As the stage lights go up March 28, 2022, on the opening night of “Plaza Suite,” producer Sherry Wright will be watching from the best seat in New York’s Hudson Theater, savoring the culmination of an unusual project: The Evansville native produced the Broadway revival from the kitchen of her home on Riverside Drive.
One might not guess Broadway productions are born in Evansville, but Wright has split her time between New York and the Tri-State since her first production, “Children of a Lesser God,” in 2018.
Previously, she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Evansville in 1982 and a master certification in professional coaching from the Institute of Professional Excellence and Coaching in 2011.
Wright and her husband Kirk then began investing in theater with the Wright Family Investment Group. After studying producing at the Commercial Theater Institute in New York City in 2015, Wright fell in love with the job.
Locally, she founded 100 Women Who Care Evansville and worked closely with local organizations including Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science and Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. She was awarded Philanthropist of the Year honors by the Alhambra Theatre Film Festival in 2016 and the Mayor’s Arts Award by the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana in 2017.
“The common thread through all of that is that I’m involved in the arts either as a performer or as a supporter and fundraiser,” says Wright.
The producer, often described as a show’s parent, sparks the idea for a show, hires creatives, maintains the finances, and decides when it’s time to close a show.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wright continued to work from Evansville via Zoom and now has more than 10 plays debuting in the next two years, including the musical “Paradise Square.”
Working with top industry names, such as Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker in “Plaza Suite,” Wright says she never doubted she would see Broadway success.
“Think big instead of small, and eventually you hit your goal,” she says. “But my goal continued to change. I think that I’ll continue to adapt and learn and follow my own curiosity, and who knows where it will take me.”
Showtime ~ facebook.com/sherrywrightproducer/
