Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Producing panel alert! How to produce from the ground up Off-Broadway.

My BFFs over at the Off Broadway Alliance asked me to let you know about the latest in their Off-Broadway panel series that just so happens to be . . . this Sunday!

Starting at noon and finishing by 1:30 (to make sure you have time to get to whatever matinee you're seeing that day) , this Sunday's panel is called "Producing from the Ground Up!" and features such the following awesome Hollywood Square-like celebrity participants:  Lori Fineman, Executive Director of Transport Group (which produced the New York premiere of Lysistrata Jones); Tom D'Angora, Producer of NEWSical; and Edmund Gaynes, Producer and Theatre Owner (St. Luke's Theatre and Actors Temple Theatre).

John Capo, President of John Capo Public Relations, will take his usual position as the moderator.

Oh, and if that weren't enough . . . free coffee and bagels.  I mean, come on.  Why do brunch when you can get free bagels and free advice on how to get your Off-Broadway show off the ground from three people that have actually done it.  

Here are the details:

Sunday, Feb. 12th.
12:00 - 1:30
Snapple Theater Center at 50th and Bway. 

To RSVP, click here. 

To learn more about the Alliance, including how to join and get involved, click here.  

 

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FUN STUFF:

- Win FOUR tickets to see Nick Jonas in How To Suceed . . . Click here to enter!

- Take a Broadway Road Trip from DC on 2/25!  Click here!

- SEMINAR ALERT: Get Your Show Off the Ground Seminar: 2/18.  Only ONE slot left!  Sign up today!

If you only do one thing today, make it this.

Watch Smash. 

Smash is the much anticipated, heavily advertised, prime time, major network, Broadway drama about the making of a Broadway musical.

It's about Broadway, it's shot on Broadway, it's written by a Broadway writer, directed by a Broadway Director, and stars a whole bunch of Broadway peeps.

And if there was one thing that could have an atomic bomb-like impact on Broadway theatergoing, Smash is it.

Sure Glee is great, and makes singing showtunes not as geeky as it used to be, but Glee is more of a pop-sical, whereas Smash is the real thing to the core.

And even a mediocre showing on the Nielsen ratings chart means that millions of people will be getting intimately acquainted with the making of a Broadway musical.

So imagine, for a second, if it was more than mediocre.  Imagine what a smash Smash would mean to theatergoing and theatermaking all over this country.

So watch it.  And force your friends to watch it.

Here are the deets:

Monday, February 6th. aka TONIGHT
10 PM EST/9 CT. 

Football season is over.  It's time for our season to start.

(Spread the word about Smash - Tweet/Facebook this post by clicking the icons below (email subscribers click here.))

 

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FUN STUFF:

- Take a Broadway Road Trip from DC on 2/25!  Click here!

- SEMINAR ALERT: Get Your Show Off the Ground Seminar: 2/18. Sign up today!

Last chance for you to see Chinglish.

Chinglish, the very funny and very timely play by David Henry Hwang that I produced on Broadway this Fall, is closing up shop this Sunday, January 29th.  And yep, it's closing earlier than we had all hoped.

And you should go see it before it does.

Why?  Because it's a very good play (Time Magazine named it the Best American Play of the Year.)

But also because it is that very rare thing . . .  a new American play . . . and my co-producers and I tried hard to buck a trend and put it up without stars.  (Although I guarantee you'll leave the Longacre saying that Jennifer Lim deserves her own constellation after seeing the performance.)

Unfortunately, in this Fall's star-packed season, that may be one of the reasons we couldn't quite attract enough of an audience to make it to the Spring.

But we tried.

And that's something that I'm very proud of, and thankful to all my investors for, and I know they are proud of too.

Because we produced a great play, and we did it the way we wanted to.  And no matter how disappointing our abbreviated run may be . . . I'll always be able to sleep at night knowing that.

See Chinglish before it closes on January 29th.  Get tickets here.

 

(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:

- Win tickets to see How I Learned To Drive!  Click here.  

- SEMINAR ALERT: Get Your Show Off the Ground Seminar: 2/18.  Only 2 spots left!  Sign up today!

This post is for everyone who thinks theater is too expensive.

Theater tickets are a luxury good . . . so they can be expensive.

But, thanks to programs like 20at20, they can also be downright cheap.

Starting January 18th and continuing on for 20 days, you can see over 30 shows Off-Broadway for only $20!  Yep, $20, only a few dollars more than a movie and a lot of dollars less than dinner for 2 (which, by the way, you can get for free if you see 7 or more shows in those 20 days).

