Wealthy New Yorkers are increasingly commissioning private events that resemble Broadway productions, hiring event producers to create immersive, multi-act spectacles rather than conventional background entertainment.
Producers said clients have requested aerial musicians, staged tableaux, bespoke choreography and venue alterations to accommodate complex performances. "Our office is literally a cabaret," Darren Olarsch, founder of On The Move Entertainment, an event-production company in NoMad, told The New York Post, describing work for high-net-worth clients earlier this year.
Olarsch and his company have furnished events with elements that ordinarily belong to theater and Las Vegas production. In one Midtown event at The Shed, a client requested aerial violinists; organizers installed aerial straps on the stage ceiling and enrolled a fleet of violinists in acrobatic and aerial-lift training so they could perform songs such as Coldplay’s "Sky Full of Stars" and Steve Miller’s "Fly Like an Eagle" while suspended above guests. That same event featured a piano performance by John Legend.
Other commissions have included a life-size glass "jewelry box" placed at the center of the Russian Tea Room, inside which a classically trained ballerina twirled, and a post-party "naughty circus" that required a floral carousel and boudoir-style dancers. For one wedding at The Plaza Hotel, producers optimized acoustics in historic opera boxes so three tenors could recreate Andrea Bocelli’s rendition of John Legend’s "All of Me" while the newlyweds made a staged entrance.
Clients have asked for multi-act sequences that unfold like theatrical productions. A wedding for clients Christina Mannino and Michael Santora featured an "Italian Renaissance meets New York Glamour" segment at Cipriani Wall Street with "Black Swan"-inspired ballet and opera, followed the next night by an Arabian Nights-themed spectacle at an Egyptian restaurant in the West Village. Mannino said the entertainment was intended to be immersive rather than background.
The scope of some projects has required large-scale coordination. Olarsch said he produced nine independent theatrical acts for a Fortune 500 company in one sitting, securing 128 artists, many of them current or former Broadway professionals, and commissioning custom costumes. Last May, he said, he flew 60 entertainers to Cairo for a four-day wedding reception held at the base of the Great Pyramids and an event inside the Grand Egyptian Museum before it opened to the public; musicians were selected and styled to complement the setting and performed arrangements that included a localized version of Britney Spears’s "Toxic."
Producers described logistical challenges that accompany the spectacles. Organizers have had to retrofit venues with rigging and straps, arrange certifications and training for performers working at height, commission bespoke scenic elements, choreograph for in-the-round stages and work with venue architects and staff to preserve historic acoustics while supporting amplified and staged performances.
"We work with a roster of talent that rivals productions from Broadway to Vegas," Olarsch told The Post. He added that clients often request surprise moments and highly staged entrances to create a cinematic effect for guests.
The trend reflects a demand from high-net-worth clients for events that prioritize spectacle and immersive storytelling, according to producers who supply talent and technical production. Those suppliers say the work increasingly blurs the line between private celebration and professionally staged theater, requiring the same levels of training, rehearsal and technical support found in commercial productions.
Organizers and performers involved in these productions described the approach as a form of customized entertainment that centers on audience experience, executed through tightly choreographed segments, specialized talent and venue-specific adaptations. Several producers said the projects have become a regular portion of their business rather than occasional one-off requests.
The New York Post first reported details of the productions and the names of clients and vendors involved in recent events.