Talking with Albert Poland

Behind every great production is a GREAT general manager. And no one has been behind more great productions than today’s guest: Albert Poland.

But first, let’s talk about what a general manager DOES. It might be easier to talk about what a general manager does not do. In general (pun intended), the general manager executes and monitors the producer’s vision for a show on a day-to-day basis. S/he prepares operating and production budgets and ensures they are followed; recommends specific individuals to be part of the creative team (eg Director, Choreographer, Lighting Design, etc.); recommends PR and ad agencies and negotiates contracts with them; creates and implements the ticket pricing strategy; and much, much more. Where producers and actors can become household names when a show is a hit, general managers work their genius largely behind the scenes.

Experience, knowledge and reliability are the essential assets in a general manager. And no general manager in the past half-century is more experienced, knowledgeable or reliable than Albert Poland. In his 43-year career in New York theater, Albert served as general manager for more than 90 productions, including The Homecoming, Talk Radio, Glengarry Glen Ross (Tony Award, Best Revival), Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Tony Award, Best Revival), Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Dirty Blonde, The Last Night at Ballyhoo (Tony Award, Best Play), The Grapes of Wrath (Tony Award, Best Play), As Is (Drama Desk Award, Best Play), The Price, Little Shop of Horrors (Original Production, Drama Critics, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards, Best Musical), Steel Magnolias, One Mo’ Time, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Steve Martiin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Drama Desk, Best Play), Uta hagen in Mrs. Klein, Eileen Heckart in The Waverly Gallery, Always Patsy Cline, Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind (Drama Critics, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards, Best Play), Vanities, David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre, The Neon Woman, Tommy Tune Atop the Village Gate, Let My People Come, Stephen Sondheim’s Marry Me a Little and Tom Lehrer’s Tomfoolery.

Albert Poland operated the Astor Place Theatre from 1977 through 2000, during which time it was host to such long runs as A Coupla White Chicks, The Dining Room, The Foreigner and Blue Man Group. He is the Co-Editor/Author, with Bruce Mailman, of “The Off-Off Broadway Book” published in 1972 by Bobbs-Merrill. As a performer, he appeared at Carnegie Hall, La Mama, Judson Poets Theater and the Village Gate.

Last and certainly not least, Albert Poland’s first venture in show business was in 1955 as the founding president of The Official Judy Garland Fan Club.