Miles Wilkin.
Call it PACE Theatrical, SFX Entertainment, Clear Channel, Key Brand or its current corporate moniker, the John Gore Organization. Whatever you call it, for the past 35 years, through mergers, acquisitions and just plain name changes, Miles Wilkin has been helming the largest organization in North America dedicated to growing and protecting the network of stage tours.
For his efforts, for founding Broadway Across America and such subsidiaries as Broadway.com, he will be recognized by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing this Sunday with a special Tony Award.
Part-time Miami Beach resident Wilkin, 68, is no stranger to the Tony statuette, since he has six of them proudly displayed in his Florida condo. “Well, to be precise, the organization was involved in shows that won Tonys for Best Musical,” he explains. “I suppose the ones that I was more personally involved in were ‘The Producers’ with Mel Brooks and also a ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ production 25 years ago with Topol. There have been others that were meaningful, but those two more so.”
Looking back over his career, Wilkin says, “Thirty-five years ago, when all this started, our vision or mission was the belief that communities and audiences in North America deserve access and the same caliber of productions as people have in New York. That’s effectively what we set about trying to accomplish, whether it was working with communities to build these beautiful performing arts centers or encouraging Broadway shows to exist and to tour, and building Broadway subscription ticketing bases. All those are part of what we believe has made Broadway part of the fabric of these communities.”
In presenting him with the special Tony, The League and The Wing credit Wilkin with “securing the tour world for future generations.” Since