The Broadway Pulse, maintained by Editor-in-Chief, Robert Diamond, highlights the most interesting goings on in the world of theater - online and off...Subscribe to
Just a quick update here that we've launched our first ever Awards Season Scorecard right here with the Outer Critics Circle Awards already in. For analysis on how the Outer Critics Circle nominations usually compare to the Tony Awards, click here.
Posted on: Monday, April 23, 2012 @ 02:17 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
BroadwayWorld.com is very excited to announce a new partnership, and the fourth member of BWW TV’s family of exclusive, engaging, and unmatched online theatre video programming. Joining the popular and critically acclaimed SUBMISSIONS ONLY, BACKSTAGE WITH Richard Ridge and CHEWING THE SCENERY WITH Randy Rainbow will be its newest offering and first reality show, BEHIND THE CURTAIN, premiering later in 2012.
Behind the Curtain is a brand new, fascinating, fast paced web series that explores what it takes to make it on the world's biggest stage, Broadway. Created by seasoned entertainment industry vets Danny Jordan (The Biggest Loser, MasterChef, American Idol Underground) and Andrew Spires (American Idol, Trading Spaces, Real Time With Bill Maher) the show will pull viewers inside the real world and harsh reality of what it’s like to be a performer pursuing their Broadway dreams. With unprecedented access and some of the hottest up and coming stars on board, the show will share the inside world of Broadway in a riveting new way.
The new documentary series is currently on the popular financing site Kickstarter (click here for a preview and for more information) which opens up a unique opportunity for Broadway fans to play a part in developing this wonderful new series. Getting in at the ground floor, donors will have the unique, and thrilling opportunity to watch as their show evolves, and matures into a dazzling program recognized the world over!
“When I saw the original sizzle reel for the show,” said Robert Diamond, CEO of BroadwayWorld.com, “it felt like the perfect fit for our audience and it’s being developed in a way that will fully exploit not only the newest technologies, but insider access like never before. Basically, it’s everything we believe in here on the site.”
Danny Jordan, series creator says "Since day one -- In October 2009 -- our objective has been to reveal the real story of the countless actors, singers, and dancers who pick up their lives, and move to the harsh world that is New York City in pursuit of making their Broadway dreams a reality. Additionally, retaining the integrity of this historic industry is paramount. As such, partnering with the largest Broadway and theatre themed site in the world is not only a huge victory, but the perfect fit. “
Behind the Curtain will premiere exclusively on BroadwayWorld.com in late 2012.
About the Creative Team:
Danny Jordan's career in entertainment began in 2000. Jordan has created, produced, and hosted major media content for some of the most recognized networks, brands, and TV programs. Credits include: The Biggest Loser (Producer), MasterChef (Producer), Losing It with Jillian (Producer), Great American Road Trip (Producer), High Society (Producer), American Idol Underground (Host), KIIS FM (Host). In 2009, Jordan started Pronus Productions; partnering with long-time friends and colleagues, Andrew Spires and Raul Colindres. Jordan currently resides in New York City, and serves as SVP of Branded Media and Development.
Andrew Spires grew up in Philadelphia before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. After graduating from art school, he went on to work with Oscar winner Vilmos Zsigmond, before taking a position with CBS. While with CBS he worked on “The Price is Right”, “Real Time” with Bill Maher, and “The Young and the Restless” among others. Andrew later went on to work for juggernaut “American Idol” before returning to the East Coast to Produce “Trading Spaces”. Spires spent a year producing content for BBC before leaving forming Pronus Productions with friends Danny Jordan and Raul Colindres.
Mr. Spires’ shows are aired in over 40 countries and seen by more then 65 million viewers annually. He currently residents in New York City with his wife and their Great Dane, Gracie.
Featured cast members:
Rachel Potter is currently appearing as the Mistress in this season's buzz worthy Broadway revival, Evita. She appears alongside Ricky Martin, Elena Roger, and Michael Cerveris at the Marquis Theater. Rachel made her Broadway debut as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family starring Brooke Shields, following a tour with Stephen Schwartz's smash hit musical, Wicked (Glinda u/s). Rachel has also performed the roles of Ariel, Belle, and Nemo, among others, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Her debut Country album is to be released May 2012, following an EP release concert at Joe's Pub on May 13th, 9:30 pm. For tickets visit http://bit.ly/GUexAv or www.rachelpottermusic.com for more info. @therachelpotter
I came out of my time imposed interview 'retirement' for a quick chat about one of my favorite topics -- the online world of Broadway (pun intended). Sara Fitzpatrick is the Director of Interactive for SpotCo, a leading full-service entertainment advertising and branding agency, working with Broadway and film productions to oversee the development and strategy of their interactive operations. We last spoke to her about the 'State of Broadway on the Web' back in 2010 so with two years having gone quickly by -- it seemed the perfect time to check back in for her latest take.
I've just spent an hour GLUED to the podcast in which THIS AMERICAN LIFE's Ira Glass reveals how they discovered the falsehoods in Daisey's THE AGONY & ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS on material that makes up both the play and broadcasts that they did based upon it.
Now, BWW is excited to announce that our content is now available on Pinterest as well! CLICK HERE to follow BWW on Pinterest- the latest social media craze that organizes and shares all the latest BroadwayWorld news on our very own virtual pin boards!
Posted on: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 @ 02:34 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
The web geek in me generally HATES the (over)use of Flash on any web site, and especially those for Broadway shows. It's often unneeded, slow loading and also makes the site behave crankily on all Apple mobile devices.
All that said, after an eagle-eyed BWW Message Board-er spotted this VERY clever usage on the PETER AND THE STARCATCHER web site, well, it's excellent.
Talking to the London Times, Stephen Sondheim sounds off about much of the current state of commercial theatre, noting that while he can appreciate hits such as The Book of Mormon as a "fun college show", in response to the idea that this perceived trend could be permanent, Sondheim remarks: "I think so. Commercial theatre will only get more narrow as time goes on. There are so many forms of entertainment, theatre is becoming more marginalised. It's become ‘an event': you see Wicked on your anniversary. I don't think commercial theatre can fulfil a function as a constant feeding ground for emotions and thoughts."
I had the good fortune to catch her performance in the London production of EVITA back in 2006, and can NOT wait to see her again on Broadway... Video preview below.
Posted on: Sunday, March 04, 2012 @ 09:25 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
The digital theatre world lit up earlier today (as did our live traffic meters) with the news, first reported by the London Evening Standard that Stephen Sondheim and David Ives have teamed up on a new musical, which is currently in the earliest phases of composition. According to the Standard: "Sondheim speaks of pushing forward and says he has "20 or 30 minutes" written of a new musical that he is collaborating on with American playwright David Ives, a New York regular little known in London."
We reached the legend himself who told us that "it's an idea I've had for a long time and that it springs indirectly from a moment in a play of David's."
Theatre has more than its share of armchair quarterbacks who enjoy prognosticating (bitching) about...well...everything, ESPECIALLY the how and why of the show selection at the very popular Encores! series at City Center.
Next up for the series is Rodgers and Hammerstein's PIPE DREAM, which will star Leslie Uggams, Will Chase, James Clow, James Moye, Laura Osnes, Steve Routman, Leslie Uggams, Stephen Wallem and Tom Wopat.
So, how and why did they select PIPE DREAM?
Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel explains exactly why ... here.
Posted on: Monday, February 27, 2012 @ 11:27 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Long-time no blog, as my every free waking computer minute has been devoted as of late to some recent and upcoming site updates on both the back and front end. (If you haven't admired our new article, people and show pages - check 'em out, and there's MUCH more on the way including other features coming to those three). We've also more than quadrupled our server speed and capabilities to prepare for some other new features and our ever-expanding traffic.
Back to today's blog, I'd often disagreed with his reviews, but I was still saddened on Friday evening to learn of the passing of longtime theatre critic Howard Kissel, most known for his long tenure at the New York Daily News. His well-known biography of David Merrick - The Abominable Showman has long been amongst my favorite theatre reads; I even re-read (and re-purchased) it on the Kindle a couple of years back. If you haven't read it yet, you're missing out.
Critics are generally an unsung breed, but David Rooney has written a lovely piece, singing Kissel's praises over here @ the Hollywood Reporter.
Posted on: Sunday, February 26, 2012 @ 05:38 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
We've been running Equity audition notices on BroadwayWorld.com for more than a year now, and not a day goes by that we haven't gotten a slew of requests from both readers and from casting directors to start posting notices for other audition opportunities, both large and small.
To that end, we've unveiled a Non Equity Auditions section of the site which now contains free listings for audition opportunities around the country with all the same features that our Equity center includes like our instant search, chart views, regional browsing, daily and instant email alerts and lots more.
Now, BWW is excited to announce that our content is now available on Google Plus as well!
Click Here or on the image below to Follow BWW on Google Plus! To celebrate our launch, we'll be giving away tickets weekly all month to some of the hottest Broadway shows!
Posted on: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 @ 10:30 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
We announced this news late last week on the site itself, but wanted to share my excitement here as well... Since then, we've already made more improvements including restaurant menus for all of our listings! More to come, very soon...
BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet is excited to unveil the first in a series of massive 2012 expansion plans - complete and expanded coast to coast show listings.
Complete show listings are now available for all of BroadwayWorld.com's 100 regional U.S., and 20 International markets (with additional 20 launches planned for January), allowing theater goers for the first time ever to easily browse, and search globally for Musicals, Plays, Concerts, Cabarets, Special Theatrical Events, Opera, Dance, and other live stage productions.
Updated daily, this whopping listing of over 25,000 current and upcoming productions in more than 10,000 theatres includes professional productions, amateur productions, school productions (both high schools and colleges), and more!
All show listings are linked in to the site's unsurpassed content system to provide links to news stories, cast features, photos, videos & more for each show. And speaking of content, you can also contribute by clicking on a show title and uploading media (including links, photos, videos and cast lists) using the forms located on right of the listing.
That's not all though...We know that nothing goes together with a good show like an equally good meal - so all regional listings now including the ability to find, display and make reservations at more than 20,000 neighboring restaurants. All restaurant listings include such useful information on the average price of meals, cuisine types, menu descriptions and innovative mapping that shows its distance and a direct route to the theatre.
While users can browse regional shows both through the site's dedicated regional homepages, they may also use our Pick-a-Show feature. Users can now enter their zip code to find regional shows (musicals, plays, opera, dance, comedy, concerts, amateur and school productions and more) near them across the country.
Posted on: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 @ 09:00 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Ok, ok, so I 'lied' yesterday when I said that we were done unveiling sneak peeks at our January 2012 site upgrades in 2011, but, here we go!
In this case though, we know how hard it is for performers to book a job, so anything we can do to lessen the struggle of knowing what auditions are coming up, is the least we can do.
We've just unveiled a snazzy (if I do say so myself) revamp of our popular Auditions Center for all your Equity audition needs including a faster and more accurate search, a new chart view, the ability to browse by region and date added/updated, to see when a notice was posted, and to email a notice to yourself and/or friends when you see it along with some other bells and whistles.
ps - Bonus points to those readers who emailed me noticing that hours after announcing yesterday's Grosses Update, we kept adding new features -- well, we couldn't help ourselves. :-)
Posted on: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 @ 01:28 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
We weren't planning on unveiling any of the (many) new features & updates cooking in the BWW kitchens until 2012, but ... patience was never on the short list of things that I'm good at. The ever-popular Broadway Grosses section of the site just got several major upgrades including some visual enhancements, iPad/iPhone compatibility, many new chart & graph types, year by year comparisons and other nifty features that are too numerous to list.
I for one loved Scarlett Johansson's Broadway debut last season opposite Liev Schrieber in their explosive production of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. While we're all eagerly anticipating whatever she does on stage next -- a new BIOGRAPHY Channel profile (with an appearance by BWW's own Pat Cerasaro) -- covers her career on stage and off to date. Check for upcoming listings here.
Posted on: Monday, December 26, 2011 @ 09:19 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Our general inbox has been getting slammed today with copies of an article in today's The New York Times which talks about the success that not-entirely-successful Broadway shows like THE ADDAMS FAMILY are now having on the road, with that show for example earning $995,000 in Buffalo last week.
In fact, that city is considered to have one of the highest margins for touring shows, the market for which is as large across the country as Broadway itself.
The article delves into a thorny issue though, the long-held belief that road presenters, who make up at least 15 percent of Tony voters often vote with their wallets as well as their hearts. Here's what the article has to say:
Several of these road presenters said in interviews that touring potential was a factor in their Tony votes, but noted that they voted chiefly on artistic merit.
"I'm a human being, so to say how a show would play in Cleveland is not a factor in Tony voting would not be true," said Gina Vernaci, vice president of theatricals at Cleveland PlayhouseSquare, another prime destination for tours. "But Cleveland wants quality shows, artistically compelling shows, enjoyable shows, as much as New Yorkers."
Mr. Conte, a former banker in Buffalo and Shea's board member who became president of the theater in 2000, recalled admiring the Broadway show "Spring Awakening" but voted for "Mary Poppins" instead for best musical that year. He said "the tough love story," flashes of nudity, and dark themes of "Spring Awakening" were "not my thing," and he also did not envision the show as appealing to his subscribers. "Spring Awakening" went on to win the Tony for best musical; the show's national tour had a brief run at the University of Buffalo, but not at Shea's.
So, are they voting with their hearts, wallets, or both? Those interviewed for the article, seem to be striking as close to the right balance as possible -- what do you think about the rest?
Posted on: Saturday, December 24, 2011 @ 05:10 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
I blogged last week about comedian Louis C.K.'s 'digital experiment' in which he filmed 2 new stand-up comedy shows, pro-shot, 6 cameras at the Beacon in New York City (cost = $170,000, covered mostly by live ticket sales) and decided to sell them online on a new web site (cost = $32,000) for $5.
7 Days ago he'd sold 110,000+ copies, for a total of $500,000... Now? He's broken $1 million and has announced that he'll be donating 25% to charity. Watch him talk about the success below on Jimmy Fallon.
Posted on: Thursday, December 22, 2011 @ 08:29 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
BroadwayWorld.com is very excited to announce a new partnership, and the fourth member of BWW TV’s family of exclusive, engaging, and unmatched online theatre video programming. Joining the popular and critically acclaimed SUBMISSIONS ONLY, BACKSTAGE WITH 
Talking to the London Times, Stephen Sondheim sounds off about much of the current state of commercial theatre, noting that while he can appreciate hits such as The Book of Mormon as a "fun college show", in response to the idea that this perceived trend could be permanent, Sondheim remarks: "I think so. Commercial theatre will only get more narrow as time goes on. There are so many forms of entertainment, theatre is becoming more marginalised. It's become ‘an event': you see Wicked on your anniversary. I don't think commercial theatre can fulfil a function as a constant feeding ground for emotions and thoughts."
The digital theatre world lit up earlier today (as did our live traffic meters) with the news, first reported by the London Evening Standard that Stephen Sondheim and David Ives have teamed up on a new musical, which is currently in the earliest phases of composition. According to the Standard: "Sondheim speaks of pushing forward and says he has "20 or 30 minutes" written of a new musical that he is collaborating on with American playwright David Ives, a New York regular little known in London."
Theatre has more than its share of 
Long-time no blog, as my every free waking computer minute has been devoted as of late to some recent and upcoming site updates on both the back and front end. (If you haven't admired our new article, people and show pages - check 'em out, and there's MUCH more on the way including other features coming to those three). We've also more than quadrupled our server speed and capabilities to prepare for some other new features and our ever-expanding traffic. 
Ok, ok, so I 'lied' yesterday when I said that we were done unveiling sneak peeks at our January 2012 site upgrades in 2011, but, here we go!
BWW TV: SUBMISSIONS ONLY Season 2 Wraps with an All-Star Cast in 'Another Interruption' Finale!
BWW TV EXCLUSIVE: Brian d'Arcy James Uncut Part 1: Talks SMASH, Industrials, NYC Concert & More!
FLASH: Andrew Lloyd Webber Writes The Music Of The Night
FLASH SPECIAL: Jeff Calhoun - From GREASE to NEWSIES
2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown - Day 15: Tommy Tune At The Tonys
2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown - Day 10: RENT Owns
2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown - Day 16: NINE Is A 10 (Twice)