Variety's Business of Broadway Breakfast, presented by City National Bank, celebrates the upcoming season of Broadway with conversations from cast members and directors of “Sunset Boulevard,” “Yellow Face,” and “Our Town.”
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00:00Good morning, all.
00:01Thanks for joining us today.
00:02This is our seventh year hosting this and presenting it,
00:06so I'm thrilled to be having you join this panel this morning.
00:09You're each producing a number of new and exciting new shows
00:12and revivals this season.
00:14And for our panel, I thought we'd
00:15explore your personal journeys as producers,
00:18as well as some of the unique and interesting aspects
00:20of your shows.
00:21So let's dive in.
00:23Mara, I'm going to start with you first.
00:25This season, you and your partners
00:27are producing Revival of Gypsy, which
00:29was last seen on Broadway 15 years ago.
00:32The role of Rose is associated with some
00:34of our greatest actresses, including Ethel Merman, Tyne
00:37Daly, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters,
00:39and Patti LuPone.
00:40And I'm sure everyone in this room
00:42has an opinion on who their favorite actress is for this.
00:45And now you have Audrey McDonald stepping
00:47into this iconic role.
00:48How did the show and cast come together,
00:50if you could talk a little bit about that?
00:53So I believe that I will say that some of this
00:56started happening before I was involved.
00:58And as many people who are producers know,
01:00sometimes you come to projects in myriad ways.
01:04But my partner, Tom Kurteke, is very close friends with Audra,
01:07and they had been in conversation
01:08for quite some time.
01:10This has been a dream of hers.
01:12And I know that she has a long history working
01:15with George C. Wolfe.
01:16And it took a period of time for the stars
01:21to align in order for George's schedule, and Audra's schedule,
01:24and a theater schedule to come together
01:26at just the right moment, which finally happened.
01:29I got involved as George was being confirmed.
01:32And I will confess that that was one of the main reasons
01:35why I got involved.
01:37I started my career a number of years
01:41ago working in new play development at the Mark Taper
01:43Forum in Los Angeles when they were premiering George's
01:46musical Jelly's Last Jam.
01:48So anyone who wants to do the math,
01:49they can figure out how old I am.
01:52But in the 30-plus years since that time,
01:56I have been striving to produce a show with George.
01:59So for me, it's a very personal journey
02:02to come back to a collaboration with a director
02:04who I have always admired, and the combination
02:07of George, and Audra, and the entire company, which
02:09has now been announced.
02:11And the Majestic Theater was, how could I say no?
02:15So patience.
02:16Yes.
02:16I actually say that if I ever write a book on producing,
02:20it's going to be called Relentless Patience,
02:22because that is how I operate.
02:24Perfect.
02:25Great.
02:25Thank you for that.
02:26Sammy, great to see you.
02:28Last season, you and your partners at P3 Productions
02:31brought How to Dance in Ohio to Broadway.
02:33This season, your producer's on Job,
02:36which opened at the Hayes Theater in July,
02:38and just got extended through the end of October.
02:40So congrats on that.
02:41Before moving to Broadway, Job was at sold-out runs
02:44at the Soho Playhouse and the Connolly Theater.
02:47Were you originally involved with these productions?
02:50How did you become a producer on this show?
02:52Yes, so I mean, first of all, I'm
02:54so grateful to be on this panel, and specifically thinking
02:57about how do we continue to follow
03:01that mission of uplifting new writers and voices
03:04and bring them to the largest stages, such as Broadway.
03:07And so that was the impetus of why P3 joined Hannah Getz, Alex
03:13Levy, and Craig Balsam on Job, who
03:15shepherded the show from its Soho Playhouse
03:18step to the Connolly.
03:20And I think that if you asked the brilliant Broadway debut
03:23playwright, Maxwell Friedlich, would his show
03:26be on Broadway a year ago, he would have laughed.
03:29And I think that is the exciting part
03:32about the unexpected nature of the business.
