Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Producer's Perspective Podcast with Ken Davenport

One of the most fun and most productive events we had this year was our “Take Charge of Your ’21” Challenge in January. Over 500 TheaterMakers joined us to hear tips and strategies on how to have your best year yet from super successful people in the business. We learned how to crush writer’s block, how to squeeze a few more hours into each day for your REAL work (not that day job work), how to increase your confidence . . . and more. We got such great feedback on this free event that we decided to do it again! But better. 🙂 I’m proud to share our free “Places, Please” Challenge which will kick your theatermaking in high gear! Why now? Two reasons. First, I don’t know about you, but even though I’ve been out of school for (mumble, mumble) years, I STILL think the start of the school year is the start of a NEW YEAR for me. So what better time than RIGHT NOW to re-evaluate where we are, and develop a plan on how to accomplish all that we want to accomplish as we sprint toward the end of the year. Second, this is a PIVOTAL time for the theater and for theater-making. First, we’re finally opening up again. So not only do we need to be ready to get out of the zoom rooms and into a rehearsal room again, but I believe that a renaissance is around the corner. And that means opportunities. Opportunities for more new voices in the theater than ever before.  And you want to be ready, right? I mean . . . we just went through a crapper of a year. Well, the sun is coming out tomorrow, so let’s take advantage of it. That’s why I assembled some of the smartest and most motivational and inspirational theatermakers I know to give you strategies on how to be ready for the renaissance. And they are all coming to you for free as part of the “Places, Please” challenge! Referenced in this episode: Check out the TheaterMakers Summit: www.theatermakerssummit.com The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most fun and most productive events we had this year was our “Take Charge of Your ’21” Challenge in January. Over 500 TheaterMakers joined us to hear tips and strategies on how to have your best year yet from super successful people in the business. We learned how to crush writer’s block, how to squeeze a few more hours into each day for your REAL work (not that day job work), how to increase your confidence . . . and more. We got such great feedback on this free event that we decided to do it again! But better. 🙂 I’m proud to share our free “Places, Please” Challenge which will kick your theatermaking in high gear! Why now? Two reasons. First, I don’t know about you, but even though I’ve been out of school for (mumble, mumble) years, I STILL think the start of the school year is the start of a NEW YEAR for me. So what better time than RIGHT NOW to re-evaluate where we are, and develop a plan on how to accomplish all that we want to accomplish as we sprint toward the end of the year. Second, this is a PIVOTAL time for the theater and for theater-making. First, we’re finally opening up again. So not only do we need to be ready to get out of the zoom rooms and into a rehearsal room again, but I believe that a renaissance is around the corner. And that means opportunities. Opportunities for more new voices in the theater than ever before.  And you want to be ready, right? I mean . . . we just went through a crapper of a year. Well, the sun is coming out tomorrow, so let’s take advantage of it. That’s why I assembled some of the smartest and most motivational and inspirational theatermakers I know to give you strategies on how to be ready for the renaissance. And they are all coming to you for free as part of the “Places, Please” challenge! Referenced in this episode: Check out the TheaterMakers Summit: www.theatermakerssummit.com The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I arrived in New York City during the Golden Age of Off-Broadway. Forever Plaid, Nunsense, And The World Goes Round, Cryptogram, Family Secrets, and more, were a few of the shows running in theaters under 499 seats . . . in commercial productions! And many actually recouped!   Referenced in this episode: The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About the podcast: After 6 years of podcasting with one style, we're shaking it up here - no guests! Just me! I'm giving you micro-episodes with my perspective on Broadway and the comeback on Broadway. About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca Taichman is a theatre director. In 2017 she received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Indecent. She is an affiliated artist at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C, where she has directed Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night (2008), The Winter's Tale and Cymbeline (2011). She has directed several Shakespeare plays at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. Other plays she has directed include Dead Man's Cell Phone, The Scene, Milk Like Sugar, The Oldest Boy, Familiar, and How to Transcend a Happy Marriage. Through years of determination, steadfastness, ego-checking, and intense collaboration, she took her wisp of an idea . . . and forged it into a Broadway play called Indecent. And then the universe thanked her with a Tony. Tune in to hear what kept her going through those years, as well as: How being objective about her performing and writing is one of the reasons she’s a success. What question she asks herself about a play before she signs on to direct it. Straddling the line between wanting to direct great plays while trying to make a living. What it’s like on her first day of rehearsal. The difference between being a woman director yesterday . . . and today. Has it changed? Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Lindsay-Abaire is a playwright, lyricist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole, which also earned several Tony Award nominations. His first theatrical success came from Fuddy Meers, which was workshopped as part of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in 1998 and eventually premiered Off-Broadway in 1999. He also wrote Kimberly Akimbo, Snow Angel, A Devil Inside, and Wonder of the World. He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Shrek the Musical and received a 2009 Tony Award nomination for Book of a Musical.He has written the screenplays for Robots, Inkheart, Poltergeist, the film adaptation of his play Rabbit Hole, Rise of the Guardians, and Oz the Great and Powerful. David told me the story of how he went from a guy in high school whose friends made him write a play, to a playwrighting student at Juilliard, to the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, and more on this week’s podcast. We also chatted about: How his first play was a rip-off . . . and why. What he looks for when he reads plays from prospective Juilliard students, and how he usually knows in 3 minutes whether a writer has got “it” or not. Why early readers of his work didn’t respond to Rabbit Hole and why. How he uses “office hours” to meet his many deadlines. His writing group that has existed for over a decade, and how it has helped him succeed.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nelle Nugent is an independent Broadway producer. She has overseen productions such as Amadeus, Morning's at Seven, The Elephant Man, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Dracula; awards she has won includes Tonys for all five listed shows. She and producer John Schwally started the east coast chapter of the Producers Guild of America in 2001. Nelle Nugent has produced more than 60 Broadway, touring, Off-Broadway and West End productions including: Home, The Dresser, All's Well that Ends Well, Time Stands Still, Sly Fox (revival), The Trip to Bountiful American Buffalo (revival), and Latin History for Morons.   