All stories by Ken Davenport on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

How often do the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Winners predict the Tony Award winners? by Ken Davenport

It’s inevitable. When you have a set of awards that precede a bigger set of awards, people start asking . . . “Does the winner of the first mean that they are a shoe-in for the s…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 2, 2014

How much does Broadway impact the New York City economy? by Ken Davenport

Boom. That sound you heard was the massive amount of monetary impact Broadway has on the New York City economy. The latest financial ramification report was released last week by the Broadwa…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 1, 2014

The Most Popular Posts of the Month: May by Ken Davenport

Time for that monthly summary of what got your attention last month here at The Producer's Perspective: The most read post of the month: And the nominees for the 1st annual Ghostlight Awa…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 10:45AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 30, 2014

We lost a labor-er of love. by Ken Davenport

If you asked a bunch of Broadway Producers why they got into the theater business, you’d hear a long litany of responses . . . and you know what wouldn’t be anywhere on that list…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 29, 2014

Want to know the secrets of Off Broadway casting? by Ken Davenport

I don’t have them. But, I know some people that do. And those secret-holders are gonna be featured on a panel this coming Sunday, June 1st, sponsored by our good ol’ friends at t…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 28, 2014

End of Q4 and FINAL results for Broadway's 2013-14 season. by Ken Davenport

To quote Queen, “Another one bites the dust!  And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust!” The one I’m referring to, of course, is the Broadw…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Winners of the First Annual Ghostlight Awards Are . . . by Ken Davenport

Sweet Jumpin’ You-Know-Who! We got almost four thousand votes for the first annual Ghostlight Awards! I just love it.  It just shows how much support and love there is for those …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 26, 2014

Why today's blog isn't that interesting. by Ken Davenport

I try to come up with ideas for blogs . . . well, I try to come up with them all the time.  And I have what I think are some good ones lined up for the next week or so (including one abou…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 23, 2014

Only Cameron can recoup a show the day after it opens. by Ken Davenport

The London revival of Miss Saigon opened this past Wednesday night. 24 hours later, Producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that it had already recouped. I mean, wowza. I’ve been a pa…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 22, 2014

No matter what you think, you can't get away with it. by Ken Davenport

I’m predicting a new Law & Order SVU-like spin-off.  Law & Order:  CCU (Cyber Crimes Unit). One of their first “ripped from the headlines” plots would be this…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 21, 2014

My personal request to Tony Award Winners. by Ken Davenport

Yesterday’s blog, as well as my acceptance speech for last year’s Broadway.com Audience Award for Macbeth, was about paying respect to those above-the-title producers out t…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Will we have two types of Tony Awards? by Ken Davenport

First there was last year’s NY Times article about the rising cost of the Tony Award (and I’m not talking about how expensive it is to produce a show that wins a Tony Award or th…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 19, 2014

And the nominees for the 1st annual Ghostlight Awards are . . . by Ken Davenport

Ok, so . . . I had a feeling the Ghostlight Awards would be popular (a job of a producer is to do things that they think are going to be popular, of course), but I had no flippin’ idea…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 16, 2014

Why You've got to to be Faster with your Marketing. Part II by Ken Davenport

Yesterday, I talked about how I was inspired by a comment from a social media panel that discussed the importance of speed in modern marketing, especially in terms of social media. And wh…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 15, 2014

In Today's Marketing Market, You've got to Find a Way to be Faster. Part I by Ken Davenport

One of Tuesday more fascinating panels at the Broadway League Conference was one entitled, Equip Your Army; Why Content is King, and featured a troop of social media experts from YouTube,…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Overheard at The Broadway League Conference: Day 1 by Ken Davenport

Yesterday was the very first day of the annual Broadway League Spring Road Conference, when all the members of the Broadway League are invited to NYC to share in three days of seminars and s…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Will Phantom ever be Revived? by Ken Davenport

The original 1957 Broadway production of West Side Story was a big hit.  It ran 732 performances. Music Man, which bested it for the Tony Award, ran 1,375 performances. The original…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 12, 2014

The Spanish are Coming! The Spanish are Coming! by Ken Davenport

Recent research reports indicate that a whopping 37 million people in the US speak Spanish in the home, making this Latino-language the most spoken non-English language in this country, by m…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 9, 2014

Fun on a Friday: Ever wonder what Marlon Brandon put in his Bio? by Ken Davenport

Sometimes I think choosing what to put in your bio for a new show can be more stressful than the opening itself!  Do you include that Off Off Broadway show?  Do you thank your paren…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 8, 2014

Alan Jay Lerner Responded to my Blog from the Grave by Ken Davenport

One of my readers is a Medium. No, I’m not talking about his t-shirt size.  I mean, he hears the voices of Dead People.  And after last week’s blog about Adaptations (which…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Broadway's Seasonal Sales Rollercoaster: Is there a yearly pattern? by Ken Davenport

Everyone knows that January/February and back-to-school September are tough times for Broadway box offices.  When I’m producing a show, I call these traditional sales slump perio…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 6, 2014

It's Tony Pool Time! Make Ur Predictions and win $500 in Broadway Theater Tickets! by Ken Davenport

Ok, it’s time to get past the talk of who was nominated and who wasn’t nominated and how there really should have been five nominees for Best Musical (couldn’t resist, sorr…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 5, 2014

Grease is the word, is the word, is the televised word! by Ken Davenport

Business Rule #679:  If your competition does something successfully, do something similar. It’s not the most original business axiom in the book, (I’d rather be a business le…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 2, 2014

Sometimes bad things happen to good shows. by Ken Davenport

This blog is all about trying to crack the Broadway code.  What can we do to increase our odds of success?  Research?  New economic models?  Stars? All of that analysis is essent…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 1, 2014

Some startling new statistics on Broadway Musical Adaptations vs. Original Shows. by Ken Davenport

One of my more popular blogs over the years was this ol’ chestnut from back in 2008 (!) about adaptations on Broadway, and specifically the number of movies being turned into musicals.…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]

The Most Popular Posts of the Month: April by Ken Davenport

Time for that monthly summary of what got your attention last month here at The Producer's Perspective: The most read post of the month: Announcing the first ever Ghostlight Awards " for …

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 10:45AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Need a map to success? Follow the road others have traveled. by Ken Davenport

There’s a point in almost every entrepreneur and artist’s life when they feel stuck.  You know what I’m taking about, don’t you?  You’re at a point in you…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 29, 2014

My reactions to the 2013-14 Tony Nominations. by Ken Davenport

Three things you can count on:  death, taxes, and the Tony Award Nominations being all over the map. As usual, this morning’s noms caused the usual amount of jumping up and down,…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]

The Official 2014 Tony Award Nominations by Ken Davenport

Here are this year's Tony Award nominations: Best Play Act One All The Way Casa Valentina Mothers and Sons Outside Mullingar Best Musical After Midnight Aladdin Beautiful – The C…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 09:14AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 28, 2014

My predictions to the 2013-14 Tony Nominations by Ken Davenport

I’ve been around for some nervous awards seasons, but nothing tops this one.  The sheer volume of competition this year has made the nomination announcements seem like the actual aw…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 25, 2014

Clive Davis thinks our new musicals stink. by Ken Davenport

In a new advertisement, uh I mean article, in the Hollywood Reporter, the legendary music producer Clive Davis took the new Broadway musicals of the last couple of decades to task in an effo…

SOURCE: The Producer's Perspective at 11:00AM[SHARE]

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