Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

My blog is an iPhone app!

I'll admit it.  I've got app fever.

My iPhone is filled with everything from subway maps to free wifi finders to a blackjack card-counting trainer.

So, when I found out that I could turn my blog into an app, I jumped on it faster than I pre-ordered my iPad.

If you want The Producer's Perspective app, click here.

Or search for "Ken Davenport" or "Broadway" in the app store, and look for the TPP icon.  It's free!

And speaking of apps . . . remember this post that called out for ideas for new apps?  Well, we've got an app in the works.

Stay tuned for its pre-summer release.

10 Questions for a Broadway Pro. Volume 5: Brian Lynch, Production Manager

With this volume of 10 Qs for a Broadway Pro, we're going behind the curtain to find out what one of the top Production Managers in the biz has to say about his gig.

If you've ever sat at a show and been amazed at how a piece of scenery fit onstage (or backstage), or how a fireworks-like lighting effect didn't burn up the ensemble, then you've witnessed the wonderful work of a Production Manager like Brian Lynch.

Brian Lynch has worked on big shows, small shows, and shows that are juuuuuuuust right, coordinating the technical needs and desires of the Designers and Director, with the needs and desires of the Producers . . . oh, and then he has to coordinate all of that within the confines of the Local 1 Stagehand agreement.

As you'll see, Brian is a man of few words.  Why?  Well, he's one of the busiest guys I know, and great Production Managers give you the answers you need quick and fast.  It may not be the answer you want, but the best ones just tell you the truth and tell it yesterday . . . so it doesn't cost you money tomorrow. 

Let's see how Brian answers our 10 Questions.

1. What is your title?

Production Manager/Technical Supervisor

2. What show/shows are you currently working on?

West Side Story, In the Heights, recently closed Ragtime (unfortunately, great show), and all White Christmas companies

3. In one sentence, describe your job.

Ensure that each production is done with efficiency and within a well-structured technical budget.

4. What skills are necessary for a person in your position?

A working knowledge of all technical aspects of mounting a show in a theatrical environment, being able to work creatively with producers, directors, designers, shops, and stagehands of all types and temperaments, and having a thorough knowledge of all the resources that are available...oh, and lots of patience.

5. What kind of training did you go through to get to your position?

Five years of electronics on a nuclear submarine.  B.A. in English from Loyola University, 1970.  Thirty-five years working on Broadway with Manny Azenberg, Jim Freydberg, Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Charlotte Wilcox, etc. etc.

6. What was your first job in theater?

Working on automation systems for the Civic Light Opera Company in Los Angeles...1971.

7. Why do you think theater is important?

It is an art form and all art is important...not to mention the fact that it is how I make my living

8. What is your profession's greatest challenge today?

Staying relevant and affordable to today's young people.

9. If you could change just one thing about the industry with the wave of a magic wand, what would it be?

The death of the 25-million-dollar musical!

10. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do what you do?

Enjoy the challenge.

(Not So) Favorite Quotes Vol. XXIV: Won't you be my neighbor?

One of the couples on my floor loves the theater.  They go on a regular basis, have great taste, and are always asking me for recommendations on shows to see.

Oh, and get this . . . they always pay full price.  (insert "whoopee!" here)

Last week, I ran into them in the elevator and they told me they were on their way to see Red.  I started asking them my usual string of mini focus group questions:  how they heard about Red, if they could describe the artwork, and then I landed on my finale of, "Where do you go to get your tickets?"

Their answer was Telecharge . . . but then the husband's eyes widened and I could tell he wanted to share some sort of secret.  Here's what he said:

"Yep.  We buy on Telecharge.  And pay full price.  But we never buy in advance."

My heart sunk . . . and I kind of wanted them to move to another building.

He continued:

"Yeah.  We find we get better seats when we buy last minute. Whenever we try to get something in advance, we always get crap. But if we go online the day before or even the day of, we usually find gold."

When I heard this, I wanted to move . . . to Tallahassee. There's something wrong with a ticketing purchase process that reinforces full-price buyers to wait until pulling the trigger.  