I was lucky enough to get to sit down with Nelle to talk to her about some of her biggest hits and how Broadway has changed since her days as a PA, as well as . . . What can make a great play fail. How raising money for Broadway has changed over the last fifty years. What she did to overcome the resistance she got for being a female Producer. The chance encounter that led her to produce Dracula and WHY it became a hit (Hint: it didn’t have anything to do with what was on the page.). When reviews matter and when they do NOT. What we often forget is that Broadway is not that old of an industry, and people like Nelle helped lay the foundation for the work we’re all doing now. We not only owe Producers like her a debt of gratitude, but if we listen closely to how they got where they are today, we might just learn how to get to where we want to be tomorrow.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lisa Kron is an actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book to the musical Fun Home for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Fun Home was also awarded the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015 and the 2014 Obie Award for writing for musical theater. Alison Bechdel's acclaimed graphic novel/memoir Fun Home serves as the basis for the musical. Her major works also include 2.5 Minute Ride, Well, and In the Wake. Performances include roles in her own shows such as Fun Home, and 2.5 Minute Ride, and other shows such as All My Hopes and Dreams, and Brides of the Moon. Lisa and I talked about her entrepreneurial and unexpected journey in the theater including . . . Her #1 rule to success: if a door opened, and she was scared, she forced herself to step through it. (Words to live by.) Why her early writing horrified her. And how she got better. How performing stand-up helped hone her stage writing. Being mistaken for a seat-filler at the Tony Awards . . . the year she was nominated! Who young writers should be trying to connect to in order to have a successful career (hint: it’s NOT who you think). Why trying to increase diversity in terms of gender and race is like looking for your keys. (This is such a brilliant analogy – only a Tony Award-winning writer could come up with it, so make sure you listen.) Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warren Leight is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and television producer. He is best known for his work on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Lights Out and as the showrunner for In Treatment and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. His play Side Man was a finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Warren is one of the few playwrights that can go so easily from stage to screen . . . and that’s all about how he started writing in the first place. See he started because he wanted to be a sports writer, and then . . . wait . . . I’m giving it away. Just listen to the podcast and hear Warren talk about: How a lie about loving horror movies led to him writing one . . . and why you might want to fib a little too. Why he binge writes. The importance of joining a Writer’s Group and how it helped him. Why the deadlines of TV help make him a better writer . . . and how you can use deadlines to accomplish your goals, whether you have a TV network demanding a script or not. How he wrote Side Man without realizing he was writing it . . . and what it was like after he won The Tony (and it’s not what you think).   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Korie is a librettist and lyricist whose writing for musical theater and opera includes the musicals Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven, and the operas Harvey Milk and The Grapes of Wrath. His works have been produced on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and internationally. His lyrics have been nominated for the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award. In 2016, Korie was awarded the Marc Blitzstein Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Michael Korie, the lyricist of Grey Gardens, War Paint, and more, talked about the similarities between writing for the theatre and for the papers, as well as . . . Why he does so much research for his shows and why you should too. The biggest mistake beginning songwriters make . . . and it’s an easy one to fix. Why he never speaks his lyrics out loud when working with a composer on a song. Rhyme . . . and the purpose of it, and how to use it for the greatest impact. A secret method to making sure a song that you love stays in your show. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Burstein is an actor of stage and screen, who made his Broadway debut in 1992. He is a six-time Tony Award nominee; for The Drowsy Chaperone, South Pacific, Follies, Golden Boy, Cabaret, and Fiddler on the Roof. He has also won two Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, and received three Grammy Award nominations. His other Broadway credits include The Seagull, Saint Joan, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. His television work includes Absolutely Fabulous, Louie, Law & Order, and Boardwalk Empire. His film appearances include Transamerica, Deception, The Family Fang, and Indignation.   During our chat, Danny gave me some insight into his process and where Actors fit into the development of shows as well as . . . The difficult decision of turning down big-time Broadway chorus roles, because he never wanted to be in the chorus, even though he needed the $. Why he reads scripts 50-100 times before rehearsals begin. When Writers and Directors should listen to Actors and why. How to get Danny to do your show. Why he thinks of himself like a Plumber. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles LaPointe is a theatrical hair and wig designer with work in more than 50 Broadway shows including Holiday Inn, On Your Feet!, Hamilton, The Color Purple, Of Mice and Men, Violet, Side Show, The Elephant Man, After Midnight, Beautiful, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, Motown, Jekyll & Hyde, Clybourne Park, Bring It On, Newsies, Memphis, Lombardi, Fences, In the Heights, Jersey Boys, and A Raisin in the Sun. Charles gave me a master class in Hair Design in this podcast, and since I have a feeling this is an area you may not know the most about either, I encourage you to listen in as we chat about: How he learned by doing, not by studying, and why this is important no matter WHAT you want to do in life, from making wigs to making musicals. Where do they get all the hair for these wigs anyway? (I call this the “Cosette Question” – or “Do people really sell their hair on the streets?”) The process of designing a wig and how long it takes (not to mention why it is so expensive). Why do we need wigs on Broadway anyway when so many actors have fantastic hair? How a wig helps an actor find a character and how the hair plays into the storytelling of a show. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sergio Trujillo is a dancer and stage choreographer. He was the recipient of the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis and the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud. He made his Broadway debut as a performer in Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989 and also appeared in Guys and Dolls, Victor/Victoria, and Fosse. He made his choreographic debut with All Shook Up in 2005. He also choreographed the Broadway productions of The Addams Family, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Leap of Faith, and Guys and Dolls. Other stage credits include Invisible Thread, Bare: A Pop Opera, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.    