Catherine Schwartz Markowitz ’11
Download MP3From Muhlenberg College, this is 24 100 CHEW. Your host is Meghan Kita. In each episode of this podcast, we talk to 1 Muhlenberg graduate about their current work and the industry in which that work is done. For this episode, Meghan spoke with Catherine Schwartz Markowitz, class of 2011, a Broadway producer. As we do with most of these interviews, the conversation began by asking how and when Katherine became interested in her occupation.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I originally came to Muhlenberg as a theater major, and it was that halfway through my sophomore year where I realized I did not wanna pursue a career as a performer. And I kinda just put that theater dream aside. At the time, I majored in media and communication and had a really fantastic time and ultimately ended up working in nonprofits, going on to get my master's in public administration and into other degree program at NYU a few years after graduating Muhlenberg, kind of going down that path, career pretty quickly accelerating, but I wasn't fully fulfilled. It was kind of where I was at, about 6 years ago now. And started to think, was there something in theater that would make sense for me?
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I had still no interest in going and auditioning all the time, and I didn't wanna be a director or stage manager, but I started to really learn more about the business side of Broadway and the theater industry and entertainment as a whole. And realized that a lot of the skills I developed professionally, including marketing, project management, fundraising, and being creative and organized were all skills required of a producer. So about a little less than 6 years ago now, I decided to lean the nonprofit world, took an an unpaid internship at 29 years old in a producer's office just to kind of observe and learn and really see if this is something I wanted to do, and it was. And so 5 years ago now, I was on the producing team for my first Broadway show, have now produced 4 Broadway shows and worked on a number of others in a marketing and group's capacity.
Meghan Kita:Awesome. And can you tell me about, the Broadway shows that you've been on the producing team for and the various awards you have won?
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Because I come from the nonprofit world, I am still very mission driven in my work and believe in producing theater that has the potential to create impact in real world change. So the 1st Broadway show that I joined the producing team for was What the Constitution Means to Me, which was a play that came out on Broadway in the spring of 2019. And it was it's not a one woman show, but it kind of is. But it's a fantastic show. Went on to get my first Tony nomination from that experience.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:It did not win, sadly. But in the subsequent years, it has now become one of the most produced plays across America, which has been really exciting and a thrilling journey to be a part of, and it's still something I'm really, really proud of. And the the far reaching impact, I learned a lot about the constitution myself and really good food for thought. And then, I had a baby. I had my first baby and, a pandemic happened.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:So, Broadway was closed for a while. I kind of turned my attention primarily to parenting, but did some producing work mostly digitally during the shutdown period, especially around the 2020 election. I produced this web series that I created with a couple of friends called I Love That Senator For You, which, was in the days leading up to the election paired, younger celebrities and influencers with candidates for senate and congressional seats for, like, more personal kind of non stumpy conversation, and it was really fantastic. And then last spring so spring so, technically, it's, like, end of fall 2022. Parade was in the process of transferring to Broadway.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I have a really long personal history with that show, and it just means a lot to me in that story. And I decided to join the producing team for that. So that opened last spring of 2023. Went on to get a ton of no bunch of nominations, including winning the Tony for best revival of a musical last year, which was such an honor to win my first Tony. And and last summer, so summer of 2023, I produced Just For Us by Alex Edelman, which was a one person show, a solo show.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Tells a true story of when he basically got a lot of anti Semitic hate on Twitter and decided to attend a meeting of white nationalists in Queens, New York. Intertied with a lot of really fascinating stories from his own life as growing up as an orthodox Jew, first encountering Christmas, his brother being an Olympic athlete on the Israeli skeleton. I think it was the skeleton team. Just, like, really, really funny, but also really impact. And now I am on the producing team for Sucks, a new musical, which just opened on Broadway on April 25th this year, and, received 6 Tony nominations yesterday, at the time of this recording, and a number of Drama Desk nominations at our critic circle and drama league nominations as well.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:The show tells the true story of the events leading up to the passing of the 19th amendment when women got the right to vote starting in 1913 with the 1st March on Washington. Alice Paul and her friends are kind of the central characters of the story. But instead of focusing very obviously on, like, men versus women in this situation, it's much more about infighting or, like, disagreements within the movement, old school versus, like, the newer train thoughts of how to organize and get things done, and also addresses that the suffrage movement at the time major you know, overall did exclude black women. Ida b Wells and Mary Church Terrell are both central characters in the show and addressed that, like, black women were told to wait their turn, kinda get in the back. And with the passing of 19th, they didn't really get the right to vote, in the same way that white women did.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:So I'm really, really proud, especially in an election year, to be a part of this new Broadway show, and, hopefully, we'll have a very long life both on Broadway and around the country.
Meghan Kita:So I don't really know what producers do. Can you tell me what a typical workday is like for you? What kinds of things you're doing as a producer?
