Making Broadway Better: How Cross-Department Conversations Can Help

On every show I work on, I try to shadow someone in each department. I’ve sat in the rafters with a spot op, in the pit with a musician, and on comms with an ASM. I recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity.

As a producer, I spend a lot of time looking at budgets. I can see what a department costs. Spending time with the people doing the work gives me a much better understanding of what that money pays for, and what I’m asking of them when we discuss a change (long ago I learned that if someone requests a chain lift, the answer should usually be “yes”).

The more we know about each other’s roles, the better off we and our shows will be. I think most of us would agree with that. The question is whether we make time for it and how to even find the resources to learn more.

People are busy doing the jobs we hired them to do. They work different hours, in different parts of the building, and often don’t have much reason to interact with another department until they need something, not to mention union rules that clearly define who can do what. That makes it easy to have an opinion about someone else’s work without knowing much about what it involves.

A change that sounds simple in a production meeting might take hours to carry out. Before asking whether it can happen faster or cost less, I’d like to know why it takes that long and what else it affects. The person doing the work can probably explain it pretty quickly if we ask.

An evening shadowing someone won’t give me their years of experience. But it helps me ask better questions and recognize when I need their advice. That’s useful the next time we’re discussing staffing, a schedule, or a creative idea that someone has to figure out how to execute. A good producer should have knowledge that is an inch deep but a mile wide.

Producers have a responsibility to make the business side more accessible, too. On every show, I tell everyone that I have an open-door policy and am always happy to talk about the business in general or the specifics of the show. If you want to understand how a show is financed, what a producer does, or how a budget works, please ask! You don’t need to be planning a career change to be curious about the business you already work in.

The weekly grosses are a good example. A show can put up an impressive number and still be losing money. Without some understanding of its running costs and other obligations, you can’t tell much about its financial health from the gross alone. That’s worth explaining, especially to someone whose job depends on the production continuing to run.

Ideally, the exchange goes both ways. If I want someone to understand why a budget line item is tight, I should also be willing to understand why their department needs what it’s asking for. And I should be open to the possibility that we can solve the problem collaboratively.

Of course, saying “my door is open” still leaves the other person to knock. I can understand why someone might hesitate, particularly if they’re new to the business or think their question is something they should already know the answer to. We can make that easier by offering a specific time for questions and casual conversation and making clear that basic questions are always welcome.

There will be times when we aren’t able to share specific details about a particular production (some information needs to remain confidential for various, valid reasons), but we can usually explain how something works in general. If I don’t know the answer, I’m happy to say so and help find someone who does. I’d much rather someone ask than continue working with an assumption that might be wrong.

I’d love to see more productions build this into the way they operate. A producer and general manager could hold an occasional business Q&A. A department head could talk through something they wish the rest of the company understood. Where it’s practical, colleagues could arrange to observe each other’s work with the department’s permission. Organized sessions should be voluntary and planned into paid time. Everyone already has enough to do.

I’d also like to see more ongoing conversations between producers, workers, and their representatives across the industry. We shouldn’t wait until a contract is up for negotiation to learn what has become difficult about someone else’s job.

Collective bargaining involves real disagreements about pay, working conditions, and what productions can afford. Unions have an essential role in representing their members, and those issues need to be negotiated. Knowing each other better won’t mean we agree on everything.

But waiting until there’s a deadline puts a lot of pressure on the conversation. By then, people may have been dealing with a problem for years, and everyone needs an answer. I’d rather we were talking along the way, while there’s time to ask questions and consider options. We would still have difficult negotiations. At least we’d come to them with a better understanding of what the other person is trying to address.

What to do between these conversations? If you want to learn more about the business of Broadway, below are some books, newsletters, and websites that I’ve found helpful. 

• The Business of Broadway by Mitch Weiss and Perri Gaffney explores the many jobs and business relationships that make a production possible.
• Broadway General Manager by Peter Bogyo offers a closer look at a role that connects so many parts of a production.
• I Wanna Be a Producer by John Breglio combines producing guidance with experience from his career.
• The Stage Producer’s Business and Legal Guide by Charles Grippo introduces the business responsibilities behind presenting a show.
• BroadwayWorld’s Industry newsletter is a useful addition to an email routine for following theatre news and the business. Read beyond announcements and ask what each development means for the people doing the work.
• HowlRound Theatre Commons offers essays and conversations from theatre practitioners with a wide range of experiences and perspectives.
• The Broadway League’s research pages provide box-office and attendance data. They’re a useful starting point for asking better questions about the business.
• The Business of Broadway offers courses and public resources; the Commercial Theater Institute offers training in producing; and Theater Resources Unlimited hosts ongoing community conversations. These are opportunities to learn with other people.
• Working in the Theatre, the American Theatre Wing’s documentary series, offers a way to explore theatre’s many crafts and the people practicing them, wherever you live.
• Even more resources

Pick something about a part of the business you don’t know much about. Then ask someone who does that work what they think. They’ll probably have something to add, and you’ll have a good starting point for a conversation.

On your next show, ask a colleague what they wish people in your department understood about their job. Give them a chance to explain it, and offer to do the same. We don’t need to wait for a problem or a contract negotiation to have that conversation.

And if you’d like to talk about producing or the business in general, I’m always happy to. I’ll probably have a few questions for you, too.