Alex Freeman - Page 12

The storm of openings has begun on Broadway, as we prepare for what will be an even busier April leading into the conclusion of the 2023-2024 Broadway season. Amidst that storm, great work continues off-Broadway, as Cara Joy David reminds us when she pays a visit to Dead Outlaw.

As the unionization wave continues to move through theatrical workers across the country, two developments last week highlighted the movement: the Public Theatre declined to voluntarily recognize the unionization effort of their workers, and workers at the Goodman Theatre sought their own union affiliation.

After what has felt like weeks of covering cuts in funding to UK Arts budgets, some great news on two fronts from across the pond - a recent study of 2023 ticket buyers in the UK found that more than half of them were first time theatregoers.

As theatre marketers continue to try and find new ways to market their shows - and in a very crowded Broadway season new ways to break through the noise - there is a strong trend to chase the next shiny thing. One of those elements of marketing that is newer to the marketplace is the use of influencers.

The restructuring of the industry continues - in North Carolina, Raleigh has lost one of its major institutions (for the time being) as North Carolina Theater suspends their 2024 season and files for bankruptcy. The labor movement continues to notch wins in New York, as the Atlantic Theater workers have voted to join IATSE.

Another theatre has announced their closure, with Cutting Ball in San Francisco becoming the latest to look at their financial situation and decide that there was no viable path forward. We’ll have more coverage here and in our marketing update about the things that are working for theatres that have found a way to thrive in the new normal.

After completing his M.B.A. at Stanford, John has combined a career of performing on the clarinet with helping manage symphonies such as the Detroit Symphony and San Jose Symphony, consulting with art organizations, and leading Arts Reach, The Association of Arts Management, Marketing and Development Professionals.

AEA members voted to authorize a strike against the Broadway League of the development agreement - while this doesn’t mean the union will call a strike, it does give them another bargaining chip in their ongoing negotiations with the League. Regionally, we have a lot of stories of announced retirements and new leaders stepping into roles.

Regionally, a few new leaders in high profile positions across the country - including Nicole A. Watson at Playwrights Center, Megwyn Sanders-Andrews at at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and Geneé Coreno at WAM. In the UK, a new union agreement for Equity and the ITC, and in Toronto, a tale of haves and have nots in the recovery.

This week, the NEA announced $32 million in grants to institutions across the country, and while these grants are going to be vitally important to the groups that received them, it is just a drop in the bucket to the economic impact that arts organizations have on their local communities.

January is often a rough month in the theater industry - there are fewer shows running, audiences are reluctant to venture out into the winter weather, there is typically a slate of Broadway closings, and companies are taking stock of their financial situation following the closure of (typically) popular holiday productions.

Cara Joy David explores the concerning trend that suburban audiences are less willing to travel into the city center to see shows due to a perceived increase in crime in the city, leaving audiences feeling less safe getting in and out of shows. In the UK, funding cuts force theatres to innovate in ways to stave off closure and grow their audience.

Josh Katzker (he/him) is the Director of Marketing for The REV Theatre Company. He has served The REV in several capacities since 2005. He spent several seasons acting and road managing with The REV on Tour before joining the administrative staff in 2015. In January of 2022, Josh became the company's Director of Marketing.

Cara Joy David looks at the stage door experience at the musicals currently running on Broadway, we check in with various insiders hopes for Broadway in 2024, and we look at Dallas and Denver - where the recovery has taken different paths. Across the pond, the National Theatre Wales deals with a complete funding cut from their arts council.

A few exciting data points to close out the year - the first being that Broadway audiences this past season were younger and more diverse than in seasons past. This is a bright spot in a season that saw a bumpy box office. A new study from SMU DataArts also looked at the amount of funding that went out to arts organizations during the pandemic.

The transformation continues to be global - after US based writers and actors won concessions from the film industry, stage performers in Australia are looking to increase their own pay. In response to funding changes at the government level, the English National Opera is moving out of London and heading to Manchester.

Cara Joy David dives into the eligibility decision surrounding Gutenberg!, and some good news on the regional front - success in one of the emergency fundraising campaigns at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Not only were they able to save their season, but exceeded their goal in a way that makes future planning possible and the full staff has been retained.

This week in the newsletter, we’ve got a look at how high schools can win a chance to be the first to produce Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Cara Joy David takes us through the recent ruling in the Hal Luftig Company bankruptcy, and the Wall Street Journal takes a look at how some regional theatres are thriving in a challenging environment.

John Zinn is a free-lance arts marketing consultant and producer. He was Director of Marketing and Communications at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago for 7 years and has worked with the company in some capacity for a total of 15 years.

As we prepare for the parade (and we’ve got your guide on the Broadway performances below), we also get some good news out of the UK where Panto producers report that ticket sales are trending strongly in the right direction for the holiday tradition.