Broadway Producer John Gore Organization Lays Off Dozens Of Employees Due To COVID Shutdown

Greg Evans
·3 min read

The John Gore Organization, a major Tony Award-winning production company and owner of Broadway.com and The Broadway Channel, has permanently laid off what sources say is more than 100 previously furloughed employees.

Lauren Reid, Chief Operating Officer of John Gore Organization, confirmed layoffs but did not provide numbers or details about which departments were hit. “It is with a heavy heart that we have laid off a number of previously furloughed employees,” Reid said in a statement. “We very much look forward to the day when theaters re-open and audiences and staffers can return.”

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The layoffs come five months into the Broadway COVID-19 shutdown that has taken a massive toll on both the industry and the theater-related economy of New York City. According to the Broadway League, the shutdown has had a direct impact on nearly 97,000 jobs supported by Broadway, and the industry typically contributes about $575 million in tax revenue.

Officially, the League has announced that Broadway will remain closed at least until January, with numerous productions recently announcing Spring 2021 show openings and re-openings. Many producers say privately that a re-opening likely will be contingent upon the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. (Reid is the incoming chair of the Board of Governors of The Broadway League.)

The Gore Organization also owns Broadway Across America, a leading North American theater touring organization with more than 400,000 season subscribers. BAA owns or operates five theaters in Boston, Baltimore, and Minneapolis. In 2010, Gore’s Broadway.com acquired ticket reseller Theatre Direct NY.

The Gore Organization is a major developer, producer, distributor and marketer of Broadway theatre worldwide, and has been a producer on numerous Tony-award winning productions, most recently The Band’s Visit (2018), Angels in America (2018), Dear Evan Hansen (2017), Hello, Dolly! (2017), A View From The Bridge (2016), The Humans (2016) and, in years prior, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, War Horse, Memphis, La Cage Aux Folles, Hair, Spring Awakening, Passing Strange, and Boeing-Boeing.

Prior to 2016, the company was called Key Brand Entertainment. British producer John Gore purchased the company from Live Nation in 2008, and between the year of purchase and the company’s renaming to the John Gore Organization revenues grew from $100 million to $600 million.

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