Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Is there a Producer Doctor in the house?

We've all heard the expression, "Show Doctor", right?  You know, that Director or Writer who joins a troubled production out-of-town, or in previews, with the goal of providing the creative changes necessary to save a sinking show.   

You ever wonder why some shows don't have Producer doctors?  Imagine . . . six months after a show opens, a show is struggling.  Why not bring in a hired producing gun; an outsider with objectivity to shake up the team . . . fire some people, change marketing strategy, etc.  There's no guarantee that a new CEO will take a company in a new direction, but it's worth a shot, no?

Honestly, this probably won't ever happen on independently produced shows.  But I can name quite a few shows produced by some big corps that could have used the medicine of some of our industry's veteran producers. 

But ego gets in the way . . . and honestly, a Broadway show can be as hard to turn as the Titanic.  They are so big and bulky, that when you are heading for an iceberg, it's hard to avoid it.  

Which is why we need to look into a different way to build them.

 

(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 

- 31 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!

 

Flops have families too.

In the Op-Ed section of the January 1st edition of the NY Times, far from the Arts pages, was a great piece from the daughter of the Producer of one of the most infamous flops in Broadway history, Via Galactica (who went on to help put together Memphis).  Not only does she tell one of my favorite stories about titles (look for the paragraph about the renaming of Via and why it had to be changed back), but she also tells tales of living room readings for investors, star casting, special effects unlike anyone had ever seen that caused huge technical snafus, and more.

And yes, if you haven't quite figured it out, the author makes some Spidey-like comparisons, but ends with a conclusion that you probably weren't expecting . . . she's pulling for the Super Hero.

After all, she knows first hand how devastating a flop can be.  

Read the insightful article here.  

Flops are a part of the game of Producing.  They're like a strike out in baseball.  And every batter strikes out every once in awhile.  It's what happens when you're swinging for the fences.

In fact . . . if you haven't had a flop?  You aren't producing enough. 

So . . . and how many times have you heard someone say this . . . get out there and flop!  

(Special thanks to Michael for the tip on this article!)

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Broadway Vocab 101. Why is a flop called a turkey anyway?

Happy Thanksgiving, readers!

It's ironic, don't you think?  We spend this one day pounding back slices of turkey, and we spend the rest of the year trying to avoid producing one.

And why do we call a flop a turkey anyway?  Why not an owl?  Or a swallow?

Well, these are the types of questions that keep me up at night, so I decided to do some Gearching (I've decided that the word search is now so inextricably connected to Google that we should just combine the two words), and share the results with you, on this fowl-filled day.

So why is a Broadway show that flops called a turkey? 

It all comes down to IQ.

Apparently, a turkey is a pretty damn dumb bird.

Don't believe me?  Well, I found one web post from a dude who used to work at a turkey farm and breeding facility that gave two examples of IQ-challenged turkey behavior:

1 - The pens of the farm had to be equipped with specially designed water bowls which would keep a minimal amount of water in the bowl and shut off while the turkeys were drinking. Why?  Because on occasion, a turkey would "forget" to lift its head while drinking . . . and drown.  And this guy saw it happen.

2 - Large scale turkey farms regularly use artificial insemination to get the turkeys to reproduce.  Why?  Because if they didn't, the turkeys just might not around to it on their own.  

So the birds are stupid.  

And in 1927 (coincidentally, the year that Show Boat opened), someone decided that flops were stupid too. (Probably because everything looked stupid compared to Show Boat.)

And thus, a dud became a turkey.

Now that I know the answer . . . I still like owl better.  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Favorite Quotes: Volume XII

When discussing his unfortunate flop, 1971's Lolita, My Love (closed OOT in Boston), John Barry, one of the most celebrated film composers of all time (he wrote the theme to Somewhere In Time) had this honest and objective comment about this own work.

I think for a musical it got too dark.  I loved it for every reason that they [the audience] didn't like it. But what are you going to do? They're the ones that pay.

Mr. Goldfinger has it right.

The "my show is my child" metaphor has been used more often than a booster seat at The Little Mermaid.  Yet, it's important for parents and producers to know that some times, people aren't going to like your kids. 

It doesn't mean you love them less, but it is important for you to be realistic. 

Because if the majority of people out there aren't supportive of your offspring, it's going to put a limit on what they can accomplish.

Cuz I'm sure that even this guy's parents loved him.

I love turkey!

Q:  What's better than celebrating Thanksgiving with a big, juicy, turkey? 

A:  Celebrating with three of them!

Here are my favorites:

The Capeman: Proof that just because one of the world's best songwriters and aNobel Prize winner  for literature get together, doesn't mean they'll make a great musical.  (It did have some great tunes, and despite the fact that the CD was recorded (and features Marc Anthony), Paul Simon has refused to release it.  (I have an advance copy, but don't tell anyone.))

The Goodbye Girl:  Proof that just because you have one of America's most prolific comedic playwrights, the composer of one of the greatest musicals of all time, a Tony Award winning lyricist, a movie star and a theater star, doesn't mean you'll have a show that achieves even close to the same success as the movie on which it is based.

Lestat:  Proof that just because you have a movie company with almost an unlimited budget as a producer, one of the world's greatest popular music artists as a composer, and source material enjoyed by millions and millions of people, doesn't mean that your musical won't suck (pun intended).  Oh yeah, and by the way, vampire musicals just don't work on stage.  Duh.

So what's to learn from having eaten all this turkey, laced with so much tryptophan, it put so many of us to sleep?

Two things:

1 - Musicals are a collaborative art form.  Creating a musical is not writing a novel, where you sit in a room by yourself at your keyboard and crank it out page by page.  Creating a musical is not painting a picture, where you sit in front of a canvas and use your own set of brushes and colors to complete your vision.  Creating a great musical can't be done with just one person.  It needs a composer, a lyricist, a book writer, a producer, actors, designers, an orchestrator, musicians, and so on and so on.  And every single one of those people needs to be delivering 110%.  That's one of the reasons the failure rate for musicals is so high.  Put something that requires perfection for not one party but several into an incredibly restrictive financial model, and all of a sudden that 80% failure rate makes sense.

2 - Applying converse logic to the above list says that if extremely well recognized, experienced and lauded artists can produce flops, then unrecognized and inexperienced artists can produce great shows.  So don't think that just because you haven't won an award or sold a million records that you can't create a great show.   

Because if they can suck, then you can succeed.