The BSC Model: How a Community Theatre Co-Produced on Broadway
Broadway Stage Collective holds a producing credit on How to Dance in Ohio. That sentence, on its own, should stop you. A community theatre organization based in Las Vegas — not a commercial producing office, not a hedge fund with a theatre hobby, not a transfer from a nonprofit regional house — co-produced a new musical on Broadway. The natural instinct is to treat this as an anomaly, the kind of lightning-strike story that makes for a good feature but doesn't generalize. That instinct is wrong. BSC's path to Broadway is a model, and it's one that other organizations at a similar scale could study seriously.
Broadway Stage Collective's producing credit on How to Dance in Ohio is a striking fact. A community theatre organization from Las Vegas, not a commercial producer or nonprofit regional house, co-produced a new musical on Broadway. The initial reaction might be to view this as an isolated incident, a one-off story that doesn't have broader implications. However, BSC's path to Broadway offers a viable model that other similar-scale organizations can learn from.
The process behind BSC's success is simple in concept but demanding in practice. By building relationships with Broadway creators and producers over several years, they established a foundation of trust and credibility. Hosting workshops and readings, investing in new works during development, and delivering high-quality productions within community theatre constraints all contributed to their reputation. When the opportunity arose to participate in a Broadway production, BSC had the necessary infrastructure and credibility to capitalize on it.
What sets BSC's achievement apart as a model rather than an anomaly is its replicability. Broadway producing has always been driven by capital and relationships. For most community organizations, the primary barrier to entry isn't a lack of talent or ambition, but rather access. BSC overcame this hurdle by establishing a track record that made them a credible partner, producing work that garnered respect from Broadway professionals. By treating development relationships as long-term investments and understanding that a producing credit is a seat at the decision-making table, they demonstrated a savvy approach to building their presence in the industry.