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:So I'm gonna kind of speak to my, like, experience personally, which is a little bit atypical for what most producers in my role. So shows have lead producers, the general partners, and then coproducers. Up until now, I've been a coproducer on the show. So a lead producer, their job is essentially the CEO of the show. So they are responsible for raising all of the money, overseeing the creative, finding a theater, all the execution.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Coproducers help the lead producers raise that money, whether it's through their own investments or through raising through other investors. So that is what a traditional coproducer does. You will will see including on stocks, we have a couple of more notable coproducers including Hillary Clinton and Malala. They have so generously lent their time and expertise and feedback and names to the project to also help give it some elevation. But they're pretty hands on and active for, a celebrity notable coproducer.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Some will put their names on and that's the extent of it. But in this case, they have both been around quite a considerable amount, especially Hillary. Malala is based in London, so it's not as easier for her it's easy for her to be on the ground, but she's I've gotten to work pretty closely with both of their teams, and they're, like, so lovely and just lovely people. The other part of my work is really what takes up a lot of my day, which is that kind of groups partnerships marketing piece, which is separate from my work as a producer on a show, but will still fall under kind of the oversight of producers. So one of the things I'm particularly interested in is grassroots organizing community building, how a commercial piece of theater, which is an investment.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Right? It's not a nonprofit at all. It is very much, a for profit entity, kind of where that corporate social responsibility lives in terms of creating impact in the real world that, is aligned with the ethos of the show, with the story that the show is telling. So for SUVs in particular, I'll give two examples of something I've been working on and we've rolled out already. We have a voting registration partnership with When We All Vote, which is a nonpartisan voting organization.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:We have a SUS voter registration portal where people can register to vote, check their voter registration. And another big partnership we've done, is with the ERA Coalition and a number of the other organizations that make up the ERA Coalition. Alice Paul, that main character in the show, after the 19th amendment passed, she coauthored the equal rights amendment, which is ratified, but not published. And so, we're doing some work around the show of, like, making people aware. In New York, in particular, it's on the ballot for the state constitution this year.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:So it's a pretty big moment for the Equal Rights Amendment in New York, but also nationally. Last week, we did an ERA night at the show and had a talk back, with Gloria Steinem and Puma Abedin and Carol Jenkins and, former congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Heidi Schreck, and that's the kind of things that I'm also really working on. It's kind of that add on programming partnerships and also helping curate group experiences. So if someone wants to come with their school or their synagogue or church or their local volunteer group or just a group of friends, that's something I help them, you know, kind of pursue and take care of all the odds and ends to make it a successful experience for them.
Meghan Kita:Okay. Sounds good. So it's it's a role that both is instrumental in the lead up to the opening of a show and throughout the time that the show is running. Is that accurate?
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Yes. That is very accurate because lead producers are hands on throughout. Co producers typically, after the show opens, it becomes a very passive role, minus just, like, continuing to spread the word, be an ambassador for the show. There's not really anything actively required of them anymore. But in this other role, this other hat that I wear, it's a it's a much more active.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I mean, truly, it's a daily it's a daily job.
Meghan Kita:What did you say that part of the job is called? Does it are you still, like, is you're still a a coproducer title with just all this other stuff, or is it a separate kinda role?
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:It's a it's a it's a separate role. So it's ever evolving, what it's called, but it's somewhere in, like, the community partnerships and groups. There's ad agencies that specialize in Broadway. A lot of them have partnerships teams that do really fun, amazing work for shows. This work is a little bit outside of that, though very, hopefully, collaborative with those agencies because it's specialized in kind of building the tent out from just, like, that core Broadway audience.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:So that's also part of their work. So I if you are listening and you are a member of one of those agencies, I love the work. I don't wanna, like, upset anyone and make this feel like I'm undervaluing their work because they do great work. But it's really more of, like, a collaborative piece that tries to meet audiences and groups where they are to invite them to be a part of the show both in the short term of the ticket, but also, like, long term partnerships.