We spent some time talking about his path from a poor kid from Colombia to the Tony Nominated choreographer of Jersey Boys and others, as well as . . . How he got the courage to audition for a dance show, having never taken a dance class in his life. Why instead of staying in NYC, he moved back to Toronto to start his choreography career. The part of the process he loves the most (and why he’s a nervous wreck before he gets to this part in a show’s development). His message to the politicians in NYC. What he looks for in a show before he sets a step.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walter Bobbie is a theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series. He directed the long-running revival of the musical Chicago, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. As a performer, he was in Grease, the revival of Going Up, and the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. He also directed the Broadway productions of Footloose, Twentieth Century, a Sweet Charity revival, and High Fidelity. He co-wrote and directed a new musical, The Road to Hollywood. Bobbie was the artistic director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series in 1995 and 1996.   Walter and I talked about Chicago and why it became such a monster success, along with . . . How he knew he wasn’t long for life as an actor (warning: this story involves beer). The “Brunch Show” on the Upper West Side that started his career . . . and the person who hired him for the gig. (Spoiler Alert: that person was himself.) The training he got by NOT going through traditional training. How he exercised his Producing muscles to build Encores! at City Center. The importance of a “safe room” for his actors on any play. Have you played the Be A Broadway Star board game? Be A Broadway Star the popular Broadway board game that puts YOU in the spotlight! Pick up yours at: www.beabroadwaystar.com.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the beginning of the pandemic, I called everyone I knew for advice. I’m talking big time theater people, as well as big time business people. I got amazing advice. And it reminded me how important it was to ask for advice from others who are at places in their lives where you want to be. (And not just from a business “producer’s perspective” . . . but from a family perspective, a health perspective, a spiritual perspective, and more.) One of the best pieces of advice I got was . . . “Ken, the people and companies who are going to come out of this ahead are the ones who are going to make use of this time.” Referenced in this episode: The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About the podcast: After 6 years of podcasting with one style, we're shaking it up here - no guests! Just me! I'm giving you micro-episodes with my perspective on Broadway and the comeback on Broadway. About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sheryl Kaller is a theatrical director. She has Broadway credits that include Mothers and Sons and Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Director. She has directed at many theatres including Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, The New Group, Pasadena Playhouse, Primary Stages, Williamstown Theatre Festival, American Conservatory Theater, New York Stage and Film, Geffen Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Naked Angels. She told me her story and gave me her perspective on all things including: What Bob Fosse “fought for” in his direction, and how that inspired her. How she never felt like a female Director while she was in school . . . but only when she got into the business, and how that has changed (or not) since then. The day she got scolded by an Actor for being too prepared. And how that has affected her style since. How she got back into the business after deciding to take time off to raise her family (and how that made her a better and more successful Director). The process of pitching herself for a job . . . what she says to playwrights and Producers in order to earn their trust. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Lomma is a literary agent with William Morris Endeavor and former child actor. He represents authors, directors, lyricists, writers, and choreographers such as Terrence McNally, Arthur Laurents, and Edward Albee. We talked about what it was like working with such major writers like the triple-play above, as well as: What made him go to law school even though he was a child actor. Jonathan’s theory of how musicals changed after 2001. How an emerging writer gets on his radar. His favorite quote about working closely with people on the “other side” of the table. And more.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pam MacKinnon is a theatre director. She has directed for the stage Off-Broadway, on Broadway and in regional theatre. She won the Obie Award for Directing and received a Tony Award nomination, Best Director, for her work on Clybourne Park. In 2013 she received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for a revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She directed multiple shows for Edward Albee including Peter and Jerry, Occupant, A Delicate Balance, and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Other shows she has directed include Amélie, and The Parisian Woman.  Here’s a statistical truth bomb for you: women direct only about 17% of the shows on Broadway. How do I know that? Pam MacKinnon has been keeping track. Pam is already one of the few female A-list directors that make up that unbalanced percentage, having directed as many shows on Broadway as any woman out there (only Stroman has her beat). But that doesn’t mean she’s not determined to help others get to where she is today. During our podcast, we talked about what we can all do to even the playing stage, as well as . . . How she went from pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science to a career in directing. Why a Director often has to act like a Producer (hear the story of how she had to negotiate Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf into existence). Why Broadway shows not slated for Broadway that end up there have an advantage. How she developed her own style, which is different than everyone else’s and why yours should be different too. Her method for approaching classic material and making it her own.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catherine Zuber is a costume designer for the Broadway theater and opera, among other venues. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, and has been referred to as "one of theater's most sought-after costume designers on both coasts." Her Broadway credits include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Tony nomination), Born Yesterday (Tony nomination), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Cry-Baby, Dracula, Frozen, Twelfth Night (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Ivanov, Triumph of Love (Drama Desk nomination), The Sound of Music and The Red Shoes among others. She has designed costumes for some 57 Off-Broadway plays and musicals including The Cherry Orchard (2009), The Winter's Tale (2009), As You Like It (2010), The Tempest (2010) and Richard III (2012). During our Saturday morning chat, Catherine and I did NOT talk about threading needles, but we did talk about: How she was terrible at sewing when she started . . . and that did NOT impact her ability to design. Why her favorite costumes aren’t the most beautiful. Technology’s impact on costume design . . . for better, but also for worse! Why costumes for the theater are so much different than costumes for film. How 21st-century playwrights are changing how designers must create clothes. Listen in to Ms. Zuber school me on costume design, and I promise, no matter where costume design ranks on your list of “Theater Things You Know,” it’ll go up after this thirty-five minute Tony winner’s master class. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jerry Zaks is a stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Guys and Dolls. He made his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Grease and made his directing debut with the off-Broadway production of Beyond Therapy. He has also directed many other productions such as Girl Crazy, Stairway to Paradise, 101 Dalmatians Musical, and the Broadway production of Sister Act. His screen credits include Outrageous Fortune, and Husbands and Wives. He received the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater in 1994. He’s the go-to guy if you’ve got a musical that’s supposed to make people laugh. And we talked about what it takes to make people slap their knees, as well as . . . How he agreed to direct a show even though he didn’t know what directing really was. The best advice he ever got, which made him change his attitude overnight. Why his rehearsal rooms are CLOSED to everyone but the actors. How (and why) Guys and Dolls wasn’t working and what he and his choreographer did to fix it. What a show has to do within its first ten minutes, or it’s sunk. Once on This Island, Winner of the 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, is the sweeping, universal tale of Ti Moune, a fearless peasant girl in search of her place in the world, and ready to risk it all for love. Check it out here: onceonthisisland.com Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Douglas Hughes is an American theatre director. He has directed both Off-Broadway and on Broadway. Hughes worked for 12 years as the associate artistic director of Seattle Repertory Theatre, from 1984 to 1996. As a Resident Director of the Roundabout Theatre, he has directed many plays for the Roundabout, including The Big Knife and Mrs. Warren's Profession. He directed Doubt: A Parable Off-Broadway and on Broadway, for which he won the 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play, and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. Other directing credits include Death Takes a Holiday, Inherit the Wind, Outside Mullingar, The Father, and Junk: The Golden Age of Debt.  What surprised me about this podcast, was how Doug didn’t start off wanting to be a Director or even in the theater at all (despite the theatrical heritage he comes from) . . . and how coming about his career as a last resort helped him develop even greater skills than studying it from birth. Listen in to this podcast to hear Doug talk about that, as well as: Why his research for plays gets him a lot of frequent flyer miles. How directing a play is like a lawyer trying a case. What his biggest responsibility is when working with Actors. How he gets feedback, and what he does with it, including sometimes ignoring it. How being a scientist is like being a Director. The War of Art is a terrific book by Steven Pressfield. It’s about overcoming resistance, and getting down to your business, which is the business of art. One of Steven’s key points was how you should become a “pro.” The difference between an amateur and a pro is all about the attitude of the professional, and it made me think of our own site, The Producer's Perspective Pro, which we just revamped. Check it out at theproducersperspectivepro.com and make sure you read The War of Art.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Hoebee is a producing artistic director at the Paper Mill Playhouse and has been since 2000. Under his leadership, Paper Mill was presented with the Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2016 and in recent years launched such noteworthy projects as the world premieres of Newsies, Honeymoon in Vegas, Ever After, Bandstand, A Bronx Tale, The Honeymooners, My Very Own British Invasion, and The Sting, as well as the American premieres of the 25th Anniversary Production of Les Misérables, and Stephen Schwartz’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the national tour of The Bodyguard. He has directed national tours of Victor/Victoria, Dreamgirls, Company, and An Evening of Lerner and Loewe. His directing credits at Paper Mill include West Side Story; Beauty and the Beast; Annie; Mary Poppins; Dreamgirls; Hello, Dolly!; The King and I; Miss Saigon; Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Oliver!; Damn Yankees; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Curtains; and The Full Monty.  Tune in to this week’s podcast to hear what it’s like to run one of the most powerful regional theaters within kick-ball-change distance of Broadway as well as . . . What Broadway had to do with the Paper Mill’s recession. How he looked at himself as an audience member, not an Artistic Director, in order to program his seasons. Working with commercial producers on out-of-town tryouts. Why Cameron Mackintosh started stumping for Paper Mill. The difference between the relationship with the consumer on Broadway versus the consumer at a Regional Theater, and how we can learn from each other. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Rafael is a ticket analyst and owner of NEXUS, a ticketing solutions company that helps “Broadway sell the right ticket to the right person at the right time”. He works with Broadway and theatrical productions on ticket inventory management, pricing strategies, developing new sales channels and marketing/promotions. His clients include Wicked, War Paint, Gettin’ the Band Back Together. Listen in to today’s podcast for Mike’s expert advice on how to price your shows as well as: Why he learned what he knows from working Off-Broadway. How the price of your ticket tells a story about your show. The very first thing he does when he takes on a client. What he thinks about papering during previews. His idea of how we should work with the secondary market.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kwame Kwei-Armah is a British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. In 2005 he became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London. Kwei-Armah's award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2005. He became the chancellor of the University of the Arts in London on 7 March 2011. He has been the Artistic Director of the Baltimore Center Stage Theatre since 2011. His other works include voicing Mtambo in The Lorax, Fix Up, Blues Brother Soul Sister, Statement of Regret, Let There Be Love, Seize the Day, Beneatha's Place, and One Love: The Bob Marley Musical. Listen in to hear Kwame chat about his experience in Baltimore, his upcoming gig, as well as . . . Why a lack of jobs for him and his actor friends made him pick up a pen and write, even though he had never written a play before. How a mentor helped give him his start . . . and why we ALL need a mentor! Why he doubled down on studying and mastering writing AFTER he had a hit . . . (Most people would sit back and surf on their early success, but not Kwame.) How a political point influences all his writing . . . and then why he hides it. What the @#$% can we ALL do about diversity. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trip Cullman is a theatrical director who graduated from the Yale School of Drama. His Broadway credits include Six Degrees of Separation, and Significant Other. Other credits include Swimming in the Shallows, Bachelorette, Some Men, Bad Jazz, Arabian Night, Smashing, Dog Sees God, Dark Matters, The Last Sunday in June, and The Wooden Breeks. Regional credits include the World Premiere of Lloyd Suh's American Hwangap, the World Premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Injured Party at South Coast Rep, Keith Huff's A Steady Rain, and Lauren Weedman's Rash. Trip and I talked about how he got to the major leagues as well as . . . Why the first thing he does when he takes a job is make a mixtape! The super-secret, age-old blocking technique that you’ve got to try. What shocked him about directing on Broadway. Who he likes working with the most when he develops a new work (it’s not who you think). Why he reads reviews but doesn’t read chat boards.   