The Festival Draws 2,875 to Kingston, Bringing 160 Broadway Performers Upstate
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 18
The Festival Draws 2,875 to Kingston, Bringing 160 Broadway Performers Upstate
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 18
Summary
A three-day inaugural musical-theater event at Hutton Brickyards in Kingston drew 2,875 attendees and more than 160 performers, turning the former industrial site into a weekend Broadway showcase.
Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Renée Elise Goldsberry headlined a lineup that mixed concerts, cabarets, singalongs, panels, campfires and raves across several stages.
Tickets ranged from $170 for one-day general admission to $1,450 for a deluxe weekend package, underscoring the festival’s broad but somewhat unclear target audience.
Producer David B. Schwartz said organizers polled every performer on favorite songs, using those answers to build playlists that reflected musical theater fans’ and stars’ wider tastes.
The smooth first run has already prompted organizers to announce a 2027 return, suggesting the upstate format could become a recurring Broadway offshoot.