What's the history of the Huntington's relationship with commercial producers?

Peter DuBois

by Peter DuBois

The Boston Globe reported recently on an upcoming study about the partnership between the non-profit-theatre and commercial producers. The study was sponsored by the Center for Theater Commons at Emerson College and written by Diane Ragsdale.

With respect to the Huntington, its true that we occasionally collaborate with commercial producers, and we believe that this can be accomplished in ways that stay on mission.

I encourage you to read the Globe article and to think about your own response to the questions raised. The Globe reported a short overview of our history of collaborations that involved commercial producers. In the interest of transparency and adding additional facts to the conversation, here's the full history of the Huntington's relationship with commercial producers, dating back to the our founding.

What do you think about the relationship between non-profit theatres and commercial producers? If you're an audience member, do you think it's impacted your experience at the Huntington?

My tenure: 5 seasons, 3 projects scheduled in collaboration with commercial producers (one dropped out before production), and one co-produced with a New York-based non-profit 

2012-2013 Season
Our Town
In collaboration with an Off Broadway commercial producer

2011 – 2012 Season 
Sons of the Prophet
Co-production with New York-based non-profit

Captors
In collaboration with an outside producer

2008-2009 Season
Pirates! 
Scheduled with the with the participation of an outside producer who ultimately pulled out before production

The Nicholas Martin years: 8 seasons, 7 projects in collaboration with commercial producers including 3 with Broadway in Boston

2007-2008 Season
Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
West-End transfer transferred directly to Broadway

2006-2007 Season
Radio Golf
Pre-Broadway production with commercial producers involved

2004-2005 Season
Gem of the Ocean
Pre-Broadway production with commercial producers involved

2003-2004 Season
As You Like It
Commercial touring production co-produced with Broadway in Boston

2002-2003 Season
Marty 
Produced in collaboration with commercial producers

2001-2002 Season
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme
Produced in association with Broadway in Boston, direct transfer to Lincoln Center Theatre

2000-2001 Season
Fully Committed
Produced in association with Broadway in Boston

The Peter Altman years: 18 seasons, 7 projects in collaboration with commercial producers

1999-2000 Season
King Hedley
Produced in collaboration with commercial producers

1998-1999 Season
Jitney
Produced in collaboration with commercial producers, no commercial run

1995-1996 Season
Seven Guitars
Produced in collaboration with commercial producers, pre-Broadway run

The Young Man from Atlanta
Enhanced by commercial producers, ran on Broadway in 1997

1992-1993 Season
Pal Joey
Enhanced by commercial producers

1990-1991 Season
Two Trains Running
Produced in collaboration with commercial producers, pre-Broadway run

1987-1988 Season
The Piano Lesson
Produced in collaboration with commercial producers, pre-Broadway run

We've Received 39 IRNE Award Nominations!

We've received 39 IRNE Award nominations from the Independent Reviewers of New England, which recognized each our 2011 productions. The 39 nominations are five more than we received for our 2010 productions and more than twice as many as any other company in New England.



The cast of Candide, photo: T. Charles Erickson

Our September-October 2011 production of Leonard Bernstein’s glorious musical Candide received 13 nominations, more than any other production of 2011, and was nominated in every category in which it is eligible: 

What Audiences Are Saying About Captors

Have you seen Captors yet?
Please share your comments with us!

• How did you feel watching Eichmann get captured for the second time? Was this Nazi war criminal a sympathetic character, or are his actions still irredeemable?


• Captors is a dramatization of actual historical events that hopefully illuminates the story in a new and unfamiliar light. Even Peter Malkin himself struggled to remember the exact details of his time in Buenos Aires. Did this story affect or change your perception of world history? Did parts of the the play surprise you, even if you already knew the history behind it and how the story would end?


• Did you attend a post show conversation? What comments surprised you or made you think differently about the play? Would you attend a post show conversation again? What were you thinking about on the way home from the theatre?

Join the Conversation!

The Huntington Theatre Company's production of CAPTORS plays now through November 13, 2011  at the Boston University Theatre. Get tickets and information or call our Box Office at 617 266-0800.

Adolf Eichmann: the Man, the Myth, the Monster

Part of the excitement about producing a show like CAPTORS is the opportunity to learn something new. "But wait," you say, "The story of Captors isn't new — it happened 50 years ago!" And you'd be right to say that. But for some of our audience — and admittedly (embarrassingly) for much of our staff, up until this script came to our attention — the details of Adolf Eichmann's capture were not common knowledge. We spoke with playwright Evan M. Wiener, director Peter DuBois, and the (well-researched!) actors playing Eichmann and Malkin, Michael Cristofer and Louis Cancelmi, and put this video together exploring the complex psyche of the "Architect of the Holocaust."



The Huntington Theatre Company's production of CAPTORS plays now through November 13, 2011  at the Boston University Theatre. Get tickets and information or call our Box Office at 617 266-0800.

CAPTORS Video - Huntington Theatre Company

Director Peter DuBois, playwright Evan M. Wiener, and the cast rehearse and discuss Captors. 

The Huntington Theatre Company's production of CAPTORS plays now through November 13, 2011  at the Boston University Theatre. Get tickets and information or call our Box Office at 617 266-0800.