Meghan Kita:I'm hoping you can talk about the most challenging aspects of your job and also the most rewarding aspects of your job.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Oh, great question. So I think there's a number of challenges. One is raising I mean, the raising money piece. Like, raising money is hard. Broadway is one of the riskiest investments that people can make.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Traditionally speaking, only 1 in every 4 or 5 shows even just returns the initial investment. An average Broadway musical today is probably costing close to, like, $20,000,000 just to get up on its feet, let alone, like, additional weekly running costs. And so it's, like, a really risky investment. I have been very lucky, knock on wood, that, like, all my shows that have run-in their course have all returned their investment. They got into process.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I I don't wanna jinx myself, but it's very it's something I am very, very proud of. I try to be really discerning when picking shows to be on the producing teams for because it's so risky, and I I I recognize that investors trusting me with their money is a real show of faith, and I wanna take that very seriously. But investing in Broadway shows, like, the minimum investment is usually around $25,000 per show. Sometimes, depending on the show, it could be more a unit size. So there's definitely challenges with raising money.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:There's a lot of nos. A lot of nos, that you kind of keep going, and it's an opportunity to be a part of something really fun and, hopefully, something to show that you're really proud of. Other challenges are I think there's some bigger industry challenges because Broadway doesn't really have, like, one governing body. Each show exists as its own little, universe, with different producers, general managers, and, like, the team is just different. It's, like, different compositions.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:So I do think one of the challenges on each show, both as a producer and then there's other shows I've worked on that I haven't even mentioned here, is, you know, just getting to know the new team expectations, like, building those relationships. But if you work in a traditional workplace like I did for many years, right, you there's, like, a culture that drives kind of the workplace, and you adapt. Like, you you're hired and you're onboarded, and over that first 6 months to a year, you kind of, like, adapt to the culture. And, probably, each show has its own culture. And so and most of us are working on multiple shows at once, and so kind of that experience can you know, that's a challenge.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:It's also fun and keeps things lively and entertaining and me on my toes, but, you know, that kind of constant learning environment. And then there's just, like, bigger challenges. Unfortunately, Broadway is still not fully rebounded from the pandemic. Audiences have not returned in full yet. So this season in particular, it's like a record breaking number of new musicals, and everyone is vying for the same audience, which means that a lot of shows won't survive.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:People are really nervous just in general about ticket sales and Stops is I'm really proud of where Stops is and how it's doing. But a lot of other shows will have, like, a big star involved or be a known property. And I tend to gravitate towards shows that kind of are neither, Then Platforming Parade was kind of the one exception so far in my resume, but I like original material, and a star for me doesn't make or break an experience. It's really more about, like, what the whole team is created. But from a marketing perspective, that's definitely a challenge.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Especially, like, we're right now, other shows that open this season include, like, Water for Elephants, The Notebook, The Outsiders, which are all obviously, like, very well known properties, books, movies. And then there's, like, Hell's Kitchen, which is another new musical that was also developed at the Public, but, like, all it's only it's Alicia Keys' story. So, like, they have Alicia Keys behind it. But it's really interesting to kind of, like, see where kind of we fit in that broader landscape and recognize that, like, audiences will often choose the thing they know, not the thing they don't know. So we just have to work a little bit harder to get there.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Oh, and things I love. I didn't even talk about that. I've been talking about challenges for so long. Things that I love about my job. Like I said, some of the challenges.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I also enjoy the getting to change teams and, like, learn new things constantly and work with different people because I I really love working with people. And working with different people, It's like a never ending full of knowledge to to drink from. And what else do I love? Honestly, I love making theater. I think theater has so much impact on people and has the potential to have even more impact, and to change the world and help people think outside of their normal way of thinking.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:And seeing audiences, in particular, are in Sucks right now, leaving so inspired, so motivated, and especially in this moment, in this election year, to have people leaving wanting to learn more about the the incredible stories told on the stage, but also where is the equal rights amendment today? Where is, you know, these different issues and, how far how much progress has been made and how far we have yet to go, and then hopefully inspiring them to keep going with the work in real life.
Meghan Kita:Can you share what guidance or advice you would give to someone interested in doing what you do, working on Broadway, behind the scenes like this?
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:My biggest piece of advice is how much relationships matter. I think being a kind person and genuinely doing favors in helping other people and building real trust and relationships is no matter what you wanna pursue in life, I think only is a good thing. And with what I do, my most successful work is because of a relationship I had. Right? It's someone who was able to introduce me to someone who was able to open that door.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:Honestly, like, sometimes it's pulling up a fellow Muhlenberg alum that I might not even spoken to for the last decade, and that's okay. Relationships to me don't mean something that isn't necessarily you're talking all the time, but it's it's a foundation. And it's not just taking, but it's also being open to give and help other people out in those moments too. And I think being someone that is collaborative and wants to help the show succeed in whatever way that looks like is only gonna set you up for success. And, you know, being willing to get your hands dirty a little bit because Broadway isn't so different than a community theater production or a high school show.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:The only real difference is there's a lot more money and more people in unions. I mean, it's the it's harder in some ways because of those things, but at the end of the day, we're all making a skit. And it's, like, not so different. Right? I mean, listen.
Catherine Schwartz Markowitz:I'm not painting a set. Right? There's there's people that there are unions and there are rules in place to do that, but it's still kind of that mindset of, like, what do you need me to do? Where can I jump in? That I think has helped a lot in my career and continues to help, you know, with future projects too.
Announcer:This episode of 24 100 CHEW was produced by the office of alumni affairs at Muhlenberg College. It was recorded remotely and engineered in the studios of WMUH Allentown, Pennsylvania. Our opening and closing music from Cowboy Bebop is performed by the Muhlenberg College Jazz Big Band.