The Tony Award-winning director of Urinetown returns to Broadway with Gettin’ The Band Back Together, a musical about a recently fired 40 year old man who wants to make it big with his band. Check it out here: gettinthebandbacktogether.com Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've been following The Olympics this year, or if you're on the internet, you probably heard Simone Biles withdrew from an individual all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Olympics in an effort to focus on her mental health and well-being, a decision which came one day after she removed herself from the team final. Tune into my personal reaction of this news and then how I believe we can apply this lesson to all of our lives as we look to reopen the live theater industry. Referenced in this episode: The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About the podcast: After 6 years of podcasting with one style, we're shaking it up here - no guests! Just me! I'm giving you micro-episodes with my perspective on Broadway and the comeback on Broadway. About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carl Pasbjerg is a director and manager. He is also the head of Alchemy Production Group along with senior General Managers, Marshall Purdy and Abbie Strassler, and Associate General Manager, Lauren Tucker. He has worked as a manager or producer on many shows, including Jekyll & Hyde, Guys and Dolls, Memphis, First Date, Doctor Zhivago, In Transit, and Come From Away  You’ll get an inside peek at his Broadway playbook in this podcast when the GM (and Producer of Come From Away) talks about: The difference between managing Broadway shows today versus twenty years ago (and it goes beyond just not having to use a “map”). Accountability . . . why he prides himself on it, and why it’s necessary. The first thing he does when he builds a budget (and you should too). When there’s a big storm brewing, what he has to do. The “new” out-of-town tryouts . . . how to get the most out of them.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyle Jarrow is a writer and rock musician. His writing career began in theater, winning an Obie Award in 2004 for A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, a satirical musical about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. His theatrical writing has been noted for its macabre humor and frequent incorporation of pop music. His first feature film was 2010 Sundance Film Festival NEXT selection Armless. He is the creator and executive producer of the military drama TV series Valor. Kyle wrote the book for SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Association Award. He is also a singer, songwriter, and keyboardist for the theatrical rock band Sky-Pony, a collaboration with his wife Lauren Worsham. It’s one thing to write for different mediums, it’s another to achieve success in each one of those mediums. I wanted to find out what his secret sauce was. Listen to hear him share the ingredients to that sauce as well as: How he got the job for SpongeBob (a process different than most musicals). What a bookwriter’s job really is, and how that changes with different collaborators. Why he wrote A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant, and how that got him into some trouble. How an idea informs what medium you should write it for. Just how the heck he keeps all these projects straight . . . and makes them successful! Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat Cook is a musical theatre composer, actor, and author, as well as the Director of Musical Theatre and Jazz for Broadcast Music, Inc. He worked for many years in his early career as an actor, appearing on Broadway in A Mother’s Kisses, in the National Tour of 1776, and Off-Broadway in Dark of the Moon and Early Morning. As a composer, he wrote the score for The Mandrake, and incidental music for Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It at Equity Library Theatre. I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet that has worked with so many musical theater writers, which is why I wanted Pat on my podcast, to share his wisdom on what it takes to make a great musical. He shared that, and then some, including: How and why he went from actor to writer. What makes a great musical theater writer, versus just a great writer. The most important thing that writers should do when they are writing a musical, and it doesn’t involve writing at all. Can any idea be a musical? The best way to collaborate with your co-writer. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Rand is among the most popular contemporary playwrights writing today, his stage plays having been performed over 23,000 times in theaters across 65 countries. According to an independent survey of American schools, his one-act comedy Check Please was the #1 most-produced short play every season for the last 15 years. A four-time Heideman Award finalist, his work is published by Random House, Stage Partners, Playscripts, Smith & Kraus, Dramatics magazine, and Macmilllan. He also served as CEO and co-founder of Playscripts, a publishing and performance licensing company for new stage plays and musicals. I’m not going to reveal all the secrets to how he built his career in this preamble to the podcast, so if you want the full story, you’ve got to listen in and hear Jonathan talk about: How entering a contest kicked-off his writing career. How a couple lines of HTML and ZERO expectations changed his life. What high schools are looking for when they decide to license a play. The day he founded Playscripts and why (the most successful artists I know have great business skills – and this is one of the best examples in our industry). How plays are discovered by the subsidiary market, how that’s going to change, and what you can do to get your stuff noticed. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Korins is a creative director and principal designer of his creative firm. He has been awarded an Emmy, Lortel Award, an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Design, two Drama Desk Awards, three Henry Hewes Design Awards, and three Tony Award nominations. His theatrical work includes Hamilton (Tony nomination), War Paint (Tony nomination), Dear Evan Hansen, Bandstand, Misery, Motown, Bring It On, Lombardi, and Passing Strange. He won an Emmy award for his production design work on Grease: Live!. He has designed concert stages for Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, and Andrea Boccelli. Because David has watched and interpreted great drama for so many different mediums, he can offer some very unique insights, including . . . Why a designer is like a therapist and a midwife and . . . THIS. How the evolution of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen were oh so different, but with the same sensational results. The key to success while a show is in previews. The big question he asks of himself whenever he designs a set . . . and that you MUST ask on your shows. The #1 skill that a designer needs.