DOLLARS AND CENTS A TALE OF FOUR BUDGETS right. Where included, rent expenses are cate- gorized in the Rehearsal Space category. If you want to put on a show, you need a For added insight, we’ve interviewed the budget; even living room and charity produc- general managers for the listed productions; tions require the careful allocation of time and like the shows we looked at, their names are of in-kind donations. not being published. These interviews, com- To illuminate more clearly the economic bined with the data in this comparison, sug- decisions that theater administrators face, we gest some striking conclusions: Dollars and Cents obtained the actual pre-production budgets ● Generally, the biggest expense categories from four shows that have run within the past for a show are Advertising/Marketing and several years, and we compare them at right, Physical Production. Between them, these category by category. We chose budgetarily items make up about 40 percent of a typical diverse shows, from a $7,500 off-off- budget. Within the Physical Production cate- Broadway play to a $2 million Broadway gory, scenery is the largest expense, consuming straight play, and we strove to find budgets 12.5 percent of the entire Broadway budget that were representative at each level. and 8.2 percent of the off-Broadway budget. Of course, there’s no such thing as a “typi- ● One way this survey’s off-off-Broadway cal budget.” Each show faces different circum- show reduces expenses is by not paying its stances; in footnotes, we explain several key actors—even though some of them are mem- variances in production conditions. Also, the bers of Actors’ Equity. Small nonprofit pro- biggest economic barrier for many theater ductions may use unpaid Equity actors under groups—that of renting affordable space [see the Showcase Code provision, so long as “Small Companies Squeezed by High they’re mounted in a theater no larger than 99 Rents”]—is often accounted for in annual seats. If not for this provision, the show would company budgets, and may not be reflected at never be able to afford Equity actors.

HOW THE PIE IS SLICED EXPENSE BREAKDOWN FOR FOUR NEW YORK PRODUCTIONS

Union

Contingency/reserve

General administrative

Advertising/marketing Broadway Off-Broadway (commercial) Front-of-house

Rehearsal expenses

Salaries

Fees

Physical production

(for figures, see facing page)

Off-Broadway (nonprofit) Off-Off-Broadway National Arts Journalism Program, 2002

48 Wonderful Town Production type BROADWAY OFF-BR (COMMERCIAL) OFF-BR (NONPROFIT) OFF-OFF-BROADWAY

Capacity 1,350 seats 287 seats 165 seats 60 seats Dollars and Cents Length of run Open-ended Open-ended 56 performances 15 performances Ticket price $25-$70 $47.50-$50 $40 $15 $%$%$%$% Physical production $418,250 20.9% $66,500 11.1% $34,050 15.5% $1,250 16.7% Scenery $250,000 $37,500 $18,000 $900 Costumes $50,000 $7,500 $2,000 $250 Lighting $50,750 $11,000 $3,000 $100

Fees $179,300 9% $42,789 7.1% $22,500 10.2% $3,150 42.1% Director $50,000 $9,138 $3,800 $1,000 Author n/a1 $7,000 $3,600 $0 Designers $100,300 $14,388 $10,000 $1,300

Salaries $161,288 8.1% $40,050 6.7% $51,180 23.3% $0 0% Actors $75,120 $24,000 $23,760 $0 Understudies $30,048 $2,108 $0 $0 Stage management $36,670 $5,958 $9,770 $0

Rehearsal expenses $187,000 9.4% $55,100 9.2% $12,900 5.9% $1,000 13.4% Stagehands, load-in $130,000 $15,250 $11,500 $0 Rehearsal space (rent) $13,000 $5,000 $02 $1,000 Workshop expense $0 $28,500 $0 $0

Front-of-house $40,000 2% n/a3 $12,730 5.8% $120 1.6% Box office $40,000 n/a $9,460 $0 Programs $04 n/a $750 $120

Advertising/marketing $469,000 23.5% $165,500 27.6% $57,300 26.1% $1,955 26.1% Publicist $8,000 $5,500 $2,400 $1,000 Opening night $60,000 $7,500 $2,500 $0

General admin. $211,162 10.5% $75,459 12.6% $15,423 7.2% $0 0% Payroll taxes $28,778 $10,727 $9,323 n/a Insurance $25,000 $5,000 n/a5 n/a6 Legal $20,000 $16,000 $07 $0

