In this episode of the Art + Climate series on the Tech in the Arts podcast, join AMT Lab's Lead Researcher Hannah Brainard and Social Media and Marketing Manager Ashley Offman in conversation with Molly Braverman, Director of the Broadway Green Alliance.
Molly has worked as a Stage Manager on Broadway, national tours, and regionally, having spent three years on the road with the National Tour of Wicked and continuing to serve as a substitute Stage Manager on Wicked and Hamilton.
Molly shares how her work at the Broadway Green Alliance has allowed each member of cast and creative team to be an agent of change in a way that fits their show's needs, how sustainability branches out beyond the environment, and the first step that every organization should take in their sustainability journey.
Transcript
Thank you for listening to another episode of Tech in the Arts, the podcast series of the Arts Management and Technology Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. The goal of our podcast series is to exchange ideas, bring awareness and stay on top of the trends.
My name is Hannah Brainard, my pronouns are she/her, and I’m the lead researcher with AMT Lab. In this series, we’re exploring the intersections of climate and the arts through interviews with leaders across disciplines. We hope you’ll learn more about actions you or your organization can take toward a more sustainable future.
I’m also joined by Ashley Offman, a theatre artist and AMT Lab’s Social Media and Marketing Manager.
Today, Ashley and I are talking with Molly Braverman. Molly is the Director of the Broadway Green Alliance - an organization working on Broadway and across the country to encourage positive climate action in the theatre community. Molly came to the Alliance with extensive industry experience - working as a stage manager on Broadway, Touring Broadway, and regionally - as well as serving as the Managing Director for Theatre Horizon in Norristown, PA.
Hannah Brainard
And actually - Ashley, you want to start us off here?
Ashley Offman
So as we were discussing before, I have a background in musical theater performance. That's kind of how I got to where I am now. And I know that you have a background as a stage manager, and you've worked on Broadway, on tours, and regional theater. So from your work as a stage manager, how did you start to get engaged in theater sustainability? What was that pathway for you?
Molly Braverman
Yeah, so I definitely, at the start of my career, did not consider myself an environmentalist. Not that I was anti-environment, but it wasn't something that I was actively thinking about on a day to day basis. I've always wanted to be in the theater. I've always believed strongly that the theater has a critical role to play beyond its four walls, right? Art and artists have always been at the forefront of change, so I was always working to make sure that what we were doing on stage resonated far beyond the proscenium. So this perfectly teed me up for for what I was doing, but I hadn't fully connected environmental work with social justice work and work toward you know, bettering the lives of humans, because so much of my education around the environment was, rightfully so, about animals, about the ozone layer - so many critical things, but the link wasn't super clear.
Back in the day, we weren't talking as much about how the environmental crisis is a human health crisis, is a human rights crisis. Everything is deeply interconnected. I began to uncover that more as I moved through the world, but especially when I was on tour, stage managing with Wicked. That's when when I was first introduced to the Broadway Green Alliance - right when it was getting started. I signed up quickly as a Green Captain, which is one of our volunteer positions. I was actually a Green Captain on the road for those three years, and began to see how much of an impact we could have and we were having. Both in the positive and negative, right? As the show moves around the country, you get exposed to so many different types of environments, and folks, and systems. I started to see that we had an impact everywhere we went, and it was not the same, right? The climate crisis does not impact us all equally. And then I also began to realize my own agency, right? As the stage manager in that space, what could I influence? Where could I start to make an impact? A lot of what we hear is, “I'm just a stage manager. I'm just an actor. I'm just a producer.” Everyone kind of feels like we can point our agency somewhere else, right? It's their job, what can I do? And starting to sort of realize that there's a lot to do. And all of us as artists with our different, very unique skill sets can really impact that change.
Ashley Offman
Awesome. While we’re on the subject of Green Captains, I want to touch on that as well, because we also have a question about that. So, what does the role of a Green Captain look like? I know, it's a volunteer process. And that, you know, from the website I read that a lot of people will volunteer at the first rehearsal. But something I really noticed was that the Broadway Green Alliance got 100% participation in the 2011 season, which I think shows, leaps and bounds, how theater is very much at the forefront of the social change that we want to see. So what does the role of a Green Captain look like throughout the production of a show?
