Money Money Money: Theatrical Licensing as Resistance
The trends of 2025 so far + exciting new updates
Good morning (or afternoon) world!
Hey there, remember me? (Quick refresher.) I’ve just returned from the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM) excited for the future of global arts exchange and with tons of new global collaboration ideas I can’t wait to get started.
You see, at the top of the year, I made one of the boldest shifts of my career: My full-time business affairs role at Broadway’s The Road Company came to an end, leaving me without a clear roadmap ahead - just a deep belief in myself and my abilities as a Stage & IP Strategist Connecting Ideas, Investments, & International Impact.
In addition to Broadway DNA Producing & Licensing, I’m excited to now be available independently for freelance work if you’re looking for:
One-on-One Licensing Questions & Consulting for Playwrights
Broadway Coproducing and Project Fundraising
International Coproduction Consulting & Grant Writing
Executive & C-Suite Support
Free, certified travel agent bookings with deals exclusively for theatremakers (this is new, DM me!)
April marked my first full month of contracting, and it's been an incredible start. I'm excited for what's ahead - and even more grateful for my friends around the world for keeping me encouraged throughout this journey!
Want to grab a coffee and learn more? Reply here or email me at natalie@broadway-dna.com
HOW TO RESIST - Or Why The Only Answer To Nationalism Is Global And Diverse
This title and topic from September’s International Theatre Institute World Congress keynote, delivered by one of the most important global directors of the moment, Milo Rau*, has stuck with me as I picked up to write this first newsletter of 2025– a year still in its infancy yet already reeling globally with the tantrums of war, meltdowns of economies, and shitting of power-trips. (A non-exhaustive list under attack: The National Endowment for the Arts, The Kennedy Center, Czech Institute of the Arts and Theatre, Slovak arts & culture, not to mention of course theatre in Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine).
As people who work at the intersection of business, arts management, & cultural exchange, I invite you to consider Rau’s words:
“We live in a time when we don't fight an idea by criticizing it, but by depriving it of financial support….
“Because, as we, each trapped in our own blindness, repeatedly forget: resistance has no form, resistance is the form – and it looks different everywhere.”
(Read the full keynote here.)
*Milo Rau (Recently: Antigone in the Amazon, NYU Skirball) is a Swiss director, writer and filmmaker. In addition to being the artistic director of Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival) and the director, curator and artist in residence at NTGent, Rau has been described as the “most influential” (Die Zeit), “most awarded” (Le Soir), “most interesting” (De Standaard), “most controversial” (La Repubblica), “most scandalous” (New York Times) and “most ambitious” (The Guardian) artist of our time.
Resistance looks different everywhere… So what stories are producing and licensing $$$ going to right now?
IN THE BACKGROUND OF WAR
Broadway’s Anastasia to receive Australian premiere (Crossroads Live/Opera Australia)
The 5th revival of Chess in Denmark (Det Ny Teater and Mikkel Rønnow Musicals) & upcoming Broadway revival (if it’s not Josh Groban, I don’t want it)
Wildhorn K-Musical Mata Hari Japan 3rd remount planned (Umeda)
Beijing Normal University's Today and Me, honoring a history of China’s educators who persevered through government reform and occupation
The Sound of Music - Just check your local listings and trust me, there’s a production nearby
Hypatia and the Heathens (US/France/Taiwan) - Facing a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and unrest, one woman vows to save the knowledge of The Library of Alexandria no matter the cost. Now available for global licensing.
WOMENS STORIES MATTER
Six continues global licensing with new non-replica productions in Czechia (JK Tyl), Poland (Teatr Syrena remount— I have their amazing playing cards deck), and Croatia (Komedija Theatre) + an unofficial Russian non-replica tribute EX-Queens (EX-Королевы) (Talany Production)
2026 Korean and licensed premiere of Broadway’s Lempicka (New Contents Company)
Anne of Green Gables (1965, Canada’s longest-running musical) finding new success in Japan (Shiki Theatre Company) — not to be confused with the also male-written, but Broadway-aimed Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical
K-Musical Frida: The Last Night Show remount for third season (did you catch the US mini premiere at USC?) — not to be confused with the Broadway-aimed Frida
Anna Karenina: a riff (Notch Theatre Company) examines the consequences of female rebellion and its echoes today — and it’s one of Broadway DNA’s most requested licenses for 2025.
LGBT RIGHTS
Kinky Boots to tour UK, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland (Royo/Curve) and, separately, a new nonequity tour in the US with no cities yet announced (Crossroads Live)
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie remount in Japan (HoriPro) — with sus similar red shoe art if you ask me
bare is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary in Korea with a concert (Showplay)
BDNA’s upcoming world premiere of Beloved King: A Queer Bible Musical will premiere in NYC Winter 2025 ahead of a license in Korea.
CLIMATE CRISIS
K-Musical Laika based on post-human and climate crisis discourse (Library Company)
Sci-fi anime Orb: On the Movements of the Earth to make Japanese musical premiere in October (HoriPro)
CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS OR ESCAPISM?
Molodyy Theatre in Ukraine’s Cabaret has gone viral on Tiktok— a newly ironic audience for the Emcee to distract
A Tale of Two Cities remounted in Japan after 12 years (Toho)
Disney’s Beauty & The Beast revival finally touring the U.S. after being seen in China, Japan, Australia & the UK - And yes I consider the sentient, cursed and diverse flatware servants of a sad rich man RELEVANT to class consciousness right now
Broadway’s American Psycho premiering now in Japan (Parco)
French musical 1789 – Les Amants de la Bastille 3rd remount happening now in Japan (Toho)
d’Illusion: The Houdini Musical (US/Hungary) accomplishes the thrill and heart that Broadway and Wildhorn always wanted— and has the complete show streaming to prove it, now available for a world premiere.
Interested in these themes? Thankfully we’re in the tariff-free business of intellectual property and cultural exchange. Check out our catalog of new works below:
COMING SOON FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS
ESSAY: “trans-”: International Association of Theatre Critics Conference on Contemporary Performance, March 2025 / Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM), Thailand
REVIEW: The Start of a Movement: Disruption, Reflection, and the Art of Invitation in “Choreographic Intrusion” and “Juggle and Hide” (Bangkok, 2025)
ESSAYS: Topics include The International Jukebox Musicals Innovating the Form You NEED to Know, Musical Doppelgängers and the Race for International Market Share, Learn the Licensing Behind All This New Wicked Merch, and more…
What I’m Seeing:
NYC: Rehearsal For Truth International Theater Festival (theme: Perseverance)
What I’m Listening To:
International interest and solidarity is crucial if we want to preserve culture in all its variety, not just in our own countries but globally. Want to join a network of forward-thinking producers in global cultural exchange? Need international licensing expertise or a new show for your theater? Consider working with Natalie at Broadway DNA, just reply to this email and let’s chat!