03:35And P3 joined because one of our partners saw the show
03:41and immediately left saying, you have to see this.
03:44And I think that's always the question we ask ourselves
03:47as producers, is how do we not let people leave the theater
03:50just saying, you need to see this,
03:51but saying, you have to see this.
03:54And thinking about the invitation of new audiences
03:59to the theater was another strong reason
04:01why Job felt like a perfect fit for our mission,
04:06as thinking about the intentional invitation
04:10for new communities to step into a theater.
04:13And the beautiful Hayes Theater, which
04:16is a jewel box on Broadway, it's allowed for that tension
04:20that we felt down at the Connolly to maintain and stay.
04:23So P3 joined in that transition from the off-Broadway
04:27to Broadway step.
04:28And it's been such an incredible opportunity
04:31to think about new ways to invite audiences
04:35to experience the show.
04:37Great, absolutely.
04:38I'm going to come back to that a little bit more
04:40to talk about new audiences.
04:41But I also want to introduce Caroline Kaplan.
04:43Speaking of new, welcome to Broadway.
04:48Caroline has had a successful career
04:49producing many memorable, award-winning,
04:51and independent films, including Boys Don't Cry, Pieces
04:54of April, Boyhood, and Marcel the Show with Shoes On.
04:59This season, you're making your Broadway debut
05:01as a lead producer on Redwood, a new musical
05:03starring Idina Menzel.
05:05This is her first time back on Broadway since If Then in 2015.
05:09So tell us how you got involved in this project
05:11and what made you make the leap from Hollywood to Broadway.
05:15Well, I had been working with Idina on a slate of movies
05:19and television.
05:20And the whole time we were developing these
05:23and Through the Strike, et cetera,
05:26she was working on Redwood with Tina and Kate.
05:29And the more I heard about it, and maybe sometimes
05:33she'd hum something, and I'd hear that incredible music.
05:37And the more I heard about the story, just the more
05:39I genuinely wanted to know more, I just fell in love with it.
05:41And I think I became annoying, really,
05:44because I wanted to understand it.
05:48My mother was a theater professor,
05:49and theater was always a thing I loved the most growing up.
05:52And I never thought, I don't know why, actually,
05:54about producing theater specifically.
05:57But I just had this sort of lucky, I was lucky.
06:00And then the more, again, I got to know about it,
06:04it was like you have a crush on someone, they don't know it,
06:08and they like you, but you're kind of secretly in love.
06:11It was like that about Redwood.
06:13And then she introduced me to Eva Price.
06:15And it was such a beautiful connection.
06:18And I just was so interested in hearing everything
06:22she had been doing as the producer of Redwood.
06:24And then she asked me, would I join her?
06:26And it was just an incredible moment for me.
06:29I'm still sort of pinching myself.
06:31And I got to come in, also, sort of when it was,
06:36had been, they'd been working on it for a long time.
06:39But I think, as Sammy just said, too,
06:41it's like, it's always a leap of faith.
06:45With anything, particularly a new work
06:47that you're believing in.
06:49And I just, I loved it so much, and the story,
06:52and I related to it, and the universality of it,
06:55and just the excitement of knowing,
06:58I was saying to Kate earlier,
06:59when you're working on a movie, too,
07:01particularly one like a Marcel
07:02that can take a really long time,
07:04you're so excited, it sustains you in your dark times,
07:08and through all the stuff happening in the world,
07:10or your personal life, and all you can think of is,
07:12I can't wait, literally, to share this with audiences,
07:15and have them feel it.
07:17And so, also, to be, also, so lucky
07:20to be up close and personal,
07:22and see Adina's process, too, as the artist.
07:25And, yeah, so.
07:28Great, thank you for that.
07:30Hunter, thanks again for joining us.
07:32Now, you're a very experienced producer
07:35with many Broadway shows over the years.
07:36This season, you're producing maybe Happy Ending,
07:39and also Othello, which are two very different shows.
07:43Maybe Happy Ending has had a very unique journey
07:44to get to Broadway.
07:45Can you talk a little bit more about the process
07:47and the development for that show?
07:49Sure, I mean, it's funny, because Carolyn said,
07:52you know, she's still pinching herself,
07:53and I don't mean this as a joke.
07:55I think producing is an endless cycle
07:57of pinching yourself and kicking yourself.
07:59And so, what I've learned over the years
08:02is that there's nothing more important for me
08:06than the people that I work with.
08:07I mean, I think, effectively, a Broadway producer's job
08:10is a routine entrepreneurial startup job, right?
08:15You find a concept you believe in,
08:17you surround yourself with people
08:18that are infinitely better at what they do
08:20than you could ever be, and then you spend your time
08:22getting problems out of their way.
08:24I mean, that's effectively the whole job.
08:26And so, I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time
08:28with Michael Arden and Dane Laffrey in my career,
08:32and they're about as close to, you know,
08:35muse level as I think, and by the way,
08:38what I actually mean by that,
08:39because it sounds very glamorous,
08:40is that they bring me ideas
08:42that sound absolutely batshit crazy,
08:44and I trust that they know what they're saying.
08:46You know, I mean, we did this one-man Christmas carol,
08:49and Dane said, I wanna make the most expensive set
08:52no one will ever see.
08:55And I didn't know what the heck he meant at the time,
08:56but it turned out right.
08:57And so, they brought this show to me.
09:00Jeffrey Richards was already attached to it
09:02from the Korean production, and said,
09:05we think we've found this beautiful jewel box of new work
09:11that only has a cast of four,
09:13and it's sort of emotionally a straight line.
09:17It just builds and builds and builds
09:18to the point where it just takes your breath away,
09:21but you don't see it coming.
09:23And they said, but we wanna play with how environment
09:26in a new technologically-enabled era of Broadway
09:30can help that.
09:30And so, they're really, the set is all irises that move,
09:34and new lighting technology,
09:37and scrims we've never seen before
09:38that actually have 100% blackout capacity.
09:41And what it, it's really cinematography on stage.
09:44And so, learning how we keep this art form we've all loved
09:48since we were this big, and how to keep it relevant,
09:52and keep using the tools, and the people
09:55that are at the visionary edge of that,
09:57that's how I pick every project,
09:59is what are these people gonna teach me,
10:02and how can I empower them to also bring something new
10:05and interesting to the world of people that support this?
10:09Sure, and let's talk about that a little bit more
10:11in terms of new audiences, new voices,
10:13but there's also new folks on the creative side,
10:16new directors, all those folks,
10:18and there's many new people.
10:19I know, Caroline, on your show,
10:21there's a top 10 to watch in terms of Redwood.
10:25If you wanna talk about that a little bit more,
10:27about bringing in just not new audiences,
10:29but working with new folks
10:30in the creative industry as well.
10:34Well, I was gonna say earlier
10:37that what's interesting about Redwood for me
10:40is it's very similar in a way
10:42to working on an independent film,
10:45that in my experience, in the sense of,
10:48I tend to work with auteur directors,
10:50working with an auteur visionary like Tina,
10:53getting to watch her work,
10:55but also, oftentimes, bringing in elements
10:58that are coming in
11:00and are going to become that in the future,
11:02and certainly, that is Kate Diaz,
11:04and when I heard about, from Idina,
11:07and then, of course, Eva and Tina,
11:10about this extraordinary younger composer who,
11:13and knowing it's not just the songs,
11:16it's the entire sound and the score, really,
11:20of how important that is,
11:22and it's such a beautiful marriage of the future,
11:26the past, the present all coming together
11:29in this incredible group of women who are leading this,
11:33so I think it will,
11:34and also, just the show itself
11:37is, in many ways, extremely intimate,
11:40and I think the music speaks to that, too,
11:43but then, it's against this epic production
11:46where you're literally immersed
11:47in another world completely,
11:49and I think those two things together
11:53are just really thrilling,
11:54and it's a real puzzle to figure all that out,
11:57and again, to be led by such a visionary
11:59and have the other collaborators come in,
12:01and I think, for me, it's been a total treat,
12:05and joy watching Kate,
12:07because I've also worked with a lot of, in my career,
12:10emerging talent that have gone on to become
12:15what Rick Linklater then becomes, et cetera, so, yeah.
12:20Great, well, we're excited to see that happen on stage.
12:23Sammy, do you wanna talk about job a little bit
12:25in terms of how you're reaching out to new audiences
12:26and some of the new folks around the creative team as well?
12:28Yeah, absolutely, and I think that
12:31the question about inviting new audiences
12:34that happens a lot at the job marketing table,
12:36specifically, extends beyond the question
12:40of the why of the show,
12:41like, why is this important,
12:42why does this deserve to be on Broadway,
12:44but it's almost emphasizing more on the who and the how.
12:48Who is surrounded the table
12:51that is actually making the thing,
12:53that is exploring new ways,
12:55and I know that there's a room full of amazing producers
12:58that are fresh and that have new ideas
13:01that are coming to the table
13:02with playing with our current times,
13:04playing with the way we utilized digital strategy
13:08to only grow and introduce our work to new voices
13:12who might not have seen themselves
13:14as going to the theater before,
13:17and so it's almost like the question
13:19for the producers at large
13:22of what are the ways that we're intentionally
13:25setting the table for new voices to be there,
13:29and how do we then support them once they're there?
13:31It's a question that we really investigated
13:34during our process in How to Dance in Ohio
13:36of if you aren't asking what people need
13:40in order to do their best work,
13:41then how do we then further support that message
13:45from the ticket buyers
13:46to the people working in the front of house?
13:49I think it's a larger conversation,
13:52when we were welcoming the creative team of Job to Broadway,
13:57I think there was both an exciting moment,
14:00but the stakes get raised,
14:01and so how do you as the producer step up
14:03to support artists in that moment
14:06of the stakes suddenly got much higher
14:10and we need to be there both from a,
14:13as Hunter was saying,
14:15just it's half the support
14:18and emotional support from all angles,
14:21and being willing to ask what do you need?
14:24Great.
14:25If I could just add to that,
14:26I'm actually gonna use Hadestown as an example of this,
14:30because I think it's very important,
14:31we're talking about the commercial theater,
14:33and we have to find the balance
14:35between how we attract and cultivate new audiences,
14:38and also how we keep a show financially sustainable,
14:41and so we really try to both kind of using
14:45the technology that is available to us
14:48in terms of digital marketing
14:49has really transformed the way we can reach new audiences
14:52and new sectors of people, and that's great,
14:54and we can have some subsidized initiatives
14:58that are about developing the next generation of audiences,
15:00and that you can really move in both spaces simultaneously,
15:04so without compromising the commercial viability
15:06of something, you can also be investing
15:08in the next generation who will then be
15:10that commercially viable audience,
15:11so that we're really investing in the future.
15:14Sure, Hunter?
15:15I think there's two things
15:17that we have to be really honest about
15:19as an industry when it comes to all this new audience stuff.
15:24The metaphor I use all the time is like,
15:25if you've lived across the street from your neighbors
15:27for a decade, and you've never spoken to them,
15:30and then they come over, and they're like,
15:31we want you to come to dinner tonight,
15:33you do not celebrate, you're like,
15:35what the hell is happening, right?
15:37There's a problem here, and so this is,
15:40we are in the seed planting portion of this process,
15:43we are not in the harvesting portion of this process.
15:45We have to commit to making space for these voices.
15:48First of all, if you're not,
15:50if you want an audience to come in,
15:52and you aren't literally letting them speak openly
15:56in your space, why would they want to come in?
15:59And so we have to continue doing that.