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kelly Leonard is an author, public speaker and theater producer. He is the Executive Vice President of The Second City and The President of Second City Theatricals. He has overseen productions with notable performers such as Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Adam McKay, Seth Meyers, Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis, Keegan Michael Key, and Amy Sedaris. In 2015, Leonard's first book "Yes And", co-written with Tom Yorton, was published. Listen to Kelly and I improv some Q&As on all subjects such as: What improv is great at . . . and where it fails. Is a dramatic improv possible? (Hear what happened when he tried one.) How improv has changed in the era of Political Correctness. The art of writing . . . FAST! And how to do it well. Why improv is being studied by academics and what it could mean for society’s future. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Passaro is a production stage manager. He has stage managed well over 100 shows, such as Evita, A Steady Rain, Impressionism, White Christmas, Phantom, Les Misérables, History Boys, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chicago, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cabaret, Pippin, Carousel, and Angels in America. When you’ve watched the development of so many shows from the PSM chair, you learn stuff that no one can teach in a classroom, or on a blog, which is why I was thrilled to sit down with Michael and let him share his wisdom on topics like . . . What the primary responsibility of a PSM actually is (can you guess?). The role of the Stage Manager in the creative development process. The advice he got (that he has on a piece of paper) that he can see every day that he passes on to his students . . . and now you. The best thing to learn if you want to be a Stage Manager. How saying “Yes” to a job he didn’t have a clue how to do led him to his successful career. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Kitt is a composer, conductor, orchestrator, and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He has also won a Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for American Idiot and Everyday Rapture. Other theatrical works include High Fidelity, If/Then, Bring It On, Freaky Friday (musical), 13, and From Up Here. He has also worked on projects outside of theater including the arrangements for multiple Green Day albums, Penny Dreadful, and Pitch Perfect 2. Tom Kitt’s story could be a movie. This podcast with Tom is like the DVD commentary on that movie. We had a frank conversation about his journey including: How to choose an idea to turn into a musical. How a “10 Minute Musical” exercise at BMI changed his life, and how you can use the same exercise. What he went through after High Fidelity closed quickly, and how he got back to work. Why he isn’t on social media. (Artists, take heed!) What he has learned from working with Green Day, Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles and so many pop-rock writers. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Jones is a British-American journalist and academic. He is the chief theater critic and Sunday culture columnist of the Chicago Tribune. Jones started his career as a critic in the 1980s by contributing film reviews, interviews, and reports for WCBE-FM in Columbus, Ohio. In 2014, he also became the director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute. Jones appears live on the news broadcast of CBS-2 Chicago as a weekly theater critic. In 2016, the New York Times cited Jones as an important reason that Broadway shows try-out in Chicago, noting the role his reviews have played in helping producers improve productions for New York runs. If you’ve ever gotten a bad review (which means everyone who has ever worked in this business), then you’ve probably dreamed about what the theater would be like without critics. Tune in and hear Chris chat about: The THREE words he has taped to his computer to remind him to do every time he writes a review. His role as an “Out-Of-Town” expert and the biggest issue he sees with developing shows (writers take heed!). What New York can learn from the Chicago theater scene and vice-versa. How he deals with “Critic Fatigue.” The role of the audience in the writer’s process (Ooooh, I loved his thoughts on this!).   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chazz Palminteri is an actor, screenwriter, producer and playwright. He is best known for his Academy Award-nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets over Broadway, the 1993 film A Bronx Tale, based on his play of the same name, Special Agent Dave Kujan in The Usual Suspects, Primo Sidone in Analyze This and his recurring role as Shorty in Modern Family. He is the author and once was the sole-performer for A Bronx Tale, an autobiographical story based on his childhood and the basis for the film and Broadway show.  Listen to this inspiring podcast and hear A Chazz Tale, along with: How he had to talk a mob guy out of taking out a guy he was understudying. Why he turned down an offer for one MILLION dollars for the rights to his story. What his show, Rocky, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding have in common . . . and more importantly, WHY. How his undiagnosed dyslexia forced him to learn in a different way, and why that helped his storytelling. Why A Bronx Tale works, no matter what medium it’s in (play, film, musical) and why that’s important for YOUR project. Chazz is not just the American Dream. He’s the Broadway Dream. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember infomercials? Late night shopping, 'as seen on TV' commercials? I discovered what worked with those commercials and how the most successful plays/musicals used a very similar technique. Referenced in this episode: The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About the podcast: After 6 years of podcasting with one style, we're shaking it up here - no guests! Just me! I'm giving you micro-episodes with my perspective on Broadway and the comeback on Broadway. About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Randy Buck is the CEO of Troika Organization for which he has produced over 50 productions across the globe. Before joining Troika in 1999, Mr. Buck was vice president and general manager for Livent in Toronto. While working for Livent, he managed productions such as Fosse, Ragtime, Show Boat, Music of the Night, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Mr. Buck was a stage manager for more than 20 years, surviving a year with Mary Martin & Carol Channing in Jimmy Kirkwood's Legends!, a year in Japan with Siegfried & Roy, opening The Phantom of the Opera Music Box Company and opening Show Boat! on Broadway. Listen in to hear Randy chat about . . . What a tour can mean for a show’s Broadway Investors. Why on the road, a good TV commercial can mean more than a good show. When you should plan your national tour. Can a show go on the road without a Broadway brand? An easy way to save money for touring productions. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Javerbaum is a comedy writer. He has won 13 Emmy Awards in his career, 11 of which he received for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He runs the popular Twitter account @TheTweetOfGod, an account known for its anti-established-religion tweets which served as the basis for his play An Act of God, which opened on Broadway in 2015 starring Jim Parsons, and again in 2016 starring Sean Hayes. Javerbaum was hired as a staff writer with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 1999. He was also one of the three principal authors of the show's textbook parody America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction. He left the show in 2010. In 2016 Javerbaum co-created the Netflix sitcom Disjointed with Chuck Lorre. He called in from his home in Hollywood and we talked comedy and drama and . . . How he decides whether an idea is a show, a TV show, book . . . or yes, a Twitter account. The most important skill he learned in graduate school. What he thinks about the current state of comedy on Broadway. The role of irony in writing. Ego . . . when to set it aside, and when NOT to.