Carole’s passion is nurturing American playwrights and bringing their distinctive voice to our national stages. Of the many playwrights whose work Carole has cultivated, four of them have won their first Pulitzer Prize for plays she produced. For three of those playwrights, it was their first time on Broadway. In addition, Carole has garnered five Tony Awards for Best Play.

She is the only woman in America to operate three major legit theatres—the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theatres—and actively presents Broadway shows in all three.

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the Tony Award-winning revival of FENCES

Simultaneously, she develops Broadway projects. With her most recent production, the acclaimed revival of Fences starring Denzel Washington, Carole became the only producer to win a Tony Award for producing the same play in its premiere (1987) as well as in a major revival (2010). Carole was the lead producer of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, which won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play and The Pulitzer Prize. She also co-produced the Broadway production of Julius Caesar starring Denzel Washington. Carole has produced four additional Tony Award-winning plays on Broadway: Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia, and Pulitzer Prize winners Proof by David Auburn and Fences by August Wilson. Other Broadway productions include Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change, Suzan-Lori Park’s 2002 Pulitzer Prize winning Topdog/Underdog, Charles Busch’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, Patrick Marber’s Closer, David Mamet’s The Old Neighborhood, the Royal Court/Theatre de Complicite production of Eugene Ionesco’s The Chairs, and the RSC production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

What was the first Broadway show you saw?
On the same day,  I saw Funny Girl  with Barbra Streisand at a matinee and then later that evening  I saw Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing. It changed my life.

Brian O'Byrne and Cherry Jones in the Tony Award-winning play DOUBT

What was the first show you produced?
In 1987, I produced August Wilson’s first play, Fences starring James Earl Jones , at the Curran Theatre before it opened on Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Play. It just seemed completely right at the time, because to me Broadway wasn't that interesting, so I wanted to create what's going to be on Broadway. 

What motivates you to produce or present new productions in San Francisco before they move to Broadway?
We have an opportunity to shape the future of Broadway. San Francisco audiences are every bit as sophisticated and discerning as New York theatergoers and they play an important role in the evolution of a new production. Doing new shows before New York is wonderfully exciting and really challenging. It's like delivering a baby, like we're the maternity ward, because everyone's needs are quite on the surface. So I feel my job is to really be a great spiritual obstetrician, to say, "Let's keep going forward, let's get there, let's get there."

What are you working on now?
I just presented a new production of Fences starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Reviving this show twenty years after I first brought it to Broadway was important to me because I felt it was critical for a new generation to experience August Wilson’s powerful play. I am now reading scripts by dynamic new playwrights looking for the one that will ignite my imagination for my next production.

Tonya Pinkins (center) and the kids in the company of Caroline, or Change

What makes live performance so important to our culture?
An audience, essentially a group of strangers, shares an experience with a collective emotion. It is how we connect to each other and to our humanity. I believe theater is like a religion and the experience can be life-affirming. We are there as the story unfolds, recognizing moments we have lived, and the performance helps us connect the dots of our lives.

Where do you keep your 6 Tony Awards?
Cozy, on a bookshelf at home.

Who inspires you?
My kids, Wally and Gracie. I am fascinated by things that capture their interest and spur their imaginations. Their point of view of the world definitely has an impact on the direction I take in developing new works and building new audiences for theater.

You are a San Francisco native. What do you love most about living here?
Everything. The diversity of people and the arts, our distinctive neighborhoods, our collective self-awareness and courage of our convictions, the backroom at Tosca’s, my view of the Golden Gate, even the fog. There is just no place like it.

Caroline, or Change photo by Craig Schwartz
Fences and Doubt photos by Joan Marcus

Back to SHNews