The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and SHOW-SCORE Announce ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE, the First Campaign Celebrating NYC's Small Theater Industry

New Yorkers invited to experience 200+ performances and events throughout the five boroughs

NEW YORK – The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, in partnership with SHOW-SCORE.COM, today announced the launch of ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE, the first-ever campaign dedicated to raising the visibility of our vibrant local theater industry, which is made up of small venues, companies and related organizations throughout the five boroughs.

Starting today, September 25 through October 31, New Yorkers and visitors can explore the ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE website, localtheater.nyc, to discover an exciting array of more than 200 performances and events throughout the city. ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE offers New Yorkers an opportunity to learn about musicals and dramas, adaptations of classics, immersive and site-specific performances; staged readings, previews and special promotions –that may be right around the corner from where they live or work. The site also offers reviews and recommendations from other theatergoers, as well as those by professional theatre reviewers.

"ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE is the first citywide campaign to focus on connecting audiences to the amazing work of our small theaters, which are integral to the city's creative culture, and where established and up-and-coming talent does some of their most creative work," said Anne del Castillo, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. "We hope that this campaign serves as a starting point for New Yorkers and visitors alike to explore local theater all year long!"

The campaign will be featured on New York City subways and bus shelters, with dedicated print and digital ads in local publications; while theaters citywide will use the hashtag #localtheaternyc on their social media throughout the month of October.

"We're absolutely thrilled to be partnering with the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment on this important initiative," said Show-Score CEO Deeksha Gaur. "We created Show-Score four years ago to help audiences discover great theater, particularly beyond Broadway. That is where New Yorkers can experience – in the intimacy of a small venue and at an affordable price – some of the most exciting talent and ground-breaking work the city has to offer. In fact, the Tony winners for Best Musical for the last five years all performed Off-Broadway before making the move uptown."

New York City has been a cornerstone of the global theater industry for almost a century and some of the biggest names in the business – from producers like Joseph Papp (The Public), Todd Haimes (Roundabout) and Daryl Roth to Anne Hamburger; from playwrights like Arthur Miller and Terrence McNally to Suzan-Lori Parks, Lisa Kron, David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, and Annie Baker; performers from Stockard Channing, Mare Winningham, Lois Smith, and Cherry Jones to Anna Deavere Smith, Audra McDonald, John Leguizamo, and Taylor Mac; from directors like Lee Strasberg to Sam Mendes, Anne Bogart, Robert Wilson, Trip Cullman, Anne Kaufman, Jo Bonney, and Rachel Chavkin; from composers like Stephen Sondheim to Jeanine Tesori, Dave Malloy, Joe Iconis, and Anaïs Mitchell – and tremendous creative teams and designers have called this city home. None of that would be possible without the countless smaller venues that bring culture and excitement to our neighborhoods and urgency and experimentation to the art form.

"The most ambitious, innovative and adventurous work isn't just made inside the Broadway Box, it's created in all 5 boroughs by hundreds of independent artists who are ready for the kind of exposure this campaign can bring," said Aimee Todoroff, Acting Director of the League of Independent Theater. "Congratulations to the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment for recognizing that, from traditional theaters to rooftops, and in site specific and found spaces, audiences are hungry for the diverse work made in Independent theaters all across NYC."

"Soho Rep. is so excited by this wonderful MOME initiative that celebrates the civic power of theater throughout NYC and we are beyond delighted to be part of it!" said Soho Rep.'s Artistic Director Sarah Benson. "One of the most important things about our work here is that it truly uses the medium of theatre, that it can't exist in another form because it demands a live format and demands that the audience form a relationship as an important part of the whole experience. That's emblematic of what we’re trying to do at Soho Rep. — give artists opportunities to create something with a lot of freedom-and then get that work out there and give them the most far-reaching platform we can, sharing it beyond the walls of our theatre."

In conjunction with the ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE public awareness campaign, MOME has undertaken the first NYC Small Theater Industry Cultural and Economic Impact Study. Set for release in late October, the study examines the fundamental aspects of the small venue theater industry, including the size and makeup of theaters; their location throughout the five boroughs; as well as the cultural importance, economic impact, and challenges the industry is facing.