Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Broadway Grosses w/e 8/30/09

Show Name	GrossGross	TotalAttn	%Cap	AvgPdAdm
9 TO 5	$579,448	7,765	60.25%	$74.62
AVENUE Q	$456,768	5,923	93.01%	$77.12
BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL	$1,398,914	11,366	99.98%	$123.08
BURN THE FLOOR	$404,506	6,153	73.18%	$65.74
CHICAGO	$585,951	7,339	84.94%	$79.84
HAIR	$1,003,039	11,021	97.57%	$91.01
IN THE HEIGHTS	$697,587	8,196	75.05%	$85.11
JERSEY BOYS	$1,143,248	9,897	101.24%	$115.51
MAMMA MIA!	$992,079	11,151	93.05%	$88.97
MARY POPPINS	$867,431	11,745	81.70%	$73.86
NEXT TO NORMAL	$403,524	5,249	84.99%	$76.88
ROCK OF AGES	$609,707	7,213	90.43%	$84.53
SHREK THE MUSICAL	$731,218	9,246	66.69%	$79.08
SOUTH PACIFIC	$702,306	6,969	83.68%	$100.78
THE 39 STEPS	$248,441	3,706	78.65%	$67.04
THE LION KING	$1,350,770	12,543	94.79%	$107.69
THE LITTLE MERMAID	$1,211,660	12,215	100.52%	$99.19
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA	$879,924	10,971	84.91%	$80.20
WEST SIDE STORY	$1,064,920	11,186	82.40%	$95.20
WICKED	$1,609,027	14,472	100.00%	$111.18
TOTALS	$16,940,465	$184,326	86.35%	$88.83

Who says a Broadway Show can't be at the top of pop culture?

In today's world, it sure is hard for a Broadway show to compete with the likes of Paris Hilton, MTV, Anderson Cooper, Lindsay Lohan, and the like.

But on Twitter, one show has not only competed with them, it has crushed them.

Next To Normal is now up to 618,703 followers (and growing), besting so many other seemingly more "popular" people.  It's ranked as the 205th most popular tweeter on the web!

How'd they do it?  

N2N used this new technology the old-fashioned way, with tried and true unique and interactive content unavailable anywhere else.  They tweeted the entire musical in twitter-ese, the actors have been tweeting what they're feeling behind-the-scenes, and now, the composers are asking all 600k of those followers for ideas for a new song for the show.

Pretty great, right?  Without a doubt, it's the best use of Twitter by a musical since the technology was born.  

But before we go celebrating just yet, let's remember the most important question to ask yourself when you engage in any marketing campaign:  what has it done to the box office?  

Obviously, it hasn't dropped 600,000 butts right into the seats of the Booth Theater, but that's not what it was meant to do, and luckily the smart folks behind the campaign know that.  Twitter wasn't designed to be a direct response tool.  Pushing a ticket offer out to that group on a repeated basis would be a sure-fire way to disengage all of them and fast.  

Social media was designed to be . . . well . . . social.  And a campaign like this builds brand awareness inexpensively and at the same time, revs up your passionate users like nothing else could.

And that's why there's a long line at the box office every morning for Normal rush tickets.

You can't bet your brand on social media.  It's not going to make you or break you at the bank.  But done right, it's a way to get your brand mentioned in the same sentence as the big boys.  

And that certainly can't be bad. 

I have nothing to say.

From the NY TImes:  Arbitrator Rules In Favor of Jeremy Piven in 'Speed The Plow' Dispute.

Well, that ends that.

Since this post is so short, I thought I'd introduce a new feature on The Producer's Perspective called 'Summer Movie', where we highlight the success or lack thereof of a summer motion picture. 

For our first edition, we're going to focus on a film called The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard which featured a very interesting cast.

And that very interesting cast conjured up a sickly 29% on the RottenTomatoes.com tote board.

Uh-oh.  This just in.  Due to an unexplained illness, this will be the first and last edition of our new feature, 'Summer Movie'.

Is now the best time for this?

According to this New York Times article, Local 1 made a move on The Joyce Theater this week, in an attempt to organize and unionize the stagehands at the 472 seat theater in Chelsea.

Huh.

Now, I'm not a Press Agent, but . . . in 2009, in the midst of the current economic crisis, with non profits closing their doors almost as fast as car dealerships, and with staff members all over the world making sacrifices to keep their jobs (including the employees of the NY Times), and with the NEA reporting double-digit rates of decline in arts-related attendance, does this seem like the right time for a big and powerful union to try to organize a 472 seat theater, home to a modern dance company?

Huh. 

I think if I were leading the Local, I would have held back for awhile.  I'll admit, I don't know the status of the Joyce's finances. Maybe they are in a position to afford the Local?  Maybe the Local has agreed that the organization wouldn't cost them a penny more than they are currently paying?  

