Recent 2009 Tony Award Honor for Excellence in the Theatre recipient Shirley Herz is featured in a fanatstic article in The New York Times on the bygone days of the theatrical press agent.
Ms. Herz, along with Sol Jacobson, Mickey Albert and others of the their special breed spoke to the Times' Ralph Blumenthal about the early history of the business, when they had one foot in the theatre and one foot in the newsroom.
The article is a must-read for theatre buffs and a splendid reminder of the days of 'Merrick and mayhem' on the stages of New York City. You can read The New York Times feature by clicking here.
For more than 50 years, Shirley Herz has been a press agent to both on and Off-Broadway working behind-the-scenes to publicize more than 200 shows and help make both the shows and their stars house-hold names. Established in 1990, The Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre are awarded annually to institutions, individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theatre, but are not eligible in any of the established Tony Award categories.
Veteran Broadway publicist Shirley Herz got her first big break when she was hired to work on a long road tour with Rosalind Russell followed by a Broadway run with Wonderful Town as Ms. Russell's personal press representative. Since that time her work has taken her all over the world in a career that has spanned more than five decades. She has publicized plays by such writers as Edward Albee, Brian Friel, Frank McGuinness, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Sam Shepard, among many others. She has worked on dozens of musicals including House of Flowers, Do Re Me, 3 Penny Opera, Jerry's Girls, Legs Diamond, La Cage aux Folles, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Singing in the Rain, Fiddler on the Roof and many more, as well as numerous Off Broadway productions. She has also represented many theatrical organizations and dance companies.
Photo by Ben Strothmann
