Why subscribe?
The Broadway DNA Blog is a bi-weekly newsletter about theatrical IP from around the world, written by NYC-based producer Natalie Rine, founder of international producing and licensing company Broadway DNA.
BDNA is also a proud member of the American and International Theatre Critics Associations, and as a paid subscriber, you’ll also receive exclusive essays and reviews supporting globally-minded new work. Thank you for supporting Broadway DNA’s vision to demystify cultural exchange through international producing, licensing, and criticism to empower theatrical discussion around the world.
What is The Broadway DNA Blog about?
Broadway DNA Blog’s might interest you if you care about:
The IP Owners: what are Disney Theatrical, DreamWorks Theatricals, and Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures up to? How do they think (or not…) about the world they increasingly run? As more Hollywood properties look to cross-pollinate their footprints from screens and stores to stages, understanding what’s going on means thinking like a brand strategist.
The Licensors and Agents: profiling emerging and existing entertainment licensing companies around the world that may be vested with the power to continue (or kill) your show’s post-premiere lifecycle. Licensing agreements that property owners and licensees make have the potential to unlock powerful (and sometimes surprising) brand alliances in new markets that drive real value to both parties, putting real dollars in creators and producers’ pockets. A valuable production in today’s global marketplace is an incumbent from the 1980s Mega-musical era, with the attendant blind spots and weaknesses. Modern licensing practices in this newsletter are a bet on the future, based on a vision of how it will differ from the present to value resources and advocacy on behalf of artists and their original visions with substantial, tangible brand strategy. (And as your licensing agent, I would be the best.)
The Crowd: educating Broadway readership on mature and emerging international theatre markets by providing un-whitewashed investigative journalism and news that seek to de-centralize the industry’s Western gaze, and make the licensing business of bringing shows outside the US (and vice versa) more transparent. Most of you know me from my viral deep-dive on the Korean theatre industry peak-pandemic.
Who writes The Broadway DNA Blog?
My name is Natalie Rine and I’m the Founder and CEO of Broadway DNA, an international theatrical producing and licensing agency committed to connecting artists and new theatrical work to a prosperous life through distribution on global stages. Exclusive international representation includes the shows Here There Be Dragons, Audrey: The New Musical, d'Illusion: The Houdini Musical, and more, representing new shows by writers from around the world. Currently in development: Home's Kitchen, Beloved King: A Queer Bible Musical, and The Scarlet Letter Musical. In my efforts to demystify and decolonize Broadway licensing, I started publishing bi-weekly global licensing news and reviews here on the Broadway DNA Blog to promote global conversation and connectivity.
Currently also: Business affairs & investor relations for BSL Enterprises/Broadway’s The Road Company and Sony Masterworks’ RoadCo Entertainment. Previous IP management & international licensing distribution: Peanuts Worldwide, Broadway Asia. Nearly fluent in Korean, I hold a degree in Theatre Arts Management from American University, Washington, DC, with additional training in Business and the Arts at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, and Transmedia Storytelling from The University of New South Wales, Sydney.
As a theatrologist, I’m a frequent speaker at the MusicalWriters Festival in Dallas, Texas, and my work has been published around the world including “Devising, Decolonizing, and Disrupting American Musical Theatre Aural Anatomy Through the Playlist Musical” (Critical Stages/Scènes critiques), “Immersive Theatre as Christian Liminality” (American University, Robyn Rafferty Mathias Research Conference), “Fiscal Collaboration as Urgent Artistic and Humanitarian Practice Within the US-International Producing Model” (Nová dráma, Bratislava, Slovakia), and multiple industry articles for Stage Natalie (Japan). I currently serve on the Membership and International Committees for the American Theatre Critics Association.
When I’m not traveling, seeing a show, or traveling to see a show, I can most often be seen walking around Manhattan with Starbucks and my Lion King Shanghai tote bag.
Who reads The Broadway DNA Blog?
My readers skew toward the field I write about and service: theatrical writers, creators, licensors, presenters, and especially producers. Readers include critics, actors, theatre makers and theatre lovers alike from 20+ countries— in addition to the US/UK/AUS— including South Korea, Japan, China, Georgia, Germany, Denmark, and Poland.
What You’ll Get
Paid subscribers get access to:
The Bi-Weekly Newsletter: A round-up of global theatrical news and commentary supporting international producing & licensing agency Broadway DNA’s vision to demystify commercial theatre licensing and empower industry-wide discussion and support for new musicals around the world.
Exclusive Reviews: As a proud member of the American and International Theatre Critics Associations, I also send occasional reviews of new shows around the world such as world premiere bilingual work in NYC and the Denmark pre-West End try-out of The Prince of Egypt.
The Royalty Report: My cheeky name for essays on global theatre producing and licensing topics— maybe it’s an op-ed about casting Black plays in Asia, maybe it’s a history of the Czech musical pipeline, maybe it’s an analysis of the latest Korean performance tax legislation, or maybe it’s a review of a new musical in a country I jetted off to be the first to see so you don’t have to. Who knows!
Complete archive of The Royalty Reports, Reviews, and occasional foreign language translations.
Free subscribers get access to:
The Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Occasional reviews of local productions
About Broadway DNA
Broadway DNA is a NYC-based theatrical producing and licensing company committed to connecting emerging authors and shows to international opportunities and a prosperous life through IP expansion, brand management, and distribution in the world marketplace. Our roster of shows from artists around the world can be found here.
This newsletter is a completely reader-supported publication. The best way to support our trailblazing work in international theatre is to become a paid subscriber, buy our Critic Notebooks, hire me to consult, speak, or guest write, or perform one of our shows.
