Broadway on a Budget

Ever wish you could secuRe Broadway-type entertainment for an event without Breaking the Bank? One local planner negotiated savings while booking unique holiday entertainment.

In summer 2008, Sara Miller, senior events coordinator at Maple Grove-based Upsher-Smith Laboratories, began brainstorming locations and entertainment for the family-owned pharmaceutical company’s annual holiday party. Originally Miller considered switching things up and creating a summer party instead, but the holiday party proved too popular. Previous years Miller had taken the company to the Nicollet Island Pavilion or The Depot. One year she even hired a George Bush impersonator for entertainment.

The biggest challenge she faced this time? Creating a memorable event with a scaled-down budget. The company, she says, still saw the value in rewarding its employees with an annual party. She wanted to continue the tradition, but couldn’t spend as much as years past. “As we went through 2008 we were, as a company, trying to reduce costs and spending, because it was a tough year throughout. So we were being cost conscious,” says Miller.

While Miller knew her budgetary limits, she didn’t want to compromise quality. She remembered an e-mail that caught her eye earlier in the year from Meeting Professionals International (MPI), mentioning a corporate entertainment company called Hot On Broadway. Though intimidated by the company’s Broadway pedigree, Miller decided it was worth a shot. “I had predetermined the fact that it would be way out of reach, but they explained the way that they can tailor it to suit my budget,” says Miller. Created by Broadway producer Jeffrey Finn (who won a Tony Award for his revival of On Golden Pond in 2005), Hot On Broadway boasts 15 years of showcasing corporate entertainment straight from Broadway. New York-based Hot On Broadway is mainly known for putting on shows featuring Broadway cast members singing Broadway show tunes or popular music. The company brought cast members from Jersey Boys to town during the Republican National Convention to perform at a party for Medtronic.

So Miller started discussions with company president Finn, explaining to him that the budget for the party had been reduced by 20 percent. Miller says she benefited from the fact that, in this economy, companies such as Hot On Broadway need business and are more willing to work with clients and compromise. “I basically said, ‘If we can’t do it for this amount, we are not going to be able to do it,’” she says. “And they definitely were not put off. They were more than happy to work with my budget.”

Miller proposed “A Holiday Spectacular” as the theme, explaining that she wanted a nondenominational holiday event featuring about 70 percent Broadway hits and 30 percent classic holiday tunes. “Originally in my mind I thought of possibly incorporating something like the Rockettes Christmas, but I didn’t have it really narrowed down at that point,” says Miller. Finn listened to Miller’s desires and paid close attention to her budgetary restrictions before sharing his ideas. “I always throw the first ball because I think that it’s important… they are looking to us, to our expertise, to be able to say ‘We’ve heard your desires, let us get you a proposal,’” he says.

Finn started by creating a detailed entertainment proposal outlining what the company could offer and what elements might best fit her event. He says they try to work hand-in-hand with clients to customize events. Since Hot On Broadway doesn’t have any “off the shelf” packages, Finn says it’s easy to make each event and budget individual. “We’ve produced everything from one performer on a very economic budget all the way to events that have been several hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he says.

Miller and Finn discussed the few strategic ways that she could save money but still get a solid product. First, the two determined that the show wouldn’t need full sets. Instead, they decided to rely on a large video screen as the backdrop, which would flash images of New York City or Minneapolis and logos from the Broadway shows being featured. “In doing so we accommodated their budget,” says Finn, who felt they didn’t lose much by making this concession. “I’d rather not do a show than compromise the quality of the event. Because for me, with my name on every one of these shows, it really is about the quality.”

Another big way Miller saved was by limiting the number of performers needed. In the end, only five cast members came to town for the show. “Originally I had more performers in mind, and so we scaled back,” she says. “I definitely know we made that conscious decision.” The key for Finn became casting performers who could both sing and dance. “We wanted to find singers and dancers because we needed to have these incredible dancing production numbers—the more dancing elements, the bigger the show looks,” he says. “And then we also wanted to be able to have great, great singers, who can stand and deliver a ballad, so we had to seek that out. That was another way that we were able to give as big a show as possible within the budget.”

