Ken Davenport (born Kenneth Anjum Hasija, August 23, 1972) is a two-time Tony Award-winning

theatre producer A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hires ...

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger, and writer. He is best known for his production work on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Early life and career

Davenport was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

to Dr. Kenny Hasija and Pamela Soper (née Davenport). He grew up in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and attended the Bancroft School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He attended

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

for one year with the intention of practicing law, before transferring to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

. He graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. Davenport began his professional theater career by working as a production assistant on the 1993 Broadway revival of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'' starring Richard Chamberlain. Before he began his producing career, he established himself as a company and general manager, working on shows such as '' Grease'', ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'', ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

'', ''

Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical-romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve young ...

'', and ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

''.

Davenport Theatrical Enterprises

Davenport founded Davenport Theatrical Enterprises (DTE) in 2004, and has created, produced, and managed shows under that business for the last 15 years. His first ventures as a producer were the three Off-Broadway shows '' The Awesome 80s Prom'', ''

Altar Boyz ''Altar Boyz'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and book by Kevin Del Aguila (based on an idea by Marc J. Kessler and Ken Davenport). Centering on a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio, the ...

'', and '' My First Time'', which he also wrote. Davenport's first Broadway credit as a producer was '' 13'', and since then he has produced over a dozen other Broadway shows, including the first Broadway revival of ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

'', the Tony Award-winning Best Musical '' Kinky Boots'', and Deaf West Theatre's '' Spring Awakening''. Since its founding, Davenport Theatrical Enterprises has expanded to other areas of the theater business. It founded Broadway Genius Group Sales, a group sales agency for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows; DTE Agency, a theatrical marketing agency; and DTE Management, a general management division. In 2019, DTE Management relaunched a
Architect Theatrical.
Davenport Theatrical Enterprises has founded several websites, including Your Broadway Genius, Best of Off-Broadway, and both the website and smartphone app Did He Like It?, a review aggregator for New York theater based on ''New York Times'' chief theatre critic

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

. Additionally, Davenport is the creator of '' Be a Broadway Star'', the only Broadway-themed board game. In 2019, Inc. 5000 named Davenport Theatrical Enterprises one of America’s fastest-growing private companies. He is the founder o
TheaterMakersStudio.com
a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community with the goal of educating and inspiring writers, directors, producers and more to get their shows off the ground. Davenport's television and film credits include the documentary ''These Magnificent Miles: On the Road with Red Wanting Blue'', and ''The Bunny Hole'', an award-winning television pilot that has appeared in the LA Indie Film Festival, the Orlando Film Festival, the LA Comedy Festival and more. He managed and owned the Davenport Theatre, an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

theater in Manhattan's

Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres. Places *Theater District, Manhattan, New York City *Boston Theater District *Buffalo Theater District *Cleveland Theater ...

until January 2019. The Davenport Theatre had two performance spaces, a 149-seat main stage on the ground level, and a 60-seat blackbox theater on the upper level. Davenport named the theater after his great-grandfather, Delbert Essex Davenport, who was a theater producer, publicist, author and lyricist in the early 1900s.

Innovations in Marketing and Producing

Davenport is well known among the Broadway community as an innovative producer and marketer. He started The Producer's Perspective in 2008, a blog on which he shares his thoughts, experiences and opinions that is dedicated to making Broadway accessible and understandable. Davenport's unique marketing initiatives have helped to bring attention to his Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. In 2007, his Off-Broadway show '' My First Time'' had a "Virgins get in free" promotion, during which audience members who were determined to be "virgins" by a psychic received a free ticket to the show. In 2012, Davenport instated the first ever "Tweet Seats" for a Broadway show during his production of ''

''. During a specially designated performance, 15 of the show's biggest fans received free tickets specifically so they could share their experience during the show on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and promote it on social media. In 2006 on his Off-Broadway production of ''Altar Boyz'', Davenport became the first producer to send audience members a follow-up email after they attended a show, a method now widely used across the industry. In 2010, Davenport announced that he would be

crowd-funding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

his Broadway revival of ''Godspell''. ''Godspell'' was the first Broadway production to use the crowd-funding model. Previously, Broadway investing was open to only

accredited investor An accredited or sophisticated investor is an investor with a special status under financial regulation laws. The definition of an accredited investor (if any), and the consequences of being classified as such, vary between countries. Generally, acc ...

