Stagey Startups | The Broadway Beat

The Broadway industry is full of startups.  Indeed, each production that opens is its own startup; its own LLC with its own set of investors.  Only recently, however, has this startup industry seen a new generation of startups join in on the fun, as several tech startups have found ways to make inroads on Broadway.  Here are the top three tech startups on Broadway, and what they are doing to shake up the industry.

TodayTix – It’s the quickest, easiest method of purchasing last minute tickets to shows at the best price.  While Telecharge and Ticketmaster have long been the only way to purchase Broadway tickets online, TodayTix was able to break into the ticket sales business through its easy to use mobile app, and reliance on employees who can go to the box office to purchase tickets to a directly, without the use of Telecharge and Ticketmaster.  The customer meets a TodayTix “concierge” outside of the theater before the show to pick up these tickets.  TodayTix allows the industry better access to the young tech demographic which is used to mobile purchases, and prefers to plan things last minute.

Show-Score – show-score.com is on its way to becoming the Rotten Tomatoes of the theater industry.  Their site allows users to click on shows they have seen, give them a rating from 1-100, and leave a short review.  The site also suggests shows to users based on their scores of similar shows.  Broadway has historically been an industry in which the success of a show relies heavily on the quality of the reviews it receives, especially from the New York Times.  In the last few years, we have seen deviations from this pattern, with many productions failing after receiving rave reviews from the Times, and many succeeding after being panned.  Show-Score is attempting to democratize the review process, so that ticket buyers can make decisions based on the opinions of regular ticket buyers, as opposed to only a few elite reviewers.

BroadwayHD –When it first launched, BroadwayHD was positioned as the Netflix of theatrical properties.  Their library consisted of video recordings of live stage events, as well as film adaptations of classic theatrical titles.  The problem was that most of the titles available from BroadwayHD were also available on other, larger streaming services.  In the past few months, BroadwayHD has shifted its main focus towards producing live streams of shows.  In June, it made history by producing the first live stream of a Broadway show, She Loves Me.  By continuing to offer video footage of live shows, BroadwayHD plans help people from all over the country have a Broadway experience.

These are the three most prolific tech startups in the Broadway industry right now, but there are sure to be other Broadway startups in the coming months and years.  This industry has been slow to adopt the tech world, but is finally realizing the benefits and necessity of technology in expanding its audience, and keeping up with the changing face of the ticket buyer. 

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Oliver Roth

Oliver Roth is the founder and CEO of OHenry Productions, a theatrical production company based in New York City. 


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