StageGrade Acquired by Davenport Media Enterprises

New York, NY, December 30, 2012 --(PR.com)-- The theater review website StageGrade emerged on the scene in 2010 to fill a glaring need: an objective report card revealing the critical consensus for every play and musical in New York City.

StageGrade quickly became for the stage what Rotten Tomatoes has become for the screen, serving as a trustworthy and indispensable guide for theatergoers. StageGrade's objective grades of plays and musicals have been regularly cited in the New York Times and other major media outlets, and have guided thousands of theatergoers to the shows they are most likely to enjoy.

Co-founder Jonathan Rand announced today that StageGrade has been acquired by Davenport Media Enterprises, joining its family of online theatrical services including BestOfOffBroadway.com and the popular "At the Booth" mobile app.

"We couldn't be more thrilled by this development," said Rand. "Ken Davenport is a proven theatrical visionary committed not only to upholding StageGrade's objectivity by keeping a sturdy wall between its journalism and sales personnel, but to continuing the rapid growth of the site's fanatical user base."

"The Rand brothers are the entrepreneurial version of the Coen brothers," said Davenport. "They build cool and exciting things that users fall in love with. Not only am I a personal user of StageGrade, but it is mentioned in almost every meeting for every Broadway show I work on. I'm thrilled to add it to our portfolio."

StageGrade was created by entrepreneur brothers Doug and Jonathan Rand (founders of Playscripts, Inc.), theater journalists Rob Weinert-Kendt and Isaac Butler, and software developer Martin Gordon. The StageGrade staff gathers and reads every reliable published review of every show in New York City, assigns each review a grade based on how the critic responded, and then uses the median grade to reveal the critical consensus.

Davenport Media Enterprises is the media division of Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, Inc., a full-service theatrical production and marketing company founded by Ken Davenport in 2004.

Post-acquisition, many members of the existing StageGrade editorial staff will remain on board to aggregate reviews and provide creative content. StageGrade users will continue to enjoy the trustworthy guide they have come to expect, with new innovations on the horizon to even more effectively match theatergoers to the shows they are most likely to enjoy.

For more information, visit www.stagegrade.com.