Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Advice from an Expert: Vol. XV. The BROTHER of the original Producer of Finian's Rainbow chimes in.

On Monday, I posted an article written by Lee Sabinson back in the 50s.  My press agent remembered that Lee's brother, Harvey, was just a tad bit involved in the commercial theater as well.  Yep, Harvey Sabinson worked at The League for twenty years, including a stint as its Executive Director, and worked on Broadway for over fifty!  (Just look at those credits!)  

A press agent by trade, Mr. Sabinson most famous client was . . . Mr. David Merrick.

That means that Mr. Sabinson worked on the Subways are for Sleeping ad campaign, which has been much-ballyhooed on this blog  (you may remember that we had some feedback on the blog from another of the creators of that campaign).

Well, my press agent sent Mr. Sabinson my blog, and like any great former flack, he responded right away (if only all of our current press agents would respond so quickly).  

His response was so fitting, that I thought I'd post it here.  So, here's another expert, giving it to us straight.

Thanks so much for sending me the souvenir book piece written by my brother almost sixty-three years. I remember it well. I was an ATPAM apprentice to Samuel J. Friedman on the original production. Last week, while in New York, I was Jack Viertel's guest at a performance of the show, which evoked a lot of memories.

But what amazed me was a list of about twenty producers presenting a revival of a show that only two guys did so long ago (and one of them was only an investor). I also bought two tickets for one of my sons for a total of $244. The original orchestra top was $6.90 of which 90 cents was tax.

You're not the only one who thinks that both of those things are "amazing," Mr. Sabinson.     

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The 2nd Annual Producers Perspective Social is tomorrow, and it's SOLD OUT!

Free drink!  Door prizes include tickets, merch, and a Kindle!

Click here for details.(please note, due to overwhelming demand the Social will now at be Hurley's Saloon)

Advice from an Expert: Vol. XIV. The original Producer of Finian's Rainbow speaks from beyond the rainbow.

My assistant, Melissa, who has been super busy processing all the Social RSVPs, stumbled upon a Finian's Rainbow souvenir program from the original production at a flea market last week.  She snatched it up for $10 and brought it in for show-and-tell.

She found a pot 'o gold on the last page, left to her by that lucky leprechaun, Lee Sabinson, the original producer.

Lee wrote an article on the last page which he titled, "So You Want To Be A Producer."

Lee passed away in 1991, but his legacy lives on, with the production of Finian's currently on Broadway, and with this witty and still relevant article on Producing, which we've transcribed for you below.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A PRODUCER

By Lee Sabinson

It looks so easy to be a Broadway producer that almost everyone who ever heard the word Theatre wants to be one.  I don’t blame them.  They don’t know that producing is a certain path to ulcers, baldness, gout – if you’re lucky, for that’s a rich man’s disease – and other innumerable disasters that will not be listed.

After all what does a producer have to do?  Very little!  Find a play, raise the money, cast the play, raise the money, check the production, raise the money, find a theatre and raise more money!

Now you’re on your way.  Finding a play is a simple thing.  One little note in a newspaper that you’ve opened producing offices and you’re swamped with such items as “Bertha” a sequel to “The Sewing Machine Girl,” “Icecast,” a melodrama with four people and one set that takes place in the Antarctic during winter – you can save on your electrical equipment this way.

I started as a producer because I couldn’t get a thirty-five dollar a week job reading scripts for an established producer.  I tried to find a play only to find that the well known authors were submitting plays to well known producers.  I had to turn to novels – “Counterattack” and “Trio” were the results of reading galley proofs.  “Home of the Brave” reached my partner Bill Katzell and myself only after a great many, more established producers turned it down.  So finding a play presents no problem.

Getting “Finian’s Rainbow” was no problem.  The authors were almost unknown.  E.Y. Harburg did the lyrics for such shows as “Bloomer Girl,” “Life Begins at 8:40,” “Walk A Little Faster” and for such movies as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Song of Russia,” “Cabin in the Sky.”  Fred Saidy, who collaborated with him on the book, co-authored “Bloomer Girl” and has screen credit for innumerable pictures.  But these boys are novices, there would be no competition.  The man who wrote the delightful music for the show, Burton Lane, wrote the score for “Hold on to Your Hats,” and one of the Olsen and Johnson musicals.  So he wouldn’t be difficult since he was unknown.

