Ken Davenport Says JOY is Heading to Broadway

[mitchern]

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. 

[Sutton Ross]

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.

[FightTheDragons]

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.

[BobbyBaccalieri]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 3:18pm

They’re gonna mop the floor with this show. 

[Kad]

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. 

[darquegk]

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. 

[Scarywarhol]

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. 

[ColorTheHours048]

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.

[quizking101]

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. 

[Alex Kulak2]

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.

[Jordan Catalano]

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.”

 

[ACL2006]

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!!

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 10/1/25 at 5:39pm

Oh, Jesus. Now THIS is the definition of a “vanity project”.

[Ensemble1711444445]

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."

 

Updated On: 10/7/25 at 05:59 PM

[KrupYou]

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. 

[Ensemble1711444445]

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,. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

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.

[spicemonkey]

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 :)))))

[inception]

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.

[Anastasia_Beaverhausen]

Posted: 10/2/25 at 9:19am

Sounds like he's "Gettin' the Band Back Together." Remember how well the worked out, Ken? 

[blug]

Posted: 10/2/25 at 1:02pm

It is moments like these that birthed the immortal phrase "Sure, Jan".

[Kad]

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. 

[EvanstonDad]

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.

[KrupYou]

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.

 

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

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.