Jay Marcus has been working in film and television for more than a decade, but he also has no problem boasting that he is a “theater nerd.”
“I could talk about theater more than anything else in the world,” says Marcus, head of scripted film and television at RuPaul’s production company RuCo. “I get giddy about it.”
So much so that, in August, he launched The Hollywood Theatre Club. In the first of a now bimonthly newsletter written and distributed by Marcus, he described the club as a “collective of film & TV executives, producers, agents/managers, casting directors and other industry types who come together once a month to see professional theater in L.A.”
“I have a lot of hope for theater in L.A., not necessarily as a commercial endeavor but for the key non-profits that are doing great work,” Marcus says.
The Hollywood Theatre Club has hosted outings – which include pre-performance meet-ups at nearby restaurants — to 10 shows since it began nine months ago. Some of Marcus’ favorites included “Every Brilliant Thing” at the Geffen Playhouse, Alex Edelman’s “Just for Us” at the Mark Taper Forum and Kate Berlant’s “Kate” at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Next up is “A Strange Loop” at the Ahmanson Theatre on June 12.
The newsletter distribution list has grown from an initial 200 to about 700. With no promotion of the club outside mentions on Marcus’ Instagram and the new Hollywood Theatre Club Instagram account, interest in joining has mostly been through word of mouth. “It’s been really exciting. People seem to have really taken to it,” Marcus says. “Finding and building a community has been so exciting for me and so is finding people who love this thing as much as I do. I’ve met a lot of great people through it.
“I started this on a whim,” he cotinues. “It’s been fun to see it grow organically. I would like to keep building it and see a couple of hundred people going to our shows once a month.”
While movies and television can be communal, Marcus believes nothing beats live theater: “You’re experiencing something that nobody else is ever going to experience because no two audiences see the same show.”
For more information, go to @hollywoodtheatreclub on Instagram or email hollywoodtheatreclub@gmail.com.
(In the photo above, Sony Pictures Television’s Chris King and Jennifer Gerstenblatt, casting director Scott Genkinger and Hollywood Theatre Club founder Jay Marcus.)
