About this episode
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 three-part series .) SOURCES: Debby Buchholz , managing director of La Jolla Playhouse. Sonia Friedman , Broadway producer. Rocco Landesman , Broadway producer, former owner of Jujamcyn Theaters, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Hal Luftig , Broadway producer. Luis Miranda Jr. , political strategist, founding president of the Hispanic Federation, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, Viva Broadway, and The Public Theater. Michael Rushton , professor of arts administration at Indiana University. Jeffrey Seller , Broadway producer. Richard Winkler , Broadway producer. Stacy Wolf , professor of theater at Princeton University. RESOURCES: Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir , by Jeffrey Seller (2025). Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America , by Luis Miranda Jr. (2024). Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theatre Across America , by Stacy Wolf (2019). " ‘Hamilton’ Inc.: The Path to a Billion-Dollar Broadway Show ," by Michael Paulson and David Gelles (New York Times, 2016). " On the Performing Arts: The Anatomy of Their Economic Problems ," by W.J. Baumol and W.G. Bowen (The American Economic Review, 1965). EXTRAS: “ How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway ,” by Freakonomics Radio (2024). “ You Can Make a Killing, but Not a Living ,” by Freakonomics Radio (2024). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.