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SUSAN L. SCHULMAN
We are all aware of the singers and actors who
create music and the theater. Less known are the people behind the scenes who
really make it all come together. This commentary is dedicated to one
of those people- Susan L. Schulman. She has worked in the world of theater and
song and is without question one of the most caring and effective voices in the
Press Agent community. As Johnny Mercer would have said, her work is
magnificent: SHE IS JUST TOO MARVELOUS FOR WORDS!
Susan L. Schulman has been a
theatrical press agent for over 30 years handling Broadway and
off-Broadway plays and musicals, dance, TV, books, special events and
individual personalities. The native New Yorker, Susan is a graduate
of Hunter College High School and NYU with a Masters' degree in Theatre
from Columbia University. After working as a Senior Publicist at
WNET/Channel 13, United Artists and trained with some of the top
theatrical press agents including the legendary Bill Doll, Susan opened
her own publicity office in 1978. In 1985 Susan joined
CBS-TV as Director, Press Information, handling publicity and marketing
for all the CBS Mini-Series. She also headed the Public
Relations/Corporate Communications Departments at USA Network and the Arts
& Entertainment Network and was Vice President, Entertainment at Brown
& Powers Public Relations. In 1992 she re-opened her office in
the Paramount Building in Times Square.
Susan's many Broadway and off-Broadway productions include Lauren Bacall
in APPLAUSE; George C. Scott in SLY FOX and DEATH OF A SALESMAN; Jim Dale
in SCAPINO; John Lithgow and George Segal in REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT;
John Davidson in STATE FAIR; Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfus and Gene Hackman
in DEATH AND THE MAIDEN; Harry Groener in CRAZY FOR YOU; Alec Baldwin and
Jessica Lange in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Bob Fosse's DANCIN', and the
Johnny Mercer musical DREAM starring John Pizzarelli, Margaret Whiting and
Leslie Anne Warren. She has represented many not-for-profit arts
institutions including CAP21, The Colleagues Theatre Company, The Dance
Theatre of Harlem, The Feld Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, The Circle in the
Square, The Phoenix Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Repertorio Espanol,
The New York State Theatre Institute and The Cleveland Play House.
Susan handled the pre-Broadway and first national tours of the 'new'
Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical STATE FAIR as well as national tours
of MAN OF LA MANCHA (for NIKO Productions) and PORGY AND BESS (Peter Klein
Productions.) Susan has also represented many talented actors
including TONY Award-winners KAREN ZIEMBA, BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL and
CARLIN GLYNN; TONY-nominees KATHLEEN CHALFANT, HARRY GROENER and JAMES
BARBOUR; Broadway and soap opera stars RON RAINES and SCOTT HOLMES;
cabaret artists KAREN MASON, KAREN AKERS and ANNA BERGMAN; EMMY
Award-winner SUSAN HAMPSHIRE; CAROL LAWRENCE, SPIRO MALAS, PIA ZADORA and
MARY STOUT among others.
She is honored to be featured in two new theatre books: IT HAPPENED ON
BROADWAY by Myrna and Harvey Frommer and THE BIRTH OF SHYLOCK AND THE
DEATH OF ZERO MOSTEL by Arnold Wesker. Susan has been an Adjunct
Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts, creating
and teaching a course in theatrical publicity and audience development,
and often lectures about the theatre and public relations. She
has been a member of ATPAM (Assn. of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers)
since 1973
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 Susan
L. Schulman
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some web places of interest:
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A RICH MOSAIC
-HISTORY OF BROADWAY COMES ALIVE |
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You're sitting in your living room having a cozy little chat with many
of the living legends of Broadway. Their reminiscences are filled with
nostalgia for the Broadway that once was and sparkle with candor and wit
about Broadway in the present. This may sound like a highly unlikely
occurrence, but it's possible through the efforts of Myrna Katz Frommer
and Harvey Frommer in their new book, It Happened on Broadway. |
The Frommers have taken the time to glean stories from not only some of
Broadway's brightest stars, but from those we would not usually hear from. Among
these are critics, press agents, playwrights, costume designers, and stage
managers, just to mention a few. There are even stories from the owners of The
Drama Book Shop and Sardis. All of these personal stories form a rich mosaic
that makes the history of Broadway come alive.
An example of one of the stories included in the book is one told by press
agent Susan L. Schulman. It was the rehearsal for the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the Tony Awards, for an audience made up exclusively of TONY
Award-winning Broadway stars also appearing on the program. Yul Brynner danced
to Shall We Dance from the King and I, although he had not performed it for a
number of years. When he was through there was not a dry eye in the house.
The life force that fills this book is almost tangible and provides readers
with an extraordinary variety of Broadway memories. It Happened on Broadway is
well worth the price of admission. You'll want to "see" it again and
again.
For Educational and Research Use: lyric by
Johnny Mercer music by Richard A. Whiting 1937.
I search for phrases, To sing your
praises, But there aren't any magic adjectives To tell you all you are. You're
just too marvelous, Too marvelous for words, Like glorious, glamorous And that
old standby, amorous, It's all too wonderful, I'll never find the words, That
say enough, I mean, that just aren't swell enough, You're much to much, And just
too very very! To ever be in Webster's Dictionary, And so I'm borrowing A love
song from the birds, To tell you that you're marvelous, Too marvelous for words.
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