Jake Miaczynski ’20 finds his footing at Broadway League
Hanging out at the Tony Awards and seeing all the latest Broadway shows can sound like a dream come true for a theatergoer. For Jake Miaczynski ’20, a digital content associate at the Broadway League, those are perks of the job—a role that combines his communications skills with his love of theater.
The Broadway League serves as the national trade association for the industry, with 700-plus members including theatre owners, operators, producers, presenters and general managers in North American cities. For this communications major, there’s no typical day.
“If a show’s opening or closing, I’m building those pages on the website. I’m getting their logos and production photos from press and marketing agencies. It’s, ‘Hey, I need the latest photos from this upcoming show,” he said. “I’m getting to know how this behemoth of an industry functions and learning to play the long game. It’s not so much about overnight success, but building a solid understanding of Broadway as a whole, which I hope will benefit the rest of my career.”
The Tonys—in the Heights
Although he started in January, he quickly had to prepare for one of the league’s biggest events: the Tony Awards June 11.
“One of the best parts of my job is feeling like I belong, being in the know of what’s going on in the industry. News will break at 11 p.m., and the next morning there’s this buzz in the office. We see all these shows, but we’re not Tony voters. It’s just fun to be part of this environment where everyone loves the build-up. People in the office have been doing this for years, so I can’t believe I got to be in the room and be a part of it,” he said.
This year’s awards ceremony was extra special for several reasons. First, the show was held during the writers’ strike, which meant it ran unscripted. Also, there was a change of venue from Radio City Music Hall to the more intimate United Palace Theater in Washington Heights, where Miaczynski lives.
“The Tonys came to my neighborhood! I could’ve walked to it. I was part of the first time the Tonys came to Washington Heights. I could see this neighborhood get excited about it,” he said. “The restaurants were full of members of the Broadway community. It was something special.”
Attending the black-tie ceremony is a marathon—not a sprint.
“You have to get there at 4 or 5 o’clock, because the doors are locked at 6:30. You need to settle in and get your seat. When it’s over at 11 p.m., then you have the after party,” he explained. “We’re seeing this from the other side of the curtain. Just to know who was there. Aaron Rodgers was there! I walked by the red carpet. I mean, Joel Grey was there!”
After the show, there’s still more fanfare to come. The statuettes arrive at the league’s office.
“The actual Tonys come to our office, and we send them to the engraver,” he said, “and then get them back to the winners.”
Changing social media for good
On the heels on of the Tonys came the National High School Musical Theatre Awards—aka the Jimmys—in which students from all over the U.S. come to New York to compete. As part of the digital team, Miaczynski shoots and posts video on multiple social media platforms—and his work is gaining notice.
“I’m the target audience. I live for this content just as much as the next theatre kid,” he said. “Last year, the Jimmy Awards had 1 million views across all platforms. This year, it’s 11.8 million. Just to see the reaction that my skillset helped produce that, it’s amazing. Some parent in California can say, ‘I felt like I was there.’ Those are the moments where I see my education coming through. I’m connecting people.”
Messiah to Broadway, via Wisconsin
After starring in his high school theater productions in Erie, he brought a love of Broadway to Messiah’s campus—and found an ingenious way to get to New York City while he was a college student.
“I didn’t have a car for the first three years at Messiah. I would talk to my friends who had cars about going to New York for the weekend. They’d say, ‘That sounds fun, but I don’t want to drive.’ I said, ‘I’ll drive!’” he said.
He even planned an entire networking trip with Messiah’s public relations club, driving a van of students to visit a New York PR agency.
“When we got there, the PR people asked where Jacob was, because they were expecting me to be a professor,” he laughed.
After COVID altered his final semester at Messiah, he took a job in communications at a large church in Wisconsin, riding out the pandemic far from Broadway.
“That’s where I learned most of the skills needed in my position at the league,” he said. “I had to trust that this was the path for me. Then, when the opportunity presented itself to come back east go to New York, I took it. And there are people there [in Wisconsin] who are still praying for me and encouraging me.”
If he can make it here
“My Messiah education taught me to look at everything with a redemptive lens. My first season on Broadway, I felt like it was a gift. I could see in every show, redemption. Coming back from the pandemic, there was a lot of talk of ‘Broadway is back.’ We are a community. We have been through adversity, and we are still here. I also look through a redemptive lens at myself, graduating in 2020 and being disoriented and disillusioned for a couple years. Then, I’m suddenly sitting at the Tony Awards and ‘New York, New York’ is playing. There’s redemption and good,” he said.
— Anna Seip