All stories by Ken Davenport on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

If only they had this when I crowdfunded Godspell. by Ken Davenport

Hold on to your offering documents, people, because raising money for businesses, including Broadway shows, just got easier. Several years (!) after Congress passed the JOBS Act, the SEC fi…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, March 30, 2015

Podcast Episode #13 – Broadway Producer and The Advocate for Artists, Tom Kirdahy. by Ken Davenport

What I love about Broadway is that there is no one path to becoming a Producer.  Everyone who gets their name above the title comes at it from their own unique angle.  We’ve got Pres…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Saturday, March 28, 2015

Who won the tickets to The Visit on Broadway? by Ken Davenport

There have been quite a few faux-historical mashups in our recent theatrical past, like the popular Off Broadway fair Freud’s Last Session, which put C.S. Lewis and Freud in the same…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, March 27, 2015

The nuts and bolts (and a few screws too) of a Broadway Budget. by Ken Davenport

Since I started blogging six years ago, I’ve received countless emails from folks around the world asking for information about Broadway budgets. “Can I see one?” “Ho…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, March 25, 2015

What we learned in kindergarten is now the new economy. by Ken Davenport

The first lesson I learned from Mrs. Beasley, my Kindergarten teacher, was to share. It wasn’t easy, but I did it.  And when I shared, people shared with me.  And we both were happy.…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Three tips I learned about raising money from Shark Tank. by Ken Davenport

Are you watching Shark Tank? I love it. You’ve got those big billionaires hearing pitches from up and coming entrepreneurs. Big money and bigger dreams are on the line. It’s grea…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, March 23, 2015

Podcast Episode #12 – Broadway General Manager Wendy Orshan on modern day management. by Ken Davenport

You know what I love about our industry?  Of the eight or so Broadway General Managers that GM 99% of all Broadway shows, at least half of them are women.  That’s right, the top of …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, March 20, 2015

Why this Broadway bound musical worries me. by Ken Davenport

I try to remain super positive about our lovely little industry, even when things make me go “Ummmm?” I had one of those, “Ok, Ken, stay positive.  Stay positive.  No cra…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, March 18, 2015

5 more Takeaways from my latest Get Your Show Off The Ground seminar. by Ken Davenport

Four times a year, I get a group of super passionate peeps in a room, listen to what they are struggling with, and then I kickstart their shows.  It’s the first seminar I ever taught,…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Just who goes to Broadway National Tours anyway? The Broadway Touring Demographics of 2013-14. by Ken Davenport

Studying demographics is like studying the ingredients in your food.  You want know what’s in there, so you can make sure it’s gonna keep you healthy for a long time to come. T…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, March 16, 2015

Podcast Episode #11 – From the stage to the screen. A chat with Academy Award Nominee Richard LaGravenese. by Ken Davenport

There have been a ton of Broadway musical to movie adaptations over the years . . . from Chicago to Hairspray to Rent to Into the Woods. But there have been hardly any Off Broadway mu…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, March 13, 2015

Just why are there two Telecharge sites anyways? by Ken Davenport

Did you even know there are two Telecharge websites out there? There are. One is Telecharge.com, the one you know and love.  The other, formerly known as BroadwayOffers.com, has now been re…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, March 12, 2015

Look who’s upset over actors getting paid more. by Ken Davenport

There’s an interesting controversy brewing on the left coast, and it’s not about whether there should be a Sharknado III. No, this one is actually about theater.  Yep, they not …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Sometimes you need to puke to make yourself feel better. by Ken Davenport

I haven’t thrown up since 1984. Seriously, I’m talking 31 years without as much as a dry heave.  And that’s an extra special accomplishment when you consider the tons of b…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, March 9, 2015

Podcast Episode #10 – The past, present and future of Digital Marketing with Damian Bazadona. by Ken Davenport

It wasn’t too long ago that the most buzzed phrase around the biz was “The future of advertising is online.”  Broadway (and the rest of the world) got swept up in the dig…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, March 6, 2015

