What THEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP does

Theater Breaking Through Barriers Corp (TBTB) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1979 and headquartered in New York City, operating as the only professional Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to advancing artists with disabilities. Its core programming includes four main product lines: Mainstage Productions (full-length plays at Theatre Row venues such as Theatre Five and Clurman Theatre), the Short Plays Festival (annual festival featuring multiple short works), the Playmakers' Intensive (a week-long workshop for creating new work, pivoted to a hybrid virtual/in-person format during COVID-19 and continuing as the Hybrid Playmakers' Intensive), and Playmakers' Redux (extended development for selected works). Supporting services include International Touring (performances at BIT Festival in Croatia, BIRD Festival in Japan, and at the United Nations in Geneva), Stage Readings (developmental presentations including the Hunter in Four series), and accessibility services (livestream captions and audio descriptions).

The organization's technology stack is built on commodity platforms: Zoom for virtual collaboration, YouTube Live and Facebook Live for streaming performances, and OvationTix for donation processing. The Hybrid Playmakers' Intensive represents a notable operational innovation, combining virtual and in-person performances simultaneously to extend reach beyond geographic constraints. Accessibility features (real-time captions and audio descriptions) are integrated into all performances.

TBTB's revenue model is multi-stream non-profit funding: tax-deductible donations from individuals, foundation grants (Shubert, Ford, Howard Gilman, Lucille Lortel, Christopher & Dana Reeve, Harold & Mimi Steinberg, Eugene Lang, Actor's Equity Foundation), government grants (NEA, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs including CreateNYC/Disability Forward Fund), and ticket sales from Off-Broadway productions. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors with leadership including Nicholas Viselli (Artistic Director since 2015, joined company in 1997) and Louis Morrell (Board Chair, former JPMorgan Chase Managing Director). TBTB is in its 48th season as of 2025/2026.

Name

THEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP

Legal name

Theater Breaking Through Barriers Corp

Website

https://tbtb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Theater Breaking Through Barriers Corp is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Off-Broadway theater company founded in 1979, dedicated to advancing professional artists with disabilities through productions, playwright development programs, and international touring, funded primarily by donations, government arts grants, and foundation support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts - Accessible Theater

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Theatre Services & Design (Scenic/Costume/Props/Stage Management) (MPAGABAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Accessible Media Production (Alt Formats, Captioning, Audio Description) (EDALAGAC)

Keywords

• Off-broadway theater
• Accessible performing arts
• Disability theater company
• Theater workshops
• Live theatrical productions

Headquarters

HQ city

NEW YORK, New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, TBTB relies on tax-deductible donations from individuals, foundations, and government sources.
2. Foundation and Government Grants: TBTB receives support from National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and numerous other foundations listed as supporters.
3. Ticket Sales: Revenue from ticket sales for live theater productions at Off-Broadway venues like Theatre Row.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Theater Breaking Through Barriers (TBTB) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Off-Broadway theater company that produces and presents live theatrical performances, workshops, short play festivals, and international touring productions featuring professional artists with disabilities. The company develops new works through its Playmakers' Intensive workshop program and commissions, delivers accessible performances with audio description and live captions, and streams hybrid/virtual productions via Zoom, YouTube Live, and Facebook Live.

Product overview

Theater Breaking Through Barriers (TBTB) is a nonprofit theater company offering a portfolio of accessibility-focused theatrical programs rather than a traditional software product. The core offerings include: Mainstage Productions (full-production plays at Off-Broadway venues), the Short Plays Festival (annual festival featuring multiple short works), Playmakers' Intensive (week-long workshop for creating new works, now in hybrid format combining Zoom and in-person), Playmakers' Redux (extended development for selected works), Stage Readings (developmental presentations including the Hunter in Four series), and International Touring (performances at disability arts festivals globally). Supporting services include Virtual/Hybrid Events (streaming via Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook with accessibility features), Audio Description Services, and Livestream Captions. The organization functions as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, not a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Playmakers' Intensive: A workshop for artists (writers, directors, and actors) to create new work, founded in 2011. Originally a 24-hour bootcamp, transitioned to a week-long intensive. Includes the Hybrid Playmakers' Intensive (HPI) format combining virtual and in-person performances.
• Playmakers' Redux
• Short Plays Festival
• Hybrid Playmakers' Intensive

