Key Brand Entertainment, the company that owns a portfolio of live-entertainment players including Broadway Across America, has rebranded itself the John Gore Organization, named after the executive who purchased the company from Live Nation in 2008.
Gore becomes chairman and CEO of the organization, which encompasses road presenter Broadway Across America as well as theater-focused website Broadway.com, network The Broadway Channel, discount ticket site BroadwayBox.com and Group Sales Box Office. The company — which presents work on Broadway, Off Broadway, on the West End and in Asia — projects $600 million in revenues for 2016 (up from $100 million in 2008), and sells more than 7 million tickets a year.
Industry executive Miles Wilkin, soon to receive a 2016 Special Tony Award, becomes the company’s vice chairman while Lauren Reid, formerly the CEO of Key Brand’s theater division, will become the organization’s chief operating officer.
Along with its rebranding, the company has also created the John Gore Foundation, which initially will aim to provide graduate theater students with funding to complete their studies. Other theater-related support will also be explored on a case-by-case basis, according to the company.
The new name echoes the names of Broadway’s biggest theater owners, the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization, while the corporate philanthropy arm brings to mind the nonprofit Shubert Foundation. Such a move suggests that Gore might consider getting into the Broadway landlord game sometime in the future.
The John Gore Organization’s board will be chaired by Disney veteran Peter Schneider, with Gore, Wilkin, Tom Benson and Jin Yokoi aboard as directors. Morihiro Kodama serves as special advisor.
