Cruising The Past Cruise News 
A Fiduciary Failure
Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical licensing company, representing thousands of plays and musicals. They are the paid trustees for a vast catalogue that includes classics like Our Town, The Sound of Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Arsenic and Old Lace, Twelve Angry Men, and Life with Father—which still holds the record as the longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history. These are the shows that generate the royalties that sustain authors and estates. Yet in 2026, Concord is failing its stakeholders with a website so confusing and outdated that it borders on professional malpractice.
A Leadership Team That Doesn’t Care
At the helm of this disaster sits Sean Patrick Flahaven, Chief Theatricals Executive of Concord. A three-time Grammy and Tony Award-winning producer, Flahaven has built Concord into a licensing behemoth, acquiring Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Tams-Witmark, and Broadway Licensing Global. Flahaven became President of Concord Theatricals upon its formation in December 2018 and was promoted to Chief Theatricals Executive in 2020. Yet while Flahaven has been busy creating a monopoly, he has completely neglected the user experience. Below him is Bill Gaden, President, Worldwide of Concord Theatricals, who shares responsibility for this digital disaster. Neither man has shown any interest in modernizing the company’s primary interface with its customers.
A Conflict of Interest in Marketing
Running the marketing and communications department is Imogen Lloyd Webber, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications Worldwide for Theatricals and Originals. She is the daughter of Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of the company’s flagship composers.
Teenagers?
Lloyd Webber has led Concord Theatricals’ Marketing and Communications strategy since the company’s inception in 2018. This is a glaring conflict of interest. How can the marketing for the entire vast catalogue be impartial when the head of marketing is the daughter of one of the company’s most prominent rights holders? Under her watch, the website has remained an unintelligible mess. Instead of modernizing the interface, her team seems focused on promoting obscure titles while the classics people actually want to find—Our Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Crucible—are buried in a digital abyss.
Jumbling!
The Concord Theatricals website rarely features any actors or actresses under 30. As for teenagers, forget it. An insult to the thousands of schools and colleges that present plays and musicals. Bottom line: the website’s promotional images are usually middle-aged women.
A Website That Defies Comprehension
The problem with Concord Theatricals is not the content—it is how that content is presented. The company represents the greatest theatrical catalogue in history, from the most-produced plays to the timeless classics that fill community theaters every season. Yet try to find any of these titles, and you will be greeted by a confusing interface that lacks even basic artwork for most productions. Users have described it as very difficult to work with, plagued by hoops and a lack of transparency. One customer noted that if Concord didn’t control so many collections from other publishing houses, they would never order from them again. The navigation is a tangled web of categories that make no sense. It is as if the website was designed by someone who has never actually used a website. Community theater directors and school drama teachers are forced to waste hours hunting for basic information that should be available in seconds. In 2026, this is simply unacceptable.
A Catalogue of Neglected Classics
Plays are the lifeblood of Concord’s business, yet the company treats its dramatic catalogue with shocking indifference. Consider Life with Father, which holds the record as the longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history. It opened in 1939 and ran for over seven years—a record that still stands today. Concord represents this monumental piece of theatrical history. Yet on their website, it receives the same bare-bones treatment as any obscure one-act. No fanfare. No celebration. Just a basic listing. The company that holds the rights to the longest-running play in Broadway history cannot be bothered to give it proper digital presentation.
More jumbling!
A Visual Echo Chamber
Browsing the site, you are greeted with photos that paint a strange and exclusive picture. The homepage and promotional materials are dominated by middle-aged women. There are no young men, no young women—actors under thirty are virtually invisible. This visual monoculture sends a clear message about who Concord believes its audience is. Yet the reality of theater is that half the participants are young men, and they are completely absent from the company’s marketing imagery. It is a baffling and alienating choice for a company that licenses shows to thousands of high schools and colleges filled with young actors.
A Fiduciary Betrayal
Concord Theatricals has been entrusted with the most valuable theatrical catalogue in the world. They are paid to represent the interests of playwrights, composers, and estates who depend on royalty income. Yet instead of presenting these works with the dignity and accessibility they deserve, the company delivers a website that feels like it was coded in the 1990s. The licensing process itself can stretch to eight weeks or more. It would be like selling a house without a “For Sale” sign in the front yard—or selling classic paintings and refusing to hang them properly in the gallery. In 2026, with Sean Patrick Flahaven at the helm, Bill Gaden as President, and Imogen Lloyd Webber running marketing, Concord Theatricals is betraying the very stakeholders they are paid to serve. The authors and estates deserve better. The customers deserve better. The theater deserves better.
SOURCE
Editor Contact
Michael L Grace
mlgesqusa@gmail.com
Concord Theatricals Bio:
SOURCE
Concord Theatricals Team page (staff directory listing Sean Patrick Flahaven, Bill Gaden, and executive leadership)
Concord Theatricals “Who We Are” page (catalogue includes R&H Theatricals, Tams-Witmark, Samuel French, Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts)
Concord News: Executive Promotions (Flahaven promoted to Chief Theatricals Executive, Bill Gaden to President Worldwide, Imogen Lloyd Webber to SVP Marketing)
Concord News: 2025 Executive Appointments (Lloyd Webber promoted to EVP Marketing & Communications Worldwide for Theatricals and Originals)
Concord News: Lloyd Webber has led Marketing & Communications strategy since company inception in 2018
Life with Father page on Concord Theatricals website
Life with Father Wikipedia entry (still holds record for longest-running non-musical play on Broadway)
School Theatre Community reviews (multiple user complaints regarding website difficulty, lack of transparency, licensing delays, and frustration with Concord’s monopoly)
Concord Theatricals website (extensive review of pages across the site)
