Jordan Roth

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Jordan Roth (born November 13, 1975) is the President and majority owner[1] of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns and operates five Broadway theatres, including the St. James, Al Hirschfeld, August Wilson, Eugene O'Neill and Walter Kerr.

Career

Roth was raised in a Jewish family, the son of Steven Roth, a real estate developer, and Darryl Roth, a New York theater producer.[2][3] Roth graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University in 1997 with degrees in philosophy and theatre. He is currently pursuing an MBA at Columbia Business School. As a young producer (age 24), Roth first introduced interactive theatrical experiences with his 1999 production of The Donkey Show, a disco club event combining elements of both theatre and nightlife. Performed in a New York nightclub, The Donkey Show invites audiences to watch the show unfold all around them on the dance floor, and then stay after the show to party at the club. Retelling the story of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream entirely through disco hits, The Donkey Show became a phenomenon of New York nightlife, hailed by The New York Times as “an indication of things to come in the theatre.” The show ran for 6 years in New York, and has toured internationally.

Roth followed The Donkey Show with a Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Show. Through the course of the run, the cast included Dick Cavett, Joan Jett, Luke Perry, Sebastian Bach, Ana Gasteyer, and a rotation of guest narrators including Jerry Springer, Penn & Teller, Robin Leach, Sally Jessy Raphael, Gilbert Gottfried, Cindy Adams, and Dave Holmes. Cited by Newsday as “the young blood Broadway so desperately craves,” Roth became the youngest lead producer ever nominated for a Tony Award with the show’s 2001 nomination for Best Musical Revival. The Rocky Horror Show was nominated for 4 Tony Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards, 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards, and a Drama League Award.

As The Donkey Show continued its run, Roth opened its new sister show, The Karaoke Show, which combines Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors with karaoke.

Roth joined Jujamcyn Theaters in 2005 as Resident Producer and became the company’s Vice President the following year. In addition to his responsibilities operating and booking the company’s theaters, Roth has produced A Catered Affair. Starring Faith Prince, Tom Wopat and Harvey Fierstein, A Catered Affair was nominated for 12 Drama Desk Awards, the most of any show that season, and won the Drama League Award for Best Musical.

At Jujamcyn, Roth created Givenik, a service allowing theatergoers to buy discounted tickets and give 5% of their ticket price to the charity of their choice. Givenik.com currently supports over 200 organizations including Human Rights Campaign, Dress for Success, God's Love We Deliver, The Actors Fund, Central Park Conservancy, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, People for the American Way, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Creative Alternatives of New York, Manhattan Theatre Club, local chapters of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and Big Brothers / Big Sisters. Any certified non-profit organization can sign up to be a part of Givenik.com for free and develop a new, year-round fundraising mechanism on Broadway.

He was included in Variety's “50 Creatives to Watch” in 2000, Out Magazine’s “Out 100” for 2000, The Daily News’ “50 New Yorkers to Watch in 2001,” Time Out New York’s “42 Reasons to Applaud New York Theatre,” and Paper Magazine’s “Beautiful People Issue” of 2004. As a writer, several of Roth’s essays and commentaries have appeared on Advocate.com.

Roth serves on the Board of Trustees of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), Freedom to Marry, Young Patrons of Lincoln Center Theater, and the Horace Mann School, of which he is an alumnus.

Personal

Roth is openly gay. He married Richie Jackson, a talent manager who is executive producer of the Showtime series Nurse Jackie, in September 2012.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Roth ups his stake in Jujamcyn " by Patricia Cohen, New York Times, Sept 8, 2009
  2. ↑ Samantha Ettus interview of Tony winning Broadway Producer Daryl Roth retrieved October 25, 2013 |Minute 12:30 of the interview "My Dad Jerry Adkins was a Chevrolet car dealer and my Mom was a homemaker...We were on the outside a bit since there were not any Jewish families where we lived."
  3. ↑ Jewish Daily Forward: "Romney PAC Attracts New Jewish Donors" By Josh Nathan-Kazis March 12, 2012
  4. ↑ "Weddings/Celebrations: Richie Jackson and Jordan Roth". The New York Times. September 14, 2012. 

External links

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