Perhaps since, well not the dawn but a few days after the dawn of theatre, its practitioners have bemoaned the loss of power and stature in which their particular area of the business came to be regarded. Once the kings of the musical theatre, musical directors were considered Moses to the composer as God -- now reduced in stature and billing. I'd be willing to bet Elizabethan actors mourned their fall from star status after the upstart Shakespeare came along and stole the glory. And now someone comes along to lament the loss of the "star producer." But this woe-teller has plans to remedy the loss.
Producers are the courageous artists and entrepreneurs of the entertainment industry. They are the men and women who have the first vision of a production and collaborate and incorporate the visions and talents of other artists to make their vision a reality.
This strong statement is the first text we find at the Broadway University web site. Talk about "vision," Entertainment Attorney/Producer/Site Editor Bruce J. Lazarus has created the Broadway University to resurrect the idea of the producer "as the boss and creative motive force that makes theatre happen." He oversees the maintenance of the site, designed as an adjunct to the "actual" Broadway University -- a school which, in fact, is labelled by its creator a "virtual University." In addition, Mr. Lazarus maintains a mailing list, the Broadway University News, to support and promote the University. According the descriptions from the site, Broadway University is compromised of three distinct media, two of which are offered free of charge. In one seminars are given by phone through TeleCourses (the participants incur any long distance or other phone charges -- note, however, that although the website promises that the TeleCourses are free of charge, the newsletter is currently advertising a $99 registration fee). Second is the website, which (according to the site) "functions as a virtual campus and library." Finally, the only area for which there is a charge, are live classes in using the "Producing Operating System (TM)," a Lazarus invention described as "a way of living and doing business that makes a producer more attractive to others, themselves and opportunities." Since the University per se (live classes and TeleCourses) falls outside of the scope of our web- and internet-based topic, we'll be focussing on these adjunct areas.
This nearly-weekly newsletter is (currently) divided into four basic parts. The first, "What's the Buzz?" is a quick news tidbit of some industry related material (Wit's petition for Tony eligibility, or notes about a meeting of the "Producers Network," for instance).
A recent addition to the newsletter is the "He Said She Said" review, a cute few lines of banter-ish review of a production, with dialog ascribed to Mr. Lazarus (He) and Laura Damson, Managing Director of Northern Lights Alternatives (She). True to the nature of his passion, the space devoted to production credits emphasize the producer and his team (Attorney, General Manager, Company Manager, Press Rep., etc.) over the creative members. What these brief reviews lack in detail and high falutin criticism the make up for in the range of shows they explore -- from Footloose to Hedwig and the Angry Inch to Stop Kiss.
Next up is the requisite pitch for the current TeleCourse or live class.
At the end of the newsletter is the material that makes a subscription absolutely invaluable. Each newsletter contains a transcription of a session from a previous TeleCourse. And the high caliber of the speakers guarantees that each transcript is chock full of priceless brainfood. Recent issues have featured Theatrical Attorney Jean Ward on negotiating Author Agreements, Nancy Coyne of the Serino Coyne advertising agency on "Truth in Advertising," Christopher Gould of Broadway Play Publishing on play licensing, Glen Poppelton of Dodger Productions on how a show becomes a tour, General Managers Roger Gindi and Albert Poland, writers' agent Patrick Herrold of the Helen Merrill Agency, and (of particular interest of those who've been following our discussion the last few weeks about copyright) former Executive Director of the Dramatists Guild and author of The Stage Writerís Handbook Dana Singer on "Securing Underlying Rights." And although there may be some editing involved we're not talking excerpts here, but nearly 1200 words worth of solid material.
If there's anything to quibble with about the newsletter it's the consistent use of high ascii characters (for things like curly quotes and trademark symbols) that don't transport well to different systems and can make the material difficult to read.
To subscribe, go to the Broadway Unversity site and select "E-mail Newsletter" from the list of links in the frame on the left side of the page. You'll be presented with a simple form to fill out.
Much of the website is devoted to archiving and repackaging much of the material that appears in the newsletter. Luckily, this archiving preserves the transcribed TeleCourse material for newsletters you may have missed or didn't feel the need to save to disk (click the "Free Stuff" link in the left hand frame and then "'THE PRODUCERS' CORNER' by Bruce Lazarus" link on the list that appears in the right frame). In addition to the "He Said She Said" reviews (see the "Spotlight" link in the left hand frame), and the "What's the Buzz?" material (see the "News" link in the left frame), you'll find an abundance of other valuable information. "Free Stuff" includes links duplicated in other areas as well as some sample contracts, budgets, some biographical material. There's a short list of definitions of important terminology ("Glossary"), two separate bulletin boards ("Bulletin Board" and "Q&A"), information about Mr. Lazarus' real job ("Legal Services" and "Coaching"), and an Amazon.com-based short list of related books for sale (which we'll mention despite its "Acting and Auditioning" links egregious omission of the important Next! Auditioning for the Musical Theatre, by Steven M. Alper).
Most exciting of all is the availability of many of the past TeleCourse sessions in Real Audio format. If you've got time, skip the transcriptions and listen to the real speakers.
On last week's (February 20) Theatre Talk, critic Mark Steyn spoke of how Arthur Miller's later plays have never been as successful as his early work, those done with the participation of "super" producer Kermit Bloomgarden. And it's Bruce J. Lazarus' contention that all theatre suffers from the lack of such super-producers.
Whether this is the ulterior motive behind Mr. Lazarus' generosity is not clear, but his benevolence is our gain. If the archived and transcribed material is any indication, the other "live" aspects of the University -- through the TeleCourses and class -- must be worth whatever he's charging. As it stands what Mr. Lazarus is presenting for free is priceless.
C U @ the Theatre!
Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 2/23/99
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