Producers Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane

Lambs Club Conversations – Interviewed by Foster Hirsch

“It’s like wildcatting for oil. You bring in the sound equipment and you listen. You bring in experts and they test the soil and say, that’s the place to drill! You drill down and get a dry hole. Ok. Go to the next one! It’s the best people, you think you’ve got the best script and have the best talent…” Stewart Lane

Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane, who are private (five children) and professional partners, both came through acting on their way to theater (and film) production. Their combined energy could probably light Broadway. Collective experience covers every aspect of finding, judging, sometimes importing, mounting, and running a show. Husband and wife are articulate and mutually respectful. When they work together, Lane sees to scripts – the artistic side – while Comley takes care of finances. Overlapping occurs, apparently without bloodshed.

Tonys have been garnered for six of the 18 Broadway shows with which they’ve been involved – The Will Rogers Follies, La Cage aux Folles, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jay Johnson: The Two and Only (Best Theatrical Event), War Horse and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

Host Foster Hirsch opens the evening noting that Comley and Lane were in previews for Tracy Letts’ The Minutes when lockdown occurred. He asks whether they had any sense of what was coming. They did not. Opening night was set for March 15, then March 15 a year later, now… The couple has three other shows pending, The Lightening Thief and My Fair Lady (on tour), and a piece of Six. “It’s going to come back in layers,” Comley remarks. “There isn’t going to be a switch that flips. Non-profit/subscribed Broadway houses will be first because their economic model is different. A Broadway theater can’t function at 50 percent capacity, it’s the breakeven point. “  

The Public Theater announced Shakespeare in the Park this summer. City Parks Foundation’s “SummerStage” is looking at options. Lincoln Center has plans to open parts of its 16 acre campus.

“Will audiences resist returning to crowded theaters?” Hirsch asks. “The good news is that Broadway now caters to a wider demographic,” Comley reflects. “The longer shows are more recognizable, but they rely on 60 percent out of town ticket buyers. Tourists might become domestic, rather than international.” “They’ll go in Texas and Florida,” Lane notes.

The era of David Merrick or Hal Prince present is over. Producers function in large groups now. Comley and Lane have been involved at every level of participation. (In addition, Lane owns The Palace Theater.) Hirsch asks who takes the lead in a group. It’s explained that since general partners take on the liability, they have more financial input. Co-producers/ limited partners are only responsible for the amount to which each committed. There are, we’re told, three major costs: Development, Running, and Closing. 

“A group of co-producers might have to be bigger once we get past Covid. Additional money will need to be raised. Many new participants don’t have a lot of history in theater, but are sophisticated investors otherwise,” Comley notes. “I make an analogy to a cruise ship. The producers own the ship. They’ve funded it and hire the director who’s the captain of that ship. Then the captain hires the crew. Once the ship shoves off, the producers aren’t on that ship anymore.” Lane points out that control may come from elsewhere when someone is particularly powerful, that both Neil Simon and Stephen Sondheim might’ve exerted appreciable influence.

The host correctly presumes both Comley and Lane were “stage struck.” Lane relates his favorite “getting-hooked” tale. At 11, his best friend Ricky invited him to a Broadway show in which Ricky’s father was acting. “I had never heard of him so I didn’t think much about it, except it was kind of cool that he worked at night…” He put on his only suit, got a haircut, and was driven into the city from Long Island.

Ushered to the front row, Lane was awed and then entertained. Afterwards, the boys went backstage and saw Ricky’s dad – Sid Caesar –  “holding court in a dressing room that looked like home away from home, and I thought, `why do anything else?’” (The show was Little Me.)

There are productions that achieve success, and those that don’t, of course. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder was risky. Based on the Alec Guinness film Kind Hearts and Coronets, its title seemed an issue. There were no stars and it arrived when competition was stiff. Comley and Lane just believed. “If this doesn’t work, then I have no business in the industry,” Lane thought.

When they were first approached about The Will Rogers Follies, Peter Stone’s script was more like a revue. Lane was not initially impressed. A second backer’s audition introduced Keith Carradine, however, and the producer thought, “I could spend time with this character.” War Horse was very expensive to import because of all the puppeteers. In that case, Comley and Lane were part of a commercial group.

“What about revivals?” Hirsch asks. Certain shows, especially musicals, we’re told, help support a Tony nomination, but you have to get every aspect right. The couple have been fortunate with a number of revivals. Bernadette Peters didn’t garner great reviews when she starred in a revival of Gypsy. Comley notes that the star was at every single rehearsal, ran herself down, got sick, and missed a few previews.

Journalist Michael Riedel ran an article with Peters’ photo on a milk carton as missing. People got confused and thought she was out for a prolonged time. “Of all the Mama Roses,” Lane reflects, “Bernadette was the most compassionate. You believed Herbie’s falling in love with her.”

Alternately, there are shows carried by stars despite press. David Mamet’s China Doll got universally bad reviews (including mine), but the presence of star Al Pacino sold tickets. Imports may find audiences reacting differently as well. Lucy Prebble’s Enron was popular on The West End, but failed here. (I thought it was great.) Comley and Lane conjecture that people were still smarting from economic loss and couldn’t find the satire amusing.

The sung-through musical Frankenstein (Mark Baron/ Jeffrey Jackson) took an immediate nose dive. “The audience didn’t want to see Mary Shelley’s character,” he recalls. “Meanwhile we had Bran Ferren doing effects and surround sound. I’m still on the wall at Joe Allen’s.” (The fabled restaurant is decorated by posters of Broadway’s infamous failures.)

Hirsch raises the effect of digital engagement which not only aids targeting of ticket buyers, but birthed the inspired creation of the now 5 ½ year-old BroadwayHD. The streaming service currently offers 350 full length stage plays from Broadway and some regional theaters to 122 countries. Production is high definition, a top level of recording with multiple cameras. Its intention is to put you in the seat. “We’re the only Broadway entity running this year,” Comley remarks. “Keeping the spirit alive is huge.”

People will eventually go back to live theater, but streaming appetite has been established. Audiences who would never have the opportunity to attend Broadway live can now enjoy it. The “brand” is enhanced. A younger audience is building. “Eating a good French meal, doesn’t replace Paris,” Comley observes.

Sometimes seeing a show this way encourages live attendance. If you know you like something, then investing in a $125 ticket is less disconcerting, she points out. “It’s a new art form in itself,” Lane adds. “You have the best seat all over the house.” Most BroadwayHD productions are digitally captured in front of live audiences in real time on several occasions, so that lighting and sound can be adjusted.

The host ends the stimulating conversation by asking Comely and Lane whether they’re optimistic. Absolutely! the answer comes. Theater is a very creative and collaborative community and the economic impact for New York is many millions of dollars. “Tourists used to come in, visit The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty and perhaps take in a show,” Comley notes. “Now, it’s the reverse.” Not to mention there are 200 touring Broadway theaters. It seems likely that BroadwayHD will become the one-stop-shop for streaming theater, if it isn’t already. Comley’s idea was prescient.

Photos Courtesy of The Lambs Club

The actual interview can be found in The Lambs Club archive. BroadwayHD

Coming UP: Actor/Director Lee Grant, March 30; Actor George Chakiris, April 6