Ken Davenport

ACTORS PAN THEIR UNION’S COVID PROTOCOLS

March 18, 2021 by Philip Boroff

Actors’ Equity Association recently announced far-reaching health protocols that producers complained would prohibitively increase the cost of presenting theater and delay the industry’s restart after a year of being sidelined by Covid-19. This week, some 2,000 actors and stage managers signed a petition calling the procedures impractical and criticized their union’s leadership for inadequately communicating with members.

“Equity’s protocols from just over a week ago seem to be based on science from six months ago,” the actors wrote to Equity President Kate Shindle and Executive Director Mary McColl. “We are hopeful that the issue of realistic and detailed protocols to return to work can be prioritized so that funds can return to our union.”Continue Reading

BROADWAY’S REOPENING GETS A SHOT IN THE ARM

November 10, 2020 by Philip Boroff

A Covid-19 vaccine was said to be highly effective in a large trial, heightening the possibility that Broadway can restart next year.

A BROADWAY MAVERICK CONTEMPLATES A POST-COVID FUTURE: INTERVIEW

March 27, 2020 by Philip Boroff

Producing theater is quixotic in the best of circumstances. Weathering the industry’s longest-ever shutdown, which has halted shows and cut off incomes, makes the endeavor that much more daunting.

“Cameron Mackintosh has said, ‘theater has always survived on mavericks who go their own way,’ and we need more of them out there,” producer Ken Davenport said in a Zoom interview earlier this week from his Upper West Side apartment.

DAVENPORT THEATRE ENDS FIVE-YEAR RUN

February 8, 2019 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: Ken Davenport’s eponymous theater is no more.

“As of the end of January 2019, the Davenport Theatre has closed,” according to an announcement on Davenport Theatrical Enterprise‘s voicemail.

Ken Davenport, the producer-general manager-book writer-marketer-podcaster-blogger-consultant, has told people in the industry that he lost his lease. He declined to comment for this story.

CELEBRATING RISK & THE INDEPENDENT PRODUCER: A TRIUMPHANT ‘BAND’S VISIT’

June 11, 2018 by Philip Boroff

There’s cause for celebration in Bet Hatikva and Petah Tikva.

The Band’s Visit, a drama about acceptance, missed connections and the romance and ennui of everyday life, won 10 Tony Awards, including best musical. The triumph raises the profile of the quiet show about an Egyptian police band marooned in a sleepy Israeli town, who’d intended to go to a cosmopolitan city with a similar-sounding name.

Some takeaways from the CBS telecast:Continue Reading

HISTORIC BROADWAY SEASON PRODUCES MUSICAL DELUGE

January 20, 2017 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: For anyone in need of a diversion, Broadway is presenting its busiest season for musicals in 36 years.

Nineteen new musicals and revivals have opened or are scheduled to open through April 27, the cut-off for Tony Award eligibility. That’s the biggest tally since 1980-81, according to the Broadway League. If all 19 arrive, 2016-17 will have the most musicals since Ronald Reagan was first sworn in as President.

Without an early Hamilton-scale blockbuster, the competition for theatergoers and Tony Awards should be robust. There are constraints on how much demand can rise to meet supply. In recent seasons, about 15 percent of all seats have gone unsold. The average musical customer sees just four a year, according to the Broadway League’s demographic study, regardless of how many are playing. And of the 13 new musicals this season, five at most will be nominated for best musical and guaranteed a performance slot on the Tony telecast in June.