UTA Names Patrick Herold And Rachel Viola Co-Heads Of Theatre

UTA has named Patrick Herold and Rachel Viola co-heads of the agency’s theatre practice. Based out of UTA’s New York office, the duo will oversee the day-to-day operations of the department and report to Jay Gassner, partner and co-head of talent, and Allan Haldeman, partner and co-head of TV lit.
 
Gassner and Haldeman commented, “Patrick and Rachel’s proven track record of success, passion for the arts and creative vision will bring our theatre department to new heights as we build on our continued success and growth in this area.” 
 
Herold joined UTA in 2022 after nearly 20 years at ICM, where he was a partner and head of theatre. Herold has had a variety of roles in the industry, including owner of literary agency Helen Merrill Ltd., associate general manager of Lincoln Center Theater, director of development at New York Theatre Workshop and trustee of Dramatists Play Service. His clients include the estates of Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, Sam Shepard, Horton Foote, Moss Hart, Tina Howe, Christopher Durang, and Wendy Wasserstein; theater luminaries such as Marshall Brickman, Athol Fugard, and John Guare; playwrights Lisa Kron, Tracy Letts, Adam Rapp, Robert Schenkkan, Richard Nelson, Danai Gurira, Paul Rudnick, and Doug Wright; composers and lyricists including Rufus Wainwright, Cyndi Lauper, Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, Rickie Lee Jones, Rosanne Cash, and Stephen Trask; directors Christopher Ashley, Walter Bobbie, Marc Bruni, Michael Greif, Simon Godwin, James Macdonald, Barrie Kosky, Terry Kinney, Gregory Mosher, Lisa Peterson, and Michael Wilson; and a roster of top echelon designers such as John Lee Beatty, Robert Brill, Alexander Dodge, Riccardo Hernandez, Clint Ramos, George Tsypin, Michael Yeargan, Dede Ayite, Jane Greenwood, Susan Hilferty, William Ivey Long, Catherine Zuber, Donald Holder, Natasha Katz, Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, Justin Townsend, Peter Hylenski, Scott Lehrer, and Peter Nigrini.

Among Herold’s recent career highlights are “The Outsiders” taking home Best Musical this year with a book by Adam Rapp, the season's breakout hit “Hell’s Kitchen,” directed by long-term client Michael Greif, and the West End revivals of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” by Eugene O'Neill and “A View From The Bridge” by Arthur Miller.
   
Viola has spent nearly 15 years at UTA, advancing from an assistant in the theatre department to coordinator to agent, with a focus on writers, directors and designers. She previously worked in the literary department of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, and has served as a board member of the Bushwick Starr. She was recognized by Variety on its “Hollywood New Leaders'' list in 2017. Her clients include writers Annie Baker, Jocelyn Bioh, Sanaz Toossi, Jen Silverman, Max Wolf Friedlich, Alice Birch, Clare Barron, Itamar Moses, Heidi Schreck, Marco Ramirez and Dave Harris; notable writer/performers Eric Bogosian, Cole Escola and Sarah Silverman; directors Lila Neugebauer, Saheem Ali, Lee Sunday Evans; composers Heather Christian, Michael Thurber and Clyde & Gracie Lawrence, among others.

Recent projects for Viola include the Broadway transfers of Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!”, “Job” by Max Wolf Friedlich, the upcoming “The Roommate” by Jen Silverman, and Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “English.” Viola also recently celebrated Tony award nominations for Jocelyn Bioh (Best New Play, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”) and Lila Neugebauer (Best Director, “Appropriate”).

UTA's theatre division represents a creatively and commercially successful roster of playwrights, composers, directors, choreographers, music directors, and designers, as well as leading talent. This season, UTA clients amassed 28 Tony nominations. The Outsiders, which features a book by Rapp, captured Best Musical at the Tonys in June and is one of Herold’s recent career highlights. Three-time nominee Dede Ayite won Best Costume Design of a Play for her work on “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” and made history becoming the first Black woman to take home an award in this category; Nikiya Mathis was honored with a Special Tony Award for Hair and Wig Design for her work on “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”; Brian MacDevitt won Best Lighting Design of a Musical for his work on “The Outsiders” and Jane Cox won Best Lighting Design of a Play for her work on “Appropriate.”