Broadway Veteran Tapped to Produce Mall Entertainment

By Pia Catton 

An international retail giant is poaching some razzle-dazzle from Broadway.

Westfield Corp., the Australian shopping-center company with 35 malls including lower Manhattan's Westfield World Trade C enter, has tapped Broadway producer Scott Sanders to lead its entertainment offerings.

Mr. Sanders, who won a Tony Award this year with his revival of "The Color Purple," will have the official title of creative head of global entertainment.

And the role will include thinking broadly about performances to create "unique and spectacular events," he said, possibly including music, dance, food and fashion.

He will continue to work on his Broadway projects in development, including stage adaptations of "Tootsie" and "Coal Miner's Daughter."

The new role comes as brick-and-mortar retailers are scrambling to create new reasons for consumers to shop in stores instead of online, said Mark Hunter, managing director of retail asset services for CBRE Group Inc., a commercial real-estate-services and investment firm.

"They are not only competing against other retail property owners," said Mr. Hunter. "They are also competing against e-commerce for the attention and spending dollars of consumers."

Mr. Sanders, 59 years old, comes armed for the task with experience in TV and film, plus 15 years at Radio City Music Hall presenting and producing major acts from Madonna to Sting, as well as Michael Jackson's 1993 Super Bowl halftime show.

While Broadway elements could be part of the mix, Mr. Sanders said the intent is not to transplant shows into the flagship shopping centers. Instead, they will shoot for more unusual concepts, including overhead stage platforms and immersive theater, in the style of "Here Lies love," the rock musical created by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim.

"The audience moved with the cast," he said of the 360-degree show about the life of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.

Not long before hiring Mr. Sanders, Westfield opened its lower Manhattan shopping center, within the Santiago Calatrava-designed Oculus, with a slate of more traditional performances by singer-songwriter John Legend, Tony-winning actor Leslie Odom Jr. and the cast of the musical "School of Rock."

"Events and entertainment are going to be huge part of what happens here at Westfield World Trade Center," said Westfield co-chief executive Steven Lowy at the event.

As for moving some of those Westfield shoppers up to the Theater District, Mr. Sanders said there could be opportunities for cross promotion: "The demographic sits right in the Broadway sweet spot. It is a very similar person."

Write to Pia Catton at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2016 19:00 ET (23:00 GMT)

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