Conference Report: TEDxBroadway 2013

For the second year in a row, I got to attend the TEDxBroadway conference last month (it's also the conference's second year), and soak up some ideas about the future of theatre and what we might be able to learn from other industries and examine some fresh approaches. This year, the conference organizers said we'd be looking more at Broadway the street, as a neighborhood and a destination, through the lens of its theatres. I wondered briefly if I should go, since this sounded very New Yorky and I wasn't sure where I'd fit in as a representative of NAMT and its members. But it turned out that the discussion centered largely around theatre and communities, the world around arts institutions, not just in New York and not just commercially. I came away with a lot, and not always from expected sources.

Below you'll find highlights of speakers and ideas that stood out for me personally (and as a representative of NAMT). Despite the very different backgrounds of these speakers and topics they addressed, there are a few common themes running through this:

It's all about passion.

It's all about connection.

It's all about the audience.

Sure, that's nothing we haven't heard before, but as you'll see as you read on, there are surprisingly diverse ways to approach these ideas.

Producer Daryl Roth spoke about the impact of theatre on audiences' worldviews and connecting art with activism. Her experiences with plays like Wit and The Normal Heart – great plays that also have something important to say – have helped shape her as a producer and a person, and gave her opportunities to bring audiences into a discussion about the issues in the plays, as well as engage with people who might not be habitual theatre-goers but are drawn in by the topic. "If we share the deep belief that theatre matters…then isn't that the best Broadway can be for all of us?"

Critic Terry Teachout pointed out that 75% of Broadway shows lose money, so everyone who works on Broadway is gambling. "Why do people gamble? Because it's fun!" He made it clear that he wasn't bringing up this harsh reality to crush anyone's dreams, just to make them "look at them from a different point of view." He wants people to say to themselves, "I'm going to write the best, most original show I can think of. It's probably going to lose money anyway, so why not try? …Don't settle for safe, gamble on great. Make something that makes you proud." Sound familiar, Festival alumni?

I'll admit that I was both most excited for and most wary of our next speaker. As a nerd who grew up a huge fan of the original Star Trek, I was thrilled at the chance to meet George Takei. But why was he here? What could he possibly have to say about theatre? A lot, actually. I'd forgotten that he's written an autobiographical musical about his family's experience in Japanese internment camps during World War II. When Allegiance premiered at NAMT member theatre The Old Globe in San Diego, it broke records and played to packed houses. Takei will always be famous for Star Trek, but in recent years he's become an internet personality separate and apart from that, using social media to build a personal brand built on smart humor, science...and cats. He used that to help sell Allegiance, but also asked us why theatres weren't doing more of it on their own, bringing it back to his science fiction fame and love of technology. "I don't think Broadway has boldly gone where it needs to," he said, imploring us to "embrace all of the technological advances of the times."

I don't usually do the celebrity thing,
but come on! It's Sulu!

He also spoke of the power of musical theatre to "tell stories that need to be told." It has an accessibility that can bring people in, and the music can reach them emotionally. (During this, playwright David Lawson tweeted, "Musicals are incredible at preserving history that might have been forgotten: mid 80s UK miners' strike, June Rebellion, 1899 newsboy strike. And yes, two of those were not musicals first. But it was setting that history to music that made me hungry to learn of the history." I couldn't agree more.) Allegiance is aiming for Broadway this year, and hopefully it will expose audiences to this relatively little-known dark spot on American history. I got a chance to speak with Takei later in the day, and I was struck by what a theatre geek he is (he's done stage work throughout his career, though when Allegiance (in which he also appears) comes in, it will be his Broadway debut) and how passionate he is about not just his show but about musical theatre in general. It was great to see. And I'll admit that when he recited the opening lines of Star Trek during his speech, I teared up a little; the man knows his audience.