Products and services

• Mainstage Productions Full-production theatrical performances presented at Off-Broadway venues including Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre and Theatre Five, with world premieres, revivals, and commissions. Targeted at general theater audiences seeking inclusive, high-quality productions.
• Short Plays Festival Annual festival fostering collaboration between TBTB and established writers, actors, and creative production teams, featuring full-production runs of short plays by notable playwrights including Bekah Brunstetter, Bruce Graham, John Guare, Samuel D. Hunter, and David Henry Hwang.
• Playmakers' Intensive Week-long workshop for writers, directors, and actors to create new theatrical works, now offered in a hybrid format combining in-person and online (Zoom) participation. Targeted at professional theater artists.
• Playmakers' Redux Commissioning program that selects plays from the Playmakers' Intensives and allows the artists to develop them into longer, polished productions staged at Theatre Row.
• Stage Readings

Quantifiable outcome

• Produced first short play festival after nine years in 2026 with 10 playwrights, 6 directors, and 22 actors
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Queens TheatrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Collaboration with Queens Theatre on Amy Claussen's WIZZIWIG, performed in May 2026 as part of TBTB's programming schedule.
• United Nations (Geneva)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019TBTB was invited to perform at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Global Platform for DRR, presenting three original plays representing the world.
• Blind in Theatre (BIT) International Theatre FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTBTB was one of the anchor companies for this festival, attending in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2019. This is a significant international partnership for disability theater.
• BIRD International Theatre Festival (Japan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTBTB toured to Tottori, Japan in 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2022 for the 7th, 10th, 11th, and 15th anniversaries of this international disability theater festival.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Manhattan Theatre Club: Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Off-Broadway nonprofit that TBTB founder Ike Schambelan directed at; broadly comparable as an Off-Broadway theater producer but far larger in scale, budget, and programming breadth than TBTB.
• Playwrights Horizons: Major NYC nonprofit theater with a mission to develop and produce new work; TBTB board member Susan Ferziger previously served as Manager of Institutional Giving at Playwrights Horizons. Overlaps with TBTB on new-play commissioning but at vastly greater scale.

Direct peers

• Emerging Artists Theatre: NYC Off-Broadway nonprofit providing performance opportunities to early-career artists; TBTB's Board Chair Louis Morrell previously chaired this organization, and both operate similar Off-Broadway nonprofit models with development pipelines for underrepresented artists.
• Quest Visual Theatre: NYC-based nonprofit physical theater company whose performers include deaf and disabled artists and which integrates visual storytelling; comparable to TBTB as a small NYC nonprofit making disability-inclusive work for Off-Broadway and festival circuits.
• National Theatre of the Deaf: Long-established U.S. professional theater company dedicated to deaf artists and audiences; the closest direct analogue to TBTB in mission (advancing performers with a disability) and structure (nonprofit professional touring company), although focused on the deaf community rather than disabilities broadly.
• Queens Theatre: NYC-based nonprofit theater that has partnered with TBTB on co-productions such as Amy Claussen's WIZZIWIG (May 2026); directly comparable as an Off-Broadway venue partner with similar audience-development and accessibility mandates.
• The Apothetae: Philadelphia-based nonprofit theater company producing works that illuminate the disability experience, with a playwright commissioning program directly comparable to TBTB's Playmakers' Redux; operates at a similar Off-Off-Broadway/regional scale with mission-aligned artistic output.

Others

• Theatre Row Resident Companies: Cluster of small Off-Broadway nonprofit resident companies sharing Theatre Row's Theatre Five and Clurman Theatre — the same venues where TBTB stages its productions; comparable in operating model (shared venue, small staff, grant-dependent).
• Alliance of Resident Theaters / New York (A.R.T./New York): Service organization for NYC nonprofit theaters, where TBTB's Secretary Susan Ferziger previously worked; comparable as part of the same funding ecosystem rather than as a direct producing competitor.

Regional players

• Gallaudet University Theatre: Theater program at the only university for the deaf and hard of hearing, producing work that advances deaf performers and ASL storytelling; comparable mission to TBTB but academic-anchored and primarily serving a deaf (rather than all-disability) constituency.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TBTBtheater
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Theater-Breaking-Through-Barriers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/theater-breaking-through-barriers-corp

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about THEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP