In the wake of the Broadway triumph of the Tony Award-winning musical hit MEMPHIS, theater bigwigs from across the country gathered at TheatreWorks last weekend to see what new works the nationally acclaimed theater of Silicon Valley is laying its hands on next. Member companies congregated for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Summit, where visitors included Nancy Gibbs of 321 Theatrical Management, whose Broadway, Off-Broadway, and National Tour credits include Wicked; Next to Normal; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; the revival of Man of La Mancha starring Brian Stokes Mitchell; the revival of The Graduate starring Kathleen Turner on Broadway; and Bat Boy: The Musical, among many others. Former Managing Director at TheatreWorks Randy Adams of Junkyard Dog Productions, producer of the smash Broadway hit musical MEMPHIS, was also in attendance, alongside representatives from nationally celebrated theater companies including 5th Avenue Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Goodspeed Musicals, and La Jolla Playhouse, among many others.
These industry insiders gathered at TheatreWorks' rehearsAl Halls on Friday to discuss the process of producing a musical on the West Coast and to learn the TheatreWorks model for developing and nurturing new works from infancy to main stage premieres. Additionally, they explored the role creative producers play in bringing a new musical to the stage in a discussion lead by Greg Schaffert of 321 Theatrical Management and Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang about their efforts on Great Wall, one of the musicals in development at TheatreWorks' New Works Festival. On Saturday, MEMPHIS producer Randy Adams of Junkyard Dog Productions and Nancy Gibbs of 321 Theatrical Management lead a round-table discussion about commercial production, offering insight to participants on how to bring a production from its nascent stages to widespread professional production. Additionally, artists, producers, and theater representatives had the opportunity to mix, mingle, and network at a wine reception Friday evening.Videos