Christine Jones, a scenic designer and creator of Theatre For One, talked about the experience of making an intimate connection between audience and performance in any size space, creating design that can "respond to the visual acoustics of the moment, sometimes with a moment's notice." "I wish we had the same ability to make choices about how the audience is seated as I do with what's on stage," she said. As I work out the crick in my neck from seeing an otherwise fabulous show last night, I can't help thinking that Broadway's historic theatres and often tight space make this a largely unsolvable problem. But I also think fondly of the many comfortable evenings I've spent at NAMT member theatres around the country, and the opportunities those of you building or renovating theatres have to make flexible, comfortable spaces. Jones quoted Jujamcyn Theatres President Jordan Roth as saying "Seats are not born partial, they are made partial." Here's to never making a seat – or a patron – partial.

Tom Schumacher, head of Disney Theatrical Group, started off a little surprisingly, telling a story about hating and judging tourists (any New Yorker, however kind-hearted, can relate to this). "I have friends," he said, "who believe the sippy cup is the end of days.... In the 1600s people thought 'machine plays' were a sign of theatrical apocalypse too," but here we still are. "Times are changing. They are also staying very much the same." 40% of adults surveyed at The Lion King were seeing a Broadway show for the first time. "Our pretention towards the audience seeing the show for the first time simply stands in the way of growing and sharing our business.... These lovely people had bought a ticket, and here I was judging them." From a business standpoint, "by the definition of our venues and union contracts, this is not a growth industry," but there is great potential for growth in the audience. While Broadway has a reputation as a place of aging audiences, it turns out kids are also coming in unprecedented numbers, so let's embrace them and make magic for them – the same kind of magic Schumacher says he experienced going to the theatre as a child and learning that "a guy in a white turtleneck can be a horse and a white box can be a jungle." Disney, unsurprisingly, takes its populism very seriously, serving as an important entry point into the world of musical theatre for multiple generations.

Two talks that really made me think of our members were by Susan Salgado, of Union Square Hospitality Group, and Erin Hoover from Sheraton. "To say it's just about the show is discounting everyone who affects the experience of customers," Salgado said. "We need to provide a great total experience." (Considering I was yelled at by an usher last night before I had even taken a full step inside the building, I couldn't agree more!) Hoover talked about how hotel lobbies have changed over the last few decades from purely transactional to spaces "designed to give the guest a series of branded experiences [where] connectivity is expected." She suggested that theatre lobbies can be transformed to "a series of touch points to enhance the Broadway brand." I know from my travels, and from lengthy discussions at last year's Spring Conference, that this is something many NAMT members are already doing. They strive to make customer service a top priority, and recognize that every point of contact, from box office to usher to bar, affects a patron's experience. Institutional theatres have brands to uphold and seasons to sell, and building a relationship with a customer is vital. What if Broadway focused on service and design brand-wide, like a not-for-profit theatre (or a hotel chain!) does? Your building and your staff can tell a story and be an experience you share, along with the play.

I was particularly inspired by Seth Pinsky, of the NYC mayor's office, declaring that "the arts are a critical industry in New York and the ripple effect is a major economic engine... New Yorkers believe arts matter." (We'll be looking at how some other cities are supporting their arts communities and how theatres can advocate for themselves at this year's Spring Conference.)

David Sabel from the National Theatre in London gave a great talk about the NTLive series of movie theatre screenings of plays. He referred to the National's "spirit of R&D," which covers both new theatrical work and new ways to get that work to audiences. Digital is considered part of the experience (or one possible experience), not just a marketing platform. Because NT is subsidized by the government (25% of their budget!), they feel a responsibility to give taxpayers access to their art and have "a commitment to openness, wide-ranging engagement and access to everyone" in their mission statement. They've never seen NT Live as a replacement for the live event, but a separate and worthy experience in itself. When a performance is filmed, the priority is on making a good film of that theatrical event, and the audience is treated like a studio audience for the film, with cameras going where they need to go. The screenings are limited to a brief window, so it's still an "ephemeral event." Perhaps of most interest to American theatres is the way the National worked with unions and artists to create something new. They replaced up-front fees with profit-sharing, giving artists and crews literal ownership over the project. And they've found that screenings haven't hurt sales in the theatre at all. "Tech changes fast," Sabel concluded. "You have to be flexible, nimble, fast. You have to use both sides of the brain."