The day after I read the book I landed in California where the three – author, lyricist and composer were whiling their time away in the sunshine and earning a measly couple of thousand a week.  I offered them the opportunity of a Broadway production and they immediately left their spot on the beach, their beautiful homes and hopped a train for Broadway.  You see all the producer need do is mention that glamorous word Broadway and the world is his.

Came the problem of finding a director.  I knew Bretaigne Windust, who had staged “Trio” for me.  Windy presented no problem.  No one wanted the services of the director responsible for such hits as “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Life With Father” and “State of the Union.”  That is no one but Warner Brothers to whom he is under contract, and seventeen other producers.  But Windy wanted to come back to New York so that he and his wife and youngsters could move from hotel to hotel every five days.  There’s nothing like the excitement of finding a hotel to live in in New York.  These prospects so enchanted Mr. Windust that he decided to direct “Finian’s Rainbow.”

We next proceeded to raise the money.  Investing in musicals is a certain way to double your money.  So all you do is call up people with money who rush to your office immediately, their pockets bulging with United States currency and kill each other trying to put it on your desk.  The backers are now cast.

By now your job is jelling.  The show is in rehearsal.  All you have to do is find a theatre.  Do you know how hard it is to find an apartment?  Well there are nine hundred thousand apartments to every legitimate theatre available in New York.  But suppose you find a theatre are you through with the wonderful, easy job of being a producer?  You’re not!  You’re just starting out!  There are the critics out of town and in New York to get by.  If your reviews are good out of town you wonder if the New York critics are going to come waiting to see the arrival of a new Messiah.  If they’re bad you’re afraid the critics will come in bored or something.

But “Finian’s Rainbow” got rave reviews on its tryout and rave reviews when it opened.  So you think the job is done?  Now you sit and worry about how you can cast your road company as perfectly as that on Broadway.  And when you’re through worrying about that you have one or two other worries.  The show is a hit.  But you’ve got to do another show.  Where are you going to get the next play?  And so it starts in all over again.

If there are any prospective producers among the readers of this piece who let my words discourage them…they were not prospective producers at all.  For truth to tell, with all the headaches and heart aches, you feel you want to be a producer.  Well, I’ll tell you a secret, so do I.

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Only 3 days until The 2nd Annual Producers Perspective Social!

Free drink!  Door prizes include tickets, merch, and a Kindle!

RSVP Today!

Click here for details.(please note, due to overwhelming demand the Social will now at be Hurley's Saloon)

Advice from an Expert: Vol. XIII. What is The Broadway League?

I mentioned The Broadway League in a post recently, and a new reader dropped me a note asking just what the heck "The League" was. 

I was in the middle of composing my own response, when I realized that I had a few questions about the League and its history myself.  So I decided to call in an Expert for all the answers!  

So, here she is, Ms. Charlotte St. Martin, the Executive Director of The Broadway League (and #19 on BroadwaySpace.com's list of Broadway's Most Powerful People) with a guest blog on The League.

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In 1930 the brand new League of NY Theatres stated in a document called "The Primer of the League of NY Theatres"  that "a new stimulus is being given to the Theatre in general as a result of the formation of the League.  While that was 79 years ago, it would be safe to say that the League still does that.  And the purpose of the League at that time, "that the public may be assured of better theatrical conditions, greater convenience in purchasing theatre tickets and a vigorous policy by the Members of the League to place the American theatre in that high position which it deserves to hold in the community" would still hold true today and would be a great mission statement today, as well as then. 

Other stated purposes at that time are still quite relevant today. 

- To eliminate theatre ticket speculation and to protect the public from the exorbitant charges made by ticket brokers for desirable locations. 
- To make theatre going easy for the public. 
- To make it possible for the public to buy tickets for good seats at theatre box offices. 

Even though our name was different then, it is not without merit to mention that one of the key goals of The Broadway League today is not so dissimilar. We have a committee that has been working on an initiative to educate consumers on a national level about "How to buy a ticket from the official sources of Broadway" to insure that our theatregoers are getting what they pay for!

