- A longtime Palm Beach resident, Adler has spent over a decade producing some of Broadway’s most ambitious and celebrated work, from The Lehman Trilogy and Angels in America to Leopoldstadt, The Ferryman, and Company. She came to producing in 2013 and won her first Tony that same year. Ahead of the award show this Sunday, we sat down with Adler to talk about a life lived in service of the stage, and why she still pinches herself.
Did you participate in the performing arts as a child?
Yes, if you can call casting and directing during 1st grade recess, being involved in ‘performing arts’! Even at the age of 6, I loved ‘drama’ and storytelling. I can remember as far back as 1st grade, during recess, a group from our class making up stories and acting them out. Somehow I ended up in charge of casting and was also the director. The stories themselves were a group effort. Sometimes our stories would go on for weeks! (forerunner to today’s streaming series?)
Anyone in your family?
No one was actually in the world of theater. But everyone loved the arts. My aunt had a box at the Metropolitan Opera; I was lucky enough to be frequently invited. I adored the pomp and circumstance, but always wondered why it was almost always the heroine who died! My Father always had music playing throughout our home. Classical, opera, jazz, even rock. He loved it all. He loved to take my sister and me to local concerts and recitals. He collected 1st editions of Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Miller. A true man of letters. My Mother was a painter. My other aunt took me to movie musicals. We lived in Copenhagen for a few years, when I was in grammar school and spent so much time going through every museum and castle in Denmark, and the rest of Europe. Not always easy for a 9 year old. I am now grateful, of course.
What was the first performance you ever saw? What was its effect on you?
I was lucky enough to see the original Sound of Music on Broadway. I could not believe the incredibleness (is that a word?) of that which what I was hearing, seeing, feeling in every cell of my body. I was transported to another place; it made me feel like nothing else ever did. Of course, we also saw every movie musical, and once again; the music moved me, the voices, and songs and stories did me in. I am such a fan of overtures, which unfortunately are not often written anymore. Sitting there, listening to an overture….and then, the show began. Like a plane taking off and bringing you to a place you never wanted to leave.
When did you start becoming involved as a producer?
In 2013. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. It started at Lincoln Center Theatre. Starring Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen and Billy Magnussen. Written by that so marvelous Christopher Durang, who tragically died a couple of years ago. The play resonated with me to my core. I was so taken by it; I later told Chris Durang that after seeing this marvelous piece of theater, that I did not have to say much; he had said it all. He so cleverly and clearly expressed so much of what many of us were lamenting about the state of the world. A mutual friend told Sigourney how much I was taken by this production. One day Sigourney phoned me, and asked if I wanted to help bring it to Broadway. I was advised by a veteran producer friend not to do this; because Broadway’s audiences and Lincoln Center Theater audiences were very different; and that it would most likely not appeal to the audience of the Great White Way. Hmm, I thought. I thought about how I felt each of the 3 times I had sat in the audience. I promptly hung up the phone, called her back and said “YES! I am in!” This was my first Tony. An exhilarating start, indeed.
What was your first investment? How did it do?
My first investment was in 2003 – Adult Entertainment. Way off Broadway. It sadly did not recoup. But I was excited to be a part of this. Written by Elaine May, Directed by Stanley Donen, starring Danny Aiello and Jeanne Berlin – Elaine May’s daughter. Over the next several years I invested in a few different shows, none of which recouped. By the way, 75% of Broadway shows fail. How many businesses would one put money into with that kind of a track record?
Which shows have you produced?
Oedipus, Leopoldstadt, The Lehman Trilogy, Angels in America, The Inheritance, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Skylight, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Ferryman, Company (Broadway and West End), Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, On Your Feet!, The Elephant Man (Bradley Cooper, Broadway & West End), Swept Away, Tootsie, 13 Going on 30: The Musical, 1984, Fish in the Dark, A Delicate Balance, Side Show, This Is Our Youth, People, Places & Things, Bright Star, Be More Chill, Thoughts of a Colored Man, Network, Meteor Shower, Call Me Izzy.
How many Tonys have you won?
9 Tony Awards. I won them in my first 10 years of producing. I am proud of that.
What is the most rewarding thing about it?
Knowing that you have helped bring to stage a piece of theater, a story that hopefully touches each member of the audience. This is the most wonderful feeling. Theater, like most art, unites people. We sit quietly in the audience and watch a tale unravel, see people grapple with all the issues that each and every one of us deals with in our own lives. That is very important – the knowledge that none of us are truly alone. We all have the same problems, wants, desires, hopes, dreams.
How long have you been coming to Palm Beach?
We moved to Palm Beach in 1991.
What do you love most about life here?
I have always loved the weather, the ease of life; the small town feeling in a sophisticated setting. Shortly after our arrival, the Kravis Center was founded. A true oasis! Prior to that, we went to the Duncan Theatre and nearby, now closed venues. We frequent as much as possible, and now have Glazer Hall which is a most welcome addition.
What are your favorite restaurants?
Bice, Milos, Cafe Boulud, The Blue Door, Cafe Sapori, Honor Bar, Salute, La Goulue, and Lamarina!
Have you seen anything good this season?
Chess, Oedipus, Giant, Fallen Angels, Miracle on South Division Street, Just in Time, Ragtime, Death of a Salesman, Celebrity Autobiography, The Approach, The Balusters, Marcel on the Train, Punch.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
When I am at a showcase, a reading or a run-through – I pinch myself and cannot believe that this is my job. It is such an unending pleasure, how could this be work? I could see two shows a day, every day, and it would not be enough. How lucky can I be?
