Daniel Gallant

Daniel Gallant

Daniel Gallant is a theatrical producer, playwright, director and actor based in New York City, New York. He is also the current executive director of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and the author of the short story collection Determined to Prove.^[1]

Education and Early Career

Gallant grew up in Rockville, MD and attended Sidwell Friends school in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Swarthmore College in 1998, Gallant moved to New York City and worked at talent agency ICM Artists. Gallant produced and directed a number of small theater productions in New York. He received a master's degree in arts administration from Columbia University, and subsequently began working as Director of Theater Programming at the 92nd Street Y's Makor Center.^[2]

While at Makor, Gallant curated performances, readings and workshops of numerous plays and musicals. He created the Festival of 'Wrights,^[3] a theater series that premiered new work by such artists as Mark O'Donnell, Warren Leight and Craig Lucas and included readings featuring David Strathairn, Dan Hedaya, Paul Rudd, Martha Plimpton and other notable performers.^[4] He also moderated on-stage interviews featuring Tony Kushner, Wendy Wasserstein, Norman Mailer, Peter Falk, Neil LaBute, Chazz Palminteri, Liz Swados and other artists.^[5][6][7][8]

Gallant has also curated theater and talk events and taught classes at the 92nd Street Y's downtown Manhattan venue, 92YTribeca.^[9][10]

In 2007, Gallant produced and directed Five Story Walkup, a four-week benefit for the 13th Street Repertory Theatre; the show included premier stagings of short plays and monologues by Neil LaBute, John Guare, Quincy Long, Clay McLeod Chapman, Laura Shaine Cunningham and Daniel F. Levin.,^[11][12] The monologues and plays that constitute "Five Story Walkup" were published in the anthology THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS 2007-2008 by Applause Books in August 2009.^[13] In 2010, Gallant produced Seven Card Draw, a benefit for Dixon Place; this show featured premier stagings of short dramatic works by LaBute, Guare and the other authors who had contributed to Five Story Walkup, as well as a performance by Piper Perabo.^[14] The monologues and plays that constitute "Seven Card Draw" will be published in the anthology THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS 2009-2010 by Applause Books in August 2011.^[15] In 2014, Gallant produced "Nine Signs of the Times", a benefit for the Nuyorican Poets Cafe; this show featured premier stagings of short works by LaBute, Guare, Caridad Svich, Halley Feiffer, and the other authors who had contributed to "Five Story Walkup" and "Seven Card Draw".^[16]

At the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

In spring of 2008, Gallant was appointed as the new executive director of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, a legendary artistic and cultural venue located in Manhattan's east village.^[17] Gallant joined the Cafe just before its 35th Anniversary Celebration, an enormous concert event at Manhattan's Town Hall.^[18][19]

Since Gallant's appointment, the Cafe's operating budget has increased significantly, as has event attendance.^[20] Gallant's management efforts have focused on modernizing and expanding the operations of the Cafe while maintaining its artistic and cultural traditions.^[21][22] Under Gallant's leadership, the Cafe has raised more than $6 million in capital funding; the funds will be used to renovate the Cafe's East Village building.^[23][24]

Gallant has also significantly expanded the Cafe’s online presence; according to the Wall Street Journal, “since late 2009, Mr. Gallant has exploited expanding social-media tools to grow the cafe from a small, volunteer-led venue best known for weekly poetry events to a thriving arts center with partnerships across the city. Through strategic use of Facebook, Twitter and a $10,000-per-month grant from Google, he said he has boosted online ticket sales by 30% and web traffic by 40%, and doubled the number of events from around one per evening to two or more.” ^[25] Gallant has given presentations about social media strategies for small businesses and non-profits at events including RealtimeNY 11 and a conference for small business owners sponsored by Google and Chase; summaries of his presentations have appeared on social-media-themed blogs.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Plays, Writing and TV Appearances

In April 2013, the New York Post published an editorial by Gallant; the editorial explored economic trends that threaten New York City arts venues.^[30]

In 2013, Gallant gave a speech that inducted Cafe co-founder Miguel Piñero into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame.^[31]

Gallant has appeared on several TV shows. In 2013, he was featured in an episode of MTV's reality series "Washington Heights".^[32] He also appeared in NY1 and NBC news segments in 2012.^[33][34]

In summer 2008, Gallant's play Gerald's Method was produced twice in New York (at Center Stage ^[35] and in the Midtown International Theatre Festival^[36]) and nominated by the New York Innovative Theatre Awards for best short script.^[37] Gallant's other short works have been staged at venues including Theater for the New City, the Cornelia Street Cafe and Mo Pitkins.^[38][39]

Gallant's play "A Felony in Blue or Death by Poker" premiered at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in 2011. The play featured a live game of Texas hold 'em, in which underworld characters compete for supremacy.^[40]

In fall 2008, Gallant produced the off-Broadway premiere of David Brandes' and Joseph Telushkin's play The Quarrel, based on their 1991 film of the same name.^[41] The play was staged at the DR2 Theatre in Union Square.

In winter 2008, Gallant produced the musical Ogden Nash's The Tales of Custard the Dragon (by Bradford W. Ross and Danny Whitman) off-Broadway at the DR2 Theatre.^[42]

Gallant has co-produced the long-running rock musicals Soul Searching and Generations.^[43] He also curated and hosted the multi-venue performance/reading series Acoustic Theater.^[44]

Gallant has appeared as an actor in several productions, including Five Story Walkup,^[45] Josephine Undone and Gerald's Method.^[46]

He served as a judge for The 13th and 14th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2014 and 2015, and his contributions helped assist the careers of upcoming independent artists.

References