Following the Broadway and live theatre shutdown across the country due to COVID-19, many theatre artists have taken the opportunity to start small businesses while live performances are on hold. But how do we find them to support their businesses?
Anne Brummel had the same question and then had the vision to create a hub for theatre artisans and consumers—and The Broadway Merchant Collective was off the ground and on the web.
“I kept thinking how great it would be if there was one place you could go to find Broadway and live theatre industry workers who were selling their goods,” Brummel said. “With absolutely zero knowledge on how to create a website or zero knowledge on really how to start, I woke up one morning and decided to just do it! It has been a true labor of love.”
Brummel, best known for her work as Elphaba in Wicked (Broadway, 2nd National Tour), was traveling the country with her husband, Michael Willams, her son Harlen, and two dogs with the national tour of the Lincoln Center production of My Fair Lady at the time of the Broadway shutdown in March 2020. They had just arrived in Columbus, Ohio, for the week, where they had one performance before the cast and crew were sent home.
On Cyber Monday 2020, six months into the Broadway shutdown, Brummel launched the Broadway Merchant Collective site, after seeing numerous small businesses from theatre artists pop up, as well as numerous friends and colleagues questioning where consumers could find and support theatre-artist owned small businesses. The site now has over 70 merchants listed on it, and continues to grow every week.
The Broadway Merchant Collective acts as a hub for merchants and consumers, highlighting the goods and services offered by those working in the Broadway and live theatre industry. The site indexes businesses by type, for a user-friendly experience. Consumers can find businesses by the type of goods they are looking for, and learn more about the maker behind the business. The site currently spans food, clothing, beauty, home items and more.
“I am also constantly awed and inspired by the creativity and talent of our merchants. We have everything on our page from baby clothes to beer,” Brummel said. “Every time I get a new submission I turn to my husband and say ‘oh my gosh, how cool is this?!’”
On social media, the Broadway Merchant Collective highlights their makers, helping them gain exposure to new audiences. They share information about each of their merchants on their feed, and do instagram takeovers to give followers a front-row seat to the work that goes into running a small business. It also serves as a hub for merchants to meet each other and helps them make connections to collaborate within the community.
With the highly anticipated return of live theatre on the horizon, Brummel plans to continue her work with The Broadway Merchant Collective. She is working to index every merchant who works in the theatre industry on The Broadway Merchant Collective site.
“The goal is to shine that spotlight on everyone, and connect people from all over the country to our community,” Brummel said. “We are currently working on expanding our platform and creating the ‘dream’ Broadway Merchant Collective.”
Brummel is hopeful that even when it is safe to gather for theatre and live performances again, the theatre community will be resilient, even after being shut down for nearly a year.
“Arts industry workers are no strangers to periods of not working,” Brummel said. “That’s part of the gig when you work in the theatre business. We are used to jumping from job to job so we always knew the value of a good side hustle.”
However the pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the industry, like eliminating many of the opportunities arts workers would typically take on while they are in between jobs.
“I think this crisis has forced many of us in the arts industry to think outside the box and create work for ourselves,” Brummel said. “I think that will be here to stay even after Broadway reopens, which is why I want the BMC to grow into not only a community for the customers, but for the business owners.”
To check out the Broadway Merchant Collective, visit their website or follow them on Instagram @thebroadwaymerchantcollective, and discover your next Broadway artisan-created favorite!
The Broadway Edit 