s, who would ordinarily invest tens of thousands of dollars. In comparison, ''Godspell'' was largely funded by 700 investors (called "People of ''Godspell"'') who were able to invest amounts as small as $1,000. Davenport was lauded for making Broadway investing accessible to "average people," and for helping to bring a new crowd of investors into the Broadway community. In 2012, Davenport held auditions to find the "''Godspell'' Cast of 2032," a group of children ages 6 to 16 who were given the chance to perform with the Broadway cast. Over 500 children auditioned, and 10 were chosen to join the company of ''Godspell'' for the curtain call for one night only. In ''Macbeth'' on Broadway, Alan Cummings played all the roles. Organically, the show's mission took a step further. Davenport asked Cummings to step into another role to get up close and personal with the audience. He went to the theater on a rainy, Sunday morning to sell rush tickets at the Box Office, this allowed the audience to interact with him on and off the stage. ''Gettin' the Band Back Together'' is set in Sayreville, NJ. In hopes of creating something special, Davenport asked the mayor and entire town to co-produce this musical with him. He was very specific as to who sent out press releases. He wanted to make the town feel as if it was similar to a sports team, Sayreville musical: ''Gettin' the Band Back Together!'' During the

Portland Center Stage Portland Center Stage at The Armory is a theater company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Theater productions are presented at The Armory in Portland's Pearl District. Portland Center Stage at The Armory was founded in 1988 as the nort ...

run of his musical ''Somewhere in Time'', Davenport used dial-testing to partially gauge audience reaction. Although dial-testing is common in film and television, Davenport was the first producer to use it for the stage. While dial-testing is a controversial issue in the Broadway community, with some believing it will create formulaic theater, others see it as a useful tool, as detailed in the ''New York Times'' story covering the testing of ''Somewhere in Time''. On November 30, 2015, Davenport announced that he would be

livestreaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

a performance of his Off-Broadway musical, '' Daddy Long Legs.'' The performance was broadcast online for free on December 10, 2015. Although the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

and

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions (and from other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I grew ...

, an initiative of the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

, have broadcast theatrical productions in the past, this was the first time a Broadway or Off-Broadway production was livestreamed. On January 15, 2016, the producers of ''Spring Awakening'', in association with

The Broadway League The Broadway League, formerly the League of American Theatres and Producers and League of New York Theatres and Producers, is the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry based in New York, New York. Its members include thea ...

, presented a symposium titled "How to Make Broadway More Accessible," featuring members of the disability community and a keynote address from

Timothy Shriver Timothy Perry Shriver (born August 29, 1959) is an American disability rights activist, film producer, and former educator who has been Chairman of Special Olympics since 1996 and is the founder of UNITE. He is a member of the Kennedy family as ...

, chairman of

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

Other activities

Davenport was named one of Crain's "40 Under 40", and received the 2010 Leonidas A. Nickole Award of Distinction from the Musical Theatre Society of Emerson College. He won the 2008 Spirit of Theatre Award fro
Theatre Resources Unlimited
and his television pilot ''The Bunny Hole'' has been honored at the Orlando Film Festival, the IndieFEST Film Awards, and more. In 2008, he appeared in one of the first

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

iPhone television commercials. Davenport has been a guest lecturer at universities in the

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. He has taught “Acting As A Business” for America Online, and his marketing techniques have been profiled in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and in marketing guru's Andy Sernovitz's book ''Word of Mouth Marketing''. Davenport was a member of th
BMI Librettist Workshop
and is a founding member of the Independent Theater Bloggers Association. Davenport is a member of

and th
League of Off-Broadway Theaters and Producers

Productions

* 2022, ''

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

: the Musical'' (

George Street Playhouse George Street Playhouse is a theater company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the city's Civic Square government and theater district. It's one of the state's preeminent professional theaters committed to the production of new and established ...

) * 2022, '' Harmony: A New Musical'' ( National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene) *2020, ''Americano!'' (Phoenix Theatre Company) * 2019, ''

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune ''Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'' is a two-character play by Terrence McNally that was first performed off-Broadway in 1987. Plot The play focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with their tumbling into bed. The ...

