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[0:00] Mary Dina: Hey everyone, welcome to Page to Stage. A conversation with theater makers. We're your hosts. That's Brian. And that's Mary. This episode is part of our series on Chicken and Biscuits, a new play by Douglas Lyons. And it's the second half of our conversation with last week's guest. If you haven't already, go back and listen to part one. We hope you enjoyed this episode.

[0:26] Brian Sedita: I'm wondering if you've had any conversations with the team about ticket pricing and making Broadway more accessible to audiences that might think Broadway is unreachable.

[0:40] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah. Yes, we have. Prices right now are better. Um, there's special offers. Um, there's incentives. Um, you can get it. I mean, I personally think the Chicken and Biscuits pricing is very fair. Number one, because you get a great seat regardless of where you're sitting.

[0:59] Brian Sedita: That's true, true, true.

[1:00] Toni R. Isreal: Uh, and two, they really have a broad price range, which is great. I mean, $29 you can get a ticket for.

[1:06] Brian Sedita: Yes.

[1:07] Toni R. Isreal: Yes. It's depending on the theaters, depending on who's on the stage. You know, you have big stars, you get celebrities, prices are gonna be higher. You know, you get people who are up and coming, prices might be a little bit lower. You know, um, people want to recoup back, prices might be a little bit higher. You know, it's a lot of different variables in that. So, um, I think keeping it affordable. Um, I think having special offers for students, I think is a must. You want to develop that next generation that's gonna love theater. And the best way to do that is through pricing, I think. One of the ways, right? And I think that, you know, for people that might think that Broadway's inaccessible, unreachable, it can be a real, they might just not even think it's a form of entertainment.

Meanwhile, they're gonna go to the movies, they're gonna spend $30 by the time they've gotten their popcorn and their soda, so I just was wondering if that was part of those conversations and I’m sure it does come down to the producers regardless.

[2:06] Toni R. Isreal: And yeah, and it's, you know, Broadway is like a tradition. Broadway is like a rite of passage. It's something that, you know, families do. Um, like, you know, my mom introduced me to Broadway at a young age, so you know, some folks don't get that. So it has to be something that's developed. So you're trying to get those 20-somethings, those 30-somethings that have that, you know, instead of buying a pair of kicks, you know, invest in a Broadway show. So you gotta grab them with something that they love. So Chicken and Biscuits is one of those plays because you're gonna go to laugh and you know you'll always remember your first Broadway show because it made you laugh, it made you cry, it made you think, it made you do something that you want to share that experience with someone else.

[2:06] Toni R. Isreal: I'm also curious, I mean especially with not like looking at the last year and a half, I mean look at how many movie musicals have been released just on streaming platforms, right? Whether it's like a live capture that's been released like Hamilton or Come From Away, Diana, or if it's something that's been specifically made for that form of entertainment. So like In the Heights, take Tick, Tick... Boom for example. Um, do you think that like if more theaters filmed live capture, whether they plan to release it right away or if they held it for a rainy day, um, do you think that might help introduce live theater to more audiences?

[3:12] Toni R. Isreal: Well, I think during a pandemic, when we realized Zoom, and I think that's a bad word now because I'm tired of Zoom, but um, I think it gave it such a broader reach. Um, that we did never think about as far as live theater. Live theater has always been come to New York, get that Broadway experience, you know, see the show unless it went on tour. I think it's something that can be um utilized as what we're calling now a hybrid. There could be something that's on, you know, streaming, and then something that you still want that Broadway experience because it's, you know, it's coming to New York, you know, seeing 42nd Street, you know, going to see various Broadway shows, taking in the whole New York vibe that you can't get anywhere else.

[4:13] Toni R. Isreal: So yeah, I had someone once explain to me, it was kind of scary. The comparison of like, you know, streaming musicals or, you know, movie musicals are kind of like the Disney movie, and then you go to like Disney World or Disneyland, and it's a whole other experience. And so Broadway and New York theater is like just like the Disney World and Disneyland in terms of like you're getting so much more. You're going to the New York restaurants or you're seeing where, or you could travel and do a little bit more historical path if you wanted to see like where Hamilton's house was, or the Trinity Church, or down where Jonathan Larson used to live. So there's like those moments of history built into a lot of the, I shouldn't say a lot, but I should say like a portion of what's happening around you, not just like walking to the theater and seeing the show.

[5:01] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah, so yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely curious to see what happens as we continue um in this like act two, if you will. Um, I like that act two, yes, Broadway is for you, yes, it's bringing everyone back.

[5:13] Brian Sedita: Yeah, yeah.

[5:14] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah, we missed it.

[5:15] Brian Sedita: We missed it.