Yet another Broadway competitor . . . by Ken Davenport

Broadway used to own Times Square.  Back in the day, if you wanted live entertainment (other than a few seedy strip clubs or the crazy homeless guy on the corner of 47th that talked about h…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, March 5, 2015

Takeaways from my Live Tweetin’ of TEDxBroadway 2015 by Ken Davenport

It has been over a week since TEDxBroadway 2015, but the inspiring words of the color-outside-the-lines speakers are still whispering in my ears as I tackle my day-to-day tasks in this color…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, March 4, 2015

What the black/blue or gold/white dress debate means for your show. by Ken Davenport

They’re calling it “The Dress That Broke The Internet.” I’m talking of course about that blue and black dress . . . or is it gold and white . . . wait, hold on, it…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, March 3, 2015

End of Q3 Broadway Grosses and Attendance Results for the 2014-15 Season by Ken Davenport

The end of the 3rd quarter is my favorite.  First, it means that spring is around the corner.  And second, it signifies the beginning of our “kick” toward the end of the year. …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, March 2, 2015

Podcast Episode #9 – The view from a theater owner’s office: a candid chat with Jordan Roth. by Ken Davenport

You probably think you know what theater owners do. It’s in their moniker – they just own theaters, right?  So all they do is sit atop their perch and decide what shows to let o…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hamilton’s moving on up. What would you have done? by Ken Davenport

There has been a historical amount of buzz about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s The Hamilton Mixtape (the original title) since . . . well, since he first told people he was writing it!  Mae…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, February 24, 2015

5 Things The Tony Awards can learn from The Oscars. by Ken Davenport

They say a billion people watched the Academy Awards.  And I was one of them. By contrast, our little engine that could of an awards show, the Tony Awards, gets an audience of 7 million. Ju…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, February 23, 2015

Podcast Episode #8 – How to win a Tony Award for Best Musical (TWICE) with Broadway Producer Hal Luftig by Ken Davenport

Yes, my blog and subsequent podcast is called The Producer’s Perspective. And yes, as crazy as it sounds, I haven’t had a Broadway Producer on the podcast! Until now! And how fit…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, February 20, 2015

Speaking of Britain, how’s the Business? by Ken Davenport

I always report on the end of year figures for Broadway, and even give you the quarterly reports as well (stay tuned for next week’s 3rd Quarter results, which I expect to be fascinat…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, February 19, 2015

Are we experiencing another British invasion? by Ken Davenport

I don’t know about you, but it feels like everywhere I look this Broadway season, someone is talking with a British accent. We’ve got Curious Incident and Queen Elizabeth and tha…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Why theater owners should produce more . . . again. by Ken Davenport

Back in the day, the theater owners were some of the most prolific Producers on Broadway.  They produced in part by necessity . . . if their theaters were dark and they needed a booking, th…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Brian Williams should have been a playwright, not a reporter. by Ken Davenport

Oh, Brian. You’re so dramatic. You were shot down. You got dysentery. You saved puppies. (I mean, puppies, Brian? You brought sweet, innocent little puppies into your stories?) Ok, true or…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, February 16, 2015

Podcast Episode #7 – All about The Roundabout with Artistic Director, Todd Haimes. by Ken Davenport

Everyone on the commercial side of the industry thinks the non-profits have it so easy.  They can take donations, stars will work for scale, and so on.  I had a feeling there was another s…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Saturday, February 14, 2015

Who won the tickets to The Avengers Exhibit in Times Square? by Ken Davenport

Imagine a group of Broadway Avengers! The ability to belt to a high C!  To do a triple time step while performing on a raked stage and rapping a Lin-Manuel Miranda tune!  To produce musica…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, February 13, 2015

Fun on a Friday: A Gentleman’s Guide to Subtle Marketing. by Ken Davenport

Like all of my Fun on a (Freezing) Friday blogs, this one will incite a few chuckles, for sure. But what’s great about the video you’re about to see is that it’s a piece …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, February 12, 2015

Why I am producing The Visit on Broadway. by Ken Davenport

If you read the Arts & Leisure section of the NY Times in print then you may have caught a full page ad for the upcoming Broadway musical, The Visit. And if you looked closely at those n…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM