Legendary Broadway producer Rocco Landesman — whose smash adaptation of Mel Brooks’ The Producers won 12 Tony Awards, including “Best Musical” — will speak on “Why We Need Broadway” for the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences.
The talk is free and open to the public and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in Edison Theatre.
A native of St. Louis (and a lifelong Cardinals fan), Landesman is president of New York’s Jujamcyn Theaters, a company that owns and operates five Broadway theaters: the Virginia, the Al Hirschfeld, the Walter Kerr, the Eugene O’Neill and the St. James.
Since he joined the company in 1987, Landesman and Jujamcyn have produced dozens of major shows, ranging from original musicals and plays, such as Into the Woods (1987), Angels in America (1993), Smokey Joe’s Café (1995) and Proof (2001), to the award-winning revivals of Guys and Dolls (1992), Death of a Salesman (1999) and 42nd Street (2001).
Under his watch, Jujamcyn has garnered some 50 Tony nominations in the categories of “Best Play,” “Best Musical,” “Best Revival of a Play” and “Best Revival of a Musical.”
Landesman purchased Jujamcyn Theaters in February, following the death of company founder James H. Binger in November. Playbill noted that “Landesman is now a rare creature in commercial New York theatre: A landlord who is also a creative producer.”
Prior to joining Jujamcyn, Landesman produced the Tony-Award winning musical Big River (1985) and taught dramatic literature and criticism at the Yale School of Drama. He has written articles and reviews for numerous publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Landesman serves on the boards of the Municipal Art Society, The Actors’ Fund, the Times Square Business Improvement District and The League of American Theaters and Producers. In addition, he is part-owner of three minor-league baseball teams: the Mobile Bay Bears (AA), the Fort Wayne Wizards (A) and the Capitol City Bombers of Columbia, S.C. (A).
For more information, call 935-5858.