Industry Pro

As we hit the final stretch ahead of the Tony Awards, this week we’re including the first in a series of guest essays from the producers of the Best Production nominees, with this installment from Tommy producers Stephen Gabriel and Ira Pittelman.

In California, a victory for AEA in their recent union election at Disneyland means the character and parade performers at the resort will be joining the actors union, while in Minnesota, the Guthrie faces further financial challenges after a reported $3.8 million shortfall during the 2023 fiscal year.

In California, the continued momentum of the labor movement from last year continues on as dates are now set for the union election at Disneyland Resort in California. Job shuffles continue in key leadership positions, and Mark Morris Dance Group shows that dancers are athletes as part of a new show on ESPN+.

As awards season gets fully underway with the Tony Award Nominations announced last week, and the Lortel Awards last night, the industry gets ready to celebrate the incredible work on the New York stage this past season - a season crowded with celebrities, big revivals, and exciting new shows.

Reports from both New Zealand and the United States show that not only is participation in the arts not waning, there is a large population that holds an interest in engaging with the arts. The question emerges of how best to reach these audiences with the right information and prices that can turn them from being curious to regular attendees.

Charleston Stage has a new Managing Director, and Dallas Theater Center has a new interim Artistic Director. Along with these movements of the regional leadership carousel, Seattle Opera has introduced a new Artistic Ambassador, a role designed to help bridge the gap between the stage and the community, and foster new audiences.

As news of additional cuts comes from more councils in the UK, in the US, a new piece of legislation looks to support the still struggling live entertainment industry as it emerges into the new normal. As evidence of the need for such action, we’ve got stories about layoffs at a New Jersey NPR station, as well as another urgent fundraising plea.

In a sign of an industry on the rebound, Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles is getting ready to announce a return of programming at the Mark Taper Forum, where production was paused last year while the organization went through a budget crunch. Additionally, following the casting of a Black actress in the role of Juliet, an upcoming West End production of Romeo and Juliet from the Jamie Lloyd Company started dealing with racist backlash online - we’ll show you how the company responded.

This week, stories abound about the impact funding can have on the arts - from the UK, an editorial about how the collapse of funding for the creative industry was predictable. In the US, we have stories of large gifts making a huge impact - no-cost rentals at 59E59 - as well as changes to the way Florida is apportioning their arts budget.

The storm of openings has begun on Broadway, as we prepare for what will be an even busier April leading into the conclusion of the 2023-2024 Broadway season. Amidst that storm, great work continues off-Broadway, as Cara Joy David reminds us when she pays a visit to Dead Outlaw.

As the unionization wave continues to move through theatrical workers across the country, two developments last week highlighted the movement: the Public Theatre declined to voluntarily recognize the unionization effort of their workers, and workers at the Goodman Theatre sought their own union affiliation.

After what has felt like weeks of covering cuts in funding to UK Arts budgets, some great news on two fronts from across the pond - a recent study of 2023 ticket buyers in the UK found that more than half of them were first time theatregoers.

As theatre marketers continue to try and find new ways to market their shows - and in a very crowded Broadway season new ways to break through the noise - there is a strong trend to chase the next shiny thing. One of those elements of marketing that is newer to the marketplace is the use of influencers.

The restructuring of the industry continues - in North Carolina, Raleigh has lost one of its major institutions (for the time being) as North Carolina Theater suspends their 2024 season and files for bankruptcy. The labor movement continues to notch wins in New York, as the Atlantic Theater workers have voted to join IATSE.

Another theatre has announced their closure, with Cutting Ball in San Francisco becoming the latest to look at their financial situation and decide that there was no viable path forward. We’ll have more coverage here and in our marketing update about the things that are working for theatres that have found a way to thrive in the new normal.

AEA members voted to authorize a strike against the Broadway League of the development agreement - while this doesn’t mean the union will call a strike, it does give them another bargaining chip in their ongoing negotiations with the League. Regionally, we have a lot of stories of announced retirements and new leaders stepping into roles.

Regionally, a few new leaders in high profile positions across the country - including Nicole A. Watson at Playwrights Center, Megwyn Sanders-Andrews at at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and Geneé Coreno at WAM. In the UK, a new union agreement for Equity and the ITC, and in Toronto, a tale of haves and have nots in the recovery.

This week, the NEA announced $32 million in grants to institutions across the country, and while these grants are going to be vitally important to the groups that received them, it is just a drop in the bucket to the economic impact that arts organizations have on their local communities.

January is often a rough month in the theater industry - there are fewer shows running, audiences are reluctant to venture out into the winter weather, there is typically a slate of Broadway closings, and companies are taking stock of their financial situation following the closure of (typically) popular holiday productions.

Cara Joy David explores the concerning trend that suburban audiences are less willing to travel into the city center to see shows due to a perceived increase in crime in the city, leaving audiences feeling less safe getting in and out of shows. In the UK, funding cuts force theatres to innovate in ways to stave off closure and grow their audience.

Cara Joy David looks at the stage door experience at the musicals currently running on Broadway, we check in with various insiders hopes for Broadway in 2024, and we look at Dallas and Denver - where the recovery has taken different paths. Across the pond, the National Theatre Wales deals with a complete funding cut from their arts council.

A few exciting data points to close out the year - the first being that Broadway audiences this past season were younger and more diverse than in seasons past. This is a bright spot in a season that saw a bumpy box office. A new study from SMU DataArts also looked at the amount of funding that went out to arts organizations during the pandemic.

The transformation continues to be global - after US based writers and actors won concessions from the film industry, stage performers in Australia are looking to increase their own pay. In response to funding changes at the government level, the English National Opera is moving out of London and heading to Manchester.

Cara Joy David dives into the eligibility decision surrounding Gutenberg!, and some good news on the regional front - success in one of the emergency fundraising campaigns at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Not only were they able to save their season, but exceeded their goal in a way that makes future planning possible and the full staff has been retained.

This week in the newsletter, we’ve got a look at how high schools can win a chance to be the first to produce Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cara Joy David takes us through the recent ruling in the Hal Luftig Company bankruptcy, and the Wall Street Journal takes a look at how some regional theatres are thriving in a challenging environment.