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[0:00] Ken Davenport: Hey, Ken Davenport here with episode number 243 of the Producers Perspective Podcast.

[0:05] Ken Davenport: Today we're gonna talk about what I learned about play and musical development from infomercials.

[0:13] Ken Davenport: I wanna be a producer with a hit show on Broadway.

[0:20] Ken Davenport: You're listening to the Producers Perspective Podcast with your host, Tony Award winner, Ken Davenport.

[0:26] Ken Davenport: So I didn't sleep much in my 20s or 30s.

[0:30] Ken Davenport: I don't sleep much when I'm in tech.

[0:32] Ken Davenport: And I watched a lot of television, and I'll admit that I got suckered into a lot of those late night infomercials.

[0:40] Ken Davenport: You remember these things? They still play them.

[0:41] Ken Davenport: They're a very successful form of marketing.

[0:44] Ken Davenport: I actually met the guy that like created these things years ago, and I didn't know whether to like bow down and worship him or whether to punch him in the face because I find them so annoying.

[0:56] Ken Davenport: Anyway, one of the most famous of these infomercials, or one of the originals, is the Ginsu knives, right?

[1:03] Ken Davenport: You get this knife and this knife, and then another knife, and all for three payments that will add up to 1999, something like that.

[1:11] Ken Davenport: Well, it actually doesn't matter which infomercial you're talking about, whether it's Ginsu Knives or whether it's the Floy or the Snuggy, why are they all the E's?

[1:21] Ken Davenport: Anyway, they all had something in common.

[1:23] Ken Davenport: All these infomercials had something in common that will help make your show stand out.

[1:29] Ken Davenport: And it's something that the most successful plays of musicals in history also have in common.

[1:35] Ken Davenport: So just stay with me now.

[1:36] Ken Davenport: I know you're like, where is he going? Stay with me.

[1:39] Ken Davenport: It'll make sense.

[1:41] Ken Davenport: So if you remember the end of those infomercials, they always say, when you get this one knife, we'll give you a second knife for free.

[1:49] Ken Davenport: And then we'll also give you this set of steak knives and a salad spoon and a travel bag for your knives, and then we'll engrave them.

[1:56] Ken Davenport: And they go on and on and on, right?

[1:58] Ken Davenport: There was always more.

[2:00] Ken Davenport: When you thought there couldn't be anything else added to the low, low price of 1999, they added something else.

[2:07] Ken Davenport: So in sales terminology, this is what we call the stack.

[2:11] Ken Davenport: It's when companies add so much value to the offer that it makes it irresistible.

[2:17] Ken Davenport: Right?

[2:18] Ken Davenport: You end up going like, oh my gosh, there's so much stuff in this thing, I just have to grab it.

[2:24] Ken Davenport: I have to grab it.

[2:25] Ken Davenport: Even when you didn't think you needed the initial product in the first place, but it's such an unbelievable value, right?

[2:33] Ken Davenport: Again, this is called the stack.

[2:35] Ken Davenport: So what does the stack have to do with writing a play or a musical?

[2:39] Ken Davenport: We know this.

[2:40] Ken Davenport: If you want your show to stand out, then it must be unique.

[2:44] Ken Davenport: The most successful shows of all time have been the most unique.

[2:48] Ken Davenport: They've been shows that we've never seen on Broadway before for one reason or another.

[2:53] Ken Davenport: I'm gonna name a few and you can name what's unique about them.

[2:56] Ken Davenport: Hamilton, mm-hmm.

[2:58] Ken Davenport: Avenue Q, puppets, having sex and swearing.

[3:03] Ken Davenport: Dear Evan Hansen, a chorus line, even all the way back to Showboat.

[3:07] Ken Davenport: Think about it.

[3:08] Ken Davenport: This is a great exercise.

[3:10] Ken Davenport: Name a very successful musical and try to imagine what makes it unique and different from all the other shows that have come before it, right?

[3:17] Ken Davenport: So if you want your show to be a smash like one of these, it can't just be a good idea for a show.

[3:25] Ken Davenport: So when you come up with a good idea, say boy meets girl, well, that's fine.

[3:31] Ken Davenport: And with a great score, a great book, it could be a fine musical.

[3:34] Ken Davenport: But could that musical stand out amongst the cluttered environment of Broadway?

[3:40] Ken Davenport: Probably not.

[3:41] Ken Davenport: And it doesn't matter how good it is.

[3:44] Ken Davenport: This is the challenge of introducing new product into very competitive markets.

[3:50] Ken Davenport: Your show has to be special and unlike anything we've seen before.

[3:54] Ken Davenport: So when you come up with your idea, try to come up with at least three stack reasons why your story and/or your storytelling will be unique.

[4:05] Ken Davenport: Directors and choreographers are a great help here, okay?

[4:09] Ken Davenport: When you do, when you stack your show, your audience will not only find the show irresistible, but they won't be able to resist talking about it with all their friends.

[4:19] Ken Davenport: And you'll ginsu the competition.

[4:22] Ken Davenport: See what I did there.

[4:36] Ken Davenport: Thanks again for listening to the Producer's Perspective podcast.

[4:39] Ken Davenport: If you found this episode informative, educational, inspirational, or just entertaining, do me a favor and share this episode with another theater maker or two in your life.

[4:51] 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.

[5:00] Ken Davenport: It will be great for the industry as a whole.

[5:02] Ken Davenport: If you want more of my daily perspectives on theater and Broadway, check out my blog at the ProducersPerspective.com, or check out my social media accounts at Ken Davenport Bway on Instagram and at Ken Davenport on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

[5:18] Ken Davenport: We'll see you for the next episode.