Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Paying extra for speedier service.

My office retreated to Six Flags last week, where we ate funnel cakes, played carney games, and rode rollercoasters.

And we rode a lot of them.

Why so many?   

Because we had the "Flash Pass", the premium-option ticket that cuts your wait time in line by like 90%.  It's an expensive option, but honestly?  And don't tell the Six Flags people this . . . but I'd pay twice the rate, rather than roast in a two hour line for Kingda Ka.

And I don't think I'm alone.

Because in addition to the "Decade of Busy-ness" that I talked about yesterday, we also are in the Decade of Impatience.  

We can never just sit idle. We gotta be doing twenty things, and we're willing to pay anything to shorten our wait so we can jam more action into our busy lives.  Sometimes I think the modern "man" lives life like they've been given six months to live, even though our lifespans are getting longer and longer each year.

But the Flash Pass is a stroke of genius as its a win on both sides of the equation:  Business makes more money by providing something that costs them nothing.  Customer is happy because their experience at the business is that much better.

My new intern, Doug, came in to my office today and told me he thought Starbucks should have a Flash Pass.  

Ahhh . . . obviously we are blessed with smart interns.  Cuz I'd pay extra to skip that line, and I don't even drink coffee!  Maybe at a place like Starbucks, it's not an extra fee, but just for their "gold card" members.

And that's when I started thinking . . . is there speedier service or "cut to the front of the line" access we could give our theatergoers? 

Do premium ticket buyers get seated first?  Do full price buyers get bathroom access first (yes, there's a bit of a fascist Urinetown feel to this idea, I know)?  Is there an option for people who wait at stage doors for autographs?

I'm not sure exactly what the theater equivalent of a Flash Pass is, because we don't have the same type of lines . . . but I do know this . . . 

If you can come up with a price tag for time, the modern consumer will pay for it. 

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

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FUN STUFF 

- 43 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- Enter the Sunday Giveaway:  Win 2 tickets to see Million Dollar Quartet Off-Broadway!  Click here.

 

The most popular posts of the month: August.

End of the month wrap-up time.  Let's see what I wrote that piqued your interest this August.

• The most read post of the month:  What every regional theater should have.
  
  
• The most commented on post of the month:  What ever happened to show jackets?

And . . .

• The comment of the month is from "Kim" and was in response to Everyone has a marketing idea.
  "Kim" said, "Producers are cool too!!!"  
  
  I happen to agree with you, Kim.  :-)

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 43 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- Enter the Sunday Giveaway:  Win 2 tickets to see Million Dollar Quartet Off-Broadway!  Click here.

What really took the advance out of advance ticket sales?

One of the most common complaints amongst anyone hawking tickets to anything these days is that people rarely buy in advance anymore.  If you're a vacation resort, a football team, or a Broadway show, you're white-knuckling it a lot of the time, because so many customers take so long to click "buy now."

Why don't people buy in advance?

Some people point to 9/11 as the turning point in purchasing habits.  Because of the fear of something else "happening," people started being afraid to travel or make any similar plans.

Some people point to our customers getting wise to the discount game.  They know if they wait, they can get a good deal--probably sent right to their inbox. 

These are all true, but I also think it's something simpler than that.

We're busier than we were a decade before.

The advent of technology has allowed us to become more accessible, and it is also allowed us to multi-task.  Being the ambitious Americans that we are, we've used technology not to make our lives easier, but instead we've jam packed our days with more stuff to do, more stuff for our kids to do, etc. . . . which leaves less time to plan stuff to do.

So we don't plan as much as we used to because we don't have the time.  And, since theatergoing is not primarily an experience that is done by oneself, a buyer not only has to coordinate a time that he can go see a show, he also has find out when his theater-going partner can also attend.

And in the "Decade of Busyness," that ain't easy. 

What can we do to battle the "busys"?  

It's our job to make the purchasing process as easy as possible, and as fast as possible (now do you know why Amazon came up with 1-Click purchasing?).  

Our ticketing services need to have e-services with profiles so you don't ever have to input info twice.  We need tools on our websites that allow people to invite their friends to the same event.  We need methods that allow me to pay for my ticket, and a friend to pay for theirs (like paying a restaurant tab with separate credit cards), but still let us sit together.  

Even people who aren't busy think they're busy.  If we don't come up with ways to allow even the busiest of folks to purhase their tickets quickly and easily, you know what won't be busy?  

Our box office. 

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 44 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is TONIGHT at 6:30 PM.  Register here.

- Enter the Sunday Giveaway:  Win 2 tickets to see Million Dollar Quartet Off-Broadway!  Click here.

Broadway's Quarter 1 Results

Summer is just about gone, and so are the first 13 weeks of the season.  So let's see how we're shaping up so far.

The first quarter of the 2011-12 Broadway season gave us the stastical equivalent of a picture of Lindsay Lohan at church.  It just doesn't make sense.

The tally of the grosses in Q1 were $268,362,100, which is a 1.1% increase over the same quarter last year.

Attendance in the same period was 2,968,372, which is . . . and here's the Lohanish part . . . down .9% from last year.

The decline is mostly due to 1.4% less playing weeks this period.

I hate to see this inverse relationship between attendance and gross.

But, if you were to ask me what the next quarter would look like?  I'd say look for the same Lohanesque features.

See you in 13!

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 44 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is TONIGHT at 6:30 PM.  Register here.

- Enter the Sunday Giveaway:  Win 2 tickets to see Million Dollar Quartet Off-Broadway!  Click here.

 

This blog cancelled on account of a hurricane?

This week I'll celebrate the 20th anniversary of my arrival in NYC.

In those twenty years, Broadway has only failed to get its curtains up twice before:  the first on 9/11, and the second during the Blackout of '03.  

But this weekend, in walked a little trollop named Irene who rained-on-us and left-us with a weekend of canceled shows and lost revenues to make it thrice.

I'd estimate that about $8-10 million bucks got refunded this weekend, and that's just on Broadway alone.  What about the Off-Broadway shows and all the other live entertainment options that went dark thanks to that little tart with the same name as a 1919 musical?

Most Broadway contracts have "force majeure" clauses, which release parties from financial and other obligations in the event of an "act of God", which will give Producers some relief from their responsibilities.  And I'd bet that the phone lines at Broadway's insurance agencies will be busy tomorrow as Producers try to get some of that $8-10 million back.

Maybe it's the ol' cliche about the show having to go on that gets me a little down the few times it my lifetime that it hasn''t.  But at the same time, it's good to be reminded that there are things more important than entertainment . . .  and the safety and well-being of the people that provide that entertainment and the people that consume the entertainment should always come first.

Because they are worth a heck of a lot more than $8-10 million bucks.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the millions that were hit much harder than Broadway this past weekend.  I'll be making a donation to the Red Cross to help with the recovery.  If you are in a position to do so, I hope you'll join me.  

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 45 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is Tuesday, August 30th at 6:30 PM.  Register here.

- Enter the Sunday Giveaway:  Win 2 tickets to see Million Dollar Quartet Off-Broadway!  Click here.

Broadway Grosses* w/e 8/28/2011

The following are the Broadway Grosses from the week ending August 28, 2011:

Show Name	GrossGross	TotalAttn	%Cap	AvgPdAdm
ANYTHING GOES	$313,522	3,607	70.31%	$86.92
BABY IT'S YOU!	$199,278	3,992	69.97%	$49.92
BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL	$358,485	4,421	77.78%	$81.09
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN	$334,136	5,088	71.56%	$65.67
CHICAGO	$306,025	4,027	74.57%	$75.99
FOLLIES	$481,263	6,300	80.92%	$76.39
HAIR	$241,008	5,079	48.73%	$47.45
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING	$700,978	7,033	98.78%	$99.67
JERSEY BOYS	$535,578	5,571	90.73%	$96.14
MAMMA MIA!	$588,493	7,103	79.03%	$82.85
MARY POPPINS	$533,339	6,958	77.44%	$76.65
MASTER CLASS	$174,822	2,928	91.36%	$59.71
MEMPHIS	$358,660	5,010	68.16%	$71.59
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT	$392,027	5,014	59.34%	$78.19
ROCK OF AGES	$192,912	2,383	81.75%	$80.95
SISTER ACT	$364,432	5,155	58.75%	$70.69
SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK	$933,424	8,963	92.88%	$104.14
THE ADDAMS FAMILY	$483,075	6,890	75.60%	$70.11
THE BOOK OF MORMON	$786,459	5,470	102.43%	$143.78
THE LION KING	$1,081,144	8,280	98.75%	$130.57
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA	$607,372	7,751	79.99%	$78.36
WAR HORSE	$625,160	5,345	100.00%	$116.96
WICKED	$1,031,290	8,485	93.81%	$121.54
TOTAL	$11,622,879	130,853	80.12%	$85.45

*Broadway Grosses provided courtesy of The Broadway League.

