This season put a lot of new hits on the boards, but none of them bigger than An American in Paris, which grossed a whopping $1.4mm last week (and I expect that number will get bigger as we get deeper into the summer), won more awards than any other musical this season, and got a terrific set of reviews.

And this week, I’m lucky to have its Lead Producer, Stuart Oken, as my guest on the podcast!

Stuart is another fantastic example of how everyone’s path to producing on Broadway is unique.  I’ll leave the “tell-all” part to Stuart, but he went from small independent producer to movie producer to corporate theater producer all the way back to big time independent producer.  And he has had success at every stop along the way.

What’s his secret?

It’s all in the podcast.   Listen in to hear Stuart talk about:

• Why his business plan only includes new musicals.
• How he set up his development company like a movie studio.
• His simple secret to raising money for Broadway shows.
• Why involving your producing partners is one of the most important things a Lead Producer can do.
• What it was like being the favorite to win the Best Musical Tony Award, and why he thinks Paris didn’t win.

And a heck of a lot more.

One of things that I love about doing these podcasts is that I’m learning so much about individual producing styles, and ways that I can improve what I do.

And I learned a Titanic-sized boat load by listening to Stuart.

You will too.

Enjoy!

Listen to it on iTunes here.  (And give me a rating, while you’re there!)

Next Week’s Guest:  Victoria Bailey, Executive Director of TDF!  Subscribe today so you don’t miss it!

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