So what's the problem?

There are probably a few issues at work here, but I'd bet a couple of full-price tickets to Red that the issue most at work is that theaters and shows are holding too many of their best locations for House Seats, etc.  House Seats (or quality locations held for use by the Producers, Theatre Owners, Actors, Designers, etc.) that are not used get dumped back into the general pool of available seats 2-3 days before each performance, which is why there is sometimes a flood of good seats available closer to the performance.  My neighbor was probably getting the tickets held for the Set Designer, or one of the Principal Actors, etc.

The problem is . . . there are so many people that have House Seats in their contracts, that up to 75 prime orchestra seats can be held . . . for every performance.  I mean, is the Set Designer or Principal Actor really going to use 2 or 4 seats every night???   

In survey after survey, our audiences tell us that the #1 thing that they want is a great seat . . . and we're holding them back.  

By serving our own selfish needs, we're causing our customers to do one of three things:

- Not buy at all (there's really no better seat than on your own couch).

- Wait until something better opens up, thereby decreasing our ability to build advances.

- Find better locations elsewhere . . . translation:  they are going to brokers.

That last one is the most ironic.  Everyone in our biz has been concerned about the huge amount of business going to third party ticket brokers.

Well . . . news flash:  we're part of the reason our audiences are seeking them out.  

We've got to find a way to give our customers as much access to the best seats possible.  And one of those ways is to decrease the number of house seats we all hold.

Then, after we've decreased the number of house seats . . . we can start charging for them.  (For more on house seats, click that link) 

Honda, The BBC . . . and Broadway?

I love it when Broadway gets mentioned in the same sentence as Big Business.

So imagine how I felt when I heard that one of our own got nominated for an honor usually reserved for publicly-held giants like Apple and Nike and so on....

Last week, Situation Interactive, the agency that has literally written the code for most of Broadway's internet marketing campaigns, was nominated for a Webby Award for "Best Use of Social Media" for their follower-magnet Next To Normal twitter campaign.

If you've never heard of the Webbies before, well, they are exactly what they sound like.  The NY Times has called them "the internet's highest honor."  And now we've got a Broadway show up for one.

A wise press rep once told me that you get a gold star if you can get your show a story that doesn't appear on the theater pages.  If that's true, then Situation deserves a gold galaxy for getting Broadway off the theater pages and onto the business pages.

Now sure, it's always nice be nominated, Sally Field, but it's much better to win, right?

I think it'd be awesome if Broadway crushed its competition in this category.  And the good news is that the winner of the award is chosen American Idol-style . . . by fan vote.

So let's show Honda and Yearbook.com, that Broadway ain't stuck in the dark ages no more!  We can tweet with the best of them.

Vote here (click on the "Best Use of Social Media" category).

Now, after N2N wins this . . . it's time for them to share their recent good fortune with some of the other shows, don't you think?  First it recoups.  Then it wins a Pulitzer.  And now an advertising award?  What's next?  A $1,000,000 grant for spectacular use of Ricolas?  

Congrats, guys.  Your tide just raised all the boats.