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Elliott is an artistic director and the founder of The New Group, a non-profit company with a commitment to developing and producing powerful, contemporary theater. He has directed shows such as Avenue Q, Present Laughter, The Three Sisters, Barefoot in the Park, and The Threepenny Opera. His company has produced shows such as Hurlyburly, This Is Our Youth, Buried Child, Rasheeda Speaking, and more. Scott and I chatted about where he got his “I’ll just figure it out” attitude on this week’s podcast, as well as: Why The New Group doesn’t want a Broadway Theater. What happened to commercial Off Broadway. Why you can’t be afraid of “no” when you’re raising money. Thinking about starting a theater company? Here’s his shocking opinion. The reaction he hates from audiences. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Irene Sankoff and David Hein are a Canadian librettist and composer-lyricist couple, best known for co-writing the Broadway musical Come From Away. After spending several years studying and working in New York the couple returned to Toronto where Hein wrote a song, "My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding", about his mother and her later life partner. Sankoff and Hein expanded the song into a play that became a hit at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2009 and then picked up by Mirvish Productions for a run at Toronto's Panasonic Theatre before touring Canada. As a result of My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding's success, theatre producer Michael Rubinoff approached Hein and Sankoff with his idea about a show based on Operation Yellow Ribbon in which residents of Gander, Newfoundland, housed 7,000 airline passengers who had been stranded at Gander Airport as a result of the grounding of all North American air flights following the September 11 attacks. The couple visited Gander in 2011 during the 10-year reunion of passengers and locals, and subsequently wrote Come from Away based on the stories they learned there. Listen in to hear them talk about… Why they became musical theater writers solely to spend more time together. The Rules they have as a writing team to make sure they stay married…and stay writing together (these are worth the price of this podcast alone!). How to stand up for your script against big time Broadway veterans when you’re a rookie, and its importance to your show’s success. Why they never thought that Come From Away would play Broadway, and how that attitude helped get the show here. The importance of a day job as you’re on your way to write for the theater… or do anything in the theater! Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sara Fitzpatrick is a marketer and founder of the advertising agency, Art House. She has been in charge of marketing for shows including Lennon, The Color Purple, Lestat, Stomp, A Chorus Line, The Times They Are A-Changin', and Come From Away. Her company also advertises for other businesses and events such as Rouge makeup salons, dance competitions and even the World Science Festival. Sara and I chat a lot. This time we recorded it. And now you can listen in as we talked . . . How she learned marketing from managing her dad’s restaurant. What she learned about selling theater tickets by setting up a booth in Malls on Long Island. Why a creative team should be involved with your marketing campaign . . . especially if you have no money. The biggest mistake big Broadway shows make in marketing, and how you can avoid making the same one. Will we be all digital soon? Or is there still room for print and TV? Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don Scardino is a television director and producer and a former actor. His first Broadway credit was as an understudy in The Playroom in 1965. Additional Broadway acting credits include Johnny No-Trump, Godspell, and King of Hearts. Off-Broadway he appeared in The Rimers of Eldritch, The Comedy of Errors, and Moonchildren. On television, he appeared on the daytime soap operas The Guiding Light, All My Children, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and Another World. Feature film credits include The People Next Door, Rip-Off, Homer, Squirm, Cruising and He Knows You're Alone. Following his acting on the network soap operas, he began to direct them. He directed episodes of Another World, One Life to Live, and All My Children.  He shared some great stories and some great tips you can apply to your career, as well as… How he literally knocked on doors to get his start in the biz. Why NOT getting the lead in a show ultimately led him to the career he has now. What “being nice” has to do with making it…or not. How Hollywood does a better job at THIS than Broadway…and what we can do to fix it. A simple and powerful lesson in acting on television for theater actors. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lia Vollack is a record executive. In 1974, she moved to New York City, where she would find work as a sound designer for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows such as On the Waterfront and The Heidi Chronicles; she continued working as a sound effects freelancer and music editor until 1997, when she was hired by Sony. She has since become the main force behind the release of soundtracks and film scores for films released by Sony Pictures. She is the creator of the record label Madison Gate, dedicated to publishing film music that might otherwise go unreleased, and has been named to the Billboard Power 100 list on multiple occasions. Lia runs the live entertainment arm of Sony Pictures, and I expect we’ll be hearing a lot from Lia and her corporate crew over the next decade. In the meantime, you’ll hear a lot from her on this podcast including . . . How being terrified as a child led her to fall in love with the theater. How graduating from high school at age 15 prepared her for a career in film and on Broadway. What Broadway can learn from the way Hollywood tests its products. The best place to train (literally!) if you want to be a Producer. (Hint: it ain’t college.) One of the best responses to the Genie question yet. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Fried is an accountant who provides service to hundreds of theatrical productions, both in the United States and abroad. He currently represents some of the most prominent and successful Broadway shows, such as School of Rock, Rent, and Hamilton, and also provides cross border planning to both domestic and foreign producers for theatrical productions and licensing. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), the NYSSCPA Tax Division and an affiliate member of the League of American Theatres and Producers.   He’s given me fantastic financial advice over the years, which is why I wanted you to hear his perspective on our business and where it’s headed. But we didn’t only talk numbers, we also talked about: The one skill that separates some Producers from others. What’s next for tax legislation on Broadway. The current administration . . . good or bad for Broadway. The most important part of any budget for any show on Broadway, Off Broadway or wherever. The London business model versus ours. Which one is better?   