Philip J. Smith, Chairman of The Shubert Organization and Robert E. Wankel, President of The Shubert Organization, announced today that they have entered into a development and production agreement with Broadway producers Robert Cole and Frederick Zollo. The agreement, which has a three-year duration and is effective immediately, is the first development deal that The Shubert Organization has had with producers in more than 25 years.
Cole and Zollo have worked together since 1982 and have co-produced such successes as August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Eric Bogosian's Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Tony Kushner's Angels in America, and currently Broadway's biggest hit, Keith Huff's A Steady Rain, co-starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. Zollo and Cole each began their respective producing careers with the support of The Shubert Organization and in Shubert theaters.
The focus of Cole and Zollo's work with The Shubert Organization will be on developing and producing both new plays and revivals as well as on collaborating with notable actors and directors-with the possibility of also bringing musicals and special events to the stage.
Robert Cole made his Broadway producing debut in 1984 with August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Other producing credits include The Crucible (Liam Neeson and Laura Linney); Death of a Salesman (Brian Dennehy); Tony Kushner's Angels in America; Horton Foote's The Young Man From Atlanta; Redwood Curtain (Lanford Wilson); Elaine Stritch: At Liberty; Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (Eric Bogosian); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Gary Sinise); Freak (John Leguizamo); and Emily Mann's Having Our Say. Mr. Cole produced the film Tape, starring Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke.
Frederick Zollo's Broadway credits include Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Tony nomination,Grammy Award); 'night, Mother (Tony nomination); King Hedley II (Tony nomination); On Golden Pond; The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel; Death and the Maiden; Hurlyburly (Tony nomination); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Tony Award) and Perestroika (Tony Award); Private Lives (Tony Award); Caroline, or Change (Tony nomination); Frozen
(Tony nomination); The Goat (Tony Award); Our Country's Good (Tony nomination); Butley; The Hairy Ape; Buried Child (Tony nomination). Off-Broadway he has produced multiple Obie winners, including Marvin's Room; Oleanna; The Cryptogram; Talk Radio, which Mr. Zollo directed; Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll; Aven' U Boys, for which Mr. Zollo received an Obie Award for direction. On the London stage he produced Olivier winners Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Glengarry GLen Ross (Pulitzer Prize); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Breaking the Silence. Films include Best Picture Oscar nominees Mississippi Burning and Quiz Show as well as The Paper, Ghosts of Mississippi, Naked in New York and the Emmy nominated "In the Gloaming" and "Lansky."
The Shubert Organization owns and operates 21 theatres in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Under the leadership of Philip J. Smith, Chairman, and Robert E. Wankel, President, the firm continues its tradition of producing distinguished theatrical attractions. These include Amadeus, Cats, Dancin', Dreamgirls, God of Carnage, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Lettice and Lovage, Passion, Sunday in the Park With George, The Gin Game and The Heidi Chronicles. The Shubert Organization is dedicated to the revitalization of the American theatre. Its activities include the restoration and modernization of its theatres and participation in civic and community affairs. Shubert Ticketing provides superior box office, call center and marketing services, as well as online products for live entertainment venues across the country.
