Hey, Mr. Producer!
A Series of Serendipitous Circumstances.
Earlier this summer, I was trying to pin down a prominent theatrical producer to interview for this project. Every avenue I went down ended in a dead end. I thought I was out of luck and would forgo the producer’s prospective.
One week, I received an email from Miami Herbert about a virtual speaker series they were holding, and how the Dean would be interviewing Edgar Bronfman Jr about his kaleidoscope of a career. Besides being a prominent figure in the music industry, Bronfman is known for producing many Broadway shows. So, I signed into the Zoom webinar hosted by the Dean.
After the webinar, I emailed the Dean of Miami Herbert trying to see if I could get an introduction. I described to him my project and if he could introduce me to Mr. Bronfman under the pretenses of my project. He agreed and within a few minutes, Mr. Bronfman introduced me to Tom Kirdahy, one of Broadway’s most successful producers to date. It never hurts to reach out for help.
Diverse Background on the Road to Theater
Mr. Kirdahy has a diverse portfolio of work that he’s been able to produce. He started out his career as a lawyer, providing free legal service to people with HIV/AIDS. "At the time the AIDS crisis was getting worse. A great number of my friends were getting sick and dying. I felt that I needed to do something about the crisis that was decimating my community" said Kirdahy. Tom always has had a love for the theater, even while being an activist and lawyer for the LGBTQ+ community. Kirdahy and critic, Isa Goldberg, organized a discussion through the East End Gay Organization, called "Theatre From a Gay Perspective", which was the beginning of his transition to his producing career. The panel included three playwrights, Lanford Wilson, Edward Albee, and his future husband Terrence McNally. Tom Kirdahy has gone on to produce Tony and Olivier Award winning productions, most recently The Inheritance and Hadestown.
Producing from the Heart
Tom was accommodating enough to sit down with me amidst his busy schedule. I felt I came into the interview with malicious intentions, trying to somehow “catch” a producer admitting money runs all shows and how they thrive upon that financial power. Our interview blew that mindset out of the water.
“[I want to help artists] achieve their dreams within a viable financial model…it’s the greatest joy one can have in producing” said Tom, adding in that aiding them in their completion of their work give him great joy. “The art has to lead and people will follow” was a phrase he mentioned many times in different interactions. But although making art is wonderful, producers need to “insure the long term life of the project.” Essential to that is looking at weekly running costs.
In order for Tom to do his job correctly, he conveys to his team that if the financials are not under control, their work is in jeopardy. “The analysis always has to be ‘is this expense necessary?’ ‘Is there an artistic solution that can keep the running costs down?’ ‘Are there other ways of solving a problem rather than bringing people on and spending more money?’”
He went onto say “the worst thing I can do as a producer is set everyone up for failure. If [the production’s] running costs are great, you’re not going to make it.” He added, “That doesn’t mean being cheap and making sacrifices by putting [the] piece at risk, but it does mean asking the tough question ‘is this essential to telling the story?’” I then went on, telling him about many creatives blaming producers for not spending more capital on aspects the artists found “essential” to the story. He went onto say “I have to understand the ‘why?’ [for that example].” Creatives tend not to see the financial side of a production many times. It’s helpful when artists have financial context for their show, although it’s not their job to worry about that context.
Tom is a different type of producer. When asked about choosing shows to produce, what does he listen to his head or heart? He paused and said “heart.” And it shows from his catalogue of work and his producing style. He almost has to play good cop/bad cop with creatives; constantly encouraging them to push their artistic limits meanwhile keeping fiscal responsibility. Tom echoed this by saying he is in constant communication with his artists during the process. “If there is trust amongst the team, you can easily find ways [around issues].”
Tom Is Part of the Minority
With producers that I’ve encountered over the years, Tom is a part of the minority. This is because he understands and supports the artist. Many unions have their strict clauses due to greedy producers and theater owners. Mr. Kirdahy alluded to knowing that if he over works or talks down to artists who don’t understand the financial sides of the production, it cuts off valuable communication that otherwise can help a project succeed. There are mostly outrageous and bombastic producers on Broadway currently who can be depicted as cartoonish large men surrounded by bags of money. Hopefully a new set of producers will take note from Tom’s style and panache. I hope you take away from my conversation with Tom that not all producers are greedy and understand the artistic as well as the financial. We’ll come back to Tom and I’s conversation in the Future installment.