Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway
Broadway Star Joined: 5/7/03
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#1
Posted: 10/1/25 at 2:42pm
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1472723060513556
I'm not holding my breath, and thought that the show was pretty mediocre... and not sure that Ken + AI = a great improvement.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#2
Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:07pm
This show was SO bad, but apparently Ken is pretending it wasn't. Does he live in the real world? This will be a giant waste of money and time if it does come to Broadway.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#3
Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:12pm
I'm not exactly sure where Ken is getting the idea that audience response was "very positive." I heard nothing but mixed (at best) or very bad (at worst, and more common) things.
The use of AI for this is... so stupid it's unbelievable. Just read the responses yourself and come up with things to work on rather than having ChatGPT vomit out what it thinks you should do (and will likely be wrong about). This is not ethical use of AI in theater, it's stupid use of AI in theater.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#4
Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:18pm
They’re gonna mop the floor with this show.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#5
Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:24pm
Hardly an announcement of anything concrete beyond hopes. The show came and went this summer with hardly anyone noticing.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#6
Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:37pm
FightTheDragons said: "I'm not exactly sure where Ken is getting the idea that audience response was "very positive." I heard nothing but mixed (at best) or very bad (at worst, and more common) things.
The use of AI for this is... so stupid it's unbelievable. Just read the responses yourself and come up with things to work on rather than having ChatGPT vomit out what it thinks you should do (and will likely be wrong about). This is not ethical use of AI in theater, it's stupid use of AI in theater."
Unless the elites have access to a much higher level of AI than the public, I don't think we're at risk of being replaced yet... a few months ago I was feeling depressed about the state of AI in art, so I decided to see how much of a threat it really was. I logged into ChatGPT and said "AI, write me a full-length, two act, two and a half hour musical about [prompt]." I didn't look at what it created, I just yes-and'd as it asked me "do you want an outline? Do you want the script? Do you want the songs with lyrics and chords? Do you want me to turn that into sheet music? Do you want me to arrange it for a full orchestra?"
I let it knock itself out until it seemed to be done, then looked at what it had made. Thank god, it was not only trash, but incomprehensible and dishonest: most of the things it said it had written completely were barely thumbnails, the full-length songs it claimed to have written were sometimes no more than three lines long, and when I opened the "sheet music" files it was just incomprehensible MIDI static.
Granted, I felt weird using the prompt at all, but I was hugely relieved at how inept and lazy its output was.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#7
Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:54pm
At the risk of this thread becoming a Nerds, I have to agree.
This would be a genuinely insane thing to do.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#8
Posted: 10/1/25 at 4:07pm
The fact that Ken Davenport would rather feed a bunch of reviews and audience reactions into an AI model to vomit out a streamlined “top 5 takeaways” response, than actually engage in-depth with how audiences and critics reacted, says everything you need to know about Ken Davenport as a producer.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#9
Posted: 10/1/25 at 4:16pm
Even some people I knew involved in the show just took it as a paycheck as opposed to being unemployed for 3 months.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#10
Posted: 10/1/25 at 5:10pm
ColorTheHours048 said: "The fact that Ken Davenport would rather feed a bunch of reviews and audience reactions into an AI model to vomit out a streamlined “top 5 takeaways” response, than actually engage in-depth with how audiences and criticsreacted, says everything you need to know about Ken Davenport as a producer."
It's not even like he had to aggregate thousands or even hundreds of reviews to find commonalities. According to the video, there were 32 critic's reviews and 62 audience reviews. You could read through them in an afternoon.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#11
Posted: 10/1/25 at 5:21pm
I asked ChatGPT to breakdown this thread
“Bottom Line of the Discussion
Commenters largely believe this is more PR or posturing than a serious development. They see the use of AI as a gimmick or shortcut, not a legitimate creative tool in this context. Many doubt “JOY” ever had the traction or impact to warrant a Broadway move, and caution that the announcement may be premature or hollow.”
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#12
Posted: 10/1/25 at 5:28pm
mitchern said: "https://www.facebook.com/reel/1472723060513556
I'm not holding my breath, and thought that the show was pretty mediocre... and not sure that Ken + AI = a great improvement."
FLOP!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/4/04
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#13
Posted: 10/1/25 at 5:39pm
Oh, Jesus. Now THIS is the definition of a “vanity project”.
Broadway Star Joined: 3/26/24
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#14
Posted: 10/1/25 at 5:59pm
Sutton Ross said: "This show was SO bad, but apparently Ken is pretending it wasn't.Does he live in the real world? This will be a giant waste of money and time if it does come to Broadway."
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#15
Posted: 10/1/25 at 6:01pm
Oh dear. He has no idea how awful this makes him look.
Tone deaf - but that into your AI and see what it tells you.
Broadway Star Joined: 3/26/24
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#16
Posted: 10/1/25 at 7:13pm
mitchern said: "https://www.facebook.com/reel/1472723060513556
I'm not holding my breath, and thought that the show was pretty mediocre... and not sure that Ken + AI = a great improvement."
giving serious Zero Mostel vibes,.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#17
Posted: 10/1/25 at 10:51pm
Ken is not the first or last producer to use AI to condense data and look for trends. Most of them just keep their mouths shut publicly since AI is a bit of a lightning rod.
I don't understand why he is still circling Broadway for both this and Griswolds Vacation instead of throwing in the towel...but he's not exactly known for his great instincts.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/3/18
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#18
Posted: 10/1/25 at 11:12pm
mitchern said: "https://www.facebook.com/reel/1472723060513556
I'm not holding my breath, and thought that the show was pretty mediocre... and not sure that Ken + AI = a great improvement."
I can’t help but thinking about the other thread about Saturday Church - the person who started that thread was promoting SC as the BEST musical of this year :)))))
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/13
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#19
Posted: 10/2/25 at 7:17am
darquegk said: "
Granted, I felt weird using the prompt at all, but I was hugely relieved at how inept and lazy its output was."
That's why you will never be a great Broadway producer. He does the same thing & puts what it spits out onstage. He's relieved it is better than anything he could come up with himself.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#20
Posted: 10/2/25 at 9:19am
Sounds like he's "Gettin' the Band Back Together." Remember how well the worked out, Ken?
Stand-by Joined: 12/27/17
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#21
Posted: 10/2/25 at 1:02pm
It is moments like these that birthed the immortal phrase "Sure, Jan".
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#22
Posted: 10/2/25 at 3:38pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Ken is not the first or last producer to use AI to condense data and look for trends. Most of them just keep their mouths shut publicly since AI is a bit of a lightning rod.
I don't understand why he is still circling Broadway forboth this and Griswolds Vacation instead of throwing in the towel...but he's not exactly known for his great instincts."
I think Joy would do well in licensing thanks to its vaguely familiar title, female-heavy cast, and light technical demands. Not everything needs to be on Broadway to become a success.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#23
Posted: 10/2/25 at 5:50pm
Is this a stage adaptation of the movie, or is this an original musical based on the same story? Because the movie was terrible. And even if this treatment is original, I have my doubts that this woman's story is compelling enough to succeed in any format. I mean, mops are great and all, but.....
This feels like a show literally no one was asking for.
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#24
Posted: 10/3/25 at 11:12am
I saw it. Not terrible but not good. House was half empty. Lead was impressive but book was very rough. i think they might think about getting a new authot if they move forward......score, good enough.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway#25
Posted: 10/3/25 at 11:22am
KrupYou said: "i think they might think about getting a new authot if they move forward"
Considering Ken Davenport himself is the bookwriter, that seems unlikely.
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