In addition to New York producers and theatre owners,  members of The Broadway League also include the presenters of Broadway in over 150 cities and 250 venues across the country. The organization is a member-driven trade association representing the commercial theatre industry in those areas most important to them including: 

1.  Labor

We negotiate with the 14 unions representing Broadway in NYC.

2.  Marketing and Branding 

Through audience development programs such as Broadway on Broadway, Kids' Night on Broadway and Back 2 Broadway, one of our key goals is to introduce new audiences to theatre through education and opportunities to experience live theatre.  In addition, another key goal is to differentiate a Broadway show from other forms of live entertainment, and the branding campaign launched last year entitled "Now that's Broadway" is the face of that initiative.

3.  Government Relations

We communicate the needs of commercial theatre with our local, state and national elected officials.  Whether we are working on improving the traffic pattern for NYC, or fighting the attack on our wireless devices with the FCC, we are there to represent the needs of our members. A key new initiative is to work with our lobbyists in Washington D.C. to create tax incentives for the producers of commercial theatre, which ultimately creates a significant number of jobs across the country.

4.  Conferences and Forums

We host meetings, conferences, forums, and other types of events which are opportunities for our members to learn, network and solve industry challenges.

5.  Research

We maintain historical data on individual playhouses and productions - the Internet Broadway Database (www.IBDB.com). The League is "the" source of information about commercial theatre that is important to our members. We collect weekly box office grosses for Broadway and Touring Broadway, and provide research reports on the demographics of the Broadway and Touring Broadway audiences as well as Broadway's economic impact.

6.  Tony Awards

As co-presenter of the annual Tony Awards which are aired on CBS-TV, the awards recognize excellence and provide national exposure for Broadway.

Over the years we have been quite active in a variety of issues. We convinced the N.Y. State Legislature to drop proposed draconian censorship laws, spearheaded a boycott of segregated playhouses, fought McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklist by refusing to shutter productions because of artists' political views,  collaborated with the theatrical unions and the City of New York to create a pension plan for Broadway employees, plus so much more. 

The more things change, the more they remain the same? No!  Perhaps our mission in fulfilling the needs of our members and theatregoers has remained the same.  But as those needs became more complex and diverse, so has the evolution of our organization into a modern way of thinking and one that yields positive results to better our industry.

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For more information on The League, including how to become a member, visit www.BroadwayLeague.com 

 

Advice from an Expert: Vol. XII. My own (M)ad man speaks again!

Boy, you loved last Friday's post from my reader who worked at Blaine Thompson.  I had more emails about it than I did about Piven when the fish story broke.

Since you loved it so much, I thought I'd give you some more.  This guy is like a treasure chest of theatrical lore.  Here are a few more comments from him about the infamous opening night routine at the agency:

On opening nights, producers, press agents, backers, general managers, actors, etc would come up to our office on the 8th floor of the Sardi's Building to wait for the reviews to be called in by our "friends" who worked in the press rooms of the newspapers.  The phone calls were put on speaker phones so all could hear - good, bad, or indifferent - before they were sent to the composing rooms to be set in type.  This practice may still exist at the current ad agencies.

On occasion there was more drama and excitement those nights than on the stage the previous few hours.  One night the author of a play which was very harshly reviewed became so distraught after hearing one devastating review after another that she tried to throw herself out of a window.  She had to be physically constrained.

Another time the star of a play that had just opened became inebriated and chased one of our young account people threatening to beat him up.  The show's press agent (who had been a boxer in his youth) actually knocked the actor out to stop him.  Just one punch.

I don't think it appropriate to name the people involved in an email.

I love the way that new media has exploded, but if there was ever an argument to restore the power of print and blow up the internet, it would be to experience one of those late night meetings at an agency before the papers came in. 

Oh, my guy also ended that story with this:

Blaine Thompson was a very interesting place to work.  And there are 
lots of stories.  Maybe a book?

Uh, yes.  Absolutely.  You guys would read it, wouldn't you? 

Aren't you dying to know who the puncher was?  

Advice from an Expert: Vol. XI. The guy who placed the Subways are for Sleeping ad speaks!

Oh how I love the internet.  It gives you the chance to speak to so many people that you would otherwise never have the chance to, and learn from them.

