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Broadway&   |   After the intermission: Three actions to reset the stage and reshape your production for success
Here are three actions that can help refine the right elements in the right ways and help your 
musical theater production emerge from this intermission ready for success:
 1. Revisit Creative Priorities
 Productions that emerge stronger after breaks are not those that cut corners. To 
emerge stronger, redirect focus to the right creative drivers. 
Step one in achieving this balance is to answer some simple questions about your production.
 1. How has your audience changed? What’s happened to your patrons, sponsors, and 
competitors? What trends or disruptors have accelerated?  
2. What themes and stories look promising in a post-pandemic world?
 3. Can you articulate the few things your production needs to do better than anyone else in 
order to meet those themes? What will your competitive advantage be?
 4. Are you investing enough in those few things? Where do you need to spend less so you 
have the funds to redirect focus to value-creating differentiation?
 These questions should help you quickly frame your few must-haves - the handful of 
elements that differentiate your production in the market. Doubling down in these areas helps 
ensure that no matter what the outcome, your production has the right strengths to emerge 
stronger. 
Keep in mind that what was differentiating your production before the intermission may no longer be 
working. (See Exhibit). Think how your competitors are already prepared to respond in areas 
such as:
   Long-term shifts in audience preferences: People expect greater options with digital 
experiences, so expectations around live performances will fundamentally change.  
  A more volatile and ambiguous entertainment environment: Theater leaders are investing 
as a way to withstand strong external forces and quickly recover from setbacks. They’re 
committing to dynamic strategies that can help them become more resilient. They’re testing 
and tweaking assumptions, so they can adjust without losing speed or getting knocked off 
course.
 Broadway&   |   After the intermission: Three actions to reset the stage and reshape your production for success
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  A shift in the nature of work: Producers are moving from fixed and predictable cast and crew 
models to more flexible, virtual and diversified models that support autonomy, flexibility and
more.