Key Points:
The Broadway Beat is a satirical news site that reports on all things theatre. The site launched in March of 2019, and has gained 20k followers across all its social media platforms over the past two years.
I met with The Broadway Beat’s Editor-in-chief/founder, Zach Raffio, and Deputy Editor, HaleyJane Rose to discuss TBB’s humble beginnings, how it has grown, and what it means to the theatre community.
The Broadway Beat (TBB) is a satirical news site that reports on all things theatre. Their stories cover the weird quirks inside jokes, and fantasies of the Broadway world and beyond.
Zach Raffio grew up around theatre; his parents both worked in the industry and raised him on the OBC recording of Parade. While he did some performing in high school, his love for theatre has grown more from watching it. His experience with comedy includes a history of performing stand-up, as well as writing satire, as he currently does for The Hard Times, a punk/music-centered satirical news site. The idea for TBB came from a combination of his passion for comedy and theatre.
HaleyJane Rose started performing theatre at a young age. She participated in local and regional productions of musicals and plays, and went to college to study theatre. After graduating, she found herself more drawn to sketch comedy and improv. Her theatrical and comedic expertise converge in her work as “Deputy Editor” for TBB.
As Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Zach launched The Broadway Beat on March 1st, 2019.
It took some time for The Broadway Beat to become the highly trusted and praised satirical news site it is today. Despite its 16.4k Instagram followers, and more to count across other social media platforms, it started as Raffio’s passion project, and he attests that it still is, first and foremost.
The site launched with 10 pre-written articles from a set of comedy writers, all of which showcased the signature ‘Broadway Beat Yellow’ banner, and a comedically photoshopped visual to accompany it. But there was initial difficulty in getting the attention of the theatre community. Raffio explained that some weeks he would lament to HaleyJane that “nobody is looking at this website at all. I’m barely looking at it.”
2019 Tony Awards Related Articles
Things began to shift slowly. Every few articles, a story would gain a lot of popularity and traction online. This became a more and more frequent trend, especially as they satirized the drama of the 2019 Tony Awards season. HaleyJane and Zach both reminisced on the various articles of that spring, saying “I think, secretly, our favorites are the ones people get mad about.”
HaleyJane Rose has found that the most popular pieces tend to be those name-dropping specific icons of the Broadway world, and those relating to high school theatre culture. Zach explained that “a lot of our followers, us included, did theatre in high school and understand it’s a horrible time in everyone’s life.” It’s this widely shared experience, the highs and the lows, that makes TBB stories hit so hard for readers, and keeps them coming back for more.
As they continue to gain social media followers and are shared by popular accounts in the online theatre community, The Broadway Beat has become a recognizable name for Broadway fans.
Zach expresses that TBB was created with the intention of meeting new comedy writers to share their opinions about the world of theatre, and he wants to keep that open call alive.
When I asked how they would want to promote the site at the end of our interview, Rose and Raffio encouraged me to instead include them saying “if you’re seeing this, write for us!”
For theatre fans new and old, from all different entry points into the community, the site has something to make you laugh. Visit www.thebroadwaybeat.com to read all of The Broadway Beat’s stories thus far and follow them @BwayBeatNews for all of the latest updates.
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