Press Agent David Gersten Has Died at 67

David Gersten, the vice president of ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers (IATSE Local 18032), has died after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Mr. Gersten was 67 years old.

Mr. Gersten was a beloved press agent, working widely across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and the regional circuit for more than 30 years. His boutique firm David Gersten and Associates served the publicity and marketing industry for 26 years. A member of ATPAM since 1997 and a board member since 2001, Mr. Gersten was the associations pension fund trustee and Off-Broadway steward. He was a longtime member of the Off-Broadway League and founding member and vice-president of the Off Broadway Alliance. 

In recent years, Mr. Gersten became one of the owners of the 9th Avenue Saloon, a theatre district bar that has served the LGBTQ+ community for more than 40 years. Mr. Gerstein was a devoted native New Yorker who served as a volunteer firefighter on Fire Island, maintaining the rank of lieutenant.

It would be impossible to list the entirety of Mr. Gersten's career slate, due to its overwhelming scope and size, but a number of his favorite productions included Altar Boyz (which ran for five years Off-Broadway); Birds of Paradise by Winnie Holtzman; the New York premieres of Shear Madness, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (starring and choreographed by Robert Fairchild), and the international hit Potted Potter - The Unauthorized Harry Experience - A Parody; revivals of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick... BOOM!, Stephen Sondheim’s Marry Me A Little, Blues in the Night starring Carol Woods, Godspell directed by its original star Don Scardino, and Carl Reiner’s Enter Laughing: The Musical; Romance/Romance; Late Nite Catechism (which ran for eight years Off-Broadway); Roulette starring Anna Paquin; Mademoiselle Colombe starring Tammy Grimes; Naked Boys Singing!; and Tony n' Tina's Wedding (which ran for 24 years). 

A champion for non-profit theatre companies, Mr. Gerstein represented En Garde Arts, Ensemble Studio Theatre, INTAR, Keen Company, Mint Theater, NAATCO The National Asian American Theatre Co, Woodie King’s New Federal Theater, Red Bull Theater, Michael Imperioli’s Studio Dante, Summer Shorts Festival, and many, many more. Mr. Gersten also provided publicity and strategic consulting for The Actors Studio, David Merrick Arts Foundation, the Frank Loesser Family, the League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers’ annual Lortel Awards, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Hilary Knight, Francesco Scavullo, Patrick McMullen, Rosie O’Donnell, and more.

As a producer, Mr. Gerstein presented the New York premieres of Tea at Five starring Kate Mulgrew as Katharine Hepburn, Dr. Sex, Bash’d - the gay rap opera, Shear Madness, and My First Time, as well as the new cast recording of Stephen Sondheim’s Marry Me A Little, via Ghostlight Records. He was also involved in the Broadway productions of 13 the Musical; David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre starring Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight; The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth; Blithe Spirit starring Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole, and Rupert Everett; Impressionism starring Joan Allen, Jeremy Irons, and Marsha Mason; It’s Only a Play starring Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, and Megan Mullally; Tony winning Best Musical Kinky Boots; Speed-the-Plow with Jeremy Piven, Raúl Esparza and Elisabeth Moss; and Will Ferrell’s You're Welcome America - A Final Night with George W Bush. For the non-profit world, he produced numerous benefits and galas for the National Alzheimer’s Foundation (Rita Hayworth Gala), God’s Love We Deliver, People with AIDS Coalition, Broadway Cares, the Entertainment Community Fund, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

A public memorial is not currently planned. In lieu of memorial condolences, his loved ones ask that you consider donating to one of the organizations Mr. Gersten championed, including the Cherry Grove Fire Dept, Broadway Cares, the Entertainment Community Fund, or your local non-profit theatre.