Other speakers talked about turning your passions into your work and achieving your dreams by being "flexible with the outcome" (Zachary Schmahl); making Broadway more diverse by telling diverse stories, embracing the theatre "community of nerds and misfits" and writing and producing shows that "cut so deeply to the heart that they transcend...into the cultural conversation" (Kristoffer Diaz); bringing theatre to schools and schools to the theatre (Vincent Gassetto); predicting the future by inventing it and learning what customers want and need by observing them rather than asking them (Ellen Isaacs); marketing to people who you know will never come to your show to make the arts matter to everyone (Adam Thurman); and finding Broadway's equivalent of the Kindle to overcome limitations of space and money and connect to a wider audience (Randi Zuckerberg).

This year's conference had some great examples of what we can learn from each other and from other industries. There was a great buzz in the room and online as people discussed ideas and how we might implement them, and old friends were introduced to new ones. Just like at NAMT conferences! (Oh come on, I had to.)

Thanks to the conference organizers, speakers, and especially everyone who was tweeting and blogging along. See you next year!

(For some other people's observations about TEDxBroadway, I recommend Howard Sherman's selection of quotes and write-up for the LA Times, and Ken Davenport's takeaways.)

Updated 3/4/13: Now with videos! For all the videos from last year and this year, just search for TEDxBroadway on YouTube.

Conference Report: TEDxBroadway

Last week I attended TEDxBroadway, an event hosted by producer Ken Davenport (Godspell, Altar Boyz) and Damian Bazadona of Situation Interactive (who you may remember as a speaker at NAMT's 2009 Spring Conference). If you're not familiar with TED (which stands for Technology, Education, Design), they're best known for their conferences, which bring together "the world's leading thinkers and doers" for "a 4-day journey into the future, in the company of those creating it." That sounds intimidating and exclusive (and expensive!), but all of the "TED Talks" from the conferences are available for free online, with the best ones in a free podcast you can subscribe to in iTunes (that link goes to the audio version; there's also a video feed and some highlights versions). The subjects cover everything from hard science to puzzles to arts education, and I've been a big fan for a while now. TEDx events are independently organized conferences "in the spirit of TED's mission, 'ideas worth spreading,'" and I was thrilled to get the opportunity to go to one to speculate about the future of Broadway.

About that B-word... Since I was there representing NAMT and our national membership, I was inclined to agree with a couple of attendees who wondered why it wasn't "TEDxTheatre." But the majority of the speakers said things that were relevant to all producers and artists all over the country, making the conference feel applicable to "theatre people" everywhere.

Our host Ken Davenport kicked things off by looking at how much has changed on Broadway in the last 20 years, from the dramatic changes in Times Square (this was probably about as NYC-specific as things got) to Ticketmaster to the internet. In 1992 the top ticket price for a Broadway musical was $65. Cameron Mackintosh caused a stir when he raised prices for Miss Saigon to $85...and he lowered them again when demand fell off! (What Ken didn't mention, but I was too curious not to look up, is that $85 in 1992 dollars was $130 in 2010, so ticket prices have actually remained fairly steady in terms of inflation.) Ken then looked ahead to how Broadway might look in 2032. There were some interesting possibilities, from the positive (technological advances, a greening of NYC) to the scary (what if Broadway were underwater?), but as later speakers would discuss, this sort of projection is challenging and possibly pointless. But the real question was: Will the way we create shows change in the future? Will audiences change? Marketing? There may not be answers to these questions but we have to be open to whatever possibilities come along.

Interestingly, our next speaker, Jordan Roth (Jujamcyn Theatres) brought us back from the future with a look at some unchanging truths about what we do. "Our use of the word original speaks only to the what and not the how. It is a description of origin and not of execution.... A musical can have source material and still be an important and even seminal work, and 'twas ever thus," he said, noting that most classic musicals were based on existing properties, just as today's are. The most compelling question for Jordan is "Why is this live?" The reason for being live has to be "baked into the artists' concept." He cited War Horse as an example of something that has been through multiple media, changing significantly in each one in ways only each medium can provide. No one version is necessarily better than any other, but, Jordan concluded, "we do what no other medium can do. We do it live, and that's original."

Randy Weiner, producer of The Donkey Show and Sleep No More spoke about being inventive and making use of what you have to give audiences "an experience." The Donkey Show was helped immensely during its long run by bachelorette parties, a market no one expected or actively cultivated, but which became a huge revenue source for the show through word of mouth. He acknowledged that working in theatres with union crews is different from working in nightclubs and converted warehouses, but suggested that we could be using the hours during the day when theatres are dark in productive ways, in the same way that Donkey Show used clubs when they were otherwise empty.

Patricia Martin was up next with some good news: "The conditions we are facing right now is what it looks like right before a renaissance." She explained that there have historically been three indicators of a renaissance: It follows a collapse, there is a facilitating medium (in Rome it was the roads, now it's the Internet), and then an age of enlightenment. As someone who hates the term "Millennials," I was delighted when she referred instead to "the renaissance generation" (RenGen for short...not coincidentally also the name of Patricia's book). It struck me as a call to action, a challenge to this new generation. "I believe what I can experience," Patricia said, "[RenGen members] believe what they can feel." Thus, stories are most powerful when they're live, providing the greatest human connection. "What kind of stories are you going to tell us?" she concluded. "Because if you're going to speak at the higher frequency and be heard, it would help if you told stories about the human condition. And it would help if you told them with love...you can deliver it live and you can deliver it with heart."

After lunch, performer Matt Sax rapped his TED talk. Which was awesome but didn't lead to the best note-taking! I did notice when he suggested that out-of-town tryouts might become online streaming tryouts, contradicting earlier speakers' assertions that "live" is the most important thing. It's an interesting idea though, especially given the success of Memphis, Company and other movie theatre events.

Kara Larson almost shot down everything that had come before by saying that everything we do in life involves predicting the future, but we're bad at it. We're good at predicting future events but not how we'll feel about them, in part because we don't know what we want. We focus on one set of influences (such as the weather in Los Angeles) while ignoring the others (traffic, smog and earthquakes). We're unable to predict a world completely different from the one we're in now. Change is inconstant; it comes in sudden jolts. In a way, everything Kara said contradicted Ken's opening speech, and the whole idea that we were there to imagine the future of Broadway. But in fact, we shouldn't predict, she said, we should adapt. We should accept change, or better yet create it, letting others adapt to us.

Next, Situation Interactive's Damian Bazadona brought us back to the present, talking about all the things that Broadway is doing well in terms of talent, ideas, and economic success (attendance has remained constant through 9/11, the recession, the housing boom and bust). Rising prices are arguably good, since they indicate that there is a demand for the "product." But, he asked, where is the growth potential for innovators? We need diversity, he said, to attract innovators. We need young people of various backgrounds to get into theatre to be those future game-changers. But "there is no financial model for audience development in a marketplace driven by limited supply." (I'd make that "commercial marketplace," since we're talking about Broadway and not the non-profit majority of NAMT members.) Damian proposed that we need to expand exposure for Broadway and create new revenue streams so that we're less reliant on ticket sales alone, allowing more seats to be discounted or given away.

On a related note, the crowd favorite of the day was Vincent Gassetto, a public school principal from the South Bronx who, with the help of the show's producers, brought his entire school to see Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. He said it was "a logistical nightmare, but worth it." He now feels like his school is "part of the Broadway community." The kids talk now about wanting to work in theatre and see more shows. "There are 1.1 million students in NYC public schools. We're easy to find. It's easy to reach young, talented and driven people." Many NAMT members, of course, do exactly this with their education programs, and here in NYC we have Theatre Development Fund and the New Victory Theatre (whose marketing director I happened to be sitting next to), to name but two; it was a good reminder that there are always more kids to reach, and the video of Vincent's students was an inspiring delight.

Naturally following this, market researcher Joseph Craig noted that Broadway audiences are aging and we have to replenish them to remain viable. The price of tickets outpaces senior citizens' limited income. He also pointed out that theatres aren't generally built well for older folks. Broadway audiences are 65% female, and what's more there's a stigma attached to theatre for men, who are far less likely to share the experience around the water cooler the next day. How do we become more inclusive and lose this stigma? How do we keep Broadway viable when there's more distraction for entertainment dollars among an "instant gratification generation?" (Personally I'd argue that the earlier talks from Jordan Roth and Patricia Martin answered this pretty well.)

Finally, Greg Mosher joked that "we've reached the point in the day where everything has been said but not everyone has said it." He spoke about the "fallacy of prediction" with a silly but helpful analogy: If a turkey keeps gaining weight at a steady pace, he would naturally assume that he'll keep doing so until he's the biggest turkey ever seen. But Thanksgiving, while not a surprise to the farmer, is a variable the turkey doesn't know about. Greg admonished us not to be the turkey. Businesses change, he said, citing Kodak as an example where that change caused collapse, and the New York Times as one that has adapted successfully. "Tinker, fail and protect yourself against failure. Many of the greatest things in the world were mistakes." On a different note, he asked if we can still engage deeply. He said he has trouble reading for two hours now, and is worried he can only sit through a play "out of habit." This struck me because I have a pretty short attention span myself, and I'm fairly addicted to my devices. As this talk was given and this thought was had, I was listening to Greg, taking notes and tweeting (chances are none of them entirely successfully). But I can happily sit still for a play or a movie – at least when it's good! I wonder if that's just habit from a lifetime of doing it, as Greg suggested, or is it, along the lines of Jordan's talk, the experience of sitting in the dark and sharing a story with other people? I'd like to believe it's the latter.

What I was perhaps most impressed by at TEDxBroadway (and what reminded me in a lovely way of NAMT's own conferences) was something that happened outside the talks: A real sense of community, which actually had nothing to do with Broadway as a place or a product. I got to spend time with some NAMT members from various parts of the country, old friends from two of my past jobs, neighbors from our office and other colleagues, most of whom are not Broadway producers (and none of whom are exclusively Broadway producers). I also tweeted with people who I never managed to find in person, even though they were somewhere in the room, and with others who were just following along from afar.

I loved getting the chance to hear all these different ideas from both inside and outside our industry, and to see all of these different people in one place. Attending conferences can get expensive and time-consuming, but I really think it's vital – in any industry! – to get away from your desk and maybe out of your comfort zone now and then. Even the less successful talks at TEDxBroadway were valuable because they got attendees talking. People are doing great things all over, and it's inspiring to get a bunch of them together in one place. And in a very TED-esque thought, technology will let us share more of these events without necessarily being in the same room.

Speaking of which, video of all the talks is online. And for a much more detailed account of the day, check out Howard Sherman's live-blog. I'll admit that my notes on some talks were better than on others, and I skipped a couple here entirely for space. My friend Lilaia Kairis (one of those aforementioned friends) wrote a great post for the New Victory's blog. And Reynaldi Long, one of those people I was tweeting with, blogged about things he felt were missing. There are many more posts out there, I'm sure, as well as the conference's official Twitter account. I look forward to continuing this conversation online and in person, at NAMT events and others.

Fall Conference 2011 - Inspiration in Tough Times

In addition to the Festival of New Musicals, NAMT held our annual Fall Conference for our members and invited guests last weekend.  Since it takes place in conjunction with the Festival, the Fall Conference typically focuses on new works.  This year we decided to take a more holistic approach, looking at the overall health and future of the art form and the industry.

We couldn't have asked for a better start than the keynote speech by legendary director and producer Harold Prince.  Hal spoke passionately about his long career and the state of the field today, with particular focus on what he sees as a lack of mentoring opportunities for young producers and artists, and a lack of singular "creative producers" in a world where making theatre has become prohibitively expensive and making a living as an artist seems next to impossible.  That sounds dour but it wasn't!  I think the attendees were inspired by the challenge to support young artists and create work with passion – something at which most NAMT members already excel.

From there we heard from a wide variety of educators about how they are working to train exactly the next generation that Hal spoke about nurturing.  We spoke about young musical theatre writers who have never heard of Sondheim (!), who are coming to the field with stories to tell and all sorts of musical styles in their backgrounds.  Plus actors, directors and more, and how we're preparing them to enter the industry with new works and classics alike.

The last panel of the day was a challenging one, addressing the issues of racial diversity (or lack thereof) in musical theatre.  This hour-long session could easily have been twice as long, as the issues ranged so widely, including color-blind casting ("I prefer non-traditional, color-specific casting," said Ralph Remington of the NEA, meaning a conscious choice made to change a character's race), diversity of stories being told, and audience outreach to different communities. It was a great discussion that barely scratched the surface, but challenged attendees to think about these issues and how we can serve the art, and our communities – both artistic and in the audience.

Day two began with an unexpected bonus: Ralph Remington from the NEA talked with us about changes at the NEA and the current state of federal funding for the arts.  As anyone following the news will have guessed, it wasn't the best news we heard this day!  But it was a great opportunity for NAMT members to gain insight into the granting process and have a dialogue about the challenges they face and the goals of the NEA.

Segueing nicely, four NAMT members shared stories and case studies of how they've been able to keep costs down during the recession without sacrificing the quality their audiences expect.  Attendees came away with adaptable, scalable ideas they could use in their own theatres. 

The next panel looked at the challenges of recording new shows for promotion or sale, especially regional productions.  Cast albums are essential to getting new shows "out there" to potential new fans and producers, but they're expensive to make and rarely make much money back. Fortunately our panel included people who are passionate and committed to preserving new shows, including Sh-K-Boom Records founder Kurt Deutsch, and the Grammys' Elizabeth Healy, who made sure we knew that any cast album can be submitted for a Grammy Award, not just Broadway shows, and that without submissions the category could be in danger.

Next up was a continuation of last year's session on continued life for new works – the challenges of getting second productions and beyond.  A lot has changed in the last twenty years or so.  How does a new work enter the canon, especially if it doesn't go through Broadway first?  There were no easy answers, but the NAMT members seem to be leading the charge to keep the new works pipeline going.

After lunch and some small group discussions, we came back together to end the conference with a session on new looks at classic works, and how NAMT member theatres are adapting classics to fit their spaces and budgets, and to appeal to new audiences, with the support of the licensers and estates.

It was a very inspiring and information-filled two days, only slightly hampered by unseasonal snow!  I personally always find our conferences very energizing, as I love seeing our members and hearing about all the great theatre happening around the country.  It's encouraging to see members sharing ideas and resources, taking techniques that are scalable and adaptable to organizations of all different sizes.

NAMT conferences are open to members and invited guests only.  The next one will be held on March 22-24, 2012 in Seattle and will be about marketing. I hope to see you there!

Photos by David T. Cole

Have you heard of the controversy surrounding Rocco Landesman's remarks at last week's new play convening at Arena Stage? To simplify, Rocco questions the increase in arts institutions in the last 20 years, when audience participation in the arts has decreased, begging the question -- Is there too much supply and not enough demand? You can read his blog post and comment as well on the NEA's site.

The NAMT Board is about to embark on our strategic plan retreat. One of the key questions raised by our members in the survey you completed in December mirrors the issues addressed by Rocco: audiences. How can we keep current audiences and attract new audiences to the theatre? What innovative methods can we find, as a field, to bring audiences to musicals? What role does new work play? These are big questions. I am excited to tackle these issues with our dedicated board members. Our goal is to have the final plan approved by the Board for our Spring Conference in San Francisco, to present to the membership. NAMT is in a strong position today, as an organization, and we look forward to great things to come.