[5:17] Toni R. Isreal: I know, I know. It's like, I mean, be working in the industry, I think anyone who worked in the industry prior to the shutdown, I think there was definitely some sort of like mourning or like some sort of loss and missing it, of course. But I think like when I've like watched, like when I've gone to see like live theater in New York since the reopening, it's just like, wow, like you just really didn't realize how much you were like starving for it. Like there is such a community, but also like my whole brain was like rewired after going to see PASS OVER. It was just like, oh my gosh, like, yes, like you can't get this on TV. You can't get this on Zoom.

[5:50] Brian Sedita: Did you, were you there for the first one? Were you there for opening night when they had the block party?

[5:56] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah. That was, that was, that was fun.

[6:01] Brian Sedita: That was fun.

[6:02] Toni R. Isreal: Yes.

[6:01] Brian Sedita: That was.

[6:04] Toni R. Isreal: That was.

[6:05] Brian Sedita: Yeah.

[6:06] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah. So yes. When you had those moments, you was just like, oh my God, Broadway is back.

[6:11] Brian Sedita: On the same mindset of keeping Broadway or having Broadway be more accessible, specifically in terms of ticket pricing and inviting new audiences and new communities into Circle of the Square or other New York theater spaces. Is there a bit of education in terms of kind of like reframing the device of like Broadway is for you? Broadway can be for you in your communities for anyone who may have felt shut out because of ticket prices or because of um some of the stories that were being told in the past.

[6:45] Toni R. Isreal: Yes, we had to go back and readjust our line of communication with folks to say Broadway is for you, welcoming you back. One, you had to, we had to assure people that they were going to be safe due to COVID. Um, so that was one, making sure people were like, okay, people had to be vaccinated to come inside. It's, you know, it's good. So that messaging had to be extremely clear for cast and folks that were going to be in the audience. So, yes, it was a different way of talking to folks. People on our audience development team, especially Richard Pelzer, was always like we had to make sure people felt welcomed in, especially people of color, which wasn't always the case. Um, sad to say, we had to specifically go after those audiences and say, come on back, you know, we're here for you.

The plays are different, the plays look different, and um there's something on Broadway for you to see. There's a lot of work, you said there's a lot of grassroots work that you do. I'm assuming just, you know, in the pre-production normal conversations, once the show is opened, are you still working on the grassroots like marketing level?

[7:55] Toni R. Isreal: Yes, I'm still here. You're working straight through, which is, you know, you get a campaign, like for Chicken and Biscuits, one of our campaigns was restaurants, soul food restaurants, because it was chicken and biscuits. So we went after different soul food restaurants that had a chicken and biscuits something menu on their menu, and we reached out to restaurants in each one of the boroughs. So that was a fun project. So that started before the show, and then it continued all the way through, and that was very grassroots. So different interviews that Vivacity had, we had at some of the soul food restaurants. So that's how we work in conjunction with them. So, you know, Douglas was getting interviewed, you know, they would serve them play the chicken and biscuits. So it's like a whole campaign. So yes, all the way through.

[8:44] Brian Sedita: Oh, that's all the way through those gas rights.

[8:46] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah, just this show was fun to work on.

[8:48] Mary Dina: Yeah, oh, yeah. There's so much. I mean, I'm sure it was delicious as well.

[8:53] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah. So aside from the fact that Chicken and Biscuits is a comedy, how do you make the show stand out among a season on Broadway with so many other plays, but especially alongside so many plays written by writers of color? Like how do you make this special for people to say, I'm gonna buy a ticket to Chicken and Biscuits?

[9:09] Toni R. Isreal: You said the word. It was a comedy. That was the first one. It was a comedy. So people needed to laugh. You know, we're in a pandemic. People want to laugh. You didn't want something that you really had to think about, you want it to be entertained and just laugh. And you know, it's everybody's black church experience somewhere in there. You could see yourself in a church and a deaconess in a choir and, you know, the crazy sisters, you know, you saw yourself somewhere in there. So it was just a fun play to work on. Just it was just really fun. I'm really shocked that we haven't seen more comedies. Cause I felt like as a community, as an industry, we all just like agreed over the shutdown that we were not gonna see any dramatic, sad, and we were gonna only like laugh. Like we did that for the last year and a half. Like now we've come to laugh and we like be joyful, and yeah. So I'm surprised that we haven't seen more yet.

[10:03] Brian Sedita: I am too. Now that you think about it, there aren't many comedies on Broadway.

[10:08] Toni R. Isreal: They're always so thought-provoking, and they're always, you know, there's something that you're gonna learn, but that's Broadway. But like you said before, Brian, the landscape has changed. So maybe there will be more comedies out there.

[10:20] Mary Dina: Yeah, yeah. Here's hoping. Chicken and Biscuits was a limited or a fixed run. So, but you've also you've worked on or you have clients that have an open-ended run. So I'm curious if the marketing campaigns or marketing plans shift because you know that you have an end date in sight, you know, when you get started, versus like Hadestown, where you know you hope that you run forever and ever and ever.

[10:47] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah. Um, no, the campaigns are the same. They just will be shorter or longer. Again, we take it towards the show. So it's not about the length, it's the campaigns within the show that we feel will sustain the best. So, you know, some we could do a restaurant campaign for a year, two years, if given the right show. So it's depending. It's depending. You kind of, you know, you juggle. You juggle as like a project within that project by project. And you just keep making a project until the show. I mean, because really for Hadestown, you could find a restaurant campaign in Hadestown.

[11:24] Toni R. Isreal: Absolutely. But you know, that's a unique audience for Hadestown. I don't think we would do a restaurant. We might link with a restaurant because that's about hell. We will find like Hades or something like that. You know, we've used things like Devil Foods Cake, Hades, Hades, Hell's Kitchen, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's things like that that you know you could use. So it's just always just thinking how you could make that hook to reel them in.

[11:51] Brian Sedita: There you go.

[11:52] Toni R. Isreal: Yes. Uh, we're gonna move into our lightning round, which necessarily isn't lightning on your part. It's more just that we have some questions that we like to ask everybody, and we just go through them bing bang boom.

[12:04] Mary Dina: All right. If you could trade jobs with another member of the Chicken and Biscuits team for one week, who would it be and why would you want that position? So this could be creative, this could be cast, this could be crew. Up to you.

[12:18] Toni R. Isreal: Okay, so me personally, it would be Hunter. I would want to lead and pull all the butches. It would be Hunter for sure. Shout out to Hunter.

[12:30] Mary Dina: What is one thing in the theater industry that confuses you?

[12:34] Toni R. Isreal: Um, ticket prices. I had to think about that. Because I'm literally in my head going like what really confuses me? Ticket prices. Because they're so it's such a dynamic scale. You know, you have that premium ticket to the $49 ticket.

[12:51] Brian Sedita: Yeah, that's like a little weird, but anyway.

[12:54] Toni R. Isreal: Yeah.

[12:56] Mary Dina: What are three adjectives that describe your ideal working environment?

[13:00] Toni R. Isreal: Fun, learning, tenacious.

[13:02] Mary Dina: Is there something about your marketing process or what you're doing at REALEMN Productions that you find unique to you?

[13:11] Toni R. Isreal: We are a team that can strive on being individuals, but we're stronger together.

[13:19] Mary Dina: What is one hobby you have outside of the theater?

[13:23] Toni R. Isreal: Somebody asked me that. I wish I had one. I will say exercising. I need to do that more. I'll use that as a hobby because it's all work.

[13:35] Brian Sedita: That's another job.

[13:37] Toni R. Isreal: Um, do you have any books or resources that you find helpful to you in your process?

[13:42] Toni R. Isreal: Oh, absolutely. Always reading. Producers have given me books on producing, how to produce. So you're always looking to fine-tune this craft. So you should always be searching to read to learn. So I will pick up any book that can teach on teamwork, something on guidance, something on leadership, podcasts. So for you guys, you know, different things like that. So I think you should, yeah, learning.

[14:13] Mary Dina: I know we don't comment, but I really love the fact that you're not just reading like other industry books, you're looking outside of the industry for your books. I love that. That's great.

[14:22] Toni R. Isreal: Okay, great. So, our last question is it's based from the tagline from the show. It's how has this process fed your soul?

[14:27] Toni R. Isreal: The cast is phenomenal. The cast is family. These are relationships that's going to go on and on. So I look forward to seeing them again and again on a different project and, you know, giving them a big hug and go, let's do this again.

[14:45] Mary Dina: Yeah, they look like they're having such a good time.

[14:47] Toni R. Isreal: They are and a big family.

[14:50] Brian Sedita: Yes. How can our listeners find you on either social media, your website, all your projects that you're working on?

[14:56] Toni R. Isreal: At RealemnProductions.com. So spell that out. Realemn R-E-A-L-E-M-N productions with an S dot com.

[15:06] Brian Sedita: Great.

[15:07] Mary Dina: Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on here.

[15:09] Toni R. Isreal: Thank you.

[15:10] Brian Sedita: Sorry for the technical difficulties.

[15:11] Toni R. Isreal: Faring through all the technical difficulties, but it will be seamless, seamless in the episode.

[15:16] Mary Dina: Yes, okay.

[15:17] Brian Sedita: But thank you so much for joining us tonight and taking the time out of your Monday to do this.

[15:22] Toni R. Isreal: Okay, thank you guys.

[15:23] Brian Sedita: Thanks everyone for listening to this episode of Page to Stage. To keep up with us, you can find us on Instagram and Facebook at Page2Stage Podcast.

[15:31] Mary Dina: If you enjoyed this episode, we have other conversations with theater makers from Chicken and Biscuits. Check them out.

[15:35] Brian Sedita: Until next time. That's Brian.

[15:38] Mary Dina: That's Mary.

[15:39] Brian Sedita: We'll see you later.