Seriously, you can't tell me theater is too expensive with promotions like this. And before you say, "Oh, but it's Off-Broadway," don't forget that Off-Broadway gave us Spring Awakening, Rent, Proof, Doubt, A Chorus Line, and so many, many more.  

Get all the details and see all the shows (including two of mine: The Awesome 80s Prom (now in its 8th year) and Miss Abigail's Guide (in its 2nd and about to open a tour in Rochester), as well as Traces, Silence, Freckleface Strawberry and the much antipated, Carrie!) by visiting www.20at20.com.

Enjoy seeing great theater at a price that everyone can afford. 

(And if you're looking for the Broadway version, check out BroadwayWeek here).  

 

(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:

- Win a FREE admission to TedX Broadway.  Click here to enter!

- SEMINAR ALERT: Get Your Show Off the Ground Seminar: 2/18. Sign up today!

It's an honor to be honored.

Whenever anyone has something nice to say about you, it's a blessing.  

But when someone who you have a great deal of respect for says something nice about you, well, it, uh, kind of renders you, uh, I don't know, you just don't really know what to, you know, say.

Situation Interactive, under the leadership of Damian Bazadona and Ian Bennett, took the Broadway industry by the hand a decade or so ago (kicking and screaming, I might add) and led it into the 21st century with its interactive marketing strategies and belief that Broadway didn't have to be 10 years behind every other industry out there.  

Tragically, Ian passed away in 2007, way too early in his "run." He was a great guy and a great creative director (Ian and Situation worked on the original Altar Boyz campaign) and he is missed by his friends and his family . . . and the industry.

Damian and Situation established a scholarship in his name that benefits a high schooler with Ian's passion and every year they hold a benefit to help raise funds for for it.  

Now this is where I get a little, you know, don't know . . . uh . . . because this year they have chosen to honor me with a "Best in Beta" Award.

The event is next Monday, January 9th from 7 - 10 PM . . . and get this . . . it's a Casino Night! (I told you these guys were cool).  It also happens to be in my building, so any of you who came to my social will certainly know how to get there.

You can get all the details and buy your tickets here.  

I hope to see you there.  It's a great cause, and these are great people.  Now let's just hope I don't have to say a few words.

And did I mention it's a Casino Night? 

 

(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:

- Get Your Show Off the Ground Seminar: 2/18. Sign up today!

5 Takeaways from the Get Your Show Off The Ground Seminar.

Since we started the Get Your Show . . . seminar, I'm proud to say that we've gotten some pretty great feedback and had some pretty great success stories . . . so I'm glad that people are enjoying it.  But I gotta tell you that I am really enjoying it.  It is so much fun to get smart, creative and passionate people in a room and then brainstorm about their projects. It gets my juices flowing just like everyone else's.  

We had a seminar this past Saturday, and as I always do, here are 5 takeaways that we talked about:

• Do a reading for two reasons: to learn about your show, and to get everyone (including yourself) excited about your show.
• You'll find an agent, when you're ready for an agent.  Or better . . . the agent will find you.
• Plays weren't meant to be read.  They were meant to be seen.  That's why reading a script doesn't sell a show like seeing it does.
• Producing a show is pure physics.  An object in motion tends to stay in motion. It's your job to start the motion.  
• People love stories about people, not about products.

We've posted the schedule for the next year of seminars, so check 'em out and sign up here.  A little bit of info:  because of my tightening schedule, I've reduced the number of slots available for each seminar to only 8.  Since we've sold out every one we've had, I'd register today if you are interested.  

Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for a new seminar, specifically related to marketing that show of yours.

 

(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 

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

- Enter The Sunday Giveaway!  Win 2 Tickets to Sister Act on Broadway. Click here!

5 Shows that stand out at the NYMF

I walked home from my office on Sunday night . . . and I felt a little chill in the air. 

That could mean one of two things:

A)  I'm a little wimpy.

Or

B)  It's time for NYMF!!!

Despite what my older step-brothers would say, the answer is definitely B.  Yep, the beginning of the Fall season mean it's time for Producers to go shopping for new musicals at the New York Music Theatre Festival, the same festival where Altar Boyz got its lift-off.

