Corporate event entertainment NYC trivia and Broadway

In an incredibly special event, TrivWorks is thrilled to collaborate with The Tony Awards® and Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, to produce the biggest Broadway-themed trivia night/awards show New York City has ever seen!

I can’t begin to describe how excited I am about this event. How did it come to be? It’s been two years in the making, believe it or not – allow me to explain.

Back in 2014, I was approached by The Tony’s to help them produce a pub quiz night. Not just any quiz night, mind you, but an “official” Tony trivia event, held a few weeks before the Big Night itself. You see, the Tonys actually have an entire events calendar of programs happening before the televised awards ceremony, intended to build enthusiasm and buzz surrounding the annual event, as well as to engage directly with loyal theater fans. The idea of a trivia night to engage the audience was building upon the popular pub quiz phenomenon – TrivWorks has had the good fortune of partnering with many theatrical marketing companies and individual shows over the years as prize partners, so when the Tonys were looking for a quiz night collaborator, they came to us.

Now, I’ve produced a lot of bar trivia nights and trivia parties for corporate groups in New York City and nationally – upwards of 800, by last count. While nearly all have been wild, raucous, and laugh-filled, only a handful would come close to what I’d describe as a near riot – by which I mean, the crowd is 100% enraptured by what’s happening, is completely in the moment and, most of all, deeply and emotionally passionate about the subject matter. It shouldn’t surprise you that our 2014 Tony trivia night was one such affair.

This particular event was held about three weeks before the Tony’s, and was intended to be casual – we set it up at a bar in Midtown Manhattan, and informally took over the space. As I recall, we had about 50-60 people there, and took great care to turn it into a fully-immersive brand engagement experience complete with Tony-branded signage and coasters, answer sheets, logo for the flat screen TVs, fantastic theme-appropriate prizes, and even had the bar concoct a one-of-a-kind “Tony-tini” cocktail for the crowd to enjoy.

But I tell you – this audience was CRAZY for Broadway. It’s rare for me to elicit a huge roar from the crowd simply by saying, “Hi, welcome to trivia night” – but that’s exactly how things started out, and it only got more rambunctious from there. They were fired up theater folks, who not only wanted to show off their deep and impressive wells of knowledge, but to win as well.

In short, this event was fantastic. So much fun, not just for those who attended, but for me as a NYC professional trivia host as well. The participants were so engaged, so enthused, so INTO it from beginning to end, it just really helped make the experience a magical and memorable one.

I’ve been trying to capture that again ever since – and it looks like now we’ve got it.

On June 7^th – just a few days before the 2016 Tony Awards ceremony – we shall be producing what is no doubt the biggest Broadway-themed trivia night the Big Apple has ever seen. To be held at The Bell House in Gowanus, Brooklyn – already home to NYC’s biggest trivia nights, where for the past five years we have put on dozens of mega-size events in partnership with NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan, Gothamist, Science Friday and others – we will be working once again with the Tony Awards, only this time we will be making it HUGE!

In addition to incredible prizes provided by Tony’s and trivia taken directly from their exclusive Broadway trivia vault, we are also proud to be joining forces on this event with Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, an award-winning musical improv comedy show based here in the city, to create a unique interactive experience for our audience like no other! I had the pleasure of watching BNHM perform earlier this year, and I have to say, I was completely and utterly blown away. Not only were they absolutely professional and exceedingly skilled, with an obviously well-honed and proven format, but each and every member of the troupe was unbelievably talented and experienced in their craft, and it showed. It’s for these reasons that TrivWorks and Broadway’s Next Hit Musical have joined forces for corporate entertainment events – and now, for a unique public event as well!

What will be happening on June 7^th? We are expecting a sold-out audience of 300 die-hard theater lovers to partake in a boisterous team trivia challenge about all things Broadway: the shows, the actors & actresses, the great musical numbers, the flops, even memorable moments from Tony Awards ceremonies past! In between the round while score sheets are being graded, the cast of BNHM will take the stage to truly blow your minds: they will collect made-up song titles directly from the audience, and use a sample of them to perform fully-improvised showtunes which have been made up ON THE SPOT. You are seriously going to die of laughter, and wonder how on Earth it’s possible for them to be so, so hilarious.

There will of course be some great surprises as well, with the event culminating in an onstage awards ceremony for the winning team complete with statues, and of course “acceptance speeches.” The event will conclude with a HUGE closing number by BNHM, which will not only leave you speechless, but have you rip-roaring and ready to go to watch the Oscars a few days later. I promise everyone who attends that you will be smiling when you leave, and have a LOT to tell your friends about the truly one-of-a-kind experience you’ve had to your friends and family afterwards!

So yes, I am incredibly thrilled about this event, and am excited beyond words to be a part of it! Tickets are on sale now – again, we are expecting this distinctive event to completely sell out, so buying your tickets in advance is strongly recommended!