Theatrical producer Tom Viertel will step down from his role as executive director of the Commercial Theatre Institute, ending a nine-year tenure.
"I’m writing to let you know that after nine years as executive director of CTI (and more than a year of waiting out the pandemic) I’ve decided to step down," writes Viertel. "It’s been both a pleasure and an honor to have served in this position. I believe passionately that CTI is critical to the health of the Broadway producing community and I’m confident that its next leader will continue to provide a quality education about the joys, travails and complexities of our profession."
A joint project between the Broadway League and TDF, CTI aims to support and develop new generations of theatrical producers through training programs, seminars, and various other programs. The organization also awards the Robert Whitehead Award, recognizing CTI alumni for exceptional producing achievements. Past winners have included Tom Kirdahy, Mike Isaacson, Stacey Mindich, Robert Cole, Jeffrey Finn, and Jon Platt.
Viertel's more than three decades–long Broadway producing career includes the original productions of The Producers, Hairspray, Young Frankenstein, Smokey Joe's Café, Angels in America, Penn & Teller, The Parisian Woman, The Weird, The Encounter, and Swing, along with revival productions of Gypsy, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Company, The Sound of Music, and Little Shop of Horrors. He is a graduate of Harvard University, a member of the Broadway League's Board of Governors and Government Relations Committee, a trustee of the League-Equity Pension Fund, and chairman of the board of The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He and his producing partners also own and operate Feinstein's/54 Below.