As soon as the negotiation process began with Hot On Broadway, Miller started researching the songs that would best fit her ideal play list. “I listened to all kinds of Broadway tunes because I wanted them to be recognizable for my audience,” says Miller. “I tried to formulate a combination of recognizable Broadway songs with some fun traditional Christmas songs since it was a holiday program.” Finn also came up with a list of song suggestions. They worked together to get a final list compiled, avoiding controversial tunes from shows such as Avenue Q and picking popular songs that would appeal to a wide range of people. “We chose a running order together and then we built the arc of the show,” says Finn. During this process, Miller had to make a final decision about the running time for the show. “I think our show was about 40-45 minutes long,” she says. “Now that was one way I saved money. It could have been a one-and-a-half hour show, which would have been fabulous, but I couldn’t afford it.” In the end, the audience was left wanting more, which Miller considers a benefit of the shortened program time.

Another way Miller was able to monitor the budget was by booking the rooms for the Hot On Broadway cast and crew (such as the choreographer). She was able to use relationships she had with local hotels to get a good value. Hot On Broadway even shared its flight itinerary with her so that she knew what she paid for. Miller calls the group very down to earth and unpretentious. “They didn’t demand first-class seats, they didn’t demand a suite for everybody and they were not elaborate in any way with their rider,” she adds. “Which I think is not the norm. I think normally when you bring in entertainment there’s definitely some expenses that you need to assume you are going to incur, for things like upgrades and suites, first-class flights, whatever food they want.” Hot On Broadway even assisted Miller in negotiating with her venue, the Pantages Theatre, and with the stagehand’s labor union.

The day before the event Miller watched as cast members rehearsed the show for the final time. “That gave me more than enough time to experience what the show would look like and give my input,” she says. Miller, who chose to leave most of the casting, choreography and costume decisions up to the professionals, enjoyed that they gave her a chance to weigh in with her opinions before the event. “It really allowed me to feel like I was part of the production of the show and that my input counted,” she says. “And for someone on my end that’s very beneficial because it gives you more ownership in the production, more confidence and that’s exactly what I wanted.” Though Miller hadn’t taken advantage of the chance to watch early rehearsals in New York, she found that her confidence in Hot On Broadway had paid off.

On Dec. 11, 2008, the event began when employees shuttled (with an assist from Minneapolis-based Event Lab) to Seven, The Steakhouse in downtown Minneapolis for lunch. “They did a phenomenal job in serving a delicious meal for everyone,” says Miller.

Following the meal, the 400 Upsher-Smith employees walked to the neighboring Pantages Theatre, where their custom-designed tickets allowed them entry into the classic theater and they received special Upsher-Smith Playbills with information about the show. Without further ado, the five performers (whose credits included Mary Poppins, Grease and A Chorus Line) from Hot On Broadway hit the stage, kicking off the afternoon with “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” followed by three more holiday songs and eight popular Broadway show tunes, from shows such as Mamma Mia, Rent, Jersey Boys and The Lion King.

One exciting moment for the Upsher-Smith employees happened during the close of the performance, when images from previous holiday parties appeared on the video screen while the cast members sang “Have Yourself a Merry Upsher Christmas” to the tune of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” “It was really a great moment,” says Miller, who worked with Finn to personalize this segment of the show.

After the final bows, many audience members stuck around for Hot On Broadway’s post-event meet-and-greet with the cast, taking photographs and gathering autographs. The meet-and-greets, as well as the custom Playbills, are both part of the usual Hot On Broadway experience.

Though Miller had to watch her spending, the event didn’t come across as having “budget” entertainment. “They crafted it into a truly Broadway production,” she says. “If you asked any of the people who were in the audience how much it cost, I would guess that they would estimate it at two to three times the real cost. And that’s another bonus.”

Miller says she was successful in both staying on budget and providing exciting entertainment. As they left the theater, employees gave her hugs. “I got more feed-back from employees this year than I had in the past,” she says. “More people took the time to respond to me and tell me how much they enjoyed the event. I had people say,  ‘I wish we could do this every single year.’  I haven’t had that in the past. So, the wow factor was there. People loved it.”

Part of the success for Miller is that she enjoyed the collaborative process of creating the event with Hot On Broadway, who she describes as quite easy to work with. “I am very pleased in all aspects,” she says. “And there’s not very many events you can say that about. Usually there’s one element that maybe let you down or was a struggle and you had to overcome obstacles. This truly was fantastic, start to finish.”

All cast members from Hot On Broadway are currently performing in Broadway shows.

To save money, performers were cast in Upsher-Smith's Hot On Broadway holiday show based on their ability to both sing and dance.

Cast members stayed after the show to meet audience members and sign the customized Upsher-Smith holiday party playbills.