Robert Callely

Robert Callely’s first job in theatre was in 1968 as assistant to the late, legendary talent/literary agent, Gloria Safier. He recently finished a first novel, “Stick Horse,” and is currently working on a collection of stories about the theatre. His idea for a staged reading of “The Importance of Being Earnest” starring Angela Lansbury as Lady Bracknell turned into a record-breaking fundraiser for The Roundabout Theatre Company in November 2019. In 2014 he spent five months in London with a production of “Blithe Spirit” starring Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati, for which she won an Olivier Award and in November of that year, a play he wrote, “On A Stool At The End Of The Bar,” premiered Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theatres. In 2013 he toured Australia for six months with an acclaimed production of “Driving Miss Daisy” also starring Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones and Boyd Gaines. Between 1998-2006, he was managing director of HB Playwrights Theatre, co-founded by Uta Hagen, overseeing production of 21 full-length and 70 one-act plays. While there, he also conceived and produced a gala staged reading of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with Hagen revisiting the role of Martha and co-starring Jonathan Pryce, Mia Farrow and Matthew Broderick at the Majestic Theatre, which Ben Brantley, chief theatre critic of The New York Times, hailed as “The year’s most dazzling evening in theatre.” Before HB, Callely was executive director of the American Theatre Wing; managing director of the Theatre Development Fund; and assistant director of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting. Between 1972-1986 he produced over 50 shows on tour and in stock including “Mame” and “Gypsy” with Angela Lansbury, “Lorelei” with Carol Channing, “No, No Nanette” with Ruby Keeler, “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” and “Fiddler On The Roof” with Zero Mostel, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” with Tammy Grimes, “Damn Yankees” with Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston. He also did productions of “Godspell,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Grease,” and “Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris.” He oversaw the presentation of scores of concerts and special events starring Dolly Parton, Charles Aznavour, Bob Hope, Liberace, Johnny Carson, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Sony & Cher, Tom Jones, Joan Rivers, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Alan King, Ethel Merman, Sammy Davis, Jr., Carroll O’Connor, Frankie Vallee & The Four Seasons and Woody Allen, to name a few. He has written four plays, a collection of children’s stories, over seventy short stories and his travel journal, “Toward a Time of Goodness/The Opening of Sripuram,” was published in India (2007), and is in its 23rd printing. Playbill ran his profile of Angela Lansbury, “Speaking of Great Performances.” He has been a member the American Theatre Wing Advisory Committee for over 20 years and is a founding trustee of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. He has served on the Tony Management, Administration and Nominating committees and the faculty of Baruch College.