The Sunday Giveaway: 2 Tickets to Million Dollar Quartet!

Million Dollar Quartet completes the quarter of Broadway shows that have moved Off-Broadway: First Avenue Q, then 39 Steps, then Rent and now MDQ.

Interestingly enough, Quartet started at The Apollo Theater, the Off-Broadway sized theater in Chicago.  So in a way, like Q and Rent before it, it seems to have gone back to its roots.  

So, if you missed it on Broadway, now you can see Cash, Presley, Lewis and Perkins blow the roof off of Stage 4 at New World Stages.

And one of you is going for free, because this week we're giving away two free tickets!

How do you win 'em?

Some people might call MDQ a jukebox musical.  I disagree.  I call shows like this bio musicals, or musical documentaries.  What artist or musical moment in history could make a great "Behind the Music" muscial?

Comment below (or email subscribers, click here) with your idea and I'll pick a winner at random for the tickets!

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 46 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is Tuesday, August 30th at 6:30 PM.  Register here.

 

 

Who won the Silver Membership to NYMF?

Based on the number of comments on last week's giveaway this is gonna be one exciting NYMF season!

There are a lot of shows that grabbed your attention amongst the musical offerings . . . and RICK REYNOLDS, you're going to see some for free, because you won the Silver Membership!

Email me for info on how to get your membership.

And stay tuned for my blog next week about the five shows among the list that stood out to me.

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 47 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is Tuesday, August 30th at 6:30 PM.  Register here.

Fun on a Friday: Our biggest marketing hurdle

As you'll see below, a 7 year old has discovered the source of all of our marketing problems in the theater.

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 48 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- Enter to win a Silver Membership to NYMF! Click here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is Tuesday, August 30th at 6:30 PM.  Register here.

 

Just how long should you be on sale anyway?

When you're doing an open-ended run, you have a decision to make the day you go on sale. . . how far out do you want to be on sale?

Conventional wisdom has always said to keep this window a bit smaller in an effort to force people to buy in the short term, and create some scarcity by making your ticket a little harder to get.

But I've never been a big conventional thinker.

I do believe in the theory of limited supply increasing demand, but I'm also a big believer in this theory:  when someone wants to give you money, you take it.

If a customer is willing to buy tickets for a performance of your show that is a year out, do you really think that you can convince him/her to go to a show that's two months from now?  No.  Since 65% of our tickets are sold to out-of-towners, a lot of advance ticket buyers are vacationers. They're not going to change their vacation plans because you don't have tickets on sale.  They are just going to assume that you are closing, and buy something else.

And since it is getting harder and harder to get people to buy in advance, why wouldn't you take a sale for a show that's nine months out?  (If this were a traditional business, it would be even more advantageous to take the cash well in advance, because you'd be sitting on the funds yourself - but in the theater, the ticketing agency sits on the monies until the performance has happened). 

Oh, and as soon as someone buys tickets, there is a little word-of-mouth seed that gets planted within that buyer . . . as he or she will want others to do what he or she has done.

What do other perishable inventory industries do?  Restaurants will take reservations a year in advance, and a quick search on Expedia scored me a flight to LAX next July.  

In fact, that flight next year was a lot cheaper than the flight to LA I booked today for next week.

Hmmmmm . . .

And, in the worst of all possible cases, you announce closing prematurely, leaving some buyers with tickets for shows that won't exist.  You can always try to exchange them to earlier shows, or you have to refund them.  Big deal.  Worth the risk if you get more advance sales.

Because it's a heck of a lot easier to give money back then it is to get money in the first place.

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

----------------

FUN STUFF 

- 49 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- Enter to win a Silver Membership to NYMF! Click here.

- The next Broadway Investing 101 seminar is Tuesday, August 30th at 6:30 PM.  Register here.