Penny Union

Putting On A Play Off-Off Broadway

There is a certain hierarchy of theater in New York City. You have the large commercial productions on Broadway that cost millions and bring in millions in ticket sales. Then, there is the middle ground – off-Broadway. These are plays that can be produced for a lot less money than Broadway plays or can come quite close to costing the same. The only difference is they are not necessarily located on or near the Broadway area and are often less mainstream oriented. Finally, you have various levels of off-off Broadway. These productions can run from next to nothing up into the tens of thousands of dollars depending on a number of factors. If you are intent of producing a play for the first time, off-off Broadway may be the place to start. You may not make your money back at this level but, you won’t lose much either.

The first step is deciding on which play you want to do. You may have an original script but if you don’t, you need to read and read and read. Libraries and book stores are good places to get this done. However, if you work full time, I find that ebook readers can be very useful. You can do your research wherever you are, at work, at home or on the go.

New York is covered in Off-off Broadway theaters. You need to find a place to house your play so you need to think about a few things. What do you want to pay or how much can you pay? Where do you want to be, Brooklyn, uptown, downtown, midtown or elsewhere? How much audience you plan to bring in and how big the cast and the production is will also influence the size of the theater you need.

Once you have the place, you need to audition the actors. If you go through the union, you are adding cost but you are getting quality. If you go union in New York you have to go all the way and hire a union director, stage manager, etc., pay into health and social security, etc. Once again, it depends on your budget.

You have the actors and theater but an empty stage. Your next task is thinking about props, set, lights, sound and all production elements. You can do this cheaply as well if you try hard enough. I produced a play that needed crystal jewelry and we were able to get many pieces of crystal jewelry wholesale for very little money.

The final piece to the puzzle is getting an audience. You have a few options here. You can hire a PR person to build an advertising and publicity campaign. It is also their job to bring in reviewers. Or you can put ads in the paper yourself and write your own press release. Also make sure to list your play in the local papers – this is often free or very low cost. For one play, I actually got in audience by advertising a raffle where we gave away an Ibanez electric guitar that was donated to the production.

So, if you or your friends or your family have a little extra money to lose, you too can put up a play in New York Off-off Broadway. Don’t think you will make any money the first time out because you probably won’t. But, if you get people in the seats and they like it, especially critics, you can be on your way to becoming a big time Broadway producer some day.

Members Advantage Credit Union – The Adventures of Penny Panda Episode 3 – The Meeting