Broadway Journal

TODAYTIX ADVANCE PROMPTS BOX OFFICE UNION PROTEST

by

EXCLUSIVE: Broadway’s box office union, which is in contract negotiations with the Broadway League, claims that the industry’s embrace of TodayTix Group represents an unfair labor practice.

The Treasurers and Ticket Sellers Union — Local 751 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — accused the League and two of its largest landlord members, the Shubert and Nederlander Organizations, of “unilaterally changing terms and conditions of employment…concerning the distribution of theater tickets.” The complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board in connection with TodayTix, the 11-year-old, easy-to-use app for buying tickets to Broadway shows and other cultural events.Continue Reading

TONY OVERLORDS HOLD FIRM ON CO-PRODUCERS STAGE BAN

by

Tony Award leaders today affirmed their decision to bar Broadway co-producers from the stage of the David Koch Theater on June 16, while offering the investors and bundlers a consolation prize: live shots of them elsewhere in the theater on Broadway’s big night.

According to a Tony Awards memo circulating this afternoon, a “Voice of God” in the Koch Theater will announce a specific category during a commercial break and invite co-producers to gather in the lobby off the first tier. When a winning show is named, the triumphant cluster will congregate on a riser for their live moment on primetime television.Continue Reading

TONY AWARDS TO BAR CO-PRODUCERS FROM STAGE (EXCLUSIVE)

by

The Tony Awards are enmeshed in a high-stakes dispute over who gets stage time on Broadway’s big night.

Some co-producers — whose primary role is to invest or raise money for shows — have been informed by Tony Award staffers that they aren’t welcome onstage at the David H. Koch Theater on June 16. In recent years as production budgets swelled, swarms of co-producers have taken the stage when awards were handed out for the categories of best musical, play, musical revival and play revival.Continue Reading

BROADWAY LEAGUE CHIEF ABRUPTLY EXITS

by

Charlotte St. Martin, who’s led the Broadway League trade association since 2006, will step down on Feb. 16. The sudden departure occurs amid an industry changing of the guard as Broadway struggles to recover from the pandemic and respond to calls for greater diversity.Continue Reading

LEAGUE TOUTS SILVER LINING IN SMALLER AUDIENCE

by

Last season, 25 to 49-year-olds who attended Broadway shows outnumbered those 50 and up for the first time since 2008-09.

It’s too early to proclaim a generational shift. The audience was younger in the year ending May 21, 2023, than in the prior full season, 2018-19, because youngish age groups shrank less than the entire Broadway pie, which is still missing a slice or two.Continue Reading

NEW YORK EXTENDS $3 MILLION BROADWAY TAX CREDIT; DISNEY’S ‘ALADDIN’ APPROVED

by

New York State extended the New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit, a subsidy of up to $3 million per Broadway show, as the industry struggles with rising costs and subpar sales.

On May 3, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the two-year extension through 2025 and said commercial Off-Broadway shows will also be eligible, albeit for a smaller credit. The Broadway League trade association lobbied for preserving the program. It was designed to jumpstart the industry, which contributes billions to the economy, and encourage productions “to begin performances sooner and come back stronger” as the city recovered from Covid-19.Continue Reading

Copyright © 2019 Broadway Journal.