July 2026
Dear Friends of FTSP,
The other day, I saw my grandson in a camp production of Finding Nemo Jr., and was impressed by the combination of creativity and simplicity of the production. These “low-budget” productions always seem to have a sense of ingenuity to them. My favorite example: the jellyfish costumes were made of pink umbrellas with papier-mache streamers attached around the edges, with the actors underneath holding on to the handles - Julie Taymor's "The Lion King" comes to mind.
I reflected on the fact that, for almost the past half-century, the trend has run toward increasing the size of the physical production with less regard for the story - or the audience’s level of accessibility to it. Thus, the triumph of form over substance has been at the expense of the audience and now, perhaps, at that of the art form itself.
There are multiple culprits, doing business in New York being the obvious one, as well as union costs, and the escalating value of the land underneath landmarked theatres. The response has been for producers to gravitate towards safety: retreads, reruns, and anything else that has already been stress-tested to the nth degree.
With this approach, Broadway seems to have adopted a new slogan: "You Don't Have To Worry About Ticket Prices Because You Liked This Before."
This can't be done indefinitely. Art, or even entertainment, is in part about the surprise of discovery, even with reference to tales old as time. Simplicity can be a gateway to surprise, perhaps even more so than overwhelming, upscaled productions.
As producers, what do we do?
We have no choice but to turn around and go back in the other direction.
We have to produce shows with simpler sets and costumes, with a willingness to take chances on "unknown" performers, with a focus on the quality of scripts, making the play really and truly the thing.
We also have to do something that will make many producers cringe, but there's no alternative.
TAKE A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE SAVINGS WE CREATE, AND USE IT TO LOWER TICKET PRICES.
That's right. LOWER THEM.
I'm not suggesting dirt-cheap pricing, but statistics from the Broadway League suggest that people are willing to pay, as a rule, somewhere between $100 to $125 per ticket. Inflation-wise, that would put current prices in line with their 1970s counterparts.
Still expensive, to be sure, but Broadway has always been at least slightly above the average cost of living. As Stephen Sondheim once said, theater is a luxury art.
A luxury art, yes. But it shouldn't be an unaffordable one.
In any case, I think audiences are starving culturally almost as much as they may be financially, because we've failed to find creative ways to meet the price point that contemporary audiences can handle. It can be done. It has been done.
The original Broadway production of Our Town was done with folding chairs and an exposed stage house. I'm not saying that level of simplicity is always a good idea. But, like the umbrella jellyfish, it shows how simplicity can be a special effect all by itself.
It's time for us to have some faith, and provide some support, for the people we are ultimately trying to serve: the ones in the audience. They are more willing to take chances on the unknown if we are willing to help them do it.
As for the cost to us?
Well, if people stop coming because they've been priced out of participating in the art form, we'll no longer have to worry about costs because there will no longer be a reason to incur them. In the digital age, it's easy to imagine that happening.
But what if we were more willing to wait for our money? What if we were willing to take more on the back end--in licensing, in greater participation in post-Broadway productions, in adaptations to other media, even in merchandising?
And what if that was worth it to our partners in these efforts, because there is more new work being produced?
Perhaps everyone would benefit.
Who would object to that?
I appreciate you taking the time to read about my thoughts on the trends of theatrical productions, the role they play in our culture, and what we as producers and artists can do to reach our audiences.
I am continuing to work behind the scenes on our projects and, when I am able to, I will send updates!
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Flipping The Script Productions
6719 Old Pimlico Road, Baltimore, Maryland, 21209