Perfect example . . .

A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about The Balloon Boy and his dad's stupidity.  In the same blog I referenced the infamous David Merrick Subways are for Sleeping stunt. 

Today I got an email from a gentleman who was the Production Director at The Blaine Thompson Company, a powerhouse ad agency who repped Broadway shows from 1938 - 1977 including the original productions of Gypsy, Pippin, Hair, A Chorus Line, and yes, Subways are for Sleeping. 

This gentleman was directly involved with the Ad Heard 'Round The World, and with Mr. Merrick himself, and was kind enough to share his story in an email to me.

I convinced him to put the story into a comment on the blog itself for all of you to enjoy.

Here it is.  A piece of theatrical history, brought to you by the power of the internet and by people willing to share their story (which is what theater is all about, isn't it?).

Click here to and scroll down to read the comment from Ron.

Advice from an Expert: Vol. X. A Day In The Life Of A Customer.

I've been lucky enough to have some great folks write "Advice from an Expert" columns over the past 2 years.  But with all due respect to each and every one of them, I don't think anyone qualifies more as an expert in Broadway buying patterns than today's guest columnist?  

What makes Meg Walker so qualified, you ask?

She's an actual customer.  

What you're going to read below is a word-for-word email I received last week from Meg who thought she would share her experience of a week of theatergoing with me.  

Enjoy and learn . . .

I don't remember how I stumbled across your blog, but I've been reading it for several months now. My family enjoys theater a lot and we see many shows locally as well as in Philadelphia and New York when we can.

Anyway, I was in the city for a week (Aug 2 - 8) because my daughter was attending Broadway Artists Alliance's intensive. I got to spend days on my own in the city! I waited in the TKTS line 4 times in Times Square and also checked the board at the Seaport. EVERY TIME I went near those lines, I heard people in line asking questions. They had NO IDEA what any of the shows were about! These were tourists who just knew that one of the things you do when you visit New York is to get tickets from TKTS. And so they got in line!

Every time, somebody asked me what AVENUE Q was about! They hadn't heard of it! They hadn't heard of anything but BILLY ELLIOT, SHREK and STOMP, it seemed. They were going to buy tickets and they had budgeted the money, so they were going to spend it. It didn't really matter on what.

The young people who walked up and down the lines were nice and informative, but a lot of the tourists didn't seem to trust them. Are they employees of the TKTS or of the individual shows? It would make a difference to the tourists, I think, if they had official shirts that identified them as employees. Several people around me in line waited to ask questions of the ticket sellers at the windows. At that point, it was crowded and noisy and hard to hear and the sellers didn't have the time to chat.

On Monday, a couple of hours before the booth opened, I wanted to find out what was playing that night, so I went into the Times Square Visitors Center. I asked for and was given a list of the current shows and their schedules. It made me a very popular person in the ticket line later! I also picked up a tourist booklet that had a brief description of each show, in addition to a lot of other info about the city. I passed that around the line, too. No one else had this information and they seemed surprised that it was available.

The point I want to make to you is that the vast majority of the people I heard talking around me had no idea what they wanted, and no idea how to find out the information.

Having young people walking along the lines is a very good idea, but something needs to be changed so that the tourists will trust their information. A lot of them seemed to congregate near the light boards with the availability lists--they really should be working the other ends of the lines. And really, I cannot believe that people would spend all that money to visit NYC and not do a little homework beforehand! But, apparently, they don't. So, there's a market segment for you to try to figure out how to reach.

And I have a question for you--why were so many of the shows doing discounts of 20, 30 and 40 percent? I thought the idea of TKTS was "half-price tickets." When did that change?

Some of the tourists were shocked at the prices. But by the time they heard the prices, they'd invested all that time waiting in line and they were going to buy just about anything.

So, there's my visitor's view of TKTS.

Thanks for sharing, Meg, and for taking the time to give me and the rest of my readers this very valuable information.

Most customers aren't like Meg.  Most customers won't give you this kind of feedback . . . unless you ask them.

Take today to find a way to open a line of communication with your audience.

