The Business of Broadway: An Insider's Guide to Working, Producing, and Investing in the World's Greatest Theatre Community

by Mitch Weiss, Perri Gaffney

Overview

New York’s Broadway theatre scene has long been viewed as the “top of the heap” in the world theatre community. Taking lessons from the very best, this innovative guide delves into the business side of the renowned industry to explain just how its system functions. For anyone interested in pursuing a career on Broadway, or who wants to grow a theatre in any other part of the world, The Business of Broadway offers an in-depth analysis of the infrastructure at the core of successful theatre. Manager/producer Mitch Weiss and actor/writer Perri Gaffney take readers behind the scenes to reveal what the audience—and even the players and many producers—don’t know about how Broadway works, describing more than 200 jobs that become available for every show. A variety of performers, producers, managers, and others involved with the Broadway network share valuable personal experience in interviews discussing what made a show a hit or a miss, and how some of the rules, regulations, and practices that are in place today were pioneered.

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621534761
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	07/14/2015
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	292
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Mitch Weiss has managed several hundred Broadway and off-Broadway shows including Tony Award-winners A Chorus Line, The Grapes of Wrath, and Beauty and the Beast, and has over forty years of management and producing experience with such clients as Disney Theatrical Productions, New York Shakespeare Festival, and Big Apple Circus, as well as many other successful and well-known recording, sports, and theatrical artists. He has been a certified ATPAM manager since 1985 and teaches management courses at New York University. He is the author of Managing Artists in Pop Music with Perri Gaffney (Allworth Press). He lives in New York City.

Perri Gaffney is the author of several books. She adapted her debut novel The Resurrection of Alice into a Helen Hayes Award-nominated one-woman play, wrote and performed in Josephine, a multi-media monodrama based on Josephine Baker, and has written and contributed to numerous plays, independent films, and TV shows. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Footnotes before Footlights ix

Part 1 What Makes Broadway Tick

Chapter 1 The Danger Is Thinking You Know More Than You Do 3

Chapter 2 The Jobs 11

Chapter 3 Who's in Charge, and What Are They in Charge Of? 26

Chapter 4 Eighteen Unions, One Association, and Pensions 33

Part 2 Selling Tickets / It's Not What It Seems

Chapter 5 Marketing vs. Press vs. Promotion vs. Advertising 53

Chapter 6 Opening Nights and the Tony Awards 64

Chapter 7 Merchandising, Original Cast Recordings, and Holiday Scheduling 76

Chapter 8 The Media, the Critics, the Near York Times, and Macy's Thanksgiving Parade 84

Chapter 9 How to Sell a Big Flop, a Big Hit, or a Lukewarm Show 91

Part 3 The Big Surprises

Chapter 10 Producing and Investing 101

Chapter 11 Unique Broadway Financials-Overcalls, Royalties, and Royalty Pools 114

Chapter 12 Good and Bad Surprises 119

Part 4 What the Pros Want You to Know

Chapter 13 What the Box Office Wants You to Know 129

Chapter 14 What Press Agents Want You to Know 138

Chapter 15 What Actors and Stage Managers Want You to Know 143

Chapter 16 What Stagehands Want You to Know 155

Chapter 17 What Playwrights, Directors, and Designers Want You to Know 162

Chapter 18 What Management Wants You to Know 172

Chapter 19 What the Ushers, Ticket Takers, and Porters Want Yon to Know 181

Chapter 20 What Wardrobe Wants You to Know 185

Chapter 21 What Musicians Want You to Know 189

Chapter 22 What the Theatre Owners Want You to Know 195

Chapter 23 Life After Fifty on Broadway 203

Part 5 Budgets

Chapter 24 Production and Operating Budgets from a $15 Million Broadway Musical 209

Part 6 In Summary

Chapter 25 How Do I Get Here from There? 228

Appendix 259

Authors' Biographies 263

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

The go-to book for everything you wanted to know about working on Broadway along with everything you didn’t know you needed to know! The Business of Broadway should be required reading for all theatre students and working professionals.” —Dona D. Vaughn, professor and artistic director of opera at the Manhattan School of Music, theatre director, Broadway actress (Company, Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw), associate producer, and stage manager

“The Business of Broadway is a compelling, fascinating, colorful, and comprehensive inside look at an industry with as many moving parts as a Rubiks’ cube. Even the most complex elements—the Turkus pension plan anyone?—are presented with clarity and intelligence, and there are plenty of slap-your-forehead insights that are as entertaining as they are informative. It’s a must-read for anyone passionate—not to mention foolhardy—enough to play the game, and an idiot’s delight for those of us who root and razz from the sidelines.” —Patrick Pacheco, arts journalist, feature writer for the Los Angeles Times, and theatre correspondent for NY1’s On Stage

“The Business of Broadway is essential reading for anyone interested in producing, investing, or working in theatre. Engaging and illuminating, Mitch Weiss and Perri Gaffney explain the myriad of people and roles they play to collaborate on a show from development to opening night and beyond.” —Daryl Roth, producer of eight Tony Award–winning productions (including Kinky Boots, The Normal Heart, and Love, Loss, and What I Wore)

“The go-to book for everything you wanted to know about working on Broadway along with everything you didn’t know you needed to know! The Business of Broadway should be required reading for all theatre students and working professionals.” —Dona D. Vaughn, professor and artistic director of opera at the Manhattan School of Music, theatre director, Broadway actress (Company, Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw), associate producer, and stage manager

From the Publisher