Contingency $166,500 8.3% $100,000 16.6% $0 0% $0 0%

Union bonds $167,500 8.4% $54,602 9.1% $13,678 6.2% $0 0% Actors Equity $150,000 $27,882 $11,014 $0 ATPAM $10,000 $2,740 $0 $0

Total (pre-opening) $2,000,000 $600,000 $219,761 $7,475 Per-week expenses $223,281 $50,000 $5,000- $937.50 $11,000

1No author expense because play is public domain National Arts Journalism Program, 2002 2Company pays annual rent 3Front-of-House expenses accounted for under other categories 4Programs are free unless color or additional pages are added 5Included in annual company budget 6Included in annual company budget 7Services donated in-kind 49 National Arts Journalism Program ● The downside of this Showcase provi- ly produced by another company. sion is that if a small show using donated ● This nonprofit off-Broadway budget does Equity labor winds up being successful, it can not include contingency money to cover gen- run no more than 16 performances. Beyond eral cost overruns, poor advance sales and the that, it must be transferred to another theater like. Any shortfall is made up from the compa- where it must pay Equity rates to its cast. It is ny’s annual budget. This Broadway produc- difficult to get much steam behind a show in tion’s contingency budget, though it comprises just 16 performances, especially since reviews nearly 10 percent of the total budget, is low Dollars and Cents of off-off-Broadway productions rarely appear compared to others on Broadway. before the middle of a run. ● Once these Broadway and commercial ● This off-off-Broadway show cannot off-Broadway shows opened, the author, direc- afford print advertising. It relies primarily on tor, designers and producer each received listings and reviews—and therefore on the “points”: percentages of revenue. The whims of the city’s entertainment editors. Broadway budget designates a total of 16.5 ● Given a budget five times larger, this off- points; the commercial off-Broadway budget, off-Broadway managing director said he would 13 points. increase advertising spending more than that ● As a result of discounts and all of the of any other category. But in a 60-seat theater, above factors, recoupment of pre-production the company couldn’t hope to recoup five expenses—breaking even—is a challenge. This times the expenses, so it would have to move off-off-Broadway production had to sell 85 per- to a larger theater. But not too much bigger, cent of its tickets to do so, and comps ate into because most 100-plus-seat theaters are union that very small margin of error. (Productions houses, which would entail much higher are an acknowledged money-loser for the com- expenses. As a result, there exists a budgetary pany, which operates a space used also by two For productions, “no-man’s land” between about $25,000 (the affiliated groups. The company is able to high end of non-Equity productions) and remain viable through space rental and co-pro- there exists $150,000 (the low end of Equity productions). ductions in which it supplies the space and a budgetary ● This off-off-Broadway company doesn’t marketing and others supply the production.) depend much on in-kind support because get- ● This nonprofit off-Broadway company’s “no-man’s land” ting free goods and services is a headache, often productions generally earn ticket revenues costing more in the long run in wasted time between $10,000 (for a bomb) and $45,000 between about and labor. It does use a few donated set pieces (for a smash) a week. Given an eight-week run and some volunteer front-of-house labor. and weekly mid-run production expenses of $25,000 and ● Ticket prices—topping out at $40 for $5,000 to $11,000, it’s pretty rare to recoup the $150,000. the nonprofit off-Broadway show and $65 for pre-production cost. This is despite the fact that the Broadway show—can be misleading. 1) legal services are donated by board members When theater memberships, student discounts and 2) this company has its own performance and comps are factored in, the take for the and rehearsal space, which saves a big chunk of average “$40” ticket is just $20 to $25. And money in a budget category that’s a large con- many Broadway and off-Broadway shows alike cern for similar off-Broadway companies. land eventually at the Theatre Development ● This commercial off-Broadway show Fund’s TKTS booth, where day-of-show tick- needed full houses for 18 solid weeks or 55 ets are sold at a 50 percent discount. percent houses for more than two years to ● Union costs are codified according to break even. In its two-year run, it did not various factors, including the budget size, the break even, though future sales of film, foreign theater’s for-profit/nonprofit status, and and other ancillary rights may eventually tip whether the play in question has been recent- the show into the black. ■