Advice from an Expert: Vol. IX. A Damn Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

I got a bunch o' emails after my blog about my experience in the UK a few weeks ago.  One of them was from an actual expat American living and working in London.  Since he has such a unique perspective on what and why things are different in the land of fish and chips, I thought we might all learn from letting him have a post.  So here's Jason Ferguson . . . 

- - - - -

There is so much to say about the differences in British and American theatre (such as how to spell theater!), but for my first topic I will respond to a posting Ken did on the popularity of jukebox musicals in the UK. His opinion was that jukebox musicals thrive in the West End because of the influx of international tourists that speak different languages coming from Europe (I should say 'continental Europe' but the Brits don't consider themselves European). I agree with Ken that this is an important element to British theatre and the international language of pop music or anything non-verbal (see Stomp) keeps shows running here that would die a fast death in New York at the hand of Brantley and company. But there is another factor less talked about and that I think it takes an American living here to notice...PANTO!

I admit that on my arrival to London almost three years ago I picked up a copy of the local trade rag, The Stage, and noticed article after article about pantomimes. Castings, backstage profiles, interviews with elder panto stars, and an entire feedback page filled with letters about this strange theatrical art form. According to Wikipedia, 'pantomime' is:

a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in Great Britain, Canada, Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, America, Japan, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is usually performed during the Christmas and New Year season.

I don't know how America made that list; I grew up attending theatre regularly in Florida, with the occassional NYC family trip, and I never came across a panto! I encourage you to read the full Wikipedia article to fully research this phenomenon. The closest you have come to a panto is probably going with your Aunt Mavis to see Peter Pan. Or some could argue that Into the Woods is as much a play on pantomime as it is on children's literature (I have heard a couple Brits claim the show didn't work well here because they played it too 'panto-like').

In short, modern British pantomimes are generally large expensive shows that play over the Christmas season in most producing theatres and touring venues. They are usually titles like Peter Pan, Dick Whittington, Snow White, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc. The scripts can change from year-to-year, but usually include standard gimmicks. For example, every time the villain walks out (and you won't miss him as he will be wearing black or some other villain-like clothing) the kids in the audience will hiss. That's right...hiss. Like when your more annoying nephew tries to act like a snake to scare you. Another key element to panto are the celebrity guests. Your average panto will feature between 3-6 celebrities in just that one show. I don't want to offend anyone that I know who perform in pantos, but let's just say the level of celebrity is not Jude Law. The big deal last year is that Steve Guttenberg came over to perform in Cinderella at a theatre in Bromley, England.

So back to my point. Panto is huge in the UK. Almost everyone has been to see a panto when they were a child. It is a Christmas tradition. In America we have A Christmas Carol in various forms, but it doesn't come close to the holiday theatrical monopoly that panto holds over the public. But while many on the snootier side of the theatre industry will roll their eyes at the mention of panto, it is an important part of the theatrical tradition here. It has brought children into the theatre in mass and, unlike in America, if you were to stop the average person on the street in Ipswich (think Peoria) and ask if they have been to the theatre in the last two years, the chances are probably good they have. Now you don't find that in America!

In conclusion, pantomimes have a large effect on UK theatre audiences and one of those is that very British thing called 'class'. By opening theatre up to everyone at an early age and to people of all socio-economic backgrounds, the UK theatre is often able to attract a more populist audience to shows. The discussion over how class background effects theatre is for a whole other posting, but PC or not these are the facts. The Royal Court may always fight hard to expose working and lower middle class audiences to the plays of Wallace Shawn, but the producers of Dirty Dancing seem to have had a much easier time. In the UK at least. 

Jason Ferguson is a theatre general manager/tour booker/producer in London. He formerly worked for the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Manny Azenberg and Clear Channel before moving to London where he has been a consultant for general manager Arden Entertainment (Dirty Dancing, Old Vic's Tunnel 228) and is currently working as an independent tour booker and producer through his company Jason Ferguson Ltd. 

You can contact Jason at [email protected].

Advice from an expert: Vol. VIII. Founder of the Fringe (and Tony Nominator) tells how to get involved!

When I think of summer in the city, I think of sweatin' while waiting (and waiting) on a subway platform for a 1 train, that strange smell from sun-soaked garbage . . . and The Fringe Festival!