But it certainly seems a bit odd, doesn't it? 

Let me be clear, I am a member of two performing arts unions, and I believe that without a doubt our union workers, on and off the stages, in the pits and in the dressing rooms, are the best in the biz.  The problem is, the "best" come at a premium, as they should.

Whether that premium can be afforded in all places is another matter altogether.

We interrupt this blog to bring you . . . .

. . . photos from yesterday's 4th Annual Davenport Theatrical retreat to Six Flags.  This is my favorite day of the year, when all of my shows and staffers mix it up for roller coasters and funnel cakes . . . and italian ice . . . and dippin' dots . . . and corn-in-a-cup . . . and . . . 

We had fun.  Which is important.  In fact, it's important that you have fun every day.  This is the entertainment industry, after all.  If you're not having fun doing it, how can you expect anyone else to have fun watching it?

 
 

 
 

     

The 1st Quarter Results are in! How are we doing?

Summer is winding down, which means the first quarter of the Broadway fiscal year has come to a close as well.

Big businesses take their financial temperature with quarterly earnings, so, as I mentioned in this post, we're going to assess our Broadway season as the season goes along, with quarterly updates on how we're doing, and yes, a few predictions as well.

Unfortunately, despite a few articles touting the strength of our box office this summer, we're down against last year's numbers.

Here are the cold, hard, figures:

The total gross for the first 13 weeks of the '09-10 season was $258,159,343 which is 3.2% less than last season's first quarter results of $266,617,631.

Many would argue (and I'm one of them), that this isn't so bad, in light of the financial hurricane that we've been in for the past 11-12 months (and yes, it has been that long).  

However, the more alarming first quarter statistic has to do with attendance. 

During the first 13 weeks of this season, 2,960,615 people went to see a Broadway show as opposed to last season's 3,273,453.  That's down a whopping 9.6%.

Economy or not, this is something to be concerned about, especially when our first quarter includes some of the strongest weeks of the year. 

(Looking long term, what's even a bit scarier is the spread between the drop in attendance and the drop in gross.  We've been making up for the drop in attendance that has occured over the past two years by simply charging more for our tickets (not to mention our 'premium prices').  At some point soon, this is going to catch up with us, and we'll be unable to keep charging more to make up for the attendance drop and the low profitability ration we have now, will drop even further.)

To recap? 

Broadway's first quarter results of '09-10 = Grosses down 3.2%.  Attendance down 9.6%.

What do I see coming in the second quarter? 

Unfortunately, more of the same.  Comparing this season over last, I count an average of 25 shows running on Broadway per week over the 2nd quarter, compared to last year's average of 28 shows per week.  Those missing three shows are going to drop the grosses on their own. Add that to the economic downturn, and the lack of a big, heavily anticipated musical, and I'm predicting at least a 5% drop in gross and an attendance drop that pushes 10%. 

Unfortunately, all of this means that my earlier 2009-2010 season prediction is on target.  We're looking at posting a drop in grosses for the first time since the 2004-2005 season, and another drop in attendance, our third year in a row.

And that will be the first time in 20 years that the attendance has dropped over three seasons in a row.

Enough doom and gloom . . . what do you as a Producer do staring at these quarterly results?

• Be picky.  There will be hits.  Shows will recoup.  But it will be harder.  Make sure you show has plenty of compelling reasons to stand out from the clutter.
  
• Don't rush.  If your show isn't ready right now, don't rush it in. I don't care if the perfect theater becomes available.  There just aren't as many people going to the theater right now.  Adding another show to the fray and getting the majority of the audience is going to be hard.
  
• Squeeze pennies.  Don't pinch 'em, but give 'em a squeeze to make sure you're not paying for any pork.  Now is not the time for fat.  Make sure your budget has a lean, lithe, runner's body. 

Could I be wrong?  Could the year turn around?  Could we end up with a gain in both grosses and attendance?

Sure, we could.  But it may take a superhero to make it happen.

See you in 13!

Broadway Grosses w/e 8/23/09

Show Name	GrossGross	TotalAttn	%Cap	AvgPdAdm
9 TO 5	$589,453	7,937	61.58%	$74.27
AVENUE Q	$454,132	5,952	93.47%	$76.30
BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL	$1,413,725	11,368	100.00%	$124.36
BURN THE FLOOR	$426,308	6,363	75.68%	$67.00
CHICAGO	$655,111	7,983	92.40%	$82.06
HAIR	$1,038,147	11,073	98.03%	$93.75
IN THE HEIGHTS	$782,522	8,846	81.01%	$88.46
JERSEY BOYS	$1,126,088	9,886	101.13%	$116.79
MAMMA MIA!	$1,019,887	11,273	94.07%	$90.47
MARY POPPINS	$952,564	12,778	88.88%	$74.55
NEXT TO NORMAL	$456,273	5,582	90.38%	$81.74
ROCK OF AGES	$636,437	7,451	93.42%	$85.42
SHREK THE MUSICAL	$857,449	10,515	75.84%	$81.55
SOUTH PACIFIC	$781,930	7,554	90.71%	$103.51
THE 39 STEPS	$248,907	3,954	83.91%	$62.95
THE LION KING	$1,444,633	13,164	99.49%	$109.74
THE LITTLE MERMAID	$1,212,777	12,242	100.74%	$99.07
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA	$969,210	11,895	92.07%	$81.48
WEST SIDE STORY	$1,153,444	12,071	88.91%	$95.55
WICKED	$1,634,843	14,472	100.00%	$112.97
TOTALS	$17,853,836	192,359	90.09%	$90.10

When is Broadway's birthday?

I had a bday over the weekend, and it got me thinking . . . just when is Broadway's birthday?

My History of American Musical Theatre Professor at NYU, Jack Lee (the guy who gave me my start by recommending me for a production assistant position on My Fair Lady), would say that the birth of the Broadway musical was on September 12, 1866 when the curtain went up on the infamous, designed-by-fire, Black Crook.

This WikiAnswer says that the "first-known professional musical production was a five performance run of John Gay's satirical British ballad opera, The Beggar's Opera, offered by Walter Murray and Thomas Kean's traveling theatrical troupe at the Nassau Street Theatre."

We celebrate a lot of Birthdays through the year.  Broadway should be one of them. As an industry we should pick a day and build a celebration around it. And hey, it doesn't even have to be accurate. The Declaration of Independence is widely believed to have been officially executed in early August, not on July 4, 1776.  And most people, whether they believe in Him or not, acknowledge that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th.  

Birthdays are marketing tools.  Think about yours for a second. What does your birthday do?  It makes people, by societal convention, turn their attention and their focus to you, right?

Let's use society's natural desire to celebrate a birth to our advantage.  Because Broadway could use every extra bit of attention it can get.  

Why producing is like learning a language.

Another question came in from a reader recently asking me what books they should read, and when they should get an office, and what next steps they should take in order to become a Producer.

While I do have some recommended reading to the left (and I'm going to add this classic soon), here's the answer I have for those of you looking to learn how to Produce.

And surprise, surprise, it comes in the form of a story.

I'm going to Italy for the first time in September (to see My First Time, actually), so I was looking at getting a book on tape, or maybe even one of those Rosetta Stones that they sell at the airport to see if I could pick up any of the language.

I mentioned this to one of my investors recently, and she told me that her son was fluent in Italian.  "Really," I asked, "How did he do it?  Rosetta?  4 years in High School?  Private tutor?"

"No," she said.  "He spent a summer there after his junior year.  He came back speaking better Italian than Pacino in The Godfather."

In other words, there is no education, like Immersion. 

No book is gonna teach you the best way to ask where the bathroom is. You know what will teach you?  When you have to pee like a race horse and you're standing in line to see The Sistine Chapel and you can't find the porta-potty!

And nothing is going to teach you how to produce better than finding a project, immersing yourself in the production, and getting it up, no matter what.

"What's the difference between a lead Producer and a Producer?"

Here's a question from a reader that wouldn't have even been a question a few decades ago.  In the days of David Merrick, there weren't 142 names above the title, all calling themselves producers.  There was one, maybe two or three, and everyone knew who was wearing the top hat in that relationship.

Times have changed, as shows have gotten more expensive.  Producers have given up big pieces of profit, as well as diluted the strength of the title of Producer, in exchange for making sure shows still happen (laugh all you want about the umpteen producers above-the-title on Spring Awakening, but without them, that show never would have happened, and we all would have missed out on something spectacular).

Amongst those many names, there is one person who is now affectionately referred to as the Lead Producer.

But just what does this person do?

Well, as with most positions in the theater, the Lead Producer's list of duties changes depending on the person and the project. 

Generally speaking, the Lead Producer is the person that is not only driving the ship, but he or she is usually the person who convinced everyone to get on board in the first place.  The Lead is the explorer, the Columbus, if you will, that says, "I've got an idea and I need help to get where I want to go. Who's with me?  I need money.  I need a staff.  Who's up for the craziest journey ever?  We could die, or we could discover the new world!" 

Along the way, the Lead can help with the development of the script, bring in additional partners, hire the General Manager and primary vendors.  The Lead calls the shots, consulting as he or she goes, with the other Producers.

To put this into business terms, imagine the LP as the Chairman of the Board, who has a bunch of board members (the other Producers) who chime in on big decisions. 

But at the end of the day, it's the Lead's ship.