A hit like Hamilton can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak with some of the biggest producers in the game — Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, Hal Luftig — and learn that there is only one guarantee: the theater owners always win. (Part two of a <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/how-is-live-theater-still-alive/">three-part series</a>.) <ul><li>SOURCES:<ul><li><a href="https://lajollaplayhouse.org/who-we-are/the-team/">Debby Buchholz</a>, managing director of La Jolla Playhouse.</li><li><a href="https://www.soniafriedman.com/about">Sonia Friedman</a>, Broadway producer.</li><li><a href="https://www.arts.gov/about/what-is-the-nea/rocco-landesman-2009-12">Rocco Landesman</a>, Broadway producer, former owner of Jujamcyn Theaters, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.</li><li><a href="https://www.halluftig.com/">Hal Luftig</a>, Broadway producer.</li><li><a href="https://www.relentlessthebook.com/">Luis Miranda Jr.</a>, political strategist, founding president of the Hispanic Federation, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, Viva Broadway, and The Public Theater.</li><li><a href="https://oneill.indiana.edu/faculty-research/directory/profiles/faculty/full-time/rushton-michael.html">Michael Rushton</a>, professor of arts administration at Indiana University.</li><li><a href="https://www.jeffreyseller.com/">Jeffrey Seller</a>, Broadway producer.</li><li><a href="http://www.redhangerproductions.com/">Richard Winkler</a>, Broadway producer.</li><li><a href="https://effroncenter.princeton.edu/people/stacy-wolf">Stacy Wolf</a>, professor of theater at Princeton University.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>RESOURCES:<ul><li><a href="https://amzn.to/3EmlK6y">Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir</a>, by Jeffrey Seller (2025).</li><li><a href="https://amzn.to/42hgavq">Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America</a>, by Luis Miranda Jr. (2024).</li><li><a href="https://amzn.to/4lzU52w">Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theatre Across America</a>, by Stacy Wolf (2019).</li><li>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/theater/hamilton-inc-the-path-to-a-billion-dollar-show.html">‘Hamilton’ Inc.: The Path to a Billion-Dollar Broadway Show</a>," by Michael Paulson and David Gelles (New York Times, 2016).</li><li>"<a href="https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~wbaumol/OnThePerformingArtsTheAnatomyOfTheirEcoProbs.pdf">On the Performing Arts: The Anatomy of Their Economic Problems</a>," by W.J. Baumol and W.G. Bowen (The American Economic Review, 1965).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>EXTRAS:<ul><li>“<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-make-the-coolest-show-on-broadway/">How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway</a>,” by Freakonomics Radio (2024).</li><li>“<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/you-can-make-a-killing-but-not-a-living/">You Can Make a Killing, but Not a Living</a>,” by Freakonomics Radio (2024).</li></ul></li></ul>

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