Molly Braverman
Yeah, so Green Captain is definitely, sort of, our signature program. It's the one I love the most because it brings folks from all across the theater in different roles, in different places, together with this shared mission and shared values. That said, no two Green Captains look the same, right? It is a volunteer position. It’s a “choose your own adventure” position. And so, as you said, somebody raises their hand, often at first rehearsal, sometimes as a replacement along the way in a long run. Or, if they're in a regional theater, sometimes it's one of the staff members who's there full time. So all different types of folks can raise their hand and say, ”Pick me, I want to be the sustainability steward for this show,” or “for this company” or “for this theater program.” And usually we love when there's more than one, right? We all do better when we have a team. And then we connect with them, and we send them a toolkit of customized resources. Depending on what type of theater you're doing and where it is, our needs are all a little different. Different budgets, different sizes, different missions sometimes. So, we send a customized toolkit to those folks, and then we're there to support them. But really, it's up to each Green Captain to drive the change that they want to see, because there is no one size fits all. And so it depends a lot on what the show is, where the show is, and also the Green Captain themselves, right?
One of the things with climate action is, there's always more to do, right? We can always keep striving to be greener. And in fact, that's one of the BGA’s core principles - that it's impossible to be 100% Green, right? We all have a carbon footprint. We're here talking to each other, we're breathing. We have a carbon footprint. We cannot escape it. But what we can do is strive to be greener each day, right? Do something more, then again next week, and then next year, and keep building upon that progress. And so we look to our Green Captains to implement a similar strategy, because everyone has different passions, right? You can't do it all at once. So if you are passionate about composting, go for it. Work on composting in your theater. If it’s about circular economy, maybe you're a scenic designer, go into that world, right? Pick something that speaks to your heart, and that works for your particular circumstance. That is really how we tried to adapt our Green Captain program to suit lots of different folks doing lots of different things.
Hannah Brainard
I love that. And I loved hearing some of your story and how that brought you into living a greener life. I think it's so funny that that started on Wicked, of all things, you know, “being green.”
Molly Braverman
Yes, it is appropriate.
Hannah Brainard
Kind of going off of that idea that there are so many aspects, specifically in theater. But why do you think that theater plays such a pivotal role in the sustainability movement? And where do you see it leading in the future?
Molly Braverman
Yeah, I think theater in particular, arts in general - we are storytellers, we are communicators. We inspire hope, which is critical for this. And we are able to build community. This is not something anyone can fight alone. Climate change does not know borders. it doesn't care.
I think that's really where theatre artists can excel, is taking incredible work done by scientists and advocates, and activists - not that we aren't as well - and finding new ways to reach new people and new audiences and inspire action.
I think a challenge with climate change is that sometimes, when we read about it, it is nothing but depressing, right? And it is because it's really dire because it's here, it's now. The headlines are terrifying. Trust me, there are days I wake up and I read the climate news, and I go, “Oh, my God, I'm getting back into bed. Why? Why even fight the fight today?” Right? It's really hard. And so that's where I think, as artists, we have the ability to say “It's hard, but we wouldn't be having these conversations if the solutions weren't here and change wasn't possible.” Then, in that case, sure, get back into bed, pollute all you want, shrug.
But that's not the case. The solutions are actively here, and it’s about finding political will, social will, capital and the resources to drive change, which is hard. And that's where I think we can really come in and help change the narrative and inspire more folks to stand up and see the possibilities.
Hannah Brainard
Absolutely. And I feel like I'm wrestling with that same battle, like how do you share how really deeply impactful all of these problems are without being like “Well, there's nothing you can do about it.”
Molly Braverman
Yes, it's a really tough one. I mean, humans are pretty maladapted for this type of crisis. We even saw with the pandemic, until it was right in front of our faces, it was hard to accept and hard to change. I'm stealing this from wonderful scientists, but they were explaining how humans have not evolved as quickly as the crises around us have. And so that's just an inherent change, and that's where I think psychology and arts and communication can really come in and play a critical role.
Hannah Brainard
Absolutely. And I think the pandemic is such an interesting example, too, because we got to see sort of firsthand how quickly we could react when it came down to it. I think, for people both sort of involved in the arts, which were greatly impacted by the pandemic, but then also sort of in the climate movement, it's like, okay, we can actually pivot.I mean, not a positive opportunity all around, but there was a little bit of silver lining there. It also kind of helped raise the question of - what does it look like to be sustainable as an arts organization, thinking long term, how do you come back from events like this? And sort of as a society, what does sustainability really mean to us? So I'm curious how Broadway Green Alliance approaches this question of sustainability? How would you define it sort of beyond climate? What does that look like?
