Sony Music backs new family entertainment agency

Sony Music Masterworks has joined forces with leading US family entertainment bookers Stephen Lindsay and Brett Sirota to launch RoadCo Entertainment, a new booking agency specialising in “live family entertainment experiences”.

As RoadCo, Lindsay and Sirota – the co-founders of The Road Company, which brings musicals, plays and special attractions to venues across North America – will work alongside Mark Cavell, president of Sony Music Masterworks, and Scott Farthing, senior vice-president of Masterworks Broadway, to develop and produce live events based on both existing brands/IP and new formats.

The agency will also work with other Sony companies to identify opportunities to develop live shows based on Sony-owned properties.

RoadCo Entertainment is the latest live-industry venture for Sony Music Entertainment, following its acquisition of classical promoter Raymond Gubbay in 2018 and UK concert business Senbla the following year.

Lindsay and Sirota have previously worked with Masterworks, co-producing 2017’s SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, which won a Tony Award. The Road Company’s other shows include the North American tours of Wicked, Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice and Oklahoma!.

“RoadCo is the perfect venue for us to further grow our entertainment division in the US when the touring business is ready to return”

“We are energised and excited at the opportunity to create a second booking agency with our friends at Sony Music Masterworks, who bring a wealth of expertise, resources, and intellectual property,” say the pair in a joint statement. “The Road Company will continue its focus on Broadway and other theatricals, while RoadCo starts a new chapter for us as we build this expansive new enterprise with Sony Music capable of handling a broad roster of live entertainment properties.”

Mark Cavell, president of Sony Music Masterworks, comments: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Stephen Lindsay and Brett Sirota, whose track record as booking experts is well-known throughout the entertainment industry.

“Since first working together on the co-producing team of the Tony Award-winning SpongeBob musical, we have looked for other opportunities to collaborate. RoadCo is the perfect venue for us to join forces and further grow our entertainment division in the US market when the live touring business is ready to return.”

RoadCo is the third new booking agency, and the first focusing on family entertainment, to launch in the US since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, following TBA Agency and Mint Talent Group.

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