KEN DAVENPORT
Ken is a Tony Award-winning producer of Broadway and Off Broadway shows, including most recently Once on This Island (2018 Tony Award Best Musical Revival), Gettin' the Band Back Together, Groundhog Day: The Musical, Deaf West’s Spring Awakening, and The Play That Goes Wrong. Davenport has revolutionized the Broadway market with his diverse approaches at engaging audiences through his shows, as well as supported the Broadway ecosystem through a number of his own subsidiary businesses. He is an internationally recognized and award-winning writer of several Broadway and Off Broadway shows as well as several books about producing, Broadway investing, and how to raise money for shows. Additionally, he is the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group.
In 2004, he formed Davenport Theatrical Enterprises and began producing his own shows. His “first born” was The Awesome 80s Prom, which ran for 10 years, followed quickly by the Outer Critics Circle Award-Winning Best Musical Altar Boyz, and My First Time, which has been seen in over 20 countries worldwide. He was the first producer to have three shows running simultaneously Off Broadway. All three shows recouped their investment.
He returned to Broadway soon after and since then has produced shows such as Once On This Island, Groundhog Day, The Play That Goes Wrong, Deaf West’s Spring Awakening, 13, Will Ferrell’s You’re Welcome America, Godspell, Kinky Boots, Macbeth, The Bridges of Madison County, Mothers and Sons, It’s Only A Play and The Visit. Ken is also producing the upcoming original Broadway Musical Gettin’ the Band Back Together of which he also co-wrote the book.
In his mission to continually educate, entertain and inspire the world through theatre, Davenport has made headlines by doing @#$% that other people don't.
In addition to his many producing credits through Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, he also has created many subsidiary businesses to support the Broadway market. He has founded several websites, including Your Broadway Genius, Best of Off-Broadway, and both the website and smartphone app Did He Like It?, a review aggregator for New York theater based on New York Times chief theatre critic Ben Brantley, and invented Amazon’s #1 best-selling Broadway Gift, a board game entitled Be A Broadway Star. And there have been many more. Ken’s goal of each and every one of these businesses has been not just to generate revenue, but to amplify the conversation about Broadway.
In 2019, Inc. 5000 named Davenport Theatrical Enterprises one of America's fastest-growing private companies.
He is also the writer of the Off Broadway shows The Awesome 80s Prom, My First Time and Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage, the Co-Conceiver of Altar Boyz, and the book writer for the Broadway production of Gettin’ the Band Back Together. He has also written several books and e-books on Producing, Broadway investing, and raising money for shows. Ken’s blog and podcast, The Producer’s Perspective, has garnered international attention and has been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The Gothamist, and more.
Besides producing his own projects, Ken has been an Executive Producer and Consultant on many other Broadway and Off Broadway projects. If you are interested in inquiring about his services, please click here.
