All stories by Ken Davenport on BroadwayStars

Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Sunday Giveaway: Two NYMF Silver Passes! by Ken Davenport

Remember that time NYMF used to be in the fall? Not anymore! In 2012, the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the world’s most popular festival exclusively for the development of new mu…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Saturday, June 21, 2014

Who won the tickets to Black Stars of the Great White Way at Carnegie Hall? by Ken Davenport

You should all be concert promoters. For this week’s giveaway, I challenged you all to come up with a trio of performers (living or dead) for a one-night-only concert, and I can honest…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Friday, June 20, 2014

Why my site needed a makeover. And why yours may too. by Ken Davenport

So, whadda ya think? Do you like the new look of the blog?  (If you’re reading this blog via email, click here to check out my fresh new summer look!) Believe it or don’t believ…

SOURCE: theproducersperspective.com at 11:00AM
Thursday, June 19, 2014

Why I’ll never sell umbrellas for a living. by Ken Davenport

Every time it pours down rain in our fair New York City, a bunch of pop-up umbrella shops emerge on every street corner. I used to give those hungry weather watchers a lot of credit.  They …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Three Things Broadway can learn from The World Cup. by Ken Davenport

Gooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal! Is it just me or has everyone gone World Cup Crazy? It’s been four years since the last Cup, and I don’t remember the volume of the soccer conversation in thi…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, June 17, 2014

What Broadway customer service and a teapot have in common. by Ken Davenport

Back in the frigid cold of January (remember that single degree nonsense?), we announced the opening of The Davenport Theatre, named after my dear old grandpa, Delbert Essex Davenport (we ju…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, June 16, 2014

What did you think about this year’s Tony Awards? Survey says . . . by Ken Davenport

As we’ve done for the last several years, the morning after The Tony Awards, we put together a survey to find out what you, the passionate Broadway lover, thought about the Tony Awards…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Sunday, June 15, 2014

Tony Voter Turnout, and Actual Voters, Could Make a Difference - NYTimes.com by Ken Davenport

“The Tonys are rigged.” I’ve heard that phrase uttered many times by a bunch of my producing peers. Of course, I’ve usually heard it on Tony night, a couple hours after the last …

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:19AM
Friday, June 13, 2014

The Post Tony Fallout: 2 Less Awards and a Few More Trophies by Ken Davenport

Post Tony Fallout used to mean which shows would close after the Producers did their analyses of their Monday sales, with many praying for bumps from the telecast before, or a ton of awards …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, June 12, 2014

Why I’m going to start producing movies. by Ken Davenport

In case you missed it, a show closed recently without ever having opened. Back before all the Tony Award hoopla, the Broadway bound production of Titanic hit an iceberg.  (Ironically, the…

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

Tony Pool Winner Announced! And how did me, you, and our Psychic do? by Ken Davenport

Okey dokey smokey, the accounting firm of the Davenport Theatrical Interns has finished their audit of our Tony Pool entries and they have selected a winner. But first, How did I do? Eh. I m…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, June 10, 2014

It’s our 3rd Annual 10 Minute Play Contest! You can win $500! by Ken Davenport

Were you inspired by the Tonys?  Did it make you want to get out and audition for something?  Produce something? Or . . . drumroll please . . . write something? Have we got that something …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, June 9, 2014

My Top 5 Favorite Moments of the 2014 Tony Awards by Ken Davenport

Well, that’s it.  Put a fork in the 2013-14 season, because she is done.  Now that the 2014 Tony Awards have been dished out, it’s time for everyone in the industry to dish out…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, June 6, 2014

My predictions, your predictions (and a psychic’s) for the 2014 Tony Awards! by Ken Davenport

The Friday before the Tony Awards. It’s the last chance for water cooler talk about who will win, until Monday morning when the cooler chitter chatter will be all about who won . . . a…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, June 5, 2014

A Producer’s greatest mistake. by Ken Davenport

“Can you repeat that?” I asked, even though I had heard the question perfectly clear. “What’s the biggest mistake a Producer or an Entrepreneur can make?” I think the reason I didn…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Why I’m producing It’s Only A Play on Broadway. by Ken Davenport

A bunch of years ago I looked into commissioning a playwright to write a backstage comedy about the business of Broadway. More specifically,  I wanted this play set at a Broadway ad meetin…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, June 3, 2014

How often do the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Winners predict the Tony Award winners? by Ken Davenport

It’s inevitable. When you have a set of awards that precede a bigger set of awards, people start asking . . . “Does the winner of the first mean that they are a shoe-in for the s…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, June 2, 2014

How much does Broadway impact the New York City economy? by Ken Davenport

Boom. That sound you heard was the massive amount of monetary impact Broadway has on the New York City economy. The latest financial ramification report was released last week by the Broadwa…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Sunday, June 1, 2014

The Most Popular Posts of the Month: May 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: And the nominees for the 1st annual Ghostlight Awa…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 10:45AM
Friday, May 30, 2014

We lost a labor-er of love. by Ken Davenport

If you asked a bunch of Broadway Producers why they got into the theater business, you’d hear a long litany of responses . . . and you know what wouldn’t be anywhere on that list…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, May 29, 2014

Want to know the secrets of Off Broadway casting? by Ken Davenport

I don’t have them. But, I know some people that do. And those secret-holders are gonna be featured on a panel this coming Sunday, June 1st, sponsored by our good ol’ friends at t…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, May 28, 2014

End of Q4 and FINAL results for Broadway’s 2013-14 season. by Ken Davenport

To quote Queen, “Another one bites the dust!  And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust!” The one I’m referring to, of course, is the Broadway…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Winners of the First Annual Ghostlight Awards Are . . . by Ken Davenport

Sweet Jumpin’ You-Know-Who! We got almost four thousand votes for the first annual Ghostlight Awards! I just love it.  It just shows how much support and love there is for those that…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, May 26, 2014

Why today’s blog isn’t that interesting. by Ken Davenport

I try to come up with ideas for blogs . . . well, I try to come up with them all the time.  And I have what I think are some good ones lined up for the next week or so (including one about …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Friday, May 23, 2014

Only Cameron can recoup a show the day after it opens. by Ken Davenport

The London revival of Miss Saigon opened this past Wednesday night. 24 hours later, Producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that it had already recouped. I mean, wowza. I’ve been a part…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Thursday, May 22, 2014

No matter what you think, you can’t get away with it. by Ken Davenport

I’m predicting a new Law & Order SVU-like spin-off.  Law & Order:  CCU (Cyber Crimes Unit). One of their first “ripped from the headlines” plots would be this wee…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Wednesday, May 21, 2014

My personal request to Tony Award Winners. by Ken Davenport

Yesterday’s blog, as well as my acceptance speech for last year’s Broadway.com Audience Award for Macbeth, was about paying respect to those above-the-title producers out there…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Will we have two types of Tony Awards? by Ken Davenport

First there was last year’s NY Times article about the rising cost of the Tony Award (and I’m not talking about how expensive it is to produce a show that wins a Tony Award or th…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM
Monday, May 19, 2014

And the nominees for the 1st annual Ghostlight Awards are . . . by Ken Davenport

Ok, so . . . I had a feeling the Ghostlight Awards would be popular (a job of a producer is to do things that they think are going to be popular, of course), but I had no flippin’ idea…

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