Synopses & Reviews
Stage Money is a groundbreaking guide to understanding professional theater finances today through the use of the tools and metaphors of the business world at large. This approach results in a comprehensive picture of the economic realities of theater production that is radically different from the assessments typically espoused elsewhere. Tim Donahue and Jim Patterson combine their experiences in the financial and creative aspects of theater production to present in straightforward prose their keen insights into the micro- and macro-economic aspects of the commercial stage. Tangible data, charts, and graphs are counterbalanced with illuminating "intermissions" between chapters and interspersed sidebars throughout to provide specific examples of key concepts, collectively presenting an expansive overview of the contemporary theater business. Stage Money is an unparalleled tool for theater professionals and enthusiasts interested in garnering a better understanding of the business's inner workings at present and its challenges for the future.
Review
"Stage Money surveys the rough terrain of present financial demands on the theater business to present a timely and valuable approach to the myriad problems of producing theater today. The authors illuminate current business models with breathtaking thoroughness and ground their observations in anecdotal evidence as well as facts and figures of budgeting, tax codes, union contracts, ticket pricing, and marketing and publicity concerns. In setting these calculations in the recognizable context of creative and cultural aspects of American theater, rich snapshots emerge of early-twenty-first-century Broadway and the regional stage. And that the authors are able to offer such an optimistic picture of the present and future of the business speaks volumes about the vitality and viability of their original insights here." --James Fisher, head, Department of Theatre, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Synopsis
A straightforward guide to the contemporary theater business on and off Broadway
About the Author
Tim Donahue holds an M.B.A. from the University of South Carolina, where he recently retired from the Department of Theatre and Dance as the director of marketing and development after nearly ten years.Jim Patterson is the author of Stage Directing and the coauthor of Theatre in the Secondary School Classroom and the seventh and eighth editions of The Enjoyment of Theatre. Patterson retired as a Distinguished Professor of Theatre from the University of South Carolina. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, he has earned numerous awards for his work as a director and educator.