'' (Broadway) *2018, ''

Gettin' The Band Back Together ''Gettin' the Band Back Together'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Mark Allen and a book by Ken Davenport and the Grundleshotz, a group of performers and writers including Sebastian Arcelus, Fred Berman, Michael Hirstreet, Jenna Coker Jones, ...

'' (Broadway) *2017, ''

Once on This Island ''Once on This Island'' is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel ''My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl'' by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retelling o ...

'' (Broadway) *2017, ''

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...

'' (Broadway) *2017, ''

The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a 2012 play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. As of September 2021, the show has been running since 201 ...

'' (Broadway) *2015, ''

Allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...

'' (Broadway) * 2015, '' Daddy Long Legs'' (Off-Broadway) * 2015, '' Spring Awakening'' (Broadway) * 2015, ''That Bachelorette Show'' (Off-Broadway) * 2015, '' The Visit'' (Broadway) * 2014, ''

It's Only a Play ''It's Only a Play'' is a play by Terrence McNally. The play originally opened off-off-Broadway in 1982. It was revived off-Broadway in 1986, and on Broadway in 2014. The plot concerns a party where a producer, playwright, director, actors and th ...

'' (Broadway) * 2014, '' Mothers and Sons'' (Broadway) * 2014, ''

The Bridges of Madison County ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (also published as ''Love in Black and White'') is a 1992 best-selling romance novel by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of a married Italian-American woman (WWII war bride) living on a ...

'' (Broadway, tour) * 2013, ''

Gettin' the Band Back Together ''Gettin' the Band Back Together'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Mark Allen and a book by Ken Davenport and the Grundleshotz, a group of performers and writers including Sebastian Arcelus, Fred Berman, Michael Hirstreet, Jenna Coker Jones, ...

'' (

) * 2013, ''Macbeth'' (Broadway) * 2013, '' Kinky Boots'' (Broadway, tour, Toronto, West End) * 2011, ''

'' (Broadway) * 2011, ''

Chinglish Chinglish is slang for spoken or written English language that is either influenced by a Chinese language, or is poorly translated. In Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong and Guangxi, the term "Chinglish" refers mainly to Cantonese-influenced English. ...

'' (Broadway'')'' * 2010, ''Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage'' (Off-Broadway) * 2009, '' Oleanna'' (Broadway) * 2009, '' Blithe Spirit'' (Broadway, tour, West End) * 2009, '' Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America'' (Broadway) * 2008, ''

Speed-the-Plow ''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''St ...

'' (Broadway) * 2008, '' 13'' (Broadway) * 2007, '' My First Time'' (Off-Broadway) * 2005, ''

'' (Off-Broadway) * 2004, '' The Awesome 80s Prom'' (Off-Broadway)

Awards and nominations

* 2018:

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

, Best Revival of a Musical, ''Once on This Island'' (winner) *2018:

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, ''Once on This Island'' (nominee) *2017: Tony Award, Best Musical, ''Groundhog Day'' (nominee) *2016: Tony Award, Best Revival of a Musical, ''Spring Awakening'' (nominee) *2016: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, ''Spring Awakening'' (nominee) *2016: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Musical, ''Daddy Long Legs'' (nominee) *2015: Tony Award, Best Musical, ''The Visit'' (nominee) * 2015: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Musical, ''The Visit'' (nominee) * 2014: Tony Award, Best Play, ''Mothers and Sons'' (nominee) * 2014: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Musical, ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (nominee) * 2013: Tony Award, Best Musical, ''Kinky Boots'' (winner) * 2013: Broadway.com Audience Choice Award, Favorite Play Revival, ''Macbeth'' (winner) * 2012: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Play, ''Chinglish'' (nominee) * 2012: Broadway.com Audience Choice Award, Favorite Musical Revival, ''Godspell'' (winner) * 2009: Tony Award nominee, Best Special Theatrical Event, ''Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America'' (nominee) * 2009: Broadway.com Audience Choice Award, Favorite Long-Running Off-Broadway Show, ''Altar Boyz'' (winner) * 2009: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Revival of a Play, ''Blithe Spirit'' (nominee) * 2005: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding New Musical, ''Altar Boyz'' (nominee) * 2005:

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical, ''Altar Boyz'' (winner) * 2005:

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

, Outstanding Musical, ''Altar Boyz'' (nominee)

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Ken Johns Hopkins University alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni American theatre managers and producers American theatre directors 1972 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people)