Molly Braverman
Yeah, no. That's a great question. Because I think it's really important that we can't work in just one lane, in sort of a single vacuum. So we look at sustainability holistically, and that you have to have environmental sustainability. You have to have financial sustainability, and you have to have social sustainability. So an example I love is: if you decide to change your green room over from single use plastics, and you know, and plates and cups to reusable, right? Great solution. One that you can implement at very, very low cost, using, you know, audience donations and really engaging the community. Great opportunity. But you know, it's not sustainable if all of a sudden the PA is washing the dishes every night with no extra pay, right? Doesn’t count. Doesn’t check the box. Yes, it was better for the earth. But it was not better for the humans who were doing that work, right? It was not socially sustainable. It's not financially sustainable. And so, you know, you can expand that out into much bigger conversation. But I think the essence is the same that you're right. If we're just caring about one layer, we're only caring about financial sustainability, that doesn't check the box, right? We have to think about this holistically, because all of these issues are so deeply interconnected.
Hannah Brainard
Absolutely. I appreciate you talking about the Green Captain experience, because it's just one of the many opportunities you've created, some of the resources that you've produced. I'm wondering if you could tell us more about some of your big success stories with Broadway Green Alliance and things that you're really proud of accomplishing?
Molly Braverman
I mean, the beauty of the BGA is we are here to cheerlead, advocate, make it as easy as we can, and provide resources, but we're not the ones implementing the change, right? It's folks on the ground. It's the stage managers on tour. It's the lighting designer thinking carefully about their design. It's the director saying this is a priority in this production, right? So I'm really proud of the change that has happened in the community, and how we have been able to play a role and hopefully, again, give a nudge or give a resource or connect folks. I mean, my favorite accomplishments are for sure, our network of Green Captains, we have well over 1000 spread across the country. So thrilled at that number. I'm thrilled that the number of folks we were able to reach using some of our programs like - we have a signature concert in Times Square now for Earth Day, that I believe - we just did the numbers last year’s reached over 40,000 people, in different ways. Both in-person and online.
These are opportunities to reach folks who might not be coming for climate content, right? We work in theatre on Broadway, we have amazing talent who can lift you up and inspire you. And then we can also share about what's going on. And so that, to me, is a huge accomplishment. One of the early things that happened that the BGA played a role in was the changing of the lightbulbs in Broadway marquees so over 800 tons of carbon each year by replacing them, because the lights are bright on Broadway, right? So, that is a huge accomplishment and that was done almost 10 years ago now. So the cumulative impact of just that carbon savings is pretty dramatic.
Hannah Brainard
And Ashley, I need you to chime in because I'm not gonna get the story right. You have a huge collection of programs?
Ashley Offman
I do. So, this is kind of my “satellite collection.” I'm staring at right now. I have probably at least 30 paper programs. But, something that I've noticed that it's also another thing that's been implemented sort of slowly is the QR codes. I want your take on this. Some of the theaters here in Pittsburgh, for example, will give you a partial program. It will just have the bios of the actors, for example, but then they'll have the QR code for further information. I saw Moulin Rouge on tour and they had, “please scan this QR code for the most updated casting for this evening's performance,” and then you can go back. I believe Six is adopting this as well for their tour. I would just love to hear more about that from your perspective, because - yes, I am a Playbill collector. And I do have my Sweeney Todd paper insert in there. And I'm like, “oh, you know, they could have probably had a QR code, or something in there?”
Molly Braverman
No, we're really excited about the transition from the paper stuffers, as they're called, inserts, to QR codes to digital space, especially on tour. You know, when I was on tour, as a stage manager, one of my jobs was to be in charge of our stuffers. And it is a huge task with a ton of paper and a ton of waste, right? Not only do we have that, but then we travel it. So now it has a footprint on a truck, right? This incredibly heavy box of stuffers. So, that, I think is huge progress that Actors Equity helped drive in negotiations, because again, we have a lot of unions in the theater doing great work, but we have to make sure that we are working alongside them every step of the way. And so the QR codes and production contracts on tour is a major win. I'm so thrilled that you're seeing it and that you're seeing it successfully. Right? And it doesn't take away from the program. Programs are a different question. It’s a big question. It's one we get asked a lot, because it's one of the most visible forms of waste in the theater. Right? It's not necessarily the biggest one, but it's definitely visible and visibility is part of our key, right? Because it's great if we make a change for the Six tour or the Moulin Rouge your, right? But if then, that tour tells the audience what that change is and why, we have now communicated to thousands of people about “the why” and the climate crisis. Perhaps inspiring them to go bring that action back to their own home, or community or mega industry they run. Who knows who's in the audience, right? So I think that's really exciting. One way we're starting to do that on Broadway is with souvenir cups, another incredibly visible form of waste in the theater. Just like with Playbill, some people have a collection. I definitely, you know, I share that. And some people go “This was great. And now it's trash.” Same with souvenir cups, right? Some people get that souvenir cup for their wine to enjoy Moulin Rouge, and want to keep that forever and use it and some people go, “Oh, God, not another cup into my home, please,” and throw it out. So we worked with a great company, Cup Zero, and with the concessionaire Sweet Hospitality to start piloting the option to put your cup back into circularity, right? So this isn't recycling, it's actually taking the cup, having it commercially washed and returned - as long as it's still in pristine condition - and reused. So keep the cup if you want it - wonderful. And if you don't, put it back in this box, and it will get reused. So I think that's actually a very recent win, speaking of visible waste at a theater, especially for audiences.
