Beginning his theater journey when he was just six years old, Broadway producer Evan McGill is now a Tony Award winner.
McGill, who grew up in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and now splits his time between Kansas City and New York City, gives credit to his mother for his love for theater. He didn’t have the same interests as friends his age; instead, he was more focused on what adults were doing. To get him interested in something, his mom signed him up for theater classes.
Even though he knew from a young age that he wanted to be involved with theater at a professional level, McGill’s path to Broadway wasn’t a straight one. He wasn’t very active in theater in high school or college. It wasn’t until the mid-2010s, after he had graduated and moved to Kansas City to work for a medical device company, that he became interested in theater again.
McGill would occasionally see a touring production in Kansas City, and then a few shows started on Broadway that he was particularly interested in seeing. He began visiting New York City one weekend a year to see shows, which turned into two weekends, then three. This rekindled his interest in theater, and he quickly found ways to get involved by reaching out to various producers.
He made connections and strides toward finally — as the pandemic wound down — becoming involved with Broadway. He started his company, Evan McGill Productions, in 2021.
“The first show I was involved with was ‘Mr. Saturday Night,’” McGill said, “which was the musical version of the movie starring Billy Crystal, a great Jewish comedian, [and] someone who my family enjoyed growing up. I was excited to get involved with that show. A lot of Jewish humor, a very funny show, [but it] did not have a very successful Broadway run [due to its proximity to the end of the pandemic].”
Another of McGill’s achievements was producing the revival of “Parade,” a musical drama that tells the story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was the superintendent of a pencil factory in the early 1900s. Frank was accused of murdering a young woman who worked at the factory and was ultimately lynched for the crime. It is widely believed that Frank was arrested and convicted because he was Jewish.
“They were looking to pinpoint someone because he was from Brooklyn and not part of the Southern tradition,” McGill said. “He was targeted much more [harshly] than anyone else would have been.”
The revival of “Parade” started with a one-week run at the New York City Center. From there, a group of producers thought it would be smart to transfer the show to Broadway. McGill felt it was important to be involved, so once a transfer was in the works, he immediately joined in.
On the night of the first preview for “Parade,” protesters gathered outside the theater. This made McGill and others involved with the show realize why the story is important and why it still needs to be told today.
“It was very disheartening. It was somewhat scary,” McGill said. “You don't know what people are capable of. Luckily, it was just a one night thing, and they never came back.”
“Parade” went on to win two Tony Awards this past June. The awards were Best Revival of a Musical (which McGill won as a member of its producing team) and Best Direction of a Musical.
In “Parade,” lead characters Leo Frank and his wife, Lucille, are played by Jewish performers Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond. According to McGill, coming out of the pandemic, people are a lot more aware of race and religion and having roles in films and theater be portrayed by those who properly fall into respective categories. Creative teams for shows on Broadway are casting these roles properly, McGill said.
“It's important that this is being recognized, and Jewish roles should be played by Jewish actors, in my opinion,” McGill said. “And so, it means everything for Ben and Micaela to be in those roles. That means everything to them. I mean, Ben's even said this has brought him closer to his Judaism… and that's important.”
McGill also helped produce “Kimberly Akimbo,” which received eight nominations and won Best Musical at this year's Tony Awards, and “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window.” He also helped produce cast albums of “Funny Girl” and the revival of "The Music Man.”
McGill is in search of his next project. While he is not involved with anything yet, he hopes to be involved in shows with Jewish themes in the near future.