Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like Stereophonic — which just won five Tony Awards — will create a few big winners. But even the stars of the show will have to go elsewhere to make real money. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • David Adjmi, author and playwright.
  • Sonia Friedman, theater producer and founder of Sonia Friedman Productions.
  • John Johnson, theater producer and co-founder of Wagner Johnson Productions.
  • Tom Pecinka, actor.
  • Sarah Pidgeon, actor.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Tony Award Winners 2024: The Full List," by Rachel Sherman (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Everything to Know About the Stranger Things: The First Shadow Play in London," by Tara Bitran (Tudum, 2024).
  • Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Will Butler, and Daniel Aukin (2023).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vogt, host of the podcast Search Engine, joins us to crack the code. It has to do with Cold War rivalries, German tax law, and one very talented bouncer.

• SOURCES:
  • Lutz Leichsenring, executive board member of Clubcommission Berlin and co-founder of VibeLab.
  • PJ Vogt, reporter, writer, and host of the podcast Search Engine.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Berghain: 36 Hours Inside the World's Most Exclusive Nightclub," by Linux (Paper Magazine, 2022).
  • Berlin Bouncer, documentary by David Dietl (2019).
  • "High Culture Club: Berghain Secures Same Tax Status as Berlin Concert Venues," by Philip Oltermann (The Guardian, 2016).
  • "One Eye on the Door, the Other on His Photography," by Nicholas Kulish (The New York Times, 2011).
  • Lost and Sound: Berlin, Techno and the Easyjet Set, by Tobias Rapp (2009).

• EXTRA:
  • Search Engine, podcast by PJ Vogt.

Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious trouble. A new hit play called Stereophonic — the most Tony-nominated play in history — has something to say about that. We speak with the people who make it happen every night. (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • David Adjmi, author and playwright.
  • Sonia Friedman, theater producer and founder of Sonia Friedman Productions.
  • John Johnson, theater producer and co-founder of Wagner Johnson Productions.
  • Tom Pecinka, actor.
  • Sarah Pidgeon, actor.

• RESOURCES:
  • Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Will Butler, and Daniel Aukin (2023).
  • Lot Six: A Memoir, by David Adjmi (2020).
  • "On the Performing Arts: The Anatomy of Their Economic Problems," by W. J. Baumol and W. G. Bowen (The American Economic Review, 1965).