Ask Jack Meyer, a booking agent for Broadway style shows, what he thinks of Providence and he’ll tell you it’s a great place, or rather “a great market.”
“It’s definitely a market that is in demand,” said Meyer, director of booking for On The Road, which booked the Sound of Music into the Providence Performing Arts Center for performances this week. “Over the years what they’ve done there is really commendable, beyond the city’s renewal itself.”
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Good facility, good management and marketing teams, but most of all a subscription base that says to booking agents like Meyer that “shows generally make money there.” Music to any booking agent’s ears.
“It’s one (market) that you get and you feel fortunate,” Meyer said of Providence, among the cities that has made the road the primary place “where Broadway makes its money.”
In 1998-1999, Meyer said, shows grossed some $700 million on the road.
Sound of Music is among those classic shows that has had its share of Tony awards, and that seems timeless, he said. The challenge is not so much selling shows like Sound of Music but selling the less known shows.
The trick with this Sound of Music production, however, is that it is among the non-union shows produced by Troika Entertainment. With non-equity shows, the quality of performances sometimes comes into question, with the use of younger and less experienced performers. But in the case of Sound of Music, Meyer said, “the show has been tremendous, doing well critically and financially.”
For the city of Providence, the show is among those that offer a quick infusion into the local economy. Besides ticket sales, parking garages and the like, Troika will bring some 50 people into town for the duration of the show and hire 15 local musicians, Meyer said.
Sound of Music opens Wednesday, January 10 and runs through Sunday, January 14
at PPAC. The classic story traces the escape of the von Trapp family from Austria,
which has been invaded by the Nazis, to Switzerland.