Ashley Offman
I don't know if I've been to a theater yet where they're doing that.
Molly Braverman
We're piloting it. It's new, but I think we're gonna see more and more of it.
Ashley Offman
Exciting, because I certainly need that. The Playbills I have so many. And I've been told that you cannot have more than one theater related collection. You have a problem.
Molly Braverman
I mean, I'm not sure I agree with that statement.
Ashley Offman
I don't either. I don't either. I wasn't saying that I have a problem or that you have a problem. What I'm saying is that I've been told that.
Molly Braverman
Okay, great. Playbills are easier to keep than many cups.
Hannah Brainard
Kind of while we're talking about waste, actually, I saw a couple different campaigns that you do in a sense: e-waste on Time Square a couple times of year and other sort of like recycling generation kind of activities. Could you talk a little bit about some of those programs? Oh, binders swapping too, maybe?
Molly Braverman
Yeah, I love our binder project. Our binder project is a binder library that's located in our office right in Times Square. Yeah, and these are programs that are a little bit more New York-centric just by nature of our physical location, but they can be adopted anywhere. And we've seen some folks, some universities start a binder library, so all of these ideas are free to take and implement in any community. But what we have is a library, you know, readings happen, workshops, shows open and close, and everyone needs binders. And then you're done with the binder. And so we collect them, and then we loan them out. And I really enjoy, inside, we have sort of an old school library card. So people can write in what show they use it on, and then see who used it before them, which I think is really special, and again, adds to the community feel of what we do in the theater. So we have that. We do host four collection drives in the middle of Times Square every year, as you mentioned, two e-waste and two textile. Our goal, again, is to make it as easy and accessible as possible to make the choice that you want to make, especially in our theater community. You know, look, we are all battling time, and finances, and crazy rehearsal schedules and, you know, family and life. So our goal is, where we can, to make it easy to make the better choice. And so that's what we do with those drives. Recycling e-waste is hard to do for free. It's an expensive thing. So we offset that expense for our community so they can come and recycle. Textiles, we also partner with a great company so that we can accept things from wardrobe departments. One of our favorites is we accept towels and sheets, especially towels from wardrobe departments and then sheets from anyone's home, and we run a “Towels for Toto” program where we upcycle those items into NYC animal shelters. So everywhere we can, we look for circularity over downcycling. So another program we have is a vase collection program in New York City, where - wonderful, opening night, everyone has showered with flowers and then is left with vases they no longer want. Bring them to us and we take the right back to Times Square florists to get refilled and go to the next opening night. So we have a few more programs like that. But again, all our focus as much as possible on local circularity and reuse.
Hannah Brainard
I wanted to ask about the MetroCard collection too, because I love seeing that turn into a new piece of art that kind of takes on another life. Is that a local New York artist?
Molly Braverman
Yeah, we work with a wonderful artist Nina Bosch, who turns them into gorgeous pieces of art. I'm a little sad because MetroCards are phasing out for the most part in New York, as everyone uses their smartphone. But, as long as they are still in existence, we will keep clicking them and getting them to Nina, because she creates such beautiful work. And again, another wonderful thing we can do to, you know, find beauty in a challenge.
Ashley Offman
I wanted to kind of go back to, you know, talking about like the binder collection really creating and supporting the community. I also read that the Broadway Green Alliance offers grants to support theater greening across the country with funding up to $750 for a specific project. I remember reading about Dark Fest at The Tank. Could you talk about some of your other favorite projects to come out of that?
Molly Braverman
Sure. So for now, it is actually an NYC specific grant program. So for give us time, I would love it to be national. But right now it is for Off-Broadway Off-Off-Broadway, and itinerant companies located within the NYC area. And I love it, we actually are in the process right now of soliciting grant applications. Reading them is always inspiring, because all the projects, again, are so different. You know, I was thinking about like - do I have a favorite? I don't think I do, because they're all so different.
Some recent really cool ones which I was really inspired by was - a group came up with a climate action design position. So that there was somebody paid in the design team and on staff to focus on sustainability, which I think is great, because it elevates it, right? Again, we're all overworked. We all don't have enough time. It's really easy to take the shortcut. And, I get it. I do it. And you know, I have a toddler at home and another baby on the way - there are days where I ordered something online that I wish I could go find secondhand, right? So there is no “perfect.” Again, it's giving all of ourselves grace where we have to, and I think that's true especially in smaller theatre companies. Again, having worked in plenty - time and money are always a challenge. So this is one way to try to alleviate that.
And I thought the climate action design was incredible. We just had another theater company that used the money to invest in a special device for properly disposing of aerosol cans and the chemicals inside that, so that they're not just released into the air once they are no longer used. That's genius. We've had some really cool lighting retrofits in order to upgrade lighting systems to LED, especially backstage and house lights - places we're not always thinking about. Oh, my goodness, I can go on and on. And then some theatre companies even just using the funds to encourage secondhand costume purchasing. Again, it can take more time to do that. I'm sure if you talked with Sandra Goldmark, she shared about this because I'm so inspired by her every time she talks about it, which is how we use our budget to direct our values towards the environment and reshifting budget priorities. So I think that's genius.
Hannah Brainard
Yes, we did talk about that. And I, likewise, I was like, “Oh, my goodness, this is brilliant.”
Molly Braverman
Yeah, so many decisions come down to finances and how we use those finances to direct where we want our values and our priorities to be. It’s a really incredible way of framing this.,
Ashley Offman
I really value how you also highlight that it's not just about the financial or the environmental sustainability, but the social of it as well.
Molly Braverman
Absolutely
Ashley Offman
I think that's definitely a big piece of just the industry as a whole, and the arts as a whole. I hope that we continue in that trend, that social sustainability is part of the conversation as we continue to move forward. We just have one more question for you. So we're thinking about the idea of thinking big, but starting small. So what's the first step that you'd recommend to an arts organization in general, a theater, regardless of size, that's hoping to take its first steps in their sustainability journey?
Molly Braverman
The easiest one, that's what I'd recommend. Whatever feels, in your brain, so easy and almost too small to not make it worthwhile. That's the one you start with, because you're gonna you're gonna get it done. Right? I think sometimes we get stuck in dreaming, trying to bite all of it at once, right? And I get that impulse. I do it all the time. Right? Okay, well, if we do this small change, but we also have to do this and this, and we don't yet have the money for solar panels on the roof. So now we're stuck, right? And we've done nothing. And I like to remove the word “just” from all of our sentences around kind of everything, but especially climate action, right? Well, we just switched to reusable water bottles from plastic for our guest artists. Not a “just.” That's incredible. Do that. Start there. I don't know what the one action is, because again, everyone leaves such a broad menu of options. That's why I really encourage folks to start with the lowest hanging fruit, that easy one, the free one, the one that saves you money. You know, printing double-sided saves you money, it’s better for the environment, right? Start there. Whatever it is, get a win, and then keep building on that win.
Hannah Brainard
And I'm glad that's our last question. Because I don't know how we can follow it. That’s fantastic.
Molly Braverman
You guys had some really thoughtful questions. Thank you.
Hannah Brainard
Thank you so much for joining us today. It's been really fun to talk with you. And I wish that we had like three hours so we can learn even more the work that the Broadway Green Alliance is doing and you in particular. How you're advocating for their work is so inspiring. So thank you so much.
Molly Braverman
Thank you guys. I'm really thrilled you're doing this series. And if there's anything else you need, you want to join our Green Captain program. If you want to do any of this, we are here. Let's keep the conversation going.
Hannah Brainard
Thank you for listening to the Climate Series on Tech in the Arts. Be on the lookout for new episodes coming to you very soon. If you found this episode informative, educational, or inspirational, be sure to send this to another arts, climate or technology aficionado in your life. You can let us know what you think of this podcast by visiting our website amtlab.org. That's a-m-t dash l-a-b dot o-r-g. Or you can email us at amtlabcmu@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram at Tech in the arts or Facebook and LinkedIn at Arts Management and Technology Lab. We'll see you next time.