Every year around this time, I talk to a group of Broadway Insiders to get their thoughts on which Broadway Producers crushed it in the previous twelve months.  And every year they put together a slate of nominees for you to vote on.

Last year we saw the first ever non-profit Producer of the Year (Jim Nicola and New York Theater Workshop), which I know peeved off a few of my commercial friends (I got calls).  But it’s a new year (and no non-pros made the cut this year), and as always, you will make the call on who . . . who . . . who is The Broadway Producer of the Year!

Read the nominees below and then cast your vote!!!

1.  Neil Meron and Craig Zadan

Neil and Craig have had their hands on many a Broadway show including How to Succeed and Promises, Promises but they secured their work this year for the herculean efforts in getting Broadway on the small screen.  Sure Smash didn’t work, but their Sound of Music on NBC did more for Broadway in one airing that many of us hope to do in a lifetime.

2.  Cameron Mackintosh

The big guy is back . . . and with a vengeance.  The movie version of Les Miz crushed it at the box office in 2012, and the stage version is still crushing it at the box office in London.  And a Broadway version opens in just a few months.  And Saigon is up next.  Who would have believed a three-and-a-half-hour musical about poor French people would still be moving audiences almost thirty years after its debut?  Cameron.  That’s who.

3.  Howard Panter

Howard Panter is no stranger to these kind of lists, having been named the Most Powerful Person in British Theater by The Stage in 2010.  You don’t know who he is?  Well, get ready, because this CEO of Ambassador Theatre Group (which runs 38 theaters in the UK) entered the Broadway real estate game when he purchased the Foxwoods Theater (home of Spider-Man).  Howard scored points with my nominators for not only wrenching a theater away from a non-theater loving corporation (LiveNation) and putting it back in the hands of a theater lover.  Oh, and did I mention he runs a ticketing company?  Yeah, so, that’ll be coming this way.  Expect the first new primary market Broadway ticketing provider that we’ve seen in . . . oh . . . maybe ever?

4.  Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig

Remember this time last year when all the theatrical handicappers out there had their money on Matilda sweeping the Tonys and making a bazillion bucks?  Well, Matilda is doing just fine, but Kinky Boots is one of the big stories of the year, taking six Tonys including the big one, and posting mammoth grosses like the 1.9 it did over Thanksgiving (I’m predicting over $2mm for Christmas week).  You can credit lead Producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig for this incredible underdog story.

5.  Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner

You don’t know these guys.  But you love their work.  And they’ve had their hands on hundreds of Broadway shows, but never been above-the-title on one.  See, Glenn and Ricky produce the Tony Awards every year . . . and they’ve won an Emmy for it four years in a row.  Amazing, right?  The Tonys are a big night for Broadway.  And my nominators are glad it’s in their hands year after year.

Those are the nominees for this year’s Producer of the Year!  Interesting, isn’t it?  Three of them seemingly made the cut this year for the work they did with their shows in another medium besides Broadway.  I see a trend . . . the future Broadway Producer’s personal and industry-wide success may be judged on their ability to transfer to the new distribution platforms.  Three of them are also partnerships . . . do you have your producing partner picked out?

But enough about that!  Did you agree with the nominators?  Did they leave anybody out?

And of course, make sure you vote!  All votes must be in by 11:59 pm on December 29th.  The winner will be announced on Monday December 30th.

Good luck to all the nominees!

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