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We’ve all been there: it’s a cold New York City day, and you’re standing outside, bundled up, cheering at the top of your lunges every time a little door opens, waiting to see if your favorite star has a moment to say hello. You’re talking with the people next to you — from all corners of the world — about this love you share for the show. It’s the magic of the stage door, and it’s just gone digital.
Stage Door Pass is a new software that allows Broadway fans to track the shows they see with immense detail (down to what swings and understudies they saw), leave their thoughts, connect with other fans, and interact with their favorite artists. It’s all your favorite parts of the stage door without having to brave the elements after a show.
“I'm a big Letterboxd fan, and so it's essentially a Letterboxd, but for live theater,” founder Jeff Whiting told Theatrely in an interview.
Whiting is a director-choreographer and theatre entrepreneur who runs Open Jar Studios. Whiting is often looking for “digital solutions to little industry gaps,” as he put it.
He founded Stage Write Software — a platform where directors and choreographers can track blocking and technical elements — about 14 years ago. He later added the Stage Door Network, where industry professionals can post job opportunities and network. Stage Door Pass is the latest addition to his network, and his first fan-facing platform.
The idea came about when Whiting’s business partner, Mike Wheeler, stopped by one of Open Jar Studios’ weekly Friday afternoon tours. When he got home, Wheeler sent Whiting an email with the idea for a granular way to track the shows he saw digitally, and allow audiences to connect with their favorite stars.
For Whiting, the idea also presented an opportunity to give artists a new way to engage with fans.
“Having done a lot of Broadway shows myself, I just know there's always discussion about what happens at the stage door, the real stage door when you're leaving the theater,” Whiting said. “Do the artists have an obligation to their fans? Do the fans have the expectation? And so there's been a lot of discussion around how you want to thank your fans, but I've always been very aware of that challenge. In doing this, I thought, ‘well, this is an opportunity for the artists who are aware of and of course are grateful for their fans but allows them to kind of manage the way that they engage.’”
Through the app, fans can share their opinions on the shows they see, earn badges as they continue to share, and artists can engage with them through the platform. It’s a way to share mutual appreciation for the work. Each time a fan logs a show, they get a souvenir video created by the production that is easily shareable to social media, as well. The system is easily flexible for both iPhone and Android devices.
“Word of mouth is so key,” Whiting said. “Any artists, particularly the young artists who are coming, fans of shows, who come and wanna share with their friends, their thoughts about the show, we're trying to make these tools super easy for them to be able to share these stories with their fans and followers.”
To learn more about Stage Door Pass, visit here.
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Where else on earth can you get special preview pricing for an awesome new production, and possibly win a new treadmill? The Astor Place Theatre Box Office, that’s where.
The hilarious global hit Burnout Paradise, which landed on our Best Of List for 2024, has announced a special, in-person giveaway event on Thursday, February 12 from 12-4pm at the famed Astor Place Theatre Box Office. All preview tickets will be available for an endorphin pumping $26.20 and one lucky purchaser will walk (or run) away with a free, brand-new Echelon Stride 6s Auto-Fold Treadmill (valued at $1999.99), in addition to other on-site giveaways – including gift cards for free lemonade at Raising Cane’s.
The special ticket price applies exclusively to preview performances running February 18 – March 4 and is available in person only, while supplies last or until the Box Office closes at 4:00 PM. Tickets are limited to two per person, with seating based on availability at the discretion of the Box Office. The treadmill winner will be randomly selected from eligible entrants, and shipping will be coordinated directly with the winner.
Created and performed by the award-winning Australian theater collective Pony Cam, the show begins previews on February 18, and opening night is set for March 5, 2026, for a limited engagement through June 28, 2026. Tickets are on sale at burnoutparadise.com.
Five performers. Four treadmills. One chance to beat the clock. The theatrical phenomenon from award-winning Australian collective Pony Cam is taking Off-Broadway by storm. It’s a live show you’ll never forget, as the people onstage make a desperate attempt to complete a series of escalating tasks, like cooking a three-course meal and filling out a grant application... all while running on treadmills. And if they don’t complete their to-do list in one hour’s time? You can get your money back. Burnout Paradise is part comedy, part endurance feat, part theatrical explosion – but more than anything, it’s a euphoric, visceral celebration of our tendency to run full tilt towards life’s endless challenges.
Acclaimed for their experimental works that subvert well-known forms in non-traditional performance spaces, and for inviting audiences into their work in unexpected ways, Pony Cam is comprised of Claire Bird, Ava Campbell, William Strom, Dominic Weintraub and Hugo Williams. They began developing Burnout Paradise in 2024 as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival and with seasons at Sydney's Bondi Festival and Melbourne's international arts festival, RISING, prior to debuting to rave reviews at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The five-star reviews there included The Scotsman, who deemed the show “magnificently chaotic, breathlessly frenetic fun.” Time Out declared it to be “one of the most uproarious shows you will ever experience… unravelling wildly differently every night…sheer bedlam in the most magnificent way.” After catching it at the Fringe, the renowned St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn programmed the show into their season five weeks later, in November 2024.
The production is produced by No Guarantees.
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Where else on earth can you get special preview pricing for an awesome new production, and possibly win a new treadmill? The Astor Place Theatre Box Office, that’s where.
The hilarious global hit Burnout Paradise, which landed on our Best Of List for 2024, has announced a special, in-person giveaway event on Thursday, February 12 from 12-4pm at the famed Astor Place Theatre Box Office. All preview tickets will be available for an endorphin pumping $26.20 and one lucky purchaser will walk (or run) away with a free, brand-new Echelon Stride 6s Auto-Fold Treadmill (valued at $1999.99), in addition to other on-site giveaways – including gift cards for free lemonade at Raising Cane’s.
The special ticket price applies exclusively to preview performances running February 18 – March 4 and is available in person only, while supplies last or until the Box Office closes at 4:00 PM. Tickets are limited to two per person, with seating based on availability at the discretion of the Box Office. The treadmill winner will be randomly selected from eligible entrants, and shipping will be coordinated directly with the winner.
Created and performed by the award-winning Australian theater collective Pony Cam, the show begins previews on February 18, and opening night is set for March 5, 2026, for a limited engagement through June 28, 2026. Tickets are on sale at burnoutparadise.com.
Five performers. Four treadmills. One chance to beat the clock. The theatrical phenomenon from award-winning Australian collective Pony Cam is taking Off-Broadway by storm. It’s a live show you’ll never forget, as the people onstage make a desperate attempt to complete a series of escalating tasks, like cooking a three-course meal and filling out a grant application... all while running on treadmills. And if they don’t complete their to-do list in one hour’s time? You can get your money back. Burnout Paradise is part comedy, part endurance feat, part theatrical explosion – but more than anything, it’s a euphoric, visceral celebration of our tendency to run full tilt towards life’s endless challenges.
Acclaimed for their experimental works that subvert well-known forms in non-traditional performance spaces, and for inviting audiences into their work in unexpected ways, Pony Cam is comprised of Claire Bird, Ava Campbell, William Strom, Dominic Weintraub and Hugo Williams. They began developing Burnout Paradise in 2024 as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival and with seasons at Sydney's Bondi Festival and Melbourne's international arts festival, RISING, prior to debuting to rave reviews at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The five-star reviews there included The Scotsman, who deemed the show “magnificently chaotic, breathlessly frenetic fun.” Time Out declared it to be “one of the most uproarious shows you will ever experience… unravelling wildly differently every night…sheer bedlam in the most magnificent way.” After catching it at the Fringe, the renowned St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn programmed the show into their season five weeks later, in November 2024.
The production is produced by No Guarantees.
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