Broadway Plus Founder and President Nathaniel Hill launched the company five years ago in order to provide VIP experiences to Broadway fans. Pre-pandemic, Broadway Plus helped fans get access to great tickets for shows as well as more exclusive experiences such as private concerts, dinners, and parties with cast members.
“We've become a resource for people looking to connect with Broadway, in ways that go beyond just seeing a show,” says Hill. When the pandemic hit and Broadway shut down last year, shows were put on hold, but Broadway Plus was able to pivot and continue connecting actors with fans and corporate clients.
“We're the only company that spent four years selling meet and greets with Broadway actors before the pandemic,” explains Hill. “And thankfully, those translate better to Zoom than Broadway itself.” With a list of thousands of potential clients as well as hundreds of actors who were looking to connect with fans in any way they could, Hill was able to get his business back up and running again.
“Really quickly, when Broadway was shut down, I started connecting people over Zoom,” shares Hill. “I decided to invest in a new website and a platform where bookings can be made by clients automatically with actors. And I built out our events department. It really wasn't until last fall that we started seeing huge demand for events with Broadway actors.”
Since then, Broadway Plus has designed thousands of events connecting people with actors from popular shows like Hamilton, Wicked, and The Lion King for concerts over Zoom. Although this was unfamiliar territory, it turned out to be very successful and has made Broadway experiences accessible to a wider audience.
“The virtual aspect was totally new,” says Hill. “But it allowed us to do a lot more volume. Getting 100 people to New York to have an event together is significantly more challenging and more costly than doing an event over Zoom. Across our events, we went from only working with people who were in New York, and spending more than $500 per person, to being able to work with people who love Broadway all over the world. And our entry point is much lower, about $15 a person.”
Now that Covid restrictions are being lifted in New York, Hill and his team have a bit more flexibility in how they produce events and experiences, but they are still leveraging virtual.
“We just started booking some hybrid events where we're producing a concert here in New York in a venue, and there might be a small studio audience. And then the event is being live streamed and broadcast out to the virtual event attendees”
When it comes to health and safety, Hill explains that they take their cues from what both the clients and actors are comfortable with, as well as the guidelines from the Actors’ Equity Association. He also plans to utilize New York State’s centralized health pass, the Excelsior Pass, at some upcoming events.
“It's been a great business,” shares Hill. “It really helps the actors, and it helps clients too because it's a much more affordable and accessible way for them to entertain and engage their clients or their employees or whoever they're throwing the event for. We're very excited to bring live events back, but we also are excited that the virtual event model will hopefully always be a part of our business. We're still selling pretty well, especially for this summer. Most companies still want to do virtual events. I think they're here to stay, it's great for everyone.”