Producing Off Broadway: Questions, Answers & Solutions Panel Discussion Held 12/5

The Off Broadway Alliance, the organization of Off Broadway producers, theaters, general managers, press agents and marketing firms, will hold the sixth in its series of seminars focused on the culture, business and history of Off Broadway on Sunday, December 5, 2010. The seminar, titled "Producing Off Broadway: Questions, Answers & Solutions", will feature a full 90-minute question and answer session during which audience members will be able to ask a panel of Off Broadway producers and general managers questions on a variety of topics related to producing Off Broadway.

The Off Broadway Alliance discovered that some of the most valuable moments in the 2010 Seminar Series came during the post-discussion audience Q&As. Since audience questions are generally taken at the end of the seminar, some audience members do not get a chance to ask their question. In accordance with its mission to educate, cultivate and stimulate emerging Off Broadway producers, The Alliance decided to devote the final seminar of 2010 to making sure no question about producing Off Broadway was left unanswered.

The panelists include producer/general manager Ken Davenport (Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage, Altar Boyz, The Awesome 80s Prom, Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America, Speed-the-Plow), producer/general manager Seth Goldstein (John Tartaglia's Imaginocean!, The Toxic Avenger, Shakespeare's R&J, Golda's Balcony, Christine Jorgensen Reveals) and general manager Adam Hess (Love, Loss, And What I Wore, The Divine Sister, The Temperamentals, Die! Mommie! Die!, Thom Pain).

"Producing Off Broadway: Questions, Answers & Solutions" will be held at The Snapple Theater Center's Jerry Orbach Theater on Sunday, December 5, 2010. Doors will open at 11:30 for complimentary coffee and continental breakfast. The panel will take place from Noon - 1:30pm with additional time allotted afterward for conversation with fellow attendees. The Snapple Theater Center is located at 210 West 50th Street at Broadway.

Admission for the seminar is free, however reservations are a must. Audience members wishing to ask a question of the panel must submit their question along with their RSVP. To RSVP for the event, visit http://offbroadway.eventbrite.com before December 3, 2010. Each audience member may ask up to three questions.

About The Off Broadway Alliance
The Off Broadway Alliance is a non-profit corporation organized by theater professionals dedicated to supporting, promoting and encouraging the production of Off Broadway theater and to making live theater increasingly accessible to new and diverse audiences. The Alliance holds monthly meetings and membership is open to everyone in the Off Broadway theater community.

The Alliance created and administers 20 at 20, the biannual event where you can purchase $20 tickets to participating Off Broadway shows 20 minutes prior to curtain. It sponsors a Seminar Series focusing on the culture, business and history of Off Broadway featuring major players from the Off Broadway scene. The organization also administers the "This Day in Off Broadway History" online calendar. In June 2009 The Alliance released the first ever Off Broadway Economic Impact Report, which detailed Off Broadway's $461 million impact on the City of New York during the 2008 theater season.

About The Panelists
On Broadway, Ken Davenport recently produced Oleanna starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, Speed-the-Plow starring Raul Esparza, Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America (Tony nomination), Blithe Spirit starring Angela Lansbury, and 13. Ken is the only independent producer to have had three shows running simultaneously Off-Broadway - Altar Boyz (co-conceiver), The Awesome 80s Prom (author/director) and My First Time (author/director). Ken was featured in a national commercial for Apple's iPhone, named one of Crain's "Forty Under 40" in 2008, and dubbed the "P.T. Barnum of Off-Broadway" by The New York Times. He also recently accepted the 2010 Award of Distinction from the Musical Theatre Society. Current projects include producing the Broadway revivals of Godspell and Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men, penning the musical adaptation of Somewhere In Time, launching his latest creative collaboration Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage, and shooting a documentary on one of the top unsigned rock bands in the country - Red Wanting Blue. Ken created and developed the AT THE BOOTH^TM iPhone app which Entertainment Weekly called "the best thing to happen to theater since, well, the introduction of the TKTS® booth." He also runs a number of theatrical websites including Broadway's #1 social networking site - BroadwaySpace.com, which has just launched the Broadway Board Game, Be A Broadway Star. His blog, TheProducersPerspective.com, has been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The Gothamist and many others. He has written articles for Forbes, Mashable, Imedia and others.

The Splinter Group (Seth Goldstein, producer and general manager) provides general management and executive producing services for theatrical and special events. Current clients include John Tartaglia's Imaginocean!, The Ohmies, The Toxic Avenger and Artaria. Previous management clients include Martin Charnin's Love is Love, The Intergalactic Nemesis, Shout! The Mod Musical (2nd National Tour), Fan Yang's Gazillion Bubble Show (New York & Las Vegas), Two Rooms, Don Reed's EAST 14TH, Deathbed, Masked, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Duse's Fever, The Man Himself, Confessions of a Mormon Boy, Apparition, Lord Buckley in the Zam Zam Room, Fascinating Aida's Absolutely Fascinating, Pugilist Specialist and A Tale of a Tiger, the New York Music Theatre Festival (2006 & 2007) and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals (2005-2007), among others. In addition to its management activities, The Splinter Group produced the UK premier of Joe Calarco's critically acclaimed Shakespeare's R&J. The production transferred to London's West End for a ten-week engagement before touring the UK. In 2006 The Splinter Group received a Drama Desk Award for producing Christine Jorgensen Reveals. The production was a critical smash Off-Broadway and at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and has toured to Dublin and Boston. Mr. Goldstein previously served as Associate Artistic Director and Managing Director of Manhattan Ensemble Theater. Along with the company's Artistic Director, Seth produced award-winning productions of Golda's Balcony, Kafka's The Castle and Hank Williams: Lost Highway, as well as H. Leivick's The Golem and Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (in association with the Glasgow Citizens Theatre). He has produced, directed and developed new works for the stage including the developmental workshops of Avenue Q. Mr. Goldstein was the Artistic Associate for the York Theatre Company from 1999-2000, and was involved in the development and production of over 30 new musicals and plays at that institution. Seth is a graduate of Ithaca College and the Commercial Theatre Institute. He lectures on theatre production and management at Ithaca College, is an Affiliate Member of the Broadway League and serves on the Board of Directors of the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers.

Adam Hess manages the Daryl Roth Theatre, DR2 Theatre and D-Lounge Cabaret. General Management credits include Love, Loss, And What I Wore, The Divine Sister, Through The Night, Dear Edwina, The Temperamentals, Die! Mommie! Die!, Sandra Bernhard: Everything Bad & Beautiful, Vigil, Esoterica, Manuscript and Thom Pain. Education: M.F.A. (Columbia University), and a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre (University of Michigan). Hailing from Toronto, Adam currently serves on the Board of Directors for the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.