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[0:00] Ken Davenport: Hey everybody, it's Ken Davenport here. Welcome back to the Producer's Perspective podcast. Today we're going to talk about a subject that is on everyone's mind: social distancing for the theater. And I'm going to tell you three reasons why it does not work. Stay tuned right after this.

[0:25] Ken Davenport: You're listening to the Producer's Perspective Podcast with your host, Tony Award winner, Ken Davenport.

[0:34] Ken Davenport: Hey everybody, it's Ken Davenport here. Welcome back to the Producers Perspective Podcast, our reboot. Today we're gonna talk about a subject that is all over the press right now as we start to think about the return of the theater and specifically, of course, Broadway. And we get a ton of questions. I get a ton of emails about this. I get social media questions. I know a lot of my peers do. I know the Broadway League does. As Broadway is still not open, but we're starting to see some restaurants open. We're starting to see some other gatherings and other industries and other gyms, etc. People keep saying, why isn't the theater open? Why don't you just socially distance the theater? Why don't you just open it up at 25% capacity?

Uh, and let's let's get it going again. And of course, it's a very natural question. And again, we're getting it a lot. Uh the press asks it a lot. And I thought I'd address three reasons why I believe social distancing does not work for the theater.

[1:35] Ken Davenport: Uh, and specifically Broadway, because uh look, the first reason why it doesn't work, and the most common reason you're going to hear in the press, especially when it comes to talking about getting Broadway shows or off-Broadway shows back up and running again, is well, I'm gonna quote uh James Carville, that Democratic strategist from back in the early 90s. I'm gonna quote him. Uh he said, it's the economy, stupid. That was his big catchphrase. And yes, the number one reason why social distancing or 25% capacity audiences on Broadway doesn't work is because we already have a very fragile economic model, right? It requires, you know, our Broadway model requires maybe 60, 70% on average of our seats filled at a very high price, more close to full price, just to break our shows even.

[2:31] Ken Davenport: So when you say, okay, we're gonna limit it to 25%, well, the only way actually to make that work would be to ratchet up the ticket prices, right? And we're certainly not gonna do that. And I don't expect anyone's gonna want to pay more to come to the theater uh when we start uh back up again. So the number one reason why social distancing on Broadway doesn't work is again, just the economics of our industry. Now, I should issue this disclaimer, because I actually got into this with some of my peers just very recently, actually. Uh, and I said, Well, this is this is a very good reason why Broadway as an industry doesn't get up. You actually have to look at the individual shows on a case-by-case basis to make sure this is true.

Because I'm gonna tell you right now, if some major star, if Madonna came to me, if Beyoncé came to me and said, Ken, I've got like six weeks, I want to do a one-person play about my life or about a famous celebrity from history or something, and I want to do it right now.

[3:37] Ken Davenport: If it was a one-person play and it was Beyoncé, I'd figure out how to socially distance it. So that's the asterisk next to this, it's the economy's stupid reason why social distancing won't work on Broadway, is that it of course depends on the individual show's economics. But what you will hear that the economics are the number one reason why it doesn't work in quoted by more and more producers and industry leaders, because on average, it does not work for our economic model. Okay?

[4:08] Ken Davenport: Now, the second reason why it doesn't work is a lot of people say, oh, well, just socially distance the audience, just keep them six feet apart. It's only 25%. Yes, okay, let's just imagine that the economics could work. Well, just because we can socially distance the audience doesn't mean we can socially distance everyone who comes to the theater to work. Remember, we're a very labor intensive industry. We require, you know, some shows, a hundred people to show up. When you talk about, you know, Phantom, which is, you know, 28, I think it's 28 uh musicians down there in that small pit, cramped in a small space, all those actors, all those stage hands, the stage managers, etc., the ushers, there's a whole bunch of people.

[4:51] Ken Davenport: And remember, Broadway theaters are about as big as you may think, right? Theaters around the country actually have a better chance, or theaters internationally have a better chance of socially distancing backstage than Broadway because we're we're stuffed on this little island of Manhattan. We don't have much room back there. So when you ask yourself why does socially distancing doesn't work for the theater, remember it's not just about the audience. We got to get a whole bunch of people through those very tight stage doors and in those cramped dressing rooms. Uh, and and right now, that's just not a safe place to be if people aren't vaccinated. That's number two.

[5:25] Ken Davenport: Number three, and this is the big one for me. This is the big one for me. Remember, going to the theater and how we survive is on word of mouth. We are a word of mouth-based industry, right? Because that's that's what we depend on to sell our tickets. People having an unbelievable time, the doors bursting over at the end of the theater, and you, as an audience member rushing out to the streets, calling, texting, tweeting your friends saying, I just saw the most amazing show. Well, we all know that the experience is going to be even better at that show if there's a full house, right? You ever go to a movie, a comedy, and it's filled, there's more laughs when than when it's half filled. Of course, it's the same true for the theater, and I'm sure you've all experienced that, right?

[6:15] Ken Davenport: We need the experience of our audience to be at a 10 or 11 to inspire the word of mouth that it's gonna take to sell the amount of tickets that we need to make our fragile economic model work. And the experience is just not the same when there's 25% of the people in there, right? We've all been there. Heck, I produce some shows where I've had some performances where there have only been 25% of the audience filled. And it's it's not uh it's not too fun here in this. And because they're just not enough people to get that roar of an ovation you need to help remind people how much of an amazing time they are having. And that's the big one for me. We're an experience-based business. We have to deliver on that experience in order to inspire word of mouth uh in order to sell tickets.

[7:07] Ken Davenport: So that's it. Social distancing for the theater and for Broadway specifically, it just really isn't as effective as we need it to be. That said, listen, I've been saying this now for six months, nine months. I thought we'd be back by now. I uh if you got me the right show and the and the right place, I might try to figure out uh how to make it work. But for the most part, I believe that the best way for Broadway and the theater to come back is to wait until everyone can come back and experience it the way they experienced it before. There may be some changes, there may be some masks, there may be these types of things. But theater is at its best when everyone is so comfortable and ready to be entertained.

[7:51] Ken Davenport: And that may just mean that the audience, the actors, and everyone in that building has to be vaccinated. If that's what it takes to get the theater back and better than it was before, that's what it's gonna take. Thanks so much for listening to the Producer's Perspective Podcast. We will be back with you next week, and I will tackle another timely, timely subject right here on the Producer's Perspective Podcast. Thanks for tuning in.

[8:46] Ken Davenport: My mission is to amplify the conversation about theater because if we get more people talking about it, we'll get more people making it, we'll get more people seeing it. It will be great for the industry as a whole. If you want more of my daily perspectives on theater and Broadway, check out my blog at theproducersperspective.com or check out my social media accounts at Ken Davenport Bway on Instagram and at Ken Davenport on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We'll see you for the next episode.