16:00And then I think the second thing that we have to do
16:04that we're not super great at as a culture,
16:06not just a business, but a culture,
16:08is realize that leadership needs
16:11to go through cycles as well, right?
16:13Like, you start out being an innovator,
16:16then you are an empowerer, at a certain point,
16:19you can be sort of a broader-based leader,
16:22then you move to mentorship,
16:24and then you move to support and wisdom, right?
16:27And we all love what we do so much
16:29that sometimes we hold on too long.
16:30I mean, I look in the mirror every day,
16:32and I go, you know what the world needs?
16:33More old white dudes like me.
16:35Like, that's, I should hang on real long.
16:38I think I have to look at people like Sammy,
16:40or I have to look at people doing new work,
16:42really pushing new work boundaries
16:44like Mara and I will have conversations about.
16:47So we all have to move through that cycle and make space.
16:49Like, literally, if we don't get out of the way,
16:53there isn't space, and so we have to find the way
16:55to make room while still being supporters,
16:59and I think that that's a really hard thing to do
17:01when you love it that much.
17:03Sure, and I think that speaks to collaboration.
17:05I mean, many of you have worked together
17:06on projects big and small,
17:08and you've worked together on Hadestown,
17:11and talk a little bit more about that,
17:12about how this generation maybe is working
17:14more collaboratively than generations in the past
17:17where there were fewer people in control,
17:19and now there's a lot larger production teams,
17:21a lot more collaboration for folks,
17:24and a lot more heavy lifting to bring new shows
17:27with new voices to the stage,
17:30especially when this season,
17:31you're working on a couple large shows
17:33with some large actors in them,
17:34which kind of, I wouldn't say sell themselves,
17:36but, and then you're also working on some new shows
17:38that might be a little more challenging.
17:39So, Mara, can you talk a little bit about that
17:41in terms of that piece?
17:43There's a lot.
17:44Do we have time?
17:45There was a lot in that question.
17:46I mean, it is true that, so, you know,
17:48in addition to the revival of Gypsy,
17:50I'm also part of a team of producers,
17:53some of whom are in this room,
17:55who are behind the development
17:56of a new musical called Goddess,
17:58which has just recently been announced
17:59that's gonna be at the Public Theater in the spring.
18:02And I think that is an example
18:03of a very collaborative producing team
18:05now collaborating with an institution,
18:07really trying to lift up a very adventurous,
18:11I think, totally commercially viable,
18:14but not, but a musical that doesn't have
18:16a particular roadmap to follow,
18:18with a lot of artists who have,
18:20who are either making their Broadway musical debut,
18:23or maybe it'll be their second show
18:25by the time we get to Broadway.
18:27And so this question of collaboration is key.
18:31And I think that it is both the great benefit
18:34of a way of working now,
18:36and also one of the greatest challenges,
18:37because you also have a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
18:39And so the thing we really try to work on
18:42is being really clear about who's,
18:45what is your area of responsibility?
18:46How are we communicating?
18:48How are we, do we actually agree on a set of values
18:51and priorities with the artists for what the project holds?
18:55And it's like any relationship in any marriage.
18:58It takes a lot of work.
19:00There are ups and downs.
19:02And you just have to continue to be direct,
19:06and honest, and adjust.
19:08And I don't know if that's exactly
19:10the question you were asking,
19:11but I don't know that the evolution of collaboration
19:16is a generational thing.
19:18Actually, I would say the collaboration on Goddess,
19:20I'm thinking about, because it's a very large team,
19:22is a multi-generational team,
19:24and that's actually really exciting too.
19:28Sammy or Hunter?
19:30I was just gonna say, in terms of collaboration,
19:32it's getting on the same page of how you ultimately want
19:37that collaboration to manifest.
19:38And a question that we often ask within our producing team
19:43is of identifying, relating to new audiences,
19:48identifying who are the skimmers of our team,
19:51who are the swimmers of our team, and who are the divers?
19:53And when we think about skimmers, swimmers, and divers,
19:56how are we categorizing that within the artists
19:58we're collaborating with,
20:00within our co-producers or investors,
20:02within our audiences that we're welcoming to the space?
20:05Who are the people that really just wanna buy a ticket
20:07and see the show and get out?
20:08Who are the people that really wanna just be a swimmer
20:12and understand the text, the context of it,
20:15and then that's enough for them?
20:16And who are the divers that really wanna go get a drink
20:19after the show, continue to debate
20:21what they just saw on stage?
20:23And I think of it from that audience perspective,
20:26similarly to how we look at the investors
20:29that we collaborate with.
20:30Who are those first-time investors
20:33that we know they aren't just gonna be a check writer
20:36and be that skimmer?
20:37They're going to want to be a diver.
20:39And so when we're able to categorize as a producing team
20:43in that collaboration moment,
20:44we're essentially able to effectively execute
20:49and knowing that there's so many cooks in the kitchen,
20:51it gives us a sense of purpose.
20:53And I think it's really to,
20:56you know, you've a shared, same value system,
21:00how you show up, what concerns you,
21:03how you support your artistic leaders to kind of execute,
21:09how you include your investors
21:12and really attract people
21:16who also wanna show up that way
21:18and who also care as deeply about the story
21:20you're trying to tell as you do.
21:22And I think producing is such a lonely thing.
21:26It's certainly in movies, it is, you know,
21:28there's just so much happening all at once.
21:31And it's such a gift to be able to have,
21:35I mean, obviously, you know, Eva's been my mentor,
21:38which even though she's probably like 20 years younger than me,
21:40that's odd thing to say, but it's true.
21:43But beyond that, just a community of producers
21:46beyond the people you're directly working with
21:48that you can call and you can say,
21:50hey, like, can you help me?
21:52Or can you give me some guidance?
21:53Or you've worked with that person and I haven't.
21:55And I think just like a community at large,
21:57it's just really important to be all in it together
22:00because everybody wants the same thing,
22:02to make incredible work, to make bold, risky new work,
22:06to tell stories that in a different way,
22:08even if you've already seen them,
22:10to bring people to the theater,
22:12to bring people to the movie theater,
22:15maybe not anymore so much,
22:16and to, you know, to show up and get engaged.
22:19So I think it's all about,
22:21and it's like such a collaborative art form.
22:23So it's been interesting.
22:26Right, and I think Hunter,
22:27you talked about that in our pre-call
22:28about this not being a zero-sum game.
22:30It's really, you know, trying to lift everyone up for that
22:32and work together.
22:33I think that's exactly right.
22:34Like certainly there are areas we overlap,
22:38but I'll use an example from Mara
22:40or from today's presenters.
22:43Are there similar crossover audiences this year
22:46to Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard?
22:48In some ways, and totally not in other ways.
22:52And so there's just enough space.
22:54There's plenty of space for us to support one another.
22:57And frankly, some of the people
22:58that are looking forward to seeing, you know,
23:01a George C. Wolfe version of Gypsy
23:05should be challenged to see Jamie's Sunset.
23:08And vice versa, right?
23:10People that think that they just wanna see
23:12whatever this next iteration of Sunset is
23:14should be challenged to say,
23:16what about the legacy of this art form
23:18that you've enjoyed as an audience member?
23:20And so if we work presuming
23:23that we can actually grow the pie
23:26instead of bickering about
23:27who gets the biggest slice of the pie,
23:29all boats get lifted.
23:32Great.
23:33Thank you for that.
23:33I think we're gonna have to come to the end of our time
23:35and close it on that note.
23:37Those were some really great conversations
23:39and I'd continue to sit here and talk to you all day,
23:41but we're gonna have to wrap this up.
23:42I wanna thank all my panelists for being here,
23:44sharing their unique and personal insights and experiences.
23:48Please give a round of applause
23:49to Mara, Hunter, Caroline, and Sammy.