Broadway Grosses w/e 04/25/10

Show Name	GrossGross	TotalAttn	%Cap	AvgPdAdm
A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE	$415,523	5,551	64.79%	$74.86
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC	$591,400	6,008	80.67%	$98.44
AMERICAN IDIOT	$777,860	11,464	83.85%	$67.85
BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL	$1,221,108	11,244	98.91%	$108.60
CHICAGO	$488,219	6,517	75.43%	$74.91
COLLECTED STORIES	$137,026	3,984	76.62%	$34.39
COME FLY AWAY	$918,318	9,527	73.92%	$96.39
ENRON	$360,468	6,697	71.06%	$53.83
EVERYDAY RAPTURE	$97,803	5,168	87.30%	$18.92
FELA!	$474,252	6,726	81.63%	$70.51
FENCES	$732,152	7,448	98.61%	$98.30
GOD OF CARNAGE	$277,632	3,995	46.32%	$69.49
HAIR	$430,756	6,142	54.37%	$70.13
IN THE HEIGHTS	$604,317	8,502	79.07%	$71.08
JERSEY BOYS	$1,079,432	9,605	97.77%	$112.38
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES	$565,424	7,510	89.40%	$75.29
LEND ME A TENOR	$484,662	6,307	78.92%	$76.85
MAMMA MIA!	$827,589	10,705	89.33%	$77.31
MARY POPPINS	$884,764	11,984	83.36%	$73.83
MEMPHIS	$577,041	8,547	72.68%	$67.51
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET	$488,899	6,760	69.60%	$72.32
NEXT FALL	$167,083	2,661	56.47%	$62.79
NEXT TO NORMAL	$331,749	5,117	82.85%	$64.83
PROMISES, PROMISES	$912,885	13,603	97.33%	$67.11
RACE	$346,511	4,713	55.68%	$73.52
RED	$390,878	4,569	71.04%	$85.55
ROCK OF AGES	$493,437	6,095	76.42%	$80.96
SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM	$350,981	7,643	95.16%	$45.92
SOUTH PACIFIC	$598,348	6,774	81.34%	$88.33
THE ADDAMS FAMILY	$1,402,725	12,233	100.67%	$114.67
THE LION KING	$1,412,843	13,386	99.78%	$105.55
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA	$820,942	10,663	82.53%	$76.99
WEST SIDE STORY	$905,418	11,564	85.18%	$78.30
WICKED	$1,565,019	14,472	100.00%	$108.14
TOTAL	$22,133,461	273,884	80.53%	$76.94

I'm doing a reading of a new show and you're invited.

This Friday, April 30th, at 12 PM & 3 PM, I'm doing my first readings of a brand new show I've been working on called Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage! 

And you're invited!  

Feedback from intelligent audiences is crucial for getting new shows off the ground (especially shows like this, as you'll soon see).  So who better to get that feedback from than you!

Unfortunately the midtown theater we're doing the reading in is petite, so I can only hold 10 seats for each performance for blog subscribers.

If you're a subscriber, send an email to RSVP@missabigailsguide.com from the email address that you subscribe with and give us following info (if you're not a subscriber, subscribe now by filling in the box in the upper left hand corner of the site before you email):

- Full Name
- Whether you want to attend the 12 PM or the 3 PM performance
- Whether or not you'd like to be on the waiting list if you are not one of the first 10 people to RSVP.

You will receive a confirmation with the location details, if we can find you a seat!

Hope to see you there!  

For more info on the show, visit www.MissAbigailsGuide.com.

Get Your Show Off The Ground Seminar - It's baaaaaack!

It seems like just last week it was a freezing cold Saturday in January, when a group of 20 uberly-passionate producers, writers, directors, and more joined me for the first Get Your Show Off The Ground seminar. 

We had a blast discussing everything from music rights to how to raise money to how to market with no money.  

And most importantly, everyone walked away with specifically personalized action items to help launch their great ideas.

Since it went so well, we've decided to do it again!  

The next Get Your Show Off The Ground seminar will take place on Saturday, June 19th, from 10a-6p in New York City.

I've timed this seminar so that all of you with shows in the Fringe, NYMF, Midtown International, etc. can meet with me (and many of your peers) to troubleshoot some of your specific festival-related issues before you get too deep into production.  

And remember, I guarantee you'll be in a better position with your show after the seminar than before.

To learn more about the seminar and its structure, and see what past participants had to say, click here.

To reserve your spot, click here.

Important note:  In order to ensure that everyone gets a solid amount of individual attention at the seminar, I have to limit attendance to only 20 people.  Many of the slots for this seminar went to folks on the waiting list for the last seminar, so I encourage you to reserve quickly, as the seminar will sell out.

See you at the seminar!

Get your show off the ground today!  Click here to reserve your spot now. 

Look Ma, that sink actually works!

