Industry Pro Newsletter: The Paradox of Pay Equity, COVID Spread in NYC High Once Again

As new leadership takes the helm at many companies across the United States, they are not only trying to steer the artistic ship, but to point the company in the right direction in terms of workplace conditions. As calls for unpaid internships to come to an end continue, many are re-evaluating their budgets and business models - with some adjusting their production model, and others looking at the financial realities and closing their doors. As the industry continues to make reforms, those reforms won't come without some pain. Hopefully, that pain leads to a brighter tomorrow for arts workers across the board.

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Industry Trends

Equitable Pay Leading to Less Opportunity

The paradox of seeking equitable compensation models is explored by Jesse Green in The New York Times - as more companies seek to find equitable business structures, that often leads to producing less work - which not only means less overall opportunity, but runs the risk of less donations. Dealing with this paradox is just one of many challenges facing the American theater moving forward. Click here to read more...

Broadway/New York

NYC Back at High Risk of COVID Spread

After spending June at a medium risk according to the CDC's standards, all 5 boroughs of the city entered High Risk at the beginning of July. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Seeks New York Based Videographer

As the theater industry continues a return to its normal rhythm of openings, BroadwayWorld is looking to expand our coverage team with a New York based videographer to help cover events, openings, and more. If you or someone in your network is a good candidate, send them to this listing to apply! Click here to read more...

Broadway and Beyond Announces Hybrid Networking Event for Stage Managers of Color

Dedicated to providing career advancement opportunities for stage managers of Color, Broadway and Beyond has announced a hybrid networking event for September. Click here to read more...

Regional

Village Theatre Announces New Artistic Director and New Managing Director

The Seattle based company announced a move to a dual leadership model as they fill the role left by the retirement of Robb Hunt, the theatre's Executive Producer for the last 43 years. Adam Immerwahr, most recently of Theater J in DC, will take on the Artistic Director role, and Laura Lee, of Seattle's ArtsWest, will fill the role of Managing Director for the first time in company history. Click here to read more...

Black Arts Council Aims to Diversify the Berkshires

After a recent survey indicated a lack of diversity in the audiences of Berkshire cultural institutions (though the sample size on the survey was very small), the Black Arts Council, a subset of the Berkshire Black Economic Council hopes to work with cultural institutions to increase their diversity on-stage, off-stage, and in the audience. Click here to read more...

Fresh Turmoil at Victory Gardens

After recent turmoil led to Ken-Matt Martin being named Artistic Director of Victory Gardens only a few years ago, new turmoil has emerged after Martin was placed on leave. In the wake of tha decision by the Board, along with the final candidate for the vacant Executive Director position withdrawing her candidacy, the full-time staff of the theater and many associated artists resigned en masse, calling upon the Board of Directors to reinstate Martin and themselves resign. Click here to read more...

Southern Rep Closes Their Doors

After 36 years of producing around New Orleans, the Board of Directors announced last week that due to financial pressures, the company would no longer be able to produce. Their former home will soon re-open as a performing arts center with plans to serve the majority Black community in which it resides. Click here to read more...

International

UK Equity Issues New Guidance on NDAs

The UK performers union issued new guidance on the use of non-disclosure agreements in the UK Film, Television, and Gaming industries, stating that the current use of NDAs was inappropriate in their breadth. Click here to read more...

New Puppets Continue to Flourish on the West End

Starting from the family legacy of War Horse, a new generation of puppeteers are continuing to thrive on the West End - from the team that won an Olivier for their work as the Tiger in Life of Pi, to a new production of 101 Dalmatians, the arts of puppetry continues to expand. Click here to read more...

Missed our last few newsletters?

July 5, 2022 - New Foundation Offering Major Grants, STEM vs STEAM in Arts Ed

As the second half of 2022 gets underway, many theatres have concluded their first full season after re-opening, and are assessing where things stand heading into a new season. For many, the rise of individual ticket buyers was a trend we heard from a lot of companies - and not only are there more individual ticket buyers, but subscription renewals are down and continue to be slow. So far it is unclear if this is indicative of an overall decline in demand, or a shift in how audience members are finding out about productions. One thing we know for sure: the BroadwayWorld audience remains dedicated to seeing multiple shows per year, even if they're making that final decision and purchasing a ticket much closer to the date of the show than in the past. The stories in the newsletter this week are indicative of that shift towards normalcy: acquisitions, contract negotiations, and the continued leadership shuffle as one generation of leaders retires and another gets ready to take the helm. Click here to read more...

June 27, 2022 - Masking on Broadway Will No Longer Be Mandatory - But Is That What Audiences Want?

Last week, the Broadway League announced that masks would be optional starting July 1 for most Broadway productions, and the response from the theatre industry was mixed at best. First, the Broadway Unions don't appear to have been consulted on the change, though the League insists that the change is not in violation of any of the collective bargaining agreements. Second, Broadway fans don't appear happy with the change, with 12% of respondents to a recent BroadwayWorld survey indicating that with masks being optional, they're no longer planning to attend a Broadway show in July. Will the change help Broadway shows capture more tourists? Only time will tell on how this will impact grosses and house fills. Click here to read more...

June 21, 2022 - New Executive Leadership Announced for Many Theatres

Coming out of the pandemic, there were a ton of Artistic and Executive Leadership positions open at institutions across the country, and as those roles have been filled, that has opened up other jobs - causing the leadership jobs carousel to keep on spinning. Last week, a slew of announcements brought clarity to who would be leading many of the major institutions, at least on a temporary basis. Other stories this week include how the Metropolitan Opera managed to get through an entire season without missing a curtain due to the pandemic, a huge step forward for the RSC in their portrayal of an iconic Shakespeare character, and BroadwayWorld celebrating record traffic on Tonys' Night. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Resources

BroadwayWorld Stage Mag - A Fully Interactive Show Program

The digital solution to your show program needs - want to see what's possible? Check out the Stage Mag's for off-Broadway's Blindness and for Next on Stage Season 3! Then start building your own at stagemag.broadwayworld.com.

Add Your Show to our Regional Events Calendar

As audiences get set to return to in-person performances, and as your company works to market your own return to the stage, make sure you've got your upcoming shows in our regional events calendars. Listings are free of charge, with boosting options available. Get your show listed now!

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