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HIGH ART MEETS HIGH TECH
Broadway has always been known as the pinnacle of live entertainment, an art form reserved for the elite few that can afford the high ticket prices and can travel to Times Square but Bonnie Comley has digitally disrupted the centuries old theater industry - forever. Comley, a bombshell blonde with bombshell innovation and the digital technology and funding to back it up is at the intersection of art and commerce.
Comley is the driving force behind BroadwayHD, a media technology company that has been described as “the Netflix for Broadway.” The company which was valued at over $300 million in 2019 launched in 2015. In its’s short history, BroadwayHD, under the direction of Comley, has made the Guinness World Record for the first live stream of a Broadway show, won four Telly Awards, been nominated for a Webby, amassed subscribers in 124 countries, and has contributed to the average age for a Broadway ticket buyer drop for the first time since the statistics have been collected. This change in demographics is evidence that by making Broadway accessible to a younger audience on the internet, and it is motivating them to buy tickets to the live stage shows. BroadwayHD is proving to be a win-win for everyone who loves Broadway by serving the current Broadway fan and ensuring a strong audience for the future.
BroadwayHD can extend the life of a show long after the curtain comes down on the final Broadway performance.
Comley describes her inspiration for BroadwayHD as the desire to share these beautiful Broadway shows at the height of their production values with people around the world. “BroadwayHD can extend the life of a show long after the curtain comes down on the final Broadway performance,” she explains, “Stewart produced some of the most ground breaking shows on Broadway and its a shame that they were not seen by a wider audience.” Comley’s husband is Stewart F. Lane, a six time Tony Award winning producer and co-owner of the legendary Palace Theater. Some of Lane’s shows include; the original La Cage Aux Folles, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Legally Blonde, and War Horse to name a few.
BroadwayHD has more than 300 full-length, VOD (video on demand), live to tape productions with a line-up that includes such recognizable titles as Phantom of the Opera, 42nd Street, Kinky Boots, The King and I, Sound of Music, Cats, Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Oklahoma, 42nd Street, a series from Cirque du Soleil, and Riverdance, and of course, Shakespeare. BroadwayHD is an entertainment service making Broadway accessible to the world through AppleTV, Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Prime, and on the web at www.BroadwayHD.com and all this is available for less than the average price of one Broadway ticket.
Comley was a reporter and host of “Nightlife TV” airing on The Travel Channel when she met Stewart F. Lane over 25 years ago. The couple have five children and split their time between their Manhattan penthouse, their East Hampton summer home, business and leisure travel and “as much time in the Florida sun as possible”, Comley exclaims. The couple spent several hectic winters racing back and forth between NYC and Wellington for the International Equestrian Festival when their kids were competing in the horse shows. “We are glad the competitions are over and the family only rides for recreation nowadays”, states Lane.
In addition to her work at BroadwayHD, Bonnie Comley is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer. She has won an Olivier Award and two Drama Desk Awards for her stage productions and has produced over 40 films, winning four Telly Awards and one W3 Award. Comley has been the Vice President of The Drama League for 5 years and has served on their Board for over 10 years. She is the recipient of The Theater Museum Distinguished Service Award, City National Bank Women Entrepreneurs Honor, and when presented with The WP Theater’s Woman of Achievement Award by the Broadway League President, Charlotte St. Martin, she was called a visionary and glass ceiling breaker. Comley’s educational honors include The Distinguished Alumni Award from Emerson College and The Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Massachusetts and the business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma. Comley has been a keynote speaker or panelist at The Broadway League Conferences, BroadwayCon, C2E2 (Chicago ComicCon), SXSW, Theatre Resources Unlimited (TRU), The Female Quotient, CCICTAM China, and taught masterclasses or guest lectured at Columbia University, New York University, Emerson College, Central Academy of Drama Beijing, NYFA, Five Towns College and UMass, among others.
Comley and Lane are passionate about the theater, their family and friends and to charities that make theater and art accessible to everyone. The theatre community has honored the couple for their philanthropic work; they are the recipients of The Actors Fund Medal of Honor, The Drama League Special Contribution to the Theater Award, and The Paul Newman Award from Arts Horizons. Major philanthropic donations include; The Music Theatre Program at Boston University, The Musical Theatre Society Room at Emerson College, the 500-seat theater at the University of Massachusetts Lowell is known as the Comley-Lane Theatre, and The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Stage is housed within the Booth Arts Complex in Boston. They were inducted into the William Fairfield Warren Society at Boston University, an elite group of benefactors who have donated a million dollars or more to the college.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1. Guinness World Records for BroadwayHD
2. Stewart F. Lane, Terry Allen Kramer, James L. Nederlander
3. Telly Award for Curtain Time - Bonnie Comley
4. Actors Fund Honorees Renee Fleming, Alec Baldwin, Bonnie Comley, Stewart F. Lane
5. Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane displaying multiple awards
6. Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane inducted into the Boston University William Warren Society by BU President Robert Brown
7. Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane win a Drama Desk Award presented by Harry Fierstein
8. Distinguished Alumni Award UMass Lowell presented to Bonnie Comley
9. Drama League Honors Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley
10. Oliver Award Winners Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley
11. Ovation Award recipients Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley
12. Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Stage at BU Booth Theatre Complex
13. Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley outside the Comley-Lane Theatre at UMass Lowell
14. Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Studio Lab at the Drama League Theatre Center
15. University of Massachusetts Lowell Comley-Lane Theatre Ribbon Cutting