50 Wonderful Town LABOR VERSUS MANAGEMENT: Many national tours of Broadway shows that

A TUG OF WAR shun Equity or the AFM, for instance, have Dollars and Cents the full blessing of the SSDC and IATSE. Next only to “critics,” no word is more polar- On the surface, the financial crisis in New izing in the New York theater-production York theater that followed the Sept. 11 attack world than “unions.” Stage unions take the rap brought labor and management groups for skyrocketing costs, for enforcing regulations together. That cooperation offers some hope that strangle creativity and for generally keep- for solving other long-range problems. The ing the industry mired in the past. While these major Broadway unions made four-week sweeping charges may contain bits of truth, salary concessions of up to 25 percent that they oversimplify myriad and intricate relation- helped keep seven shows open that might oth- ships btween labor and management. The erwise have closed. Several weeks later, the League of American Theatres and Producers producers began to make good on their prom- likes to advertise theater on the Great White ise to pay back the lost wages as theater atten- Way as “Live Broadway.” Yet live theater, by dance returned to near-normal levels more definition, is a labor-intensive art form; with- quickly than anticipated. out human labor, there can be nothing “live” But some union representatives began to about it. grumble that producers were riding out the Unions have played a major role in shaping crisis on the backs of their actors, musicians the American theater from the late 1890s, espe- and stagehands. “The definition of collabora- cially in the traditionally labor-friendly city of tion, or so it frequently appears, is when the New York. The International Alliance of union gives,” griped Equity President Alan Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the U.S. Eisenberg. “One might ask, for example, with and Canadian union that includes stagecraft, the millions of dollars that some of these motion picture and television production shows have made—such as ‘Rent,’ such as ‘Les employees, is the oldest among them; it was Miserables,’ such as ‘Phantom’—why do [pro- founded in 1893 and now has 500 local chap- ducers] have to ask for cuts from the unions ters. It forged an alliance early on with the and the guilds when they have made millions American Federation of Musicians, which and millions of dollars over the years?” formed in 1896. AFM now has 110,000 mem- How much cooperation will remain in bers in 250 locals. the near future is uncertain, especially as more Actors’ Equity Association was not found- systemic and deeply rooted issues reemerge as ed until 1913, and it struggled considerably in central concerns. There are currently several the face of alliances linking theater owners key struggles between management and labor with competing unions. Many of Equity’s that will help shape the future of the theater in 43,000 current members also belong to at New York City. One relates to cutbacks in least one of its sister unions, the Screen Actors labor for touring shows, which could easily Guild and the American Federation of seep into New York as new technologies gain Television and Radio Artists. The Society of influence and cost-cutting remains para- Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), mount. Another involves how much actors founded in 1962, is considered the “baby should be paid for performing inside the union.” Its 1,700 members are employees and, Broadway box even if the show in question is frequently, royalty-holders, a combination that produced by a nonprofit entity. A third can be highly problematic. Although there addresses the ownership of intellectual proper- have been periods of cooperation, theater ty, such as a director’s stage directions. unions often clash with one another and gen- Here’s a quick glance at these issues and erally decline to join one another’s pickets. their possible implications.

