Few performing arts organizations are identified so closely with their founder/director as 42nd Street Moon is with Greg MacKellan, so it is surprising news that he is leaving the position/organization/town at the end of the 2015-2016 season, which runs from Oct. 28 through May 15, 2016.
Strictly speaking, MacKellan's singularity is not according to the books, which show Stephanie Rhoads as co-founder, 22 years ago; she has been effectively co-director of the organization, with the current title of producing director, while MacKellan is listed as artistic director. Rhoads has been vital to the existence and success of 42nd Street Moon, but acting more from backstage, with MacKellan up front as the face and voice of the company.
42nd Street Moon, which claims to be "San Francisco’s oldest resident professional musical theater company," is either unique or one of precious few in the world consistently and brilliantly restoring and keeping alive neglected or even forgotten Broadway musicals.
However prominently MacKellan may be associated with San Francisco and Broadway, he is from Southern California, and that's where he will return after leaving the company here, "to focus on writing, acting, and directing plays as well as musicals." His announcement:
It has been a privilege and an honor to be a part of the Bay Area theater community for the last 23 years. I’ve had the chance to work with so many supremely talented people. Stephanie Rhoads and I founded 42nd Street Moon on a wing and a prayer in 1993, and it’s been a joy to see the company grow and become an extended theatrical family. I’m eager to follow its progress as it moves towards its 25th anniversary season — and beyond.
In addition to all his producing and directing work in the Bay Area, MacKellan’s credits in New York and Los Angeles include The Baker’s Wife, a musical he originally produced with writers Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein; the six CD "Shadowland" series of rare show tune recordings featuring many veteran Broadway performers. He also has served as director and writer in some 15 revues for various Bay Area groups.
A veteran of the UCLA Musical Theatre Workshop, he is a notable musical theater historian. His award-winning revision of the Cole Porter musical Out of This World was presented to critical acclaim at the Chichester Festival in England and has since been produced in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Asked about the immediate reason for the move, MacKellan told me:
I wanted to take advantage of some new opportunities that came up for me in Los Angeles. I’ve loved being a San Franciscan for the last 23 years, but I wanted a change of location and the opportunity to go back to Southern California was irresistible. It is not a decision I made lightly, but it is one that came easily.
During his tenure at 42nd Street Moon, MacKellan has directed more than 50 musicals, adapting the scripts for many of them. He also engaged a memorable roster of stars from stage and screen to perform here, including Leslie Caron, Kathryn Crosby, Bruce Vilanch, Emily Skinner, Patricia Morison, Faith Prince, Nancy Dussault, Karen Ziemba, Cady Huffman, Jason Graae, Donna McKechnie, Rebecca Luker, Andrea McArdle, Andrea Marcovicci, Susan Watson, Klea Blackhurst, and Davis Gaines.
42nd Street Moon Board President Pat McBaine's response to the news:
Greg’s contributions to this company and to keeping the American musical theater canon alive cannot be overstated. Under his artistic direction, 42nd Street Moon has presented the U.S. premieres of several important musicals that were never seen before in this country.
Greg was also responsible for meticulously restoring lost musicals by some of the greatest names in musical theatre, giving American audiences the chance to revisit early works by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Alan Jay Lerner, and many others. For that we, and audiences everywhere, will always be very grateful.
The company's next season includes Noel Coward's 1961 Sail Away (Oct. 28–Nov. 15); the world premiere of the Larry Grossman-Kellen Blair Scrooge in Love (Nov. 25-Dec. 13); the 1938 Rodgers & Hart The Boys From Syracuse (March 23-April 17); and Frank Loesser's 1956 The Most Happy Fella (April 27-May 15).