Hadestown

SEC PROBES BIG BROADWAY FUND’S ‘OUTSIZED’ RETURNS (EXCLUSIVE)

November 4, 2022 by Philip Boroff

By their own account, the founders of the Broadway Strategic Return Fund turned an overlooked investment niche into a bonanza.

Hunter Arnold, John Joseph and Curt Cronin established their hedge fund in January 2016 to invest in U.S. and U.K. live theater productions, plus tours, cast recordings and other ancillary businesses. With “few professional investors participating through a highly organized and disciplined investment process,” the fund’s Sept. 30, 2021 Due Diligence Questionnaire said, the founders believe “there is an untapped opportunity for outsized profits.”

The year-old marketing document declared, “$100,000 invested at [the] fund opening is currently valued at $416,280.” That’s double the rate of return of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index over the same period — a remarkable result for an industry in which roughly 80 percent of commercial theater productions fail to fully repay their investors, let alone turn a profit.Continue Reading

INCLUSIVENESS AS BIG BOX OFFICE & OTHER TONY TAKEAWAYS

June 10, 2019 by Philip Boroff

Hunter Arnold, Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen

Hadestown’s strong sales and its Tony Award for Best Musical may advance the cause of female theater artists more effectively than any speech advocating for industry inclusiveness.

The inventive folk opera, which won eight awards at Radio City Music Hall Sunday night, is an all-but-guaranteed hit — and just the latest musical written in part or entirely by a woman to demonstrate staying power.

Of the dozen new musicals running on Broadway longer than a year, six have a female composer, lyricist or book writer. (They are Wicked, Waitress, Mean Girls, Frozen, Come From Away and Beautiful, the Carole King jukebox show.)Continue Reading

TOOTSIE’S INSIDER ADVANTAGE AT THE TONY AWARDS

June 7, 2019 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: In competitive Tony Awards contests, can producers who vote for their own shows have an outsized impact? Apparently.

I obtained a list of voters in the 2017-18 season — which I’m told is largely current — and cross-referenced it with names above the title of this year’s Best Musical nominees.

I counted 17 Tootsie producers and co-producers who were eligible to vote, 16 on Ain’t Too Proud, 12 on Hadestown and nine on The Prom. With just 831 voters, those margins aren’t negligible. Continue Reading