August-September, 2019 (The Summer Download)
We've been busy enjoying the summer, here's what we missed.
CHAPTER22(Theatre Owners)
Theatre Owners maintain an Operations team toensure that the physical venue is in working order and to certify that the house staff is well-trained and ready to assist patrons. Cleanliness is high on the list, as you might expect. The team also checks digital signage and marquees to make sure they’re in working order.Making the rounds helps put fresh eyes on the theatres to identify issues that could otherwise be missed, and being present with the house staff builds a better team.Each owner has their own procedures but the goal is toensure that Broadway theatergoers have the best experience possible.
CHAPTER22(Theatre Owners)
The Palace Theatre on the corner of West 47thSt. and Broadway (called “the most trafficked corner in the Western Hemisphere”), is currently closed due to a ridiculously adventurous and risky project titled “TSX Broadway”. The theatre and the entire building above it will be raised 3 stories in the air.According toBusiness Insider: "Twenty twocents of every tourist dollar is spent in Times Square. That level of commercialization is really powerful, for a brand to be able to be associated with a place that is authentic, that everybody has memories of, that everybody goes to when they come to New York."Adding commercial space underneath the iconic theatre is expected to bring massive income to the building’s owners. Otherwise, why in G-d’s name would anyone try this?
CHAPTER10(Producing and Investing)
CHAPTER 18(General and Company Managers)
2019’s‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’has70songscredited to 161 writers. Which meant that along with its recognizable Broadway stars ... the musical’s key players would include the team in charge of song rights and clearances. … Ms. Pavlovic brought inJanetBilligRich, a producer with a deep well of experience in the music industry, to help with the clearances. The show had to obtain what is called a “grand rights license” for each composition, which allows for music to be used in the context of a narrative. Thepermissions and costs vary depending on how much of an individual song is in the musical and for how long.
CHAPTER 9 (Selling a Big Hit)
CHAPTER 13 (Box office)
CHAPTER18(Producing and investing)
CHAPTER 22 (General and Company Managers)
Starting in Philly and coming to Broadway…
How toprotect the public against bots and brokers:Hamilton opens in Philly for a12-week run at the Forrest Theatre. With tens of thousands of tickets to sell, theywanted to ensure that the shopping experience was smooth and that the majority of inventory went to real fans (not bots and brokers). Here’s what they did:
REGISTRATION & VERIFICATION:Keepticket limits strict—four tickets per household—and customers register for the chance to buy a ticket. This gavethemthe opportunity to use certificationsoftware to weed out duplicate, bogus, or nefarious registrations and only open up theonsaleto legitimate customers.
SINGLE-USE CODES: Those legit customers were emailed a one-time-use code on the morning of theonsalewhich allowed them (and only them) to purchase up to four tickets online or by phone. After the initial 9:00 rush, we sent more codes to customers on several waitlists.
ONLINE WAITING ROOM: In order to accommodate tens of thousands of customers at the same time, we implemented a queueing system. Any customers waiting at 9am were assigned a random queue number to make sure that is was fair and efficient.
BOX OFFICE WRISTBANDS: This was our most low-tech solution, but at the box office, we handed out colored wristbands corresponding to a purchase time. People lined up in the morning, picked their wristband randomly out of a bag, and came back to purchase at their assigned time. Customers didn’t have to stand in line all day, and brokers couldn’t pack the front of the line with their employees.
Beginning in 2019 Fall, allTelechargecustomers will use this system…on Broadway and across the world.
CHAPTER2(The Jobs)
The 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadwayin 2019.According to Playbill.com:"1. New York University … 2. University of Michigan … 3. The Juilliard School … 4. Carnegie Mellon University … 5. College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati … 6. American Musical and Dramatic Academy … 7. Boston Conservatory … 8. Northwestern University … 9. Point Park University … 10. Oklahoma City University.
CHAPTER10(Producing and Investing: Subsidiary Rights)
APPENDIX (Resources)
Concord Music Group used to play a bit part in theatrical licensing, but in just three years it’s emerged as a giant in the small but powerful industry. Since 2017, the independent music company has snapped up Tams-Witmark, Samuel French and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization(the latter through its acquisition of Dutch publisherImagem). Add in the works licensed by the Musical Company, the joint venture launched in 2016 by Concord and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, and Concord’s theatrical division now encompasses everything from “A Chorus Line” to “Fences” to “Fun Home” to “Oklahoma!” to “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
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