Interview: Executive Producer, Gabor Barabas of NJ Rep

New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep), the theatre renowned for world premiere plays, has launched their 27th Season with Nandia Shenoy’s play, ESSPY and there's an exciting, full season ahead to look forward to.

We had the pleasure of interviewing the Producing Executive Director of NJ Rep, Gabor Barabas about his career, the team at the Company, and the what's ahead for the theatre.

For NJ Rep, Gabe has produced over 80 world premieres including Ends, A World I Never Made, North Fork, Octet, The Girl With the High Rouge, In Search of Red River Dog, Naked by the River, An Unhappy Woman, Immortal Interlude, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch, Till Morning Comes, Slave Shack, Panama, Big Boys, Winterizing the Summer House, Piaf in Vienna, The Color of Flesh, Emil, Touch of Rapture, Beyond Gravity, A Child’s Guide to Innocence, The Good Daughter, Apostasy, The Best Man, Tilt Angel, Love and Murder, tempOdyssey, October 1962, Place Setting, And Her Hair Went With Her, Engaging Shaw, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Dead Ringer, Exposure Time (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Character Assassins, The Tangled Skirt (nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America), Puma, Night Train, The Judy Holliday Story, Jericho (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), American Stare, Release Point, Esther’s Moustache, Ants, Noir, Happy, Broomstick, Admit One, A View of the Mountains, Butler (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Lucky Me, Dinner with the Boys, Angels and Ministers of Grace, and the musicals Immortal Interlude, Bookends,The Little, Hours (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), and Date of Lifetime. His book "Miklos Radnoti: The Complete Poetry in Hungarian and English" was recently published by McFarland.

We know you have had a distinguished career as a pediatric neurologist. When did you first know you were destined to work in the theatre arts?

My wife, SuzAnne, who is our Artistic Director, has been in theater since an early age. When we married at the age of 19 and 18 she was studying acting, directing, and design at Brooklyn College and I was in pre-med at NYU. When we moved to Cincinnati for my medical school she started a community theater, the Cincinnati Repertory Company, and recruited me to assist her. At the time I had little involvement with theater except when she would drag me to see a play, but obviously I couldn’t say “no”.  So during my four years of studying medicine, I took out books from the library and educated myself on theater organization and management. Later on in Philadelphia, she started another theater, and once we arrived in New Jersey she began her most ambitious project, our current theater. And slowly, through all those years, I gradually became a champion of theater and theater artists as I silently watched plays unfold in the dark and viewed the passion, hard work, self-doubt, joy and sacrifice of actors, directors, playwrights, designers, and technicians in an often difficult and “unforgiving” field. And of course I could not help but see the great contributions that theater makes to our culture and society nor ignore the magic of the moment when a  new play comes to life and previously unknown characters take their first breaths on stage.

As you kick off your 27th Season, please tell us a little about your team that has made New Jersey Repertory Company a top theatre destination.

There are many involved in our production team. Some have worked together for over 25 years and now communicate almost telepathically with one another without words. Our resident designers (scenic, costume, lighting, sound) have collaboratively brought to life over 125 world premieres and know our space so well that they can transform our small stage from the most intimate of settings to worlds as vast as the realms of the imagination. Our Artistic and Associate Artistic Directors, and our Literary Manager comprise our Literary Committee and select from among the hundreds of plays submitted for each season six for our Main Stage series every year. We also present about 15 developmental readings of new plays each season and 40% of our full productions begin as readings. In this way we provide a true continuum from development to production and are essentially a laboratory for new works. In the beginning, we approached plays intuitively and searched for scripts that we found compelling or that we felt would intrigue audiences. We were drawn to where the voice of the writer and the theme and dramatic journey of the play were “fresh” and we tended to skirt the edges of beaten paths. We felt that each play was a dialogue between our theater and our audience, and we searched for  diverse voices that represented the broad and changing demographics of our society. We have felt that theater and the arts is a vital arena for exploring the human condition, and more recently, that keeping theater alive during this time of great challenges to our besieged industry, is a moral imperative.

NJ Rep is renowned for its world premiere plays that have been produced around the globe.  What have been some of the challenges of running this theatre that has gained such a stellar reputation? 

Producing exclusively new plays is a highly non-pragmatic business model and is fraught with great challenges. And yet, we have somehow built a niche audience over the years  that is willing to go with us on our quixotic journey despite never knowing what they will see. They do not have the comfort of the familiar, and so we try very hard to provide the comfort of what we hope are great and exciting plays with strong and carefully crafted production values. Together we share in witnessing the birth of another new play that will hopefully join the repertoire of the American Stage, which as we know is no small thing. Part of our mission from the very beginning has been to promote our plays beyond our first production, and to date there have been over 350 subsequent productions at regional theaters throughout the U.S.  and overseas.. 

When we come to the theatre, we always love your pre-performance speeches that have some personal anecdotes and humor.  We know that in addition to being the Company's Executive Producer, you are also an accomplished poet.  Can you share a little about that element of your career?

I have had the good fortune of being able to pursue a number of fields in my life. At a very early age I decided that I would become a doctor and a poet, inspired in the first by my great uncle who was a country doctor in Hungary, and in the second by another uncle who was a machinist with a sixth grade education who happened to be a lover of poetry. He is the one who from the time I was five would recite to me from the heart bombastic patriotic and romantic Hungarian poems with a passion and sentimentality that forever left its mark. Of the various paths I have walked, poetry has been the one constant for over six decades.

What would you like someone who has never been to NJ Rep to know?

That we view each person who enters our theater not only as a guest but as an active partner in bringing a new play to life. They are participants, not observers.

What are some of your future plans?

Six years ago we purchased a remarkable property, a 30,000 square foot school with an anonymous gift from a donor familiar with our work. It is situated on 2 ½ acres with parking for over 150 vehicles and our goal is to gradually transform what is now our West End Arts Center into a fully renovated cultural center with two intimate theaters, a visual arts building, and an arts education building. The cultural center will complement our programs at our current Lumia Theater, and will champion not only new plays but promote visual arts, poetry, music, and dance.

Tickets for shows at NJ Rep are now on sale at NJ Rep.org or by calling 732.229.3166 and seasons subscriptions are also available for a full year of their world premiere theatrical productions. New Jersey Repertory Company is located at 179 Broadway, Long Branch, New Jersey 07740. The theatre entrance is in the rear with plenty of free parking.

Photo Credit:  SuzAnne and Gabe Barabas by Photographer, Danny Sanchez

  

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