Two D.C.-area theater groups are warning other organizations about a national ticket company. The groups said that despite entertaining crowds and selling many tickets, they waited nearly a year to receive payment.
They reached out to NBC4 Responds to say they were owed thousands of dollars and were worried they couldn't pay their bills.
“I reached out to Susan because I am familiar with some of her reporting and being able to help people and consumers that are in need to get their money back from different organizations,” Jeremy McShan, choreographer of J.A.M. the Revue, said.
For 10 years, the cast of J.A.M. the Revue has been entertaining D.C.-area audiences with their love of song. Choreographer Jeremy McShan said their performances normally sell out.
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“The show’s a fun party, so everybody comes in and has a good time singing along, the shows are super interactive and fun,” McShan said.
But the singers and dancers can’t move on with the next show due to unfinished business. The musical review’s ticket vendor hadn’t paid them since its last performance in December 2022.
“It's $7,000, so it was a substantial amount of money,” McShan said.
That same ticket vendor also didn't pay Rise Up Theater Company in Bethesda, that group says. They are owed $8,500 from their production in May at the Arena Stage, Scott Gustaveson, who runs the nonprofit, told News4.
“We can’t do anything for any future productions; it just grinds to a halt,” Gustaveson said. “No one would answer the phones, so we were really at a loss for how we were going to recoup those funds.”
Both Rise Up Theater and J.A.M. the Revue contracted with Brown Paper Tickets, a Seattle company that handles ticket sales for mostly small, nonprofit or community-based events. The company takes a cut of the proceeds and sends the remaining funds back to the event organizers.
“We had a reliable partner and they made everything very easy for us, and then all of a sudden, nothing,” Gustaveson said.
NBC4 learned that Washington state's attorney general had sued Brown Paper Tickets in 2020 after receiving 1,200 complaints. That lawsuit alleged in part that the company was "failing to pay organizers for events that occurred, including those before COVID-19 shutdowns...."
In 2021, the company settled the lawsuit and was ordered to fully refund all the money it owed to organizers of past events.
This year, the AG’s office said it’s received an additional 489 new complaints from event organizers who said they haven’t been paid.
News4 Responds reached out to Brown Paper Tickets about McShan's and Gustaveson's complaints.
A spokesperson said the company is in the process of being acquired by Events.com. In August, Events.com launched The Secured Funds Program to guarantee that payments will be sent quickly after events end. This initiative helped support Brown Paper Tickets to pay over $36 million owed to event organizers dating back to January 2020.
As for McShan and Gustaveson, their organizations finally received their money and paid their bills. Now, the show can go on.
“Literally, just a couple of hours ago, we noticed that our bank account had suddenly had a deposit,” Gustaveson said.
"How much?" Hogan asked.
"$8,500," he said.
"Feel good?" she asked.
"It feels great. It feels like such a relief," he replied.
