Sunday, January 22, 2012
10 Questions for a Broadway Pro: This guy cleans up on Broadway.
Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer: Bruce Barish and his wife Sarah could be the busiest couple on Broadway. What do they do? Well, you know how most theater folk are night owls? Well, these two can't be . . . because if they slept in, 80% of Broadway would be naked.
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5 comments:
This shows us that the peripheral markets to the entertainment industry can be a more stable and possibly more lucrative entrepreneurial environment. Also it shows that once you get a reputation for doing good work you can corner markets. I was surprised to see that they have such a stranglehold on the Broadway market but it is such a specialized niche that they inhabit. The article also mentioned using green methods and chemicals which is great but I loved his pragmatism when he said if the green method does not work as well then they would not be using it.
This article is a reminder of the many industries that we rarely think of being important, but in reality theatre could not operate without. One of the biggest realizations I have made about theatre is the sheer number of people involved, and how integral every part is. It is wonderful to see how much pride everyone even remotely related to theatre takes in their jobs, and the high level of work they produce knowing that their efforts contribute to a larger whole.
Most dry cleaning customers probably take the skills that it entails for granted, but in this article we see that that Mr. Barish is drawing on the same skills and facing the challenges as the managers and TDs who work in the theaters. Similarly, I would have thought of dry cleaning as more of a job than a career, but here he's spent his whole life studying every aspect of the business including its politics. Mr. Barish has also demonstrated the benefits of niche markets - how many other NY dry cleaners thought to specialize in theatrical costumes and then sought it thusly?
I read this a number of days ago and was fascinated to learn that they have such a hold of the market. I also appreciate how Ken Davenport has gone out to connect with his businesses since he is a full-time producer. It really shows how the care goes both ways; the cleaners care about the show and the shows care about the cleaners, who I am sure are often taken for granted.
This offers some good insight into a side of theatre that I had never thought about. I always assumed that each theater's costume department would handle all of the cleaning of the costume pieces after each shows, but it makes sense to outsource this to an external company. It's also ideal that Winzer cleaners specialize in broadway show costume maintenance. I'm sure that the business does quite well seeing as it is the only company of its kind.
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