Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Matthow.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Dana. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in Elmont Long Island and went to school at Temple University in Philadelphia. My uncle was Walter Matthau, and I guess the theater bug runs in the genes so I always wanted to be a producer, never wanted to be a performer, but who knows, there is still time.
I graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia and decided to raise money to produce my first Off-Broadway show, called “Sea Marks” by Gardner McKay. Gardner was famous for starring in a TV series called Adventures in Paradise. It was a wonderful two character story about an Irish Fisherman and a Welsh farm girl, who ran off-Broadway for 3 months, just long enough to lose all the money.
After that shock of losing people’s money, I never wanted to ask anyone for money again. I just did shows that I could afford to produce myself or maybe with one partner.
Thereafter, I opened a copy shop in New York City and it expanded to three locations, which I ran for a few years. Then I decided to open a theater magazine, which began as a giveaway at the TKTS booth in Times Square. It gave people a description of each Broadway Show and we sold ads to pay for it. Slowly the magazine expanded into hotels and other locations becoming the largest circulation of any visitor publication in NYC. It was and still is called City Guide Magazine. I published it for 20 years and sold it about 18 years ago.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
During my publishing days, I decided to sign a 10 year lease on a theater space and named it The Soho Playhouse. It was a 199 seat theater and it opened with a great musical comedy called Hysterical Blindness starring and written by Leslie Jordan. The show ran only a few months, oh well. But during that time, I began doing another show called Grandma Silvia’s Funeral. It started two times per week and then grew to four times and finally eight performances per week, becoming a 2-3 year hit. It was an interactive Funeral, ala Tony & Tina’s wedding. It was known as the longest running funeral in history. We had an old hearse with a large sign on top that we drove all over the city. We would periodically stop and take the casket out and have a service on the street corner, which was great promotion for the show. (see picture attached)
WaistWatchers The Musical! – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Since then I have done a hundred plus shows all over the country. When I sold my magazine, I began producing full time and have done shows throughout the US and Toronto Canada. My partner Phil Roy and I produced My Son The Waiter, A Jewish Tragedy!, My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn (do you catch the theme). When Phil and I parted ways, I began working full time on Waistwatchers The Musical! The show gets an amazing audience reaction. I love listening to the applause and the laughter becomes infectious. So I am touring the show all across the US (20 cities so far) and am delighted to have it sit down for an open end run in Chicago. There is a great quote that I love, from the choreographer of our show: “Waistwatchers The Musical is about strong, sensitive, passionate and evolving women who function best with good friends and humor by their sides. As choreographer, getting to work with the cast is much like the plot, we are there to support each other and above all…laugh.”- DANI TUCCI-JURAGA (Choreographer for Waistwatchers The Musical!)
If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?
When you ask, as I look back over my life, would I do anything differently… well yes is the answer. I should have bought Apple stock at its low and invested in real estate sooner.
Pricing:
- Tickets to WaistWatchers The Musical! start at $45
Contact Info:
- Address: The Royal George Theatre
1641 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60614 - Website: www.waistwatchersthemusical.com
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