel a little like nutty Norma Desmond typing to all you "people out there in the dark", so it's nice to know that the lights are on and there are a lot of people home. 

Want to know more about the other folks reading?

GENDER

60% male
40% female

AGE

3.6%    18 and under
21.4%  19 - 25
23.2%  26 - 30
24.1%  31 - 40
16.1%  41 - 50
10.7%  51 - 60
.9%     61+

TOP 3 PROFESSIONS

33.9%  Producer
25.0%  Writer
22.3%  Actor

WHERE DO YOU LIVE

93% in the US
51% of those living in the US are in NY
5% are from Texas

Our Far-Away reader award goes to our reader down under in Australia.

Neat, huh? 

Data is real. It forces you to focus.  It gets us out of the ethereal and into the actual.  It establishes a baseline, which you can then use to improve.

Who can you survey?  Here are some ideas:

Survey your regional theater audience about what shows it wants to see next year before planning your subscription season.  I'll bet you 2 boxes of Domino's chicken kickers you'll sell more tickets. 

Survey your actors about the directors and choreographers they want to work with.  I'll bet you double or nothing you get more people to show up for auditions.

Find the data.  Use it to focus.  And use that focus to improve whatever it is you do.

One more stat:

MY FAVORITE SUGGESTION ABOUT WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT

"I also enjoy the entries that spark discussions in the comments, as your readership seems to boast incredibly smart people who, whether they are challenging or agreeing with your thoughts, respond with respectful and well thought-out comments."

Damn straight, my readers are smart.  I kind of want to challenge another blog in an smart-off or an arm wrestling match or something. 

My comment on that comment is to continue to comment!  I've read so many Oil Barrels of Wisdom (so much more valuable than pearls) from all of you.  This blog was created to try and turn the Titantic that is Broadway.  It's going to take time.  It's going to take effort.  But if we're all here grabbing the wheel, then over time we just might find a way to smoother waters. 

Um, to the one person who told me in the survey to ease up on the analogies in his/her feedback, don't read that last paragraph. 

Oh, wait, crap.

Theater things that don't make sense: Vol. 5. Regional theaters as authors.

The regional out-of-town tryout is a popular way to develop new works headed for Broadway, especially expensive musicals.

Shows like Jersey Boys, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Light In The Piazza, Color Purple and more, were all incubated out-of-town.

So how does this work?

Traditionally, Producers of shows with commercial dreams cut deals with these theaters to put them on their season. 

The deal usually includes an up-front "enhancement" payment for line items that are above and beyond the regional theaters customary budget (most wouldn't normally do musicals of such size and scope, so they may need costume help, additional sets, per diem for creatives, etc.).  This fee can easily be several hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more.  But, it makes sense that the Broadway producers would pay for it.

In addition to this fee, it is also customary that the theater gets a royalty, usually between 1 and 1.5%. (To put that in perspective, the minimum for an author of a musical (bookwriter, composer, etc.) according to the APC is 1.5%.)

This is what doesn't make sense to me. 

As producers we're forgetting the incredible value we're giving these theaters.  We've gotten desperate looking for development deals, and we're giving away what little we have left of the store, before the store has even opened.

A world-premiere of a brand new musical on its way to Broadway is of tremendous value to a regional theater.  It brings audiences, subscriptions, fund raising opportunities, publicity, and more.  Think about it:  if you were the AD of a regional theater, what would you rather have . . . a self-produced revival of No, No, Nanette, or a brand-spankin' new musical on its way to Broadway?  You'd pass on the "Tea For Two" in two seconds.

Yet not only do we enhance the production (making the show more attractive for the theater's subscribers), we also pay them like they were an author for the rest of the run of the show?

It's like someone inviting you to their house dinner.  You bring the wine, like a good guest should.  Yet, after you leave, they expect you to send them a bottle every week until you move away.

Yes, the development work done at regionals is crucial and at a lower cost, but it's costing us too much to do it.  It seems that even the theater owners out of town have found a way to squeeze us content providers.

The good news is that there are almost 2,000 regional theaters around the country.  We just have to do the work to find the ones that want us, instead of the ones that just want to make money off us.

Don't get caught in your wet suit.

Part of the documentary I'm shooting involves interviews with celebrities that work in difficult industries, face failure every day, but never give up, despite long odds and longer hours.

I've been fortunate enough to interview Seth Godin, Dr. David Sidransky, Doyle Brunson, "Rudy", and more (You're going to love these things when we're done).

I also wanted to interview the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.  I knew it was a long shot, but hey, the risk/reward ratio was pretty good.  It took me about 3 minutes to shoot an email off to the press dept., and if it got through, it'd be like hitting the lottery on my birthday after getting an opportunity to invest in a tour of Wicked.  In my pitch letter, I made sure they understood that we could do the interview in as little as 15 minutes.

Two days later, I got an email back from Google's press department saying that Larry and Sergey's schedule "leaves next to no time for media opportunities."

Hmmmm, really?  Not even 15 minutes?  Sounds like a "He's Just Not That Into Me" excuse to me.  I would have much rather the truth, because I don't care if you founded Google or you founded America . . . everyone has 15 minutes if you want to give it. 

So . . . I couldn't let them get away that easy.  :-) 

I FedExed Larry and Sergey a copy of The 4 Hour Work Week, which teaches readers how to be more effective with time management, so they have more time to do the things they want to do, while still making googles of dollars.  (I also just happened to know that they had hired the author of 4 Hour, Timothy Ferriss, to speak to their employees.)

I included a letter that quoted their press rep's response, and told them I was sending them the book "to help put a little more space in your week.  You've given me Google.  I'm giving you time.  Seems only fair.  When you're done reading it, give me a call so we can set up the interview." 

And guess what happened???  Guess who just called me?????

Ok, truth is . . . they didn't.  But wouldn't it have been cool if they did?

Think I was too much of a smart a$$?  Think I was risking pi$$ing off powerful people?  Think they really are too busy and that their time is really too tight???

Look at the photo below . . . it was featured in an article in the NY Times last week about how Google missed profit expectations (That's Sergey in the wet suit.  It looks like that suit is the only thing that's tight for Sergey).

It's ok that they didn't want to do the doc.  You're going to get lots of people telling you they don't want to be a part of your projects.   When Google isn't interested, go to Yahoo, and then AOL . . . and you'll find someone eventually who you connect with.  Keep googling.

But when the situation is reversed, and people are asking you for things?  Make sure the people doing the talking for you aren't blowing smoke up your server. 

Tell people you're not interested.  And tell them why.  The truth always comes out, and you don't want to feel like you've been caught without a wet suit.

The sequel to sequels.

So Les Miserables II: One Show More is out of the question.

Ditto to the sibling sequel Thoroughly Modern Molly.

If we can't sequelize our shows, is there anything else we can do to extend their life?

Movies release remastered versions with bonus material.

Books reprint 2nd and 3rd and 10th editions.

iPhones have software updates.

What can you do to re-energize your audiences into coming back to your show?  Recast?  A new song or scene appears?  Talk backs?  A new special effect?  A new sound system?

Some of these are pretty drastic (and pretty expensive), so before you go asking your authors for a new tune for Act II, let's look at those other industries and what they do. 

Remastered, 2nd editions and software updates all have one thing in common.  They seek to improve their product.  They don't just make it different.  They make it better.

What would you do if your show was running 20 years to make it better?

- - - - -

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Give me your feedback here.