---

Q&A with Jack Viertel '67

Jack Viertel fell in love with theater at a young age — drawn to its magic — but soon realized his talents belonged behind the scenes rather than on the stage. After a brief stint working as a critic in LA, he took a job at Jujamcyn Theaters in New York. Over the next thirty-four years, Viertel would go on to serve as the company's creative director and senior vice president, bringing shows like Hairspray, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Outsiders to life.

---

When did your love for theater begin?
I’ve loved theater since I was five years old. I grew up surrounded by it — my grandfather built theaters across the country, including two on Broadway, and my father tried his hand at playwriting. In 1936, one of my father’s plays ran for two weeks at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where Hamilton is now performed. That early exposure ignited my lifelong love of theater.  

What was the first show you recall seeing? 
The first show I saw was Peter Pan. We sat in the front row, and during intermission, I peered into the orchestra pit and was mesmerized by all the shiny brass instruments. I loved the whole show, and from that moment, I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to creating that kind of magic.

What did you envision yourself doing in the theater industry? 
I originally wanted to be an actor, which is one reason I chose Pomfret, with its five theater productions each year. At Harvard, after two shows, I realized I was a terrible actor, so I shifted my focus to working at the radio station and started presenting concerts at Harvard. That experience taught me the fundamentals of producing, which became central to my career.

How did you start working in theater?
I began by volunteering at the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival and writing freelance articles. A friend then offered me a job as a theater critic at a weekly newspaper, which led to a role as a daily theater critic and eventually arts editor. I didn’t want a career in newspapers; I wanted to work in theater. By chance, I got a press release from the Mark Taper Forum announcing that their dramaturg was leaving. Because of my work as a critic, I knew the Artistic Director and was hired. I got to collaborate with directors and playwrights as they worked on their scripts, which was as educational as it was humbling.

How did you eventually move from Los Angeles to New York City.
After two years at the Mark Taper Forum, Rocco Landesman, newly appointed president of Jujamcyn Theaters, invited me to join him in New York. I was surprised, but he explained it was because of a “terrible but smart” review I wrote of his first musical, Big River, at the La Jolla Playhouse. He had used my critique to improve the show, which went on to win seven Tony Awards. Moving to New York allowed me to devote myself fully to Broadway, where I worked at Jujamcyn for more than thirty years. 

What was your favorite part of the early process of putting a show together?
Hearing words spoken by actors is what truly brings a show to life for me. I could immediately tell if something wasn’t working — if I was bored, not paying attention, or not laughing at the jokes — and then work with the team to try to make it right.

What did you enjoy most about working at Jujamcyn Theaters?
Jujamcyn operated differently from traditional theater owners — it had a team, and I could focus almost entirely on the creative side while others attended to the business end. My favorite part was collaborating with artists to develop a new show. I loved taking pieces that weren’t quite working and helping us to try to figure out how to make them better. Sitting with the creators, we’d discuss what needed to be done to perfect the production. During previews, the audience’s reactions showed us what was working and what wasn’t. It was often stressful, but always exhilarating, and I remember it with enormous fondness.

Do you have a favorite show or production that you helped bring to life?
I could point to half a dozen shows, but I don't have a single favorite. Each was meaningful in a different way. Among non-musicals, Angels in America stands out as the most important play I ever worked on. From the moment we read it, we knew it was a defining work of our era. It's a seven-hour play, and figuring out how to stage it was a major challenge. I also worked on five of the ten plays in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle. I got very friendly with him, and we worked together very well. Those plays were also a milestone in the American theater, and I felt incredibly lucky to be close to them.

Among musicals, Hairspray was an extraordinary experience, and developing the initial idea for Smokey Joe’s Café and The Prom were equally rewarding. Interestingly, Jelly's Last Jam was the first show I worked on with an almost entirely Black cast and production team. I had to learn that some of my thoughts and ideas ran counter to the culture the show was celebrating, making it a fascinating, if sometimes uncomfortable, process, but still great fun. 

In addition to working at Jujamcyn, you worked at New York City Center Encores! How did the two roles differ?
At Encores!, we staged classic shows with limited runs, often with a thirty-piece orchestra and minimal scenery or costumes. Broadway was shrinking in terms of actors and musicians, so it was especially gratifying to hear the shows I grew up with — and even much older shows — performed as their creators intended.

You also taught at NYU Tisch. What inspired you to teach?
As I entered the final act of my career, I wanted to pass on what I had learned to the next generation. At NYU Tisch, I lectured on four musicals over a semester, exploring every aspect of how a show is built.

What inspired your first book?
People often asked when I would write a book, so in 2016, I wrote The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built, which became a New York Times bestseller. Drawing on my Tisch lectures, it examines musical structure and offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Broadway shows are crafted.

Why write a novel afterward?
After my nonfiction book, I wanted to explore theater through fiction. I wrote Broadway Melody, set in Times Square, following three fictional characters over seventy years as they navigate the theater world and interact with historical figures. The novel allowed me to capture the spirit of theater during the Depression and the 1940s, the era I grew up hearing about, and also the era I had lived through, including the catastrophe of the AIDS epidemic on Broadway, the rebirth of Times Square, and so forth. But it’s basically a love story and a love-of-Broadway story.

You have retired from Jujamcyn and Encores! What keeps you busy now?
I served as creative consultant for The Outsiders and wrote and conceived Let the Good Times Roll, which celebrates the music and spirit of New Orleans. We have produced the show in Phoenix and held a workshop in New York City. And my son and I wrote a thriller together about Maine called The Glass Eel. We’re working on a new one.

How has Broadway changed since you first entered the field?
When I started, musical theater was largely “tired businessmen’s entertainment,” and the audience was more or less local. Today, the breadth of material is enormous; anything can be a musical, from Dear Evan Hansen to Fun Home. Straight plays tend to be star vehicles because stars sell tickets. Both productions and audiences are more diverse, but Broadway has also become a tourist-driven industry. Ticket prices and production costs have skyrocketed, and investing in new shows is riskier. But the theater always survives.

How have you sustained such a long career in such a competitive industry?
I think it has been a combination of a deep passion and a learned ability to be helpful in making things happen. And a hell of a lot of luck. I never planned any of these things. I seized opportunities as they came and learned when to say yes.
 

---

 

Read More Stories