"New York City is the theatre capital of the world and theatre is New York's biggest tourist draw. If you add up the attendance at the home games of all of New York City's professional sports teams, the total doesn't even come close to the annual attendance at Broadway shows," said Mayor Giuliani. "When the theatre industry thrives, its positive and lasting effects are seen throughout the City."
"By bringing together this talented and eclectic group of industry professionals, I know their ideas and creativity will ensure that all forms of theatre around the City will continue to grow," he added.
Patricia Reed Scott, the Commissioner of the Office of Film Theatre and Broadcasting, will serve as the executive director of the council, and Jack Goldstein and Elliot Cuker are the co-chairs. The council will meet on a quarterly basis.
"This is an extraordinary group of award-winning industry professionals who will see that the theatre continues to thrive as New York City's premiere attraction," said Commissioner Scott.
The members of the Council are:
Jed Bernstein -- Executive Director of the League of American Theatres and Producers. Mr. Bernstein was previously Executive Vice President at the Wells, Rich and Greene advertising agency. He served on the Board of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York and is a founder of Steenstine Productions, which produces business entertainment and industrial shows.
Nancy Coyne -- Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director of Serino Coyne Inc., the largest theatrical advertising agency in America. Ms. Coyne has handled over a thousand Broadway and off-Broadway shows including Cats, A Chorus Line and Phantom of the Opera, winning over 150 awards for her radio and television spots.
Elliot Cuker -- actor/producer, member of the Actor's Studio, Open Theatre and the Negro Ensemble Company, and Broadway producer. Mr. Cuker is also co-chair of the Mayor's Advisory Council on Film and Television.
Bernard Gersten -- Executive Producer of Lincoln Center Theatre since its re-establishment in 1985. Mr. Gersten has produced 56 productions in this position including such Tony-award winning successes as the current A Delicate Balance, The Heiress, and Anything Goes. From 1960 to 1978, he was Associate Producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival during which the landmark musical A Chorus Line was developed and produced.
Jack Goldstein -- Special Assistant for Government Affairs to the President of Actors' Equity. Mr. Goldstein has a background in public policy and entertainment-based economic development and is currently coordinating the Broadway Initiatives Working Group and the joint labor/management proposal to establish a Theatre Trust. He is a former chair of Community Board #5 and has been a Board member for 13 years.
Gerald Gutierrez -- Two-time Tony Award winning director of such acclaimed successes as A Delicate Balance, The Heiress and Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Mr. Gutierrez is associate director for Lincoln Center Theatre. He is currently preparing a major revival of Once Upon a Mattress, starring Sarah Jessica Parker for Broadway this Fall. He is a life-long resident of Brooklyn.
Barbara Hauptman -- Executive Director of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Ms. Hauptman is also a trustee of the Society League Pension and Welfare Funds. She was Director of Operations at TDF in the early 1980's during which she supervised the TKTS booth. She was an Arts Analyst for NYSCA in their theatre program.
Margo Jefferson -- Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times. Ms. Jefferson has been the Sunday Times drama critic since 1995 and will now be writing on a broader range of cultural issues. She was formerly a Times book critic. She is also a lecturer and teacher in literature and writing at Columbia University.
Alan Kannof -- Chief Operating Officer for the William Morris Talent Agency in New York. Mr. Kannof is also a member of the Board of Directors at William Morris, where he began as a trainee in 1978.
Rocco Landesman -- President of Jujamcyn Theatres, the third largest theatre owner on Broadway. As head of Jujamcyn, Mr. Landesman has produced such Tony Award winning successes as Angels in America, Guys and Dolls and the current revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Stewart Lane -- co-owner and co-manager of the famed Palace Theatre. Mr. Lane has won two Tony Awards, as producer of the musical successes La Cage Aux Folles and The Will Rogers Follies. He has produced many other shows for Broadway and was a member of Mayor Giuliani's transition committee.
Harvey Lichtenstein -- President and Executive Producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Mr. Lichtenstein has been with BAM for 29 years. He established the New Wave Festival at BAM and produced or presented works by many of the leading performing artists of the last two decades. Under his leadership, the Majestic Theatre of Brooklyn was renovated and reopened in 1987.
Elizabeth Ireland McCann -- A prolific and veteran Broadway and off-Broadway producer. Ms. McCann has won Tonys for her acclaimed productions of The Elephant Man, Amadeus, and Nicholas Nickleby, among others. A New Yorker, she is on the Boards of City Center, the League of American Theatres and Marymount College.
Robert McTyre -- Senior Vice President of Disney Theatrical Productions. Mr. McTyre is responsible for Disney theatrical stage productions domestically and internationally, such as the musical Beauty and the Beast, which is currently on Broadway, in Los Angeles, on national tour and in Melbourne, Vienna and Japan. Before joining Disney in 1982, he worked for both the Nederlander and the Shubert Organizations in Los Angeles.
Jon Nakagawa -- Managing Director of the Vineyard Theatre, a prominent not-for-profit theatre company. Under Mr. Nakagawa's leadership, Vineyard has premiered such acclaimed works as Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize winning Three Tall Women, and runs a Space Fund program to help other theatre companies that do not have permanent homes. He also serves on theatre panels for the NEA.
James L. Nederlander -- Executive Vice-President of the Nederlander Organization, which is the second largest theatre owning organization on Broadway. Mr. Nederlander is the third generation of the celebrated family, known world-wide for outstanding theatrical productions.
Gerald Schoenfeld -- Chairman of the Shubert Organization, which owns the largest group of theatres on Broadway. Under the leadership of Mr. Schoenfeld and his partner, Bernard Jacobs, the firm has become an active force in the production of such distinguished plays and musicals as Sunday in the Park with George, The Grapes of Wrath, Cats and Dreamgirls.
August Wilson -- Pulitzer and Tony award winning playwright of such works as Fences and the current Seven Guitars. He explored the heritage and experience of African Americans through a cycle of plays that span the course of the 20th century. He has received the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting.
George C. Wolfe -- Producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival and an award-winning director and writer. Mr. Wolfe won the Tony for his direction of the acclaimed drama Angels in America and, this past season, for the musical Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.