Today, on The Producer's Perspective, I give you Elena Holy, the founder of The Fringe; that all-you-can-eat buffet for theater lovers!  Elena is going to share a few words with you on how The Fringe got started, and how you can polish your Producing skills by producing a show at the Fringe this summer!

Oh, and yes, it is true.  Elena was a Tony Nominator this year.  But don't waste your time asking her why 9 to 5 wasn't nominated.  She won't answer. 

I know, because I already tried.

Heeeeeeeeeere's Elena! 

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As you may have heard, the shows accepted to be a part of FringeNYC 2009 have been posted. This marks the end of a very busy, wonderful, excruciating adjudication process. But just because we’ve selected our shows, doesn’t mean that your opportunity to be a part of the largest multi-arts festival in North America has passed! 

I’m often asked what it took to start FringeNYC (and I’ve been quoted as answering “youth and ignorance”), but to keep FringeNYC growing, it takes a village – seriously. You see, FringeNYC continues to operate as a Great Inverted Pyramid:

75,000 Audience Members
..5,000 Artists
..1,500 Volunteers
..1,100 Performances
..1,000 Applications
.....200 Shows
...... 20 Venues
.......16 Days
.......15 Dollar Tickets

.......13 Years 

.........2 Full-time Staff Members

If you're curious as to how this is possible, you can get further information here (or watch me try to describe it here). Simply put, we couldn’t do this without our audience and our artists. But the third necessary (and beloved) component is definitely our volunteer staff (who do everything from writing for our newspaper to building sql databases to pulling industry comps to printing tickets). If you’d like to join the FringeNYC Volunteer Staff, the first step is to attend a NEWBIE MEETING.

If you don’t have the time to join the staff, you’re also welcome to be a short-term volunteer. And the best part is, volunteering at FringeNYC is “work a shift, see a show” – for each two hour shift you volunteer, you receive a voucher good for a ticket to any performance at FringeNYC. All you have to do is register here.

If, on the other hand, you can devote all the time in the world to FringeNYC from August 14th - 30th, we also have stipended staff positions available - and interviews are happening now!

And for those of you who are DIRECTORS or PRODUCERS, we have two new opportunities for more project-specific work this year. Read on!

DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS NEEDED!

Have you ever wanted to direct or produce a show presented as a part of The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC)? Have you wondered how to get in touch with the shows that need a Director or a Producer? And how do you know which projects you might be a good fit for?

Now is your chance to meet up with FringeNYC 2009 shows that are in search of a director or producer. 

It’s FringeNYC’s DIRECTOR / ACR* SPEED DATES!

On Saturday, June 6th, representatives of FringeNYC shows will gather for our annual Town Meeting, and then those in search of a Director for their project will split off into a separate area, ready to meet you! FringeNYC’s Speed Dates are an opportunity to spend three minutes with representatives of dozens of shows, exchange information, and decide which projects are of interest to you. Then it’s up to you to set up a time to take it to the next step.

General information you should know:

FringeNYC is August 14th – 30th, 2009. Most of our shows are produced under the AEA Showcase Code plus the FringeNYC Side Letter. FringeNYC includes 200+ shows that are: Clown / Mask, Comedy, Dance, Drama, Spoken Word / Poetry, Improv / Sketch / Stand-up, Multi-media, Musical, Performance Art, Puppetry, Solo Shows, and every possible combination thereof!

*An ACR is an “Authorized Company Representative”. Each FringeNYC show needs one - and they function as the show’s representative at the box office, often handle marketing, contracts, some management and producing. The ACRs job description will vary greatly by show – but if you’re looking for a project or want to gain actual producing experience, this is a great place for you!

If you are interested in attending, all you need to do is REGISTER for the event. PLEASE NOTE: Only those who have REGISTERED will be able to attend, due to limited capacity.

Here are the basics:

WHAT: FringeNYC’s Director / ACR Speed Dates

WHEN: Saturday, June 6th at 3pm

WHERE: Location will be announced to those who register.

REGISTRATION: To register, simply click the appropriate link below:

DIRECTOR SPEED DATE REGISTRATION ....................