51 National Arts Journalism Program MUSICIANS OR MACHINES? a profit decision, not an artistic decision. If An ongoing issue that divides actors’ and musi- they get away with this, at this level, how long cians’ unions from management is the “virtual will it be before they get rid of live musicians pit orchestra,” a device designed, built and pro- altogether?” grammed by Real Time Music Solutions of New York. Essentially, it’s a synthesizer loaded THE FADING LINE BETWEEN with pre-recorded music samples. Unions call it BROADWAY AND REGIONAL THEATER “karaoke theater,” a graceless replacement of Theatergoers may think they are seeing Dollars and Cents live musicians that’s the latest example of the Broadway shows when they buy tickets for decline of the American art form known as the “The Invention of Love” at the Lyceum musical. Management prefers the term “orches- Theatre, “Contact” at the Vivian Beaumont or tra enhancement system,” and says it’s the best “Betrayal” at the American Airlines Theatre. technology now available to pit musicians. No They’re advertised as Broadway shows, and matter the terms used to describe the device, it they can be nominated for Tony Awards. drew pickets last season by AFM members But Harry Weintraub, legal counsel for the wherever the non-union tour of “Annie” League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the trade The virtual pit (which used this device) played. The clash association representing 75 major regional orchestra is could very well be a harbinger of Broadway’s companies, gets paid to draw a finer line. future. The virtual pit orchestra is but one of “These are all LORT houses. It is not helpful to but one of the the multimedia gadgets that producers in New call them Broadway houses. Commercial plays York and elsewhere are considering to juice up are not produced in them. To call them multimedia the theatrical experience and cut costs. Broadway would betray a certain understand- Cleveland is also a union town, and ing of what they do. They are Tony-eligible gadgets that thanks to the presence of the Cleveland houses, but that is a marketing issue and not a producers are Orchestra, the city’s local chapter of the AFM labor issue.” is one of the strongest in the country. But that Weintraub is adamant because there’s sig- considering to didn’t make much difference when “Annie” nificant money at stake. Equity actors at came to town: Even picketing by local musi- LORT theaters make a minimum of $500 to juice up the cians did not keep patrons from lining up to $725 per week depending on the size of the theatrical pay full price to see a little red-headed girl sing theater, compared with $1,252 on Broadway “Tomorrow” to the accompaniment of an for “production scale.” Although most people experience eight-member non-union orchestra and that think of LORT houses as operating in places notorious synthesizer. like San Diego, Cleveland and Seattle, three and cut costs. “It by no means was meant to replace the such theaters operate in New York: Lincoln orchestra,” “Annie” music director Kep Center, the Roundabout and Theatre for a Kaeppler said of the machine. “It was designed New Audience. Two of those, Lincoln Center to do what [electronic] keyboards do, but with and the Roundabout, operate in their own a great sense of musicality. We can layer more theaters, located within what is known as the instruments and get a more full sound. We Broadway Box. A fourth will be added when have complete control over tempo, dynamics, the Manhattan Theatre Club, which is reno- entrances and cutoffs, to keep the show a live vating the Biltmore Theatre, becomes a LORT experience. We can even vamp.” member. Mell Csicsila, a Cleveland-area cellist who Weintraub’s distinctions, however, don’t often plays in pit orchestras for touring shows, mollify Alan Eisenberg as he pleads his case for said the device is the beginning of the end of Equity’s 40,000 members. “Our mission is to live theater. “It’s basically a Sony PlayStation make things easy, but we don’t want to get orchestra. This is canned music,” he said. “It’s [expletive] in the process. Our main concern,

52 Wonderful Town Dollars and Cents 53 National Arts Journalism Program - Randall Bourscheidt, president, Weintraub, on the other hand, warns on the Weintraub, each member of the company]. Is that fair? The that fair? Is of the company]. each member and research doing inexpensive are producers the artistsgetting what are but development, get- ‘They’re will say, The producers out of it? the artist as a par- recast need to We ting a job.’ I not ‘labor.’ process, ticipant in the creative the worst thing for sometimes think it was in 1913 and for- formed a union actors to have theaters The LORT be branded as ‘labor.’ ever getting a started are many of these shows where why the cast as a understand I don’t royalty. of the royalties.” unit cannot get 1 percent further dis- are producers that if commercial and risk- bringing newcouraged from shows theaters to com- LORT from taking revivals will be a less houses, Broadway mercial place and fewer will be avail- jobs interesting as some box the Broadway treat able. “We a very large district, kind of holy place. It’s a were and it would be healthier if there in it and not mosaic of theatrical productions But shows. developed just commercially their little set everyone to play by wants you producers of rules, see the commercial so we out of the clos- dragging every musical revival Equity bad. Meanwhile, et, no matter how keeps beating its tom-tom about employment district.” in the Broadway DIRECTIONS? WHO OWNS STAGE not the are conditions and working Money of Stage central concerns for the Society mem- whose and Choreographers, Directors sufficiently com- most estimates are bers by a complex a conflict looms over pensated. But intellectual rights. set of issues involving direc- Though the SSDC is a union, executive said the situation is Hauptman tor Barbara and the fact that directors complicated “by Particularly contentious are shows pro- shows are contentious Particularly houses that operate inside “The LORT Another thorny issue arises when a show the artist entitled to anything when you “Is INSIGHTS FROM THE CONFERENCE INSIGHTS FROM THE CONFERENCE 24 per- in the late 1990s rose vulnerable. Income extremely small cultural organizations are “All for the smallest.” but fell 12 percent cent for the largest groups, Alliance for the Arts Alliance duced by a LORT theater in a venue that is theater in a venue a LORT duced by site, a commercial traditionally considered of Love” “Invention such as Lincoln Center’s at “Follies” and Roundabout’s at the Lyceum the Belasco. that no commer- do things box the Broadway said. Weintraub would do,” cial producer in the doing ‘Follies’ “Look at Roundabout, That would be insane for a commer- Belasco. not a very big theater because it’s cial producer located on the eastern [1,018 seats] and it’s that was where for artistic reasons, fringes. But which is set in a they wanted do the show, were the Roundabout If dilapidated theater. it would go theater, like a commercial treated out of business.” theater into a com- a LORT transfers from house, and not just when the nonprof- mercial fre- More York. theater is in New it resident regional in from coming are shows quently, and Houston. Diego houses in Chicago, San theaters to LORT transfers from Recent (San Monty” include “TheBroadway Full Flew and “One Theatre) Globe Old Diego’s (Chicago’s Nest” the Cuckoo’s Over Steppenwolf). speaking, actors get a Generally but makes such a move, raise when a show would like to see actors getting a Eisenberg at a commercial in the profits share greater early on. house for their cheaper work asked Eisenberg to Broadway?” LORT go from a $1,000 bonus [for there’s “Now, rhetorically. our only concern, is: ‘What’s the fair share for share the fair is: ‘What’s our only concern, is that show “A Eisenberg, the artist?’”To and the show, is a Broadway Tony-eligible scale.” production should be paid at actors in it choreographers are contractors, employees and Arthur Miller play, not a Robert Falls play. royalty participants. Our members own the And that is the way it should be. But we are property rights to the material.” starting to see changes.” In one such example, Stickier still is the union’s claim that a playwright Paula Vogel liked Mantello’s direc- director’s staging is protected in the same tion of “The Mineola Twins” so much that she manner as are a writer’s words. The most gave him 5 percent of all royalties to put his famous case involves a 1996 production of stage directions in the published script. “Love! Valour! Compassion!” in Boca Raton, Might we see directors and choreogra- Dollars and Cents Fla. A non-union director essentially replicat- phers demanding rights for their work? ed SSDC member Joe Mantello’s original Intellectual property law is a mushrooming Broadway stage directions. The non-union area of litigation, in the arts and elsewhere. As director went so far as to come to New York judicial precedents are set, directors and cho- and measure the Broadway stage and settings. reographers may begin to press their cases The union sued. “This whole thing has caused more vigorously. a huge controversy between us and the Dramatists Guild,” Hauptman said. LOOMING TENSIONS The question is this: Do the stage direc- These are three of labor’s more contentious Some of the tions, which traditionally are written down by issues, but others emerge from time to time. the stage manager and often published in the Two reforms Equity has pushed for recently theater unions script used by regional and amateur theaters, are increased health insurance for union mem- will be forced belong to the director or the playwright? “The bers (coordinated through the Actors’ Fund, guild believes that anything done in a produc- but with insufficient support from producers, to make an tion ultimately belongs to the playwright,” according to Eisenberg of Equity) and the Hauptman said. “The director may add to or expansion of Internal Revenue Service tax unpleasant facilitate, but that work only enriches the play, deductions for actors. On the other hand, and that belongs to the playwright. We have some playwrights would like to see a relax- choice: make never said we want to copyright, ‘Enter stage ation of Equity’s Showcase Code restrictions concessions, right,’ or ‘Exit stage left.’ But we do want to that enable union actors to work non-union protect the rights of our members.” productions for free but restrict the length of or cease to Stephen Sultan is president of Dramatists the production’s run. Play Service, whose profits are equally shared Clearly, as costs and profit pressures exist in their by the Dramatists Guild and agents represent- increase, and as technological innovations current form. ing writers. He disagrees with Hauptman. “I become a more prominent part of the theatri- think it is fair to say the playwrights are the cal experience, some of the theater unions— copyright holders,” Sultan said. “Directors particularly Actors’ Equity—will be forced to hold no copyright on stage direction. make an unpleasant choice: make concessions, Sometimes, but by no means always, a direc- or cease to exist in their current form. tor will get a financial end for stage directions, Meanwhile, if producers continue to rely more but that is really up to the writer to decide. and more heavily on cost-cutting technologi- That’s why writers still come to work in the cal enhancements, they may have a difficult theater. In the theater, writers control the time justifying the adjective in the League’s business. They sell the rights.” “Live Broadway” advertising slogan. Without Hauptman is forced to agree, to a point. some compromises, live theater could become “This is still a playwright’s business and not a a threatened commodity instead of one of director’s. ‘Death of a Salesman’ is billed as an New York’s biggest bragging points. ■

54 Wonderful Town ADVERTISING: A MUST, WHY DO THEY BUY?

BUT A COSTLY ONE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION TO SEE A SHOW Dollars and Cents

Audience for Broadway Plays Advertising expenses usually constitute Reviews (34.3%) about one-fourth of a production’s weekly oper- ating costs, and a slightly lower percentage of To see a star (27.9%) pre-opening expenses. For a major Broadway show, that one-fourth can equal a million-dollar Discounts/deals (23.9%) multimedia campaign. For an off-off-Broadway Personal recommendation (23.6%) production, it often buys little more than a few hundred flyers, postcards and stamps. ADVERTISEMENTS (19.8%) The link between advertising and atten- Tony Awards (19.1%) dance is not iron-clad. Broadway musical audiences are more likely to be influenced by Author/composer (18.8%) word of mouth than by advertisements, while straight-play audiences are more swayed by Articles/stories (13%) reviews. But one-third of musical attendees Saw show before (9%) cite advertisements as the decisive factor in their attendance. So do one-fifth of straight- Internet (4.1%) play attendees.1 Television interview (3.6%) Ever since the landmark television pitch for Bob Fosse’s “Pippin” in the mid-1970s, Playbill (2.7%) advertising on the small screen has trans- formed the profile of Broadway. On TV, audi- ences—especially suburbanites whom the industry had trouble reaching by more tradi- Audience for Broadway Musicals tional means—could get an advance taste of Personal recommendation (33.8%) what their ticket money would buy. But the ADVERTISEMENTS (32.6%) considerable financial costs of TV advertising have helped push Broadway budgets skyward. Discounts/deals (18.5%) These days, television is by far the most influential advertising medium for musicals. Reviews (15.8%)

(Straight plays, with their lower budgets and Tony Awards (13.6%) visuals that play more poorly on screen, rely far less on it.) Television has been especially Saw show before (13.2%) useful in luring occasional theatergoers, as dis- Author/composer (8.3%) tinct from cognoscenti. As a result of that broader geographic and demographic reach, Articles/stories (8.1%) the biggest hits have been able to extend their runs almost indefinitely. “A 17-year run for To see a star (6.7%)

‘Cats’ would have been unthinkable in the Internet (4.7%) 1950s,” said Nancy Coyne, head of the theater advertising firm Serino/Coyne. Travel agents/brokers (4.1%)

Broadway’s audience within the past gener- Playbill (3.6%) ation has increasingly come from beyond the

New York metropolitan area. Since Sept. 11, 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 though, the balance has shifted back toward (percent) (multiple responses) 2000 data. Source: League of American Theatres and Producers

55 National Arts Journalism Program local audiences, prompting an increase in local- Tony Converse pointed out. “The show that’s ly oriented advertising media such as billboards. in a 299-seat house, and that’s grossing But even before the attack, television was $50,000 to $70,000 a week, costs just as no longer seen as a cure-all. Along with out- much to get its message out as a show in a door advertising such as “billboard buses,” Broadway house grossing $300,000 to radio advertising has reasserted its importance. $400,000 a week.” “Theater and radio have much more in com- Off-Broadway and straight-play mon as art forms than theater and television,” Broadway’s biggest advertising medium, by far, Dollars and Cents Coyne explained. “Radio forces you to imag- is print. Not surprisingly, The New York Times Commercial ine. You supply the sets and the costumes. dominates that segment. Most non-Times print off-Broadway When you do that with a good radio spot, spending goes not to other dailies, but to Time you’re somewhat hooked.” Out New York or the Village Voice. One productions Advertising’s influence wanes as the size of Broadway straight play we surveyed3 spent well a production declines. Off-Broadway audiences over half its $400,000 advertising budget on often chase are nearly one-third less influenced by advertis- The Times. Another surveyed show, produced 2 the same ing than Broadway audiences. The reasons for by an off-Broadway nonprofit, spent more this are numerous. A large percentage of off- than $22,000 of its $32,000 ad budget on The audiences as Broadway audiences are subscribers, whose tick- Times, with most of that $22,000 paying for ets are bought months in advance. And themat- inclusion in the thumbnail Theater Directory Broadway ically, off-Broadway shows often resist the easy ads known as the ABCs. categorization necessary in a 30-second spot. Although many readers mistakenly shows. While Broadway shows can reap discounts assume that the ABCs are free listings, they by buying display advertising in bulk, small cost a minimum of $2,000 a week for a daily shows are effectively locked out of television presence. And off-Broadway productions pay because of the prohibitive costs of production the same per-line rates for them as Broadway and airtime (though local cable outlets such as shows. (Productions in theaters 199 seats or NY1 are an option for larger off-Broadway smaller receive discounts of 4 to 15 percent, companies). Small theater companies that rely but few companies advertising shows of that on contributed income may find advertising size can afford the ABCs.) The Times does and promotion a hard sell to funders who publish editorial listings on Fridays and would prefer that their money go directly Sundays, but these are extremely selective and toward “the art.” And the success of theater ads can seem arbitrary; small companies cannot depends not only on their reach, but on their count on them. frequency. Sustained exposure—what George The most important advertising-related Wachtel, president of Audience Research & decision for small to mid-sized companies is Analysis, calls “maintenance advertising”—can whether to buy a presence in the ABCs. be prohibitively expensive. Patricia Taylor, managing director of the off- These economy-of-scale issues tend to Broadway Women’s Project & Productions squeeze mid-sized theater companies most. company, has mixed feelings on the subject, While smaller companies can effectively use but said she finally decided that her audience grassroots strategies to build audiences, com- does look in The Times for information on the mercial off-Broadway productions often chase company’s productions. The off-off-Broadway the same audiences as Broadway shows. “We Artistic New Directions theater company, on have to do advertising—whether it’s print, or the other hand, has generally decided against television to the extent that we can do that— paying for a listing. The company bought an at the same level as, and competing with, the ABC for its recent one-woman show, “Buon Broadway shows,” off-Broadway producer Natale, Bruno,” but only because the lead

56 Wonderful Town actress paid for it out of her own pocket. “I run free listings and reviews by readers as well

didn’t feel that it was a good idea,” said as by critics. “We did have incredible success Dollars and Cents Kristine Niven, the company’s artistic produc- [online] when we did ‘Gum’ with Daphne ing director. “I don’t think it’s our audience.” Rubin-Vega,” said Taylor of the Women’s Off-Broadway’s marketing difficulties Project. “So much discussion was happening have been exacerbated since the Sept. 11 online because of our play. It was the begin- attack. Companies producing shows last fall ning of seeing how it could be done on a had to get the word out not only that their grassroots level.” productions were worth seeing, but that their For smaller companies, maintaining a theaters were safe. “When we reopened after company Web site can be invaluable. Steve Sept. 11, we were at 5 percent [of full capaci- Keim of the Perkasie Theatre Company said ty],” said Erik Sniedze, associate producer for 30 percent of his audience can be attributed to the Flea Theater seven blocks north of online traffic. And there are practical benefits. Ground Zero. “We would have decent reserva- “You can be selling tickets or advertising your tions, and then all of a sudden the front page show when you don’t have staff on,” said Beth of the Post would call this area a toxic zone.” Emelson, producing director of the Atlantic A big blow to the exposure of small the- Theater Company. ater companies has been the recent tightening But marketers of large productions are of magazine and newspaper entertainment- less interested in plunging tremendous listings sections. New York magazine, the resources into the Internet. They’d rather Village Voice and others have reduced the direct buyers to a Web site operated by a tick- amount of space designated to listings as a et seller. “Everybody says, ‘We need a Web result of belt-tightening in the newspaper site!’” Coyne of Serino/Coyne said. “I say to business, which was well underway before them, ‘No, you don’t. You need Ticketmaster’s Sept. 11. “We tend to lose column space regu- Web site.’ You don’t want to educate the audi- larly every week,” Village Voice listings editor ence [online]. You want to sell them tickets.” ■ Jose Germosen said, adding that recently the paper’s listings have seen a 10 to 15 percent 1 “Who Goes to Broadway 1999-2000,” League of American cut. And the situation is likely to get worse. Theatres and Producers, 2001. Small theater companies, especially, look 2 “The Audience for New York Theatre,” Audience Research for exposure from theater Web sites such as & Analysis, commissioned by the Theatre Development Fund and the League of American Theatres and Producers, 1998. Nytheatre, Offoffoff and CurtainUp, which 3 The productions are cited anonymously.

WHAT DRAWS THE CROWDS? HOW AUDIENCES LEARN ABOUT SHOWS, BROADWAY VS. OFF-BROADWAY

30 (28%) Broadway 25 (23.8%) Off-Broadway

20 (19.6%)

(16.7%) (15.5%) 15 (13.4%)

10 (8%) (6%) 5 (4%) (3.3%) (3.7%) (2.6%) (2.9%) (3%) (1.2%) (.7%) 0 Newspapers Magazines TV commercials Outdoor signs/ Radio commercials Bus posters Subway/railroad Flyer/handbills posters posters Source: Theatre Development Fund 57 National Arts Journalism Program Dollars and Cents 58 OFF-BROADWAY OFF-BROADWAY COMMERCIAL NON-PROFIT BROADWAY Wonderful Town Dollars and Cents 59 National Arts Journalism Program whose listings aim toward com- whose listings aim toward ■ “Theater Directory” is a daily institution, the is a daily institution, “Theater Directory” ’ IMES Time Out New York, York, New Out Time T ORK Y EW ads). The paid listings cost each production a minimum of $360 cost each production The paid listings ads). N But while this Directory may appear to be a comprehensive repre- to be a comprehensive may appear while this Directory But is less a off-Broadway sample directoryOur suggests that today’s HE LEARNING TO READ THE ABCs LEARNING TO T place where a casual theatergoer is most likely to take account of the a casual theatergoer is most likely place where the from at left, Theater Directory The theatrical offerings. city’s section, lists 32 Broadway Arts 18, 2001 & Leisure Nov. Sunday, Limited Engagements. and five shows 46 off-Broadway shows, actually an advertisement, a detail that sentation of the theater slate, it’s is indicat- explicitly mentioned (its ad status but is never can be inferred as on other the copy, line above ed typographically with a double black Times and do not include one-third and $1,950 for a full week, on a Sunday to the time (according up at that productions of the 65 off-Broadway 15 issue of Nov. productions. or any of the 57 off-off-Broadway prehensiveness) OFF-BROADWAY COMMERCIAL PRODUCTIONS DOMINATE it is easy to niches of the theater industry, When considering the various jugger- with the commercial dichotomy, adopt a “big-guy/little-guy” of off- and off-off nonprofits on one side and the nauts of Broadway This neglects an important niche: that of com- on the other. Broadway in question, listings for the week On productions. off-Broadway mercial nonprofits (28) outnumbered productions off-Broadway commercial of nearly two to one. a margin (15) by than a fare Broadway that used to be standard plays” for “straight haven and offbeat crowd-pleasers. mottled mix of traditional productions illu- (“Dragapella”), drag shows Sinatra”), (“Our These include cabarets performance forms multi-genre Angel Mindfreak”), sionists (“Criss bodily manipula- and humorous La Guarda”) “De Group,” Man (“Blue of the Penis”). tion (“Puppetry