Theatre Management - Producing

• 9/11 - we thought theater was gonna collapse forever (professor worked on lion king as company manager)

• Theaters are STILL struggling today post covid, about 30 professional ones are about to go out of business.

• March 12 2020 - broadway officially closed (@2:45pm)

• BILLIONS of dollars lost cuz of covid ☹

Ecology of professional theater

• gravely affected by loss of income

  • Not just broadway but regional theaters

  • EVEN PART TIME USHERS AT THE STATE THEATRE

    • popular gig for students

  • $30M earning for Middlesex arts

  • Budget isn’t even 1 million for state theaters or regional in NJ.

Sept 14 2021 broadway was back (professor saw hamilton 2nd time there and saw lin)

The theater producer:

• The person responsible for all aspects of mounting a professional production.

  • Includes (but not limited to):

    • Obtaining property rights (playwright)

    • raising funds

      • typical broadway musical is about 10 mil

    • Managing budget

    • Hiring personnel

      • creative, administrative, and production

    • production management

    • casting

    • marketing

• role has evolved over years

• today’s producer is more a business person

• A good producer

  • follows traditional model of entrepreneurship

    • willing to take risks

  • characteristics like

    • discipline

    • self motivation

    • inspiration

    • strong leadership

    • visionary

      • they can usually see things others cant

• Producers either should

  • have a STRONG BELIEF in the CREATIVITY of the show

  • have a STRONG BELIEF in the FINANCIAL POTENTIAL of the show

Notable Broadway Producer:

• Margo Lion - grew up in Baltimore, produced Hairspray. Favorite film? Hairspray.

• Won 2003 tony award for best musical and led to a new movie being made

Leadership

• Most studied aspect of business. More than marketing, finance, accounting, stocks and bonds.

• Are leaders born or made?

• 3 keys to successful leadership

  • 1) gain cooperation of others

    • followers must buy into your vision of the future and believe the leader can get them there

    • corollary of teamwork

    • understands power of synergy (1+1 = 3 metaphorically)

  • 2) listen well

    • gathers many kinds of information to make informed decisions

    • values information

    • creates climate for exchange of ideas

  • 3) putting the needs of others above your own

    • sacrifice for the greater goal

    • disrupt hierarchical thinking

    • belief in teamwork

    • creates climate for the exchange of ideas

• The consistent quality in most successful leaders? EMPATHY!!!!

EQ EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TEST DUE MONDAY VIA EMAIL

LEADERSHIP ESSAY DUE NEXT MONDAY VIA EMAIL

• Write about an individual who was a successful leader. SOMEONE YOU KNOW PERSONALLY. Use the 3 keys to analyze (2ish pages)

• Write about a situation when YOU were a successful leader. Use the 3 keys to analyze. (2ish pages)

• Put their behavior under the microscope and analyze.

CLASS IS VIRTUAL NEXT 5 WEEKS. NEXT WEEK IS NBPAC.