All stories by Ken Davenport on BroadwayStars

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Top 10 Things I learned in 10 years. by Ken Davenport

Before I dive in to today’s post, let me clear the tropical air.  Yes, I am on my honeymoon . . . in Hawaii . . . And yes, I am bloggin’ from the beach.  Why?  Well, first you…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Free Advice on Raising Money from the Best Money Raiser on the Planet. by Ken Davenport

You know where the biggest stage in the world is? I’ll give you a hint. It’s not on Broadway. It’s not in the West End. It’s in Washington, DC. The American political…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Things I thought I’d never say: Theater tickets are cheap. by Ken Davenport

Back in my early high school years, before the Gods of the Theater had really taken hold of my soul, I was a sports nut. And I used to look forward to this one time of year when all the majo…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, September 1, 2014

There’s no labor in Broadway. But there’s no Broadway without it. by Ken Davenport

To most people in the US, Labor Day means one thing.  A day off. It’s a day of BBQs that signal the end of summer, back to school, and no more summer Fridays. When I first entered the…

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

The Most Popular Posts of the Month: August by Ken Davenport

Time for that monthly summary of what got your attention last month here at The Producer’s Perspective: The most read post of the month: 10 Shows that Stand Out at the Fringe – 2014…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 10:45AM
Friday, August 29, 2014

Why in the wind is the weather so scary. by Ken Davenport

If you’re like me, and you get your daily weather report from The Weather Channel’s Weather.com, then you might think the sky is falling.  Literally. Take a look at the headline…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, August 28, 2014

Could Broadway pull a Burger King? by Ken Davenport

I knew there was a reason I was a McDonald’s fan. Burger King made a Whopper-sized announcement this week that they are buying Tim Hortons, another processed food parts chain, and mov…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Why running out of salt can teach you about budgeting. by Ken Davenport

I’m a salt-a-holic. I’m not as bad as my little bro, who salts his bacon hamburgers, but I’m still pretty bad.  I’ll add extra salt to things like, oh McDonald’…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, August 26, 2014

End of Q1 Results for Broadway’s 2014-15 Season by Ken Davenport

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about Hugh Jackman’s hoppin’ through the opening number of the Tony Awards, and now . . . the 1st quarter of the 2014-15 season is ov…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, August 25, 2014

Is a new Broadway theater a good idea? by Ken Davenport

Based on the number of likes I got when I Facebooked the news about the soon-to-be-built Broadway theater (2018 anyone?), you all like love the idea. But is it really a good idea? Before a …

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

Broadway Grosses* w/e 8/24/2014 by Ken Davenport

The following are the Broadway grosses for the week ending August 24th, 2014. The Broadway grosses are courtesy of The Broadway League Read more here:

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 10:45AM
Friday, August 22, 2014

A Producer stands up to God. by Ken Davenport

Theater Owners have always had awesome power.  But in the past couple of decades that power has only grown, as the overall business has grown (since theater owners get a % of the gross, re…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, August 21, 2014

How about YOU pick the logo for my next Broadway show! by Ken Davenport

I’ve attended a lot of ad meetings in my couple of decades workin’ on The Great White Way, and they can be quite a party, let me tell you. One show I worked on had about seventee…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Wednesday, August 20, 2014

You’re a writer, whether you know it or not. by Ken Davenport

A reader asked me recently what I spend most of my day as a Producer doing. “Is it analyzing ticket trends?  Making budgets?  Schmoozing agents to get their stars to do your shows?&#…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Tuesday, August 19, 2014

If it’s good enough for Sharknado II . . . by Ken Davenport

My favorite NY slice place had a shark-infused spotlight thrown on it recently when it made an appearance in the highly anticipated sequel, Sharknado II. How do I know? Well it’s not …

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Monday, August 18, 2014

Look at how much ink Broadway Producers and Investors got. by Ken Davenport

I get my NY Times Sunday Arts and Leisure section delivered to me on Thursday.  Yep, in case you didn’t know, the sections of the Sunday Times that aren’t “headline depe…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Sunday, August 17, 2014

The Sunday Giveaway: Three free hours at the Davenport Rehearsal Studios! by Ken Davenport

Since our giveaway of a week of free theater rent was such a big hit, I thought I’d try to help out all you emerging artists and producers out there with a different kind of freebie sp…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Saturday, August 16, 2014

Who won the tickets to Rock of Ages? by Ken Davenport

Well, if someone out there is going to produce a 90s musical, then we got your song list, courtesy of your entries into this week’s giveaway, right here. Although, honestly, and maybe …

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Friday, August 15, 2014

The Definition of Accredited Investor by Ken Davenport

The following is the definition of an accredited investor directly from the SEC.gov website.  The bolded bullet points below are the definitions that apply most often to Broadway Investors…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:41AM

Another step forward for online Broadway Investing. by Ken Davenport

Yesterday was a big day for the Broadway Investing underworld. I say “underworld,” because it wasn’t too long ago that in order to invest in a Broadway show, you had to kno…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Thursday, August 14, 2014

Get ready to incubate. Broadway style. by Ken Davenport

I’m moving. After eight years and five different spaces in my current office building on 49th Street, I’m getting out. Ok, well, the truth is, they’re kicking us out.  My�…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Wednesday, August 13, 2014

How to get on my #@$% List. by Ken Davenport

If you’ve ever produced a show, you know that when it’s over, you’re left with a lot of #@$%. I remember heading to the strike of one show I worked on and seeing a moose h…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Tuesday, August 12, 2014

America’s greatest Jester leaves us with the ultimate life lesson. by Ken Davenport

Some people remember exactly where they were when JFK was killed, or when the planes hit the towers. I remember exactly where I was when Robin Williams first made me laugh. I was ten, and do…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Monday, August 11, 2014

Mork meets The Fonz on Happy Days. by Ken Davenport

RIP Robin.  Thanks for the laughs.

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:23PM

Why you might have a harder time marketing your musical today than yesterday. by Ken Davenport

I read an interesting blog and an even more interesting book recently about how to introduce a new product to the marketplace.  Now, granted, these publications were talking about the tr…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Sunday, August 10, 2014

The Sunday Giveaway: Two tickets to Rock of Ages on Broadway! by Ken Davenport

Oh it was about 7 or so years ago now when I got a call from an agent in LA asking me if I’d meet with someone who was working on this “80s Rock Show Thingee” that had sold…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Saturday, August 9, 2014

Who won the tickets to Fuerza Bruta Off Broadway? by Ken Davenport

Funky Cologne! Fire Power!  Or my favorite . . . Spicy Nachos! All of those were examples of your fictional translations of the words Fuerza Bruta! (It’s funny, because when I went t…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Friday, August 8, 2014

Because a bunch of you missed the Producing 101 teleseminar. by Ken Davenport

One of my bloggin’ missions this year was to give you what you want. So back in the frigid month of January (remember that nonsense?) I wrote a blog asking you specifically “what…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Thursday, August 7, 2014

The revival of play revivals. by Ken Davenport

Everyone knows we’ve got a theater availability problem on Broadway.  But what’s causing it? Like most business trends or any trend for that matter, our theater crunch isn’…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Wednesday, August 6, 2014

How to get on a Broadway Producer’s investor list. by Ken Davenport

One of the reasons I crowdfunded Godspell years ago was because I had this theory.  I believed that there were throngs of people in the world who were interested in investing in Broadway s…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Tuesday, August 5, 2014

My two least favorite words in the English language. by Ken Davenport

Did you guess ‘em? I’ll give you a hint.  My two least favorite words are not, “Didn’t Recoup.” (Which is technically three words anyway.) And surprisingly, t…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM