Industry Pro Newsletter: Unions Get to Work, How EST Has Been Making Changes

Unions have been a central narrative of much of 2022 across many industries, and they took center stage last week in the performing arts industry as two Unions, Actors Equity and United Scenic Artists filed suit against the producers of Paradise Square. Across the river in New Jersey, the American Guild of Variety Artists added a new workplace to their list of members as the performers of Medieval Times voted to join. These stories, paired with other stories this week about institutional soul searching, are strongly demonstrative of the industry itself taking a large step forward in what feels like allowable practice, and towards what the new normal can be.

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Industry Trends

Funny Girl and Paradise Square Highlight the Off-Stage Drama Built for TikTok

While there is a section of TikTok for every person, musical theatre content on TikTok performs exceptionally well. Fast Company took a look at how the off-stage drama of Funny Girl and Paradise Square took off, and how on-stage highlights can also lead to soaring heights for productions regionally and beyond. Click here to read more...

Expectations in PR Often Run Ahead of Reality

In a recent study of some 2,000 digital PR pieces, Hannah Smith explores the sharp divide between expectations for a PR campaign and the reality of them. Largely excerpted from a recent talk, Smith lays out that while it is good to have benchmarks on performance, it is vitally important to understand what a realistic benchmark looks like. Click here to read more...

Broadway/New York

Augmented Reality Drives Broadway Interactions

The Broadway League and Emodo launched an AR Campaign in December 2021, featuring a snowy Times Square and greetings from Broadway legends, and the numbers are in on the campaign. 90% of those who saw the ads interacted with them, generating more than 750 hours of interaction with the technology. Click here to read more...

New Jersey's Medieval Times Performers Vote to Join AGVA

The performers have been pushing for management to view them more as the skilled performers that they are, and voted last week to join the American Guild of Variety Artists by a vote of 26 to 11. This is the same union that represents the Radio City Rockettes and performers at Disneyland, among many others. Click here to read more...

AEA and Local USA 829 Sue Paradise Square Producers

The Unions filed lawsuits seeking combined damages of $350,000 in owed benefit contributions and other fees against the producers of Paradise Square. For Local USA 829, $150,000 had been awarded them in arbitration, but the Union has taken legal action as those funds have yet to be recovered from the production. Click here to read more...

Garth Drabinsky Added to the Do Not Work List

The producer of Paradise Square, previously convicted in Canada of fraud and forgery as a producer, has been added to the Do Not Work list after the production closed on July 17. Click here to read more...

Ensemble Studio Theatre Continues to Work to Be The Change in the Industry

While for many institutions We See You White American Theatre was the starting point of their deeper cultural look at DEI within their organizations, Ensemble Studio Theatre has been at this transition since 2016 - and while the work is still ongoing, American Theatre takes a look at where they've been and where they're going. Click here to read more...

Dance/NYC Kicks off a New Census

The nonprofit is starting the data collection process this week, in hopes of better understanding exactly what the makeup of the dance workforce in NYC is, and how they can be better supported by both industry and nonprofits like Dance/NYC. Click here to read more...

Regional

Rachel Alderman Joins Long Wharf Theatre as Associate Artistic Director

The newly created position will see Alderman serving as the lead Producer on Long Wharf productions, as well as overseeing New Work development. Previously, she was the Artistic Producer at Hartford Stage. Click here to read more...

Howard Sherman Lays Out the Risk to Regional Theatres

Using the current debacle at Victory Gardens as a guide, Howard Sherman writes in The Stage the ways in which this kind of tension between a Board of Directors and the Artists they hire can be a particular problem when their ultimate end goals don't align. Click here to read more...

As CTG Begins Their Search for a New Leader, The First Question is Where to Go?

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Charles McNulty goes inside the early stages of the search for a new Artistic Director at Center Theatre Group, as they internally look at their strategic alignment to then bring in someone with a singular vision for one of the largest regional theatres in the United States. Click here to read more...

The REV Launches Pay-What-You-Can and 40 under $40 Tickets

In an effort to further expand the accessibility of their productions, the REV held their first Pay-What-You-Can production at Saturday evenings performance of Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Pay-What-You-Can tickets are available for Saturday evening performances for the rest of the season. Click here to read more...

International

Broadway Theatre Designers Bring New Large Scale Venue to the Philippines

Theatre Projects Consultants, with offices in New York and London, recently led a team of designers in designing and building the new 1,520 seat Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Manila. Click here to read more...

UK Theatres Make Adjustments for the Heat

With a heat wave hitting London, many venues are having to make adjustments to help audiences and performers cope with the heat. While heat waves in other areas result in higher A/C bills, most London venues aren't equipped to deal with temperatures this extreme, so other adjustments are necessary. Click here to read more...

Missed our last few newsletters?

July 11, 2022 - 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. Click here to read more...

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

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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