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nancy Gibbs is a producer and manager for theatrical shows. She won the Tony Award for Best Musical for her producer work in Fun Home. She also won a Drama Desk Award recently for Come From Away for Outstanding Musical, alongside her co-producer, Michael Alden. Other shows she has produced include Peter and the Starcatcher, All Shook Up, Man of La Mancha, The Big Bang, Smoke on the Mountain, and Over the River and Through the Woods. Off Broadway and its current state is just one of the things Nancy enlightened me about, along with . . . How one phone call started her career in New York. The secret to increasing a show’s subsidiary value. Why she won’t commission a show. Who the most important person is when developing a show from scratch. The challenges of adapting something from Hollywood for Broadway. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eva Price is a Tony Award-winning producer of Broadway plays, musicals and concerts, a member of The Broadway League's Board of Governors, and on the producing team of Killer Content and Abigail Disney's venture Level Forward. Shows she has produced include Dear Evan Hansen (six Tony Awards including Best Musical), On Your Feet!, Peter and the Starcatcher (five Tony Awards), Annie (Tony-Nominated Musical Revival), The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino, and The Addams Family. Off-Broadway shows include Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical; Drama Desk-nominated Found The Lion, and Small Mouth Sounds.    We talked about all things including: How being bored in the news business led to a career in producing. Why she’s glad her first show only ran 6 weeks and did NOT succeed. How she raised the very first money she ever raised . . . with a COLD call! The challenge of being a woman in this business . . . and being a woman Producer in this business. What the hardest part was about breaking into the Broadway business . . . you’ll be surprised by the answer. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early 2000s, I met with one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. We discussed the differences between the business models of theater and film. How Hollywood owned scripts instead of licensed them. How producers in Hollywood became hired guns after they proved themselves.   Referenced in this episode: The TheaterMakers Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theatermakersstudio Continue the conversation: www.instagram.com/kendavenportbway The Producer's Perspective: www.theproducersperspetive.com About the podcast: After 6 years of podcasting with one style, we're shaking it up here - no guests! Just me! I'm giving you micro-episodes with my perspective on Broadway and the comeback on Broadway. About me: Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and writer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.  He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.   Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte. Keep up with me @KenDavenportBway on Instagram. Check out my blog for daily content: www.theproducersperspective.com This episode was produced by Mary Dina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Ashford is a stage director and choreographer. He is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner. As a dancer, he made his Broadway debut in the 1987 Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes starring Patti LuPone. Productions of The Most Happy Fella, Crazy for You, My Favorite Year, Victor/Victoria, and Parade followed. He won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Choreography for the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Additional Broadway choreography credits include the Roundabout Theatre production of The Boys from Syracuse, The Wedding Singer, Curtains, Cry-Baby, and Evita. Off-Broadway credits include Pardon My English, Bloomer Girl, A Connecticut Yankee, and Time and Again. For television, Ashford has choreographed tributes to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Barbra Streisand, Jerry Hermann, Meryl Streep, Barbara Cook, Shirley MacLaine, and Tom Hanks for The Kennedy Center Honors. He was stage director and choreographer of NBC's live television presentation, The Sound of Music Live!, and Peter Pan Live! His resume is so diverse it reads like the resumes of five different guys, from all over the world. And I got that one guy to talk to us about . . . How he started dancing when he was 20. That’s right. Not 2 . . .20! Why it’s a natural progression for Choreographers to become Directors. The difference with working with stars and how he makes them look great . . . even if they’ve never worked on stage before! How he creates steps for a character . . .and how that has nothing to do with dancing. Why it’s good to be afraid. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Ellis is a stage director, actor, and television director. Before he became a director, Ellis was a successful stage actor; he performed on Broadway in the original casts of the 1980 original musical Musical Chairs and The Rink. He has been the Associate Artistic Director for the Roundabout Theatre since 1998. He has been nominated for the Tony Award as Best Director eight times: the revival of She Loves Me, Steel Pier, the revival of 1776, Twelve Angry Men, Curtains, the revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the revival of You Can't Take It with You, and another revival of She Loves Me. He received the 1991 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Director of a Musical, for And The World Goes Round. He won the Olivier Award as Best Director, Musical, for She Loves Me. He was the executive producer for the television drama Weeds on Showtime, and has directed television episodes of Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, 30 Rock, and Frasier. He received an Emmy Award nomination in 2007 for directing the episode "The Break Up" of the comedy series 30 Rock. Listen in and hear Scott tell all, including . . . How he got the courage (as a chorus boy!) to walk up to Kander and Ebb and ask to direct a revival of one of their shows . . . and what they said! Why he believes casting is 70% of a Director’s job. Why he loves to say, “I don’t know,” during rehearsals. What is in his will and how it can help YOU. The best lesson he ever learned about putting a show together.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Flahaven is the founding worldwide CEO of The Musical Company, a joint venture between Concord Music, now the fifth largest music company in the world, and The Really Useful Group, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s landmark production company. TMC handles theatrical licensing, music publishing, and cast recordings for theatre writers and producers—the first time such services have been combined. He supervised Warner’s worldwide theatrical producing and licensing, print/digital sheet music, and orchestral rental. He has had the privilege of working with Stephen Sondheim for 20 years. He has been a producer on 25 albums, 9 of which were nominated for Grammy Awards, including the Grammy-winning, triple-Platinum, chart-topping smash hit, Hamilton. He has produced or managed over 100 shows, concerts, workshops, and readings for landmark institutions on and off-Broadway and was General Manager and Director of Music and Marketing for Theatrical Rights Worldwide and a music editor for Music Theatre International and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.  Sean sat down and chatted with me about how he found his way from trombone player to CEO, as well as . . .  How working in politics helped him start a conversation with Stephen Sondheim. Why he felt an MFA was important to his future career. What all musical theater writers, from the big stars, to the unknowns, have in common. The challenge behind producing cast albums and what can be done about it. Why getting your show licensed is essential and tips on how to make it happen.   Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices