If I write a play of surpassing quality, it will get produced, if not now then eventually. That assumption has hovered somewhere behind my laptop screen for the 15 years that I have been writing plays. And most days I keep the faith. Its corollary is a pill harder to [...] Continue reading »
How to Succeed with Crowdfunding
The Seattle City Office of Film + Music hosts a monthly meet&greet along with a program relevant to those working in the areas of film, video, music and interactive games. These events are at the Spitfire bar in Belltown on the last Wednesday of every month. If you toil in [...] Continue reading »
‘Seagull’ Soars at ACT Theatre
I revere Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). I have studied all his plays and seen many productions of his “big four”: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. Because I place his scripts, along with Stratfordian Willie’s, at the pinnacle of dramatic writing, I always take my seat with more [...] Continue reading »
5th Ave. Prep School for Broadway
Since David Armstrong came to Seattle in 2000 to lead The 5th Avenue Theatre as its Executive Producer and Artistic Director, the 5th (as it’s known around town) has become an important source for new musicals on Broadway. This week David unofficially announced that two more musicals nurtured at his [...] Continue reading »
Dramatic Economics
How much should playwrights worry about cast size when they write a script? This unsavory question is driven by the economic mess that has imperiled nonprofit theatres in recent decades. Writers are advised to keep casts small. The smaller the cast, the less production expense, the better chance of getting [...] Continue reading »
Producing Broadway Musicals is High-Stakes Dance
Just how much are producers spending these days to open a musical on Broadway? That question, always interesting to me because of my years as a show producer, recently came up again as I wrote about the musical Scandalous opening on Broadway this October. It’s well known that backing a [...] Continue reading »
5th Avenue Theatre Sends a Musical to Broadway
Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre has become known as a successful staging ground for new musicals before they make their way to Broadway. The ascent of three of those musicals to hit status – Jekyll & Hyde, Hairspray and The Wedding Singer – certainly burnished the theatre’s reputation. Now another musical [...] Continue reading »
Broadway Jackpot Not Total Mirage for Writers
The Washington State Lottery identifies the odds of winning its Lotto jackpot as one in 6.99 million. That’s one of 6.99 reasons why I never buy a lottery ticket. The odds of writing a play that will have a successful run on Broadway are probably in the same statistical stratosphere. [...] Continue reading »
Stars’ Salaries Soar Above Broadway
It is a truism that in order for a straight play (i.e. non-musical) to succeed on Broadway at least one star must be in the cast. While Broadway producers are certainly capable of stupidity, their logic in casting stars does make sense. (That logic also understandably annoys the hell out [...] Continue reading »
New Straight Plays Bleed Red Ink on Broadway
Commercial theatre in New York is a financial long shot at the best of times. Only twenty to twenty-five percent of Broadway shows turn a profit. Those odds get a lot longer for straight new straight plays (as opposed to musicals) and they are longest of all for new straight [...] Continue reading »