Stephen Byrd has pursued his interest in producing high quality entertainment vehicles for many years. As President/ CEO of the American Cinema Group, Inc., he has raised capital for, and invested in several TV & Film projects. He formed Front Row Productions, Inc. which is dedicated solely to producing quality theatrical productions. As the Producer of the first African American Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, which was the highest grossing play on Broadway in 2008, he also won the Laurence Olivier Award, for Best Revival of A Play for his production of the same show on London's West End. Other shows he has produced include Eclipsed, The Trip to Bountiful, and A Streetcar Named Desire. He was named as one of the most important African Americans in the theatre by The New York Daily News.
Stephen sat down with me to talk about the mission statement of his company and . . .
- How he describes his target audience.
- How he assembled an all-star cast for his very first show – and the long process it took to get there.
- Why he didn’t cast Lupita Nyong’o the first time she auditioned for one of his shows.
- How Stephen believes we can make Broadway’s audiences more diverse.
- What’s the most important thing for movie stars to learn when they do Broadway.
Enjoy Mr. Byrd!
Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway