Tom Viertel has produced a wide range of plays and musicals on and off Broadway, in London and on tour for over 30 years, including Hairspray, The Producers, A Little Night Music, The Encounter, Young Frankenstein, Little Shop of Horrors, The Weir, The Sound of Music, Smokey Joe’s Café, Driving Miss Daisy, and many others. He is a member of the Board of Governors, Government Relations, and Tony Management Committees of The Broadway League and a Trustee of the Equity-League Pension Funds. With his partners, Richard Frankel, Steve Baruch, and Marc Routh, he owns Feinstein’s/54 Below, Broadway’s Supper Club. He is the Executive Director of the Commercial Theater Institute, which provides a comprehensive curriculum in producing for Broadway.
We talked about how producing has changed over the years as well as:
- What’s wrong with Off Broadway today? And can it be fixed?
- How to learn from the shows that don’t work.
- The most important skill a Broadway Producer must have.
- The advantages of taking small investors and how he built his database.
- What real estate and Broadway producing have in common.
This week's episode is brought to you by Broadway Roulette, the fun and easy way to see a Broadway show. You pick the day and eliminate up to 6 shows you've already seen or don't want to see. Then they send you to a surprise show that fits your criteria. Check it out at: www.broadwayroulette.com.
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