Broadway finds a new audience in living rooms – Crain’s New York Business

Their concept was helped along by high-profile digital premieres that occurred during the live-theater interlude. Diana: The Musical aired on Netflix in advance of its Broadway opening. The original production of Hamilton aired on Disney+ in the summer of 2020. HBO Max streamed David Byrne's American Utopia, which was playing on Broadway pre-shutdown and has since resumed. Apple has Come From Away.

As a result, a surge of theater-starved subscribers joined the BroadwayHD platform, which costs $11.99 a month or $129.99 annually for an all-you-can-watch ticket to shows.

Lane and Comley's first digital production was The Will Rogers Follies, filmed at the Palace Theatre in 1993. At the time, they were both producers on Broadway and filmed the performance against the going argument that no one would buy tickets if they could watch a Broadway performance on television.

Their idea was bigger than that. In normal times, 30 shows might turn over during the course of a Broadway season, even after spending millions. Just 1 out of 5 shows recoups its investment, Lane said.

Lane and Comley thought they could hedge that financial investment at the same time as they widened the potential audience for the best performances in the world.

"We feel that if a show makes it to Broadway, it's worth being seen by the world," Comley said. She likened the digital capture to an original cast recordinganother asset related to the show's brand but nothing that would prevent a fan from buying a ticket when in town. "You can't argue with the production value."

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Broadway finds a new audience in living rooms - Crain's New York Business