Like I do every year, I just sifted through the NYMF listings and picked five shows that stood out to me based on their blurb.  It was a tough task this year, because there were a lot of nifty musicals looking to get picked up for a bigger stage.  But here are my top five (remember - these are not judgements on the shows themselves, but only what shows popped out to me as being interesting based on their blurbs):

1.  Central Avenue Breakdown

Central Ave is about 2 Jazz musicians, in LA, in the '40s, trying to make it.  I mean come on, you had me at Jazz.  But any story about musicians trying to make it just seems perfect for a musical treatment.  It's just easier for the authors to get the audience to buy into having sung music tell the story, when sung music is part of that story.  Just ask the authors of Jersey Boys, Phantom of the Opera, and even Rent. 

2.  Date of a Lifetime

Full disclaimer:  Date was a part of last year's Davenport Theatrical Reading Series . . . but I'm not picking it here just because it's good to see something we helped birth grow up . . . I'm picking it for the same reason we picked it back then.  It takes a simple setting--a speed date--and makes it exceptionally theatrical, with each character musicalizing their lives with the other in their minds.  It seems fun, funny, and easy to produce for all those theater in the world looking for relationships shows to follow up I Love You, You're Perfect, etc. 

3.  Ghostlight

Take a true-to-life Broadway story, add characters like Ziegfeld, Fanny Brice and a ghost, and then toss in a cast that features Rachel York, Michael Hayden and Daisy Eagan and I'm clicking that 'Buy Tickets' button.  (I wonder if Daisy would remember that I asked her for her autograph outside the St. James theater when I was 18 . . . and she was like 8).  Anyway, embarrasing story aside, this show is taking itself seriously, and I'll bet they've got a serious advance sale because of it.

4.  Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

I haven't even read the book and this just feels like a musical.  And when an potential audience can imagine the musical in their mind, they are that much more inclined to buy a ticket.  The only tricky part of working with beloved material like Austen's is . . . your audience has high expectations, so you best deliver, or your word-of-mouth will suffer.

5.  Kissless

Kissless is high school comedy about an "awkward misfit (who) is forced to live with an uber-jock."  There is comedy in contrast, and it's got a little Glee going on, so already it has my attention . . . but that's not what got Kissless on my list.  Kissless spoke to me by using its blurb to not only to tell the story of the show, but to tell the story of the people behind the musical.  The blurb continues, "This production features a cast of Texas teenagers, descending upon the Big Apple with stars in their eyes, just enough money for a fake ID and an "I Heart NY" tattoo, and every intention of rocking your world."  I mean, you want to stand up for them already, don't you?

Good luck to all the NYMFers . . . may your shows prove 1000x more successful than Altar Boyz.

For a full list of NYMF shows, visit www.nymf.org.

 

(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 

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

- The next Get Your Show Off The Ground seminar is on 9/17.  Only 2 spots left.  Register today!

If you think theater is too expensive, this post is for you.

Cue the creepy little blonde girl and the Poltergeist music, because 20at20 is baaaaaaack.

And now cue the deep, raspy movie voiceover voice, because "this time, it's bigger than ever."

That's right all you folks who think theater is too pricey . . . for the next TWO weeks you can see 33 Off-Broadway shows for $20.

$20!!! 

And look at the variety . . . you can see everthing from family favorite The Berenstain Bears to that old perennial Stomp, to the fresh-faced Rap Guide to Evolution.   . . . and yes, you can see two of my shows:  The Awesome 80s Prom and Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating Mating and Marriage with Joyce DeWitt.

To get all the details on how to see one of these amazing Off-Broadway shows for only $20 (or how to see a baker's dozen of amazing Off-Broadway shows for only $20), visit the 20at20 website here:  www.20at20.com.

Then scrounge up a Hamilton and go see an Off-Broadway show.  

 

(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 

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

- The next Get Your Show Off The Ground seminar is on 9/17.  Only 4 spots left.  Register today!

 

Our next reading is next Monday. RSVP now.

We're rounding the seasonal bend, which means it's time for our 3rd reading of the year in our Reading Series.

As I announced back in June, next Monday, September 12th at 8 PM, we will be reading Mike Vogel's March Madness here at the Davenport Studio.

The reading is free, but you must RSVP.

Click here to do just that and to get all more info on the play.  

See you at the reading!

UPDATE:  Our cast will include Michael Tucker ("LA Law"), Robert Creighton (Anything Goes), Jill Eikenberry ("LA Law", The Kid) and Erik Liberman.

 

(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 

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

- The next Get Your Show Off The Ground seminar is on 9/17.  Only 4 spots left.  Register today!

10 Shows that stand out at this year's Fringe Festival.

Have you noticed your inbox filled with more Kickstarter requests lately?  Have you seen more postcards on radiators at rehearsal studios in town?  Has your Facebook been blowing up with event invitations that begin with the words, "I'm in a show!"

