The American Theatre Wing and XM Satellite Radio proudly present an interview with Producer Tom Viertel, on their weekly theatrical interview show, “Downstage Center,” on XM’s On Broadway (XM Channel 28).
Viertel will appear as the special guest on Friday, October 31 at 6 p.m. The show will repeat on Saturday, November 1 at noon, Sunday, November 2 at 7 p.m., and Wednesday, November 5 at midnight (all times eastern; transmission is simultaneous across the country). The program becomes available as streaming audio and podcast from www.americantheatrewing.org and iTunes beginning Monday afternoon, November 3.
Prolific producer Tom Viertel, who with his partners Richard Frankel, Steve Baruch and Marc Routh have been responsible for such shows as The Producers, Hairspray, and the John Doyle-directed Company and Sweeney Todd, talks about producing on Broadway and the pending closing of the long-running Hairspray. He relates his own theatrical heritage -- his grandfather was a contractor who built the Mark Hellinger Theatre, among many others, and his father was a playwright -- and how he began his own theatrical career as a hobby while working at the family real estate concern. Among the shows he discusses are his first theatrical foray with two magicians he first saw in a 50 seat theatre in Los Angeles -- Penn and Teller; the extraordinary auditions of two now well-known actresses, Donna Murphy and Laura Benanti, for Song of Singapore and The Sound of Music respectively; the counterintuitive decisions that led him to produce Theatre de Complicite's Mnemonic as a commercial production and to revive Gypsy with Patti LuPone on Broadway only five years after the prior production; the travails of producing Smokey Joe's Cafe; and why in his spare time he's so committed to his volunteer role as chairman of Connecticut's Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.
Tom Viertel and his partners,
Richard Frankel,
Marc Routh and Steve Baruch have produced a wide range of plays and musicals on and off Broadway, in London and on tour for the past 23 years. Current Broadway productions include:
Hairspray,
Gypsy and
Young Frankenstein. Previous productions include: Sweeney Todd, Company, The Producers, The Sound of Music, Swing, Smokey Joe's Cafe, The Weir, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Angels in America, Driving Miss Daisy,
The Fantasticks, Penn & Teller, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Oleanna, Mnemonic, The Cocktail Hour, Love Letters, Marvin's Room, The Mystery of Irma Vep, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Forever Tango, Little Shop of Horrors, Jeffrey, Song of Singapore, Later Life and others. Viertel and his partners are principals in
Broadway Asia Entertainment, a production and management company focusing on the Asian market and are the owners of the tour booking agency, On-the-Road. Viertel is a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Governors of The League of American Theaters and Producers and Chairman of the Board of The
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, America's foremost development center for new theatrical work, in Waterford, Connecticut. He is a graduate of Harvard University and a member of the Board of Trustees of The Choate Rosemary Hall School.
Each new “Downstage Center” is regularly broadcast at 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays at noon, Sundays at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays at 12 a.m. (all times EST). Following the initial run on XM, each program is made available for free, on-demand, internationally as both streaming audio and podcast on ATW’s Web site,
www.americantheatrewing.org.
About The American Theatre Wing
The American Theatre Wing is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. The Wing’s other activities, dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre, include “Working in the Theatre,” now in its 30th year of telecasts on CUNY TV in New York and on other national cable outlets; "Downstage Center," an hour-long weekly interview program on XM Satellite Radio; “Guides to Careers in the Theatre,” a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants and scholarship program to New York City schools and not-for-profit theatre companies, which has granted nearly $3 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; and SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC; and the
Jonathan Larson® Grants, recognizing and supporting emerging writers of musical theatre. Visitors to www.americantheatrewing.org can view or download an archive of “Working in the Theatre” and the career guides and listen to “Downstage Center”, all as free, on-demand streaming audio and podcast.
Theodore S. Chapin is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Theatre Wing and
Howard Sherman is Executive Directo
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