ACR SPEED DATE REGISTRATION

GENERAL INFORMATION: About FringeNYC is available at www.FringeNYC.org

Advice from an Expert: Vol. VII. She sold her show on MySpace. Here's how you can too.

At a New Producer's Panel of The Broadway League last night, the topic was social networking and just what it could do for shows already running and those still trying to get out of the starting blocks.

No one knows more about starting their show off with some social networking than my own Ryann "Fergie" Ferguson, who works in my office by day and writes musicals by night. 

Here's what happened to VOTE! The Musical, thanks to Web 2.0, in Fergie's own words.

One of the biggest questions we faced once our musical, VOTE!, was "done" and we had put on our first private industry only reading, was how we would be able to continue in our process of refining/work shopping it.  Our answer came in the form of a new model of both getting shows produced, as well as finding material to produce.

From the beginning, we wanted to utilize the internet to reach a young audience that was right for our show.  We started with a MySpace page.  We posted songs and even made a music video.  One of our fav cast members, Andrew Keenan Bolger, vloged about it.  We made an effort to put out as much material from the show as we possibly could for critique and to build a fan base. 

And we got critique.  And we got a fan base.  And you know what else we got?  We got several offers from young aspiring producers who wanted to premiere the show at their college, community theatre or Fringe Festival!  We had offers from as far as Australia and London, but ultimately, we decided to stay a little closer to home when got an offer from a young producer in Indiana named Eric Anderson, who really seemed to get what we were all about.

Eric contacted us directly about premiering the work regionally with students and creative team from the Indiana University Theatre Department.  My co-writer and I saw it as a great opportunity to workshop the show during a five week rehearsal period (five weeks of rehearsal in NYC is a luxury almost no young writers/producers can afford).  And we even got them to use our director!

I had a bit of separation anxiety turning over the show at this stage in its young life, but knowing that our director would be there to oversee made the process easier.  And, the internet and social networks have kept us closer than we could have been just a few short years ago.  We helped cast the show by watching videos of the auditions, and we've tracked progress and any script changes by watching frequent YouTube video postings of rehearsals.

I'm headed out there for the final two rehearsals and openings and, so far, I would recommend the experience to anyone with a show . . . and a social network. 

Fergie hit the developmental lottery here.  Remember her first two goals:  build a fan base and get critique?  She just found a way to get both of those on a bigger scale . . . while someone else is paying for it . . . while it's all under the watchful eye of her trusted director.  

The lesson?  There are people out there that want to do your show, if it's what their audience is looking for, and if it's good.  You've got to find them . . . and make sure they can find you.  And, surprise, surprise, social networking is a great way to get discovered. 

It's happened for many a musician.  It can happen to musicals.

If you're going to be in Indiana on March 6,7 or 8th, check out VOTE!  Here's how.  And look for Ferg . . . she'll be the one that looks like a mom the day her baby quits crawling, and takes that first little step.

If any of you have sold your show on MySpace or the web, comment away and share your strategy.

Advice from an expert: Vol. VI. New technology is like new toys

Last week I had lunch with an exec. at PRG (the go-to shop for all lighting rentals for Broadway, car shows and the rest of the free world).  PRG was the original supplier of the lights in Phantom, the longest running show in Broadway history, which means it first installed the rental package 21 years ago.

As you can imagine, technology has changed a "watt" (sorry) over the last couple of decades.  So, Phantom had to change out all of their instruments, right?

Wrong.

Despite all of the advancements the lighting industry has made, the bulk of the Phantom package has stayed the same. They've swapped out the board, made some tweaks, changed some instruments and cabling (some changes were made for safety's sake), but basically the same technology that thrilled audiences 21 years ago is still thrilling them today.

So what was the advice this expert imparted to me over burgers at Joe Allen's? 

Be careful of the new lighting technology companies that come out with new toys every year, making designers drool like 12 year old boys over the latest video game system.

It's a Producer's (and a parent's) job to tell your designers (and your kids) that when times are tough, you have to play with the toys you have.  Because if toys from twenty years ago can still be effective, then last year's toys can still be a lot of fun, and they are a lot less expensive.  

Some designers/kids may cry if they don't get the newest thing.  But the good ones will get creative.

I'd add that if your story is a good one, the audience won't care what you're playing with.