All of this could mean only one thing . . . It's time to raise the curtain on the NYC Fringe Festival!

Starting this Friday and continuing for just over 2 weeks, 194 shows will open and close as a part of this awesome theatrical binge.  It's impossible to see them all, so how do you decide which ones to see?

Here's how I do it.

Every year, in a very environmentally-unfriendly style, I print out (!) the entire program and leaf through it like an Ikea catalog . . . circling the shows that stand out based on a number of factors.  To give you an idea of what is attractive to a Producer like me, I list the 10 Shows here, in no particular order.  Remember, this list isn't any kind of guarantee that anything is going to be great or not . . . it's just a list of what stood out when I went catalog shopping (translation - this is a marketing exercise).

Ready?  Here goes!

 1.  Yeast Nation

Quick.  Name me the most successful show to come out of The Fringe.  If you said anything but Urinetown, you lose.  Well, the authors of U-town (Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis) are back with Yeast Nation, a show that got some buzz when it was in Chi-town in '09.  They've risen to the top of the Fringe before, let's see if Yeast can rise as well.  

2.  Jersey Shoresical:  A Frickin' Rock Opera

Is it a musical?  Or a tanning-lotion flavored popsicle?  Either way, the title made me laugh.  Odds are that this one isn't going to be playing The Palace next season, but the creators of this show knew that using something that's a pop culture phenom as their source material is a certain way to get attention.

3.  Virtual Solitare

In the Fringe catalog, each show gets about 40 words describe their show.  Virtual Solitaire used only 6. The rest of the description listed its three BEST PLAY awards, and 4 quotes including "Dazzling," "Jaw-droppingly good," and more.  It's obviously been a popular show.  And we all know, the popular girl gets asked to the Fringe first.

4.  Cow Play

What grabbed my attention about Cow Play?  They placed an ad.  Now, lots of shows placed ads in the program to help enhance that 40 word listing.  But Cow Play was the one of the very few that took a full page ad.  And because it was the only one, the ad was like a road block, making me stop in my show-pickin' tracks and soak up its message.    

5.  The Legend of Julie Taymor

Like Jersey Shoresical, the Author of Legend ripped its plot from right from the headlines.  Obviously this is a subject that theater folk like me are super interested in, so I couldn't help but want to dig deeper to learn what this show was all about.  Knowing your audience and serving up something you know will pique their interest is a guaranteed way to some ticket sales.

6.  Facebook Me

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be a teenager growing up on Facebook?  Facebook Me is exactly that . . . it's a play that about growing up online . . . except it wasn't written by a 30-year-old, or even a 25-year-old looking back.  This play was written and stars teenage girls describing exactly what your online "status" really means.  I've always been a fan of documentary theater, so this one jumped up at me like a Facebook message from my mom.  

7.  Hard Travelin' with Woody

There have been a few attempts at a Woody Guthrie musical.  But no one has gotten it quite right . . . yet.  But somebody should, because the material is too good not to be a great musical.  There's potential here, and maybe Hard Travelin' is the show to seize it.  

8.  Happy Worst Day Ever

Theater for young audiences is on the rise.  It's a much better babysitter than a television set, and it helps develop the audiences of tomorrow.  But that's not what got me about Worst Day.  This show about 6th graders is presented by the Tony Award winning Cincinatti Playhouse in the Park.  Put a brand like that behind a Fringe show, and I don't care if it's for young audiences or for fruit flies, I am interested in seeing what's up.  

9.  Destinations

Honestly, I skipped over this one at first because I thought the title was a little bland, but when I went back and read the descript., I was intrigued.  It's a about a band, on their 1985 reunion tour and all the drama that comes with it.  It's a musical with a musical story.  It's much easier for me to believe that this could work . . . and besides, doesn't everyone want to know what life is like as a rock star?

10.  No-fault:  A tale about the Big D in the Big Apple

We've had I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and even Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage.  It's about time someone tackled the other side of the coin: divorce (that's the big "D" in the title).  There are a lot of folks out there that have been through the D word, and I'm sure they'd love to laugh about it.  Someone is going to create a killer show about this used to be taboo topic.  Like Menopause, I expect Divorce to come into its theatrical own soon enough.   

Honorable Mentions:

Winner Take All (A Rock Opera), Theater of the Arcade, As The Boat Approaches and Elysian Fields.

What shows stand out to you at the Fringe this year?  What are you going to see?  

 

 

(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 

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

- Enter to win 2 tickets to The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown!  Click here.