The Karate Kid
CLIENT
Situation Interactive
TECHNOLOGIES
WordPress, PHP, JavaScript, Gravity Forms
YEAR
2022
EXTERNAL URL
A stage musical adaptation of the 1984 film, launching with a world premiere at Stages St. Louis. Another film-to-stage adaptation in a portfolio that includes Pretty Woman and Mean Girls — though this one arrived pre-Broadway, with the site built to scale from a regional premiere to a full Broadway campaign without a rebuild.
Led the full technical build at Situation Interactive.
Background
Peak franchise relevance, a Tony-stacked creative team, and a pre-Broadway premiere designed to prove the concept.
The Karate Kid — the 1984 film that grossed over $130 million worldwide and launched an entire franchise — was getting a stage musical adaptation with a book by original screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen and music and lyrics by Drew Gasparini. The creative team included Tony winners Amon Miyamoto (director), Derek McLane (scenic design), and choreographers Keone and Mari Madrid. The world premiere was set for Stages St. Louis, opening June 1, 2022, with an explicit eye toward a Broadway transfer. The timing was deliberate — Cobra Kai was in the middle of its Netflix run and Ralph Macchio’s memoir was hitting shelves. The franchise had not been this culturally relevant since the original trilogy. Having built Pretty Woman and Mean Girls — two other film-to-stage adaptations — I understood the particular challenge: audiences arrive with strong visual expectations from the source material, and the site has to feel like a natural extension of a brand they already know while establishing the stage production as its own thing.
The site needed to be live ahead of the May 25 first preview and serve as the production’s primary digital presence through a sold-out St. Louis run and beyond.
Implementation
Proven patterns deployed for a pre-Broadway launch, with the architecture designed to travel.
The ticketing calendar, cast profiles, and CMS patterns were established infrastructure by this point. The calendar rendered the Stages St. Louis performance schedule with availability states and direct purchase links. Cast profiles covered leads Jovanni Sy as Mr. Miyagi, John Cardoza as Daniel LaRusso, and two-time Tony nominee Kate Baldwin as Lucille LaRusso, along with the full ensemble and creative team — all structured so the production team could update casting as it evolved across engagements.
The distinguishing factor was the pre-Broadway context. Unlike shows that launch directly into a Broadway house, this site had to work for a regional premiere while being architecturally ready for a Broadway campaign — venue details, ticketing endpoints, and cast information all swappable through the CMS without a rebuild. Media sections, press coverage, and social integrations supported the early-stage marketing effort of establishing a new theatrical property.
The same architecture that powered the St. Louis premiere was designed to carry the production through every subsequent engagement on the path to Broadway.
Results
A sold-out world premiere, a platform built to travel, and a production still gaining momentum.
The site launched ahead of the May 25, 2022, first preview and served as the production’s primary digital platform through the world premiere at Stages St. Louis, which played to sold-out houses through June 26. The scalable architecture proved its value as the production continued to develop beyond St. Louis — a UK tour was subsequently announced, and the Broadway ambitions that motivated the original build remain in motion. The site at karatekidthemusical.com continues to serve as the production’s digital home, carrying one of the most recognizable entertainment brands in American culture from its first theatrical staging toward the Broadway run it was always built for.