Theater, by nature, is an unrealistic art form.  Unlike film which, generally speaking, tries to capture events in as authentic an environment as possible (on an actual city street, in a house, etc.); in theater, we're putting events on an elevated stage, and scenery and such is never 101% realistic (in fact, I'd argue that the better sets are those that suggest the locations, rather than try to duplicate them).  

Our audiences accept and embrace our suggestions of reality.  It's part of the 'suspension of disbelief' of going to the theater.  Our audiences know that they can never see a car blow up like they can in a movie, but they'll see a creative way of symbolizing that act.

And this is exactly why when we DO give them a spoonful of reality, it usually excites the audiences enough to remember and talk about that reality.

For example...

I saw Red last Friday, and one of the moments that got the biggest audible response from the audience was when one of the actors poured real red paint from one bucket into another.  You could actually hear everyone thinking, "Wow, there's actually real paint in there!"  Then, of course (spoiler alert), the actors actually painted with it!  

The set of Time Stands Still at MTC was a New York apartment, with a full-on kitchen . . . and it was a working kitchen!  Yep, when Laura Linney turned on the faucet . . . gulp . . . water came out!  They had plumbing! 

In David Cromer's Our Town, they fry up some real bacon, and the scent goes wafting through the air and gets even vegans craving a slice.

Theatrical design will never be able to compete with film design or any other "realistic" design medium, so why bother trying.

But, at key moments in your show, a designed-dose of reality can amplify an important issue.

This Broadway Pro is a loser.

A big loser.  

Like the BIGGEST loser.

Hugh Hysell, who owns one of Broadway's biggest marketing firms, is making a bid to be on NBC's The Biggest Loser.  (You might remember Hugh from Vol. 2 of our 10 Qs for a Broadway Pro.)  

I feel sorry for the other folks trying to get on the show.  Hugh is a Marketing Director, for calorie's sake. Of course he's going to come up with a fun and theatrical way to demonstrate why he'd be the best contestant.

And sure enough . . . he did.

Hugh's video application is below . . . and it's already been written up on a bunch of blogs and featured in the NY Post.

(My favorite part about the video?  Notice how Hugh chose to shoot a portion of the vid on 52nd St . . . right in front of The August Wilson Theatre and Jersey Boys.  Yep, you guessed it . . . Hugh does the marketing for Jersey Boys.  Now that's a Marketing Director.  Even when he's stumping for himself, he's got his clients on his mind.)

Go get 'em Hugh!
 

A test case for a "troubled" (?) musical.

- Disappointing out-of-town reviews.  Check.

- Disappointing message board buzz from early out-of-town previews.  Check.  

- Director replaced.  Check.

- Michael Riedel taking swings at the show on an almost weekly basis.  Check.  

The Addams Family had all four of these unfortunate items marked off the "troubled musical" checklist well before "it" came into town.

Now that TAF has been in performances for a few weeks, let's look at some more of what The Addams Family has to buzz about.
 

- w/e 4/18/10    $1,261,490

- w/e 4/11/10    $1,240,377

- w/e 4/4/10      $1,391,177

- w/e 3/28/10    $1,302,707

- w/e 3/21/10    $1,328,460

- w/e 3/14/10    $1,192,213

Now, all of a sudden, some people talking smack on a message board back in October, about performances in Chicago, doesn't seem so bad, does it?

Producers, actors, authors, etc. are constantly worried about bad industry buzz and how it will affect a show. No one wants the label of a "troubled" show.  Well, if ever there was a test case that proved that there is a giant chasm between what our industry hears about the development of a show, and what our audience hears about the development of a show, The Addams Family is it.

TAF feels like a big Broadway musical.  It has stars.  It has a powerful brand.  It has a powerful brand that's funny.  It already feels musical because of its popular theme song.  It is about a world that provides for spectacle.  Etc.  Etc.

And all of those elements are what a huge majority of the Broadway audience wants to see, no matter who is replaced or who is writing what.

Don't worry about what insiders may say.  Worry about what your audience will say.  They are the ones who actually pay for their tickets.

And when they really want to see a show, they'll have no "trouble" paying premium prices.