Judge Confirms $202K Award Against Joey Parnes Over Broadway’s DANCIN’

A federal court has confirmed an arbitration award requiring Broadway producer Joey Parnes, along with his companies Joey Parnes Productions LLC and Broadway Rhythm & Rhyme LLC, to pay $202,682.53 to United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE. The decision follows a dispute over unpaid compensation owed to designers who worked on the 2023 Broadway production of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’.

The arbitration award, issued on October 21, 2024, ordered the producers to pay the total amount based on a joint stipulation signed by both parties. The payment includes $148,700 in design fees and advances; $1,886.50 in additional weekly compensation; $12,078.00 in pension contributions; $22,097.00 in health contributions; $7,425.00 in annuity contributions; $3,176.55 in pension contributions on the additional compensation; $2,076.98 in health contributions on the additional compensation; $1,404.00 in annuity contributions on the additional compensation; and $3,838.50 in union dues.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed the award on May 8, 2025, after the respondents failed to comply or appear in court. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted the union’s motion for confirmation and also awarded attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in pursuing the case.

In a separate legal matter, Joey Parnes filed a lawsuit in 2021 against his former employees Sue Wagner and John Johnson, accusing them of secretly undermining his relationship with producer Scott Rudin’s company, No Ice, Inc., and forming a rival business to poach its productions. The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleged that Wagner and Johnson conspired to “drive a wedge” between Parnes and No Ice while still employed at Joey Parnes Productions, ultimately diverting millions in business opportunities to their newly formed company, Wagner Johnson Productions. Parnes and his company sought more than $5.5 million in damages. No further public filing was made in regards to that lawsuit, other than one for a confidentiality order. The terms of the settlement between the parties are confidential.

Parnes' producing and management portfolio includes recent musicals such as KPOP and Almost Famous. He served as executive producer or general manager on a wide range of productions including To Kill a Mockingbird, The Humans, Hello, Dolly!, The Iceman Cometh, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, The Glass Menagerie, King Lear, and The Crucible. Earlier in his career, Parnes worked on iconic titles such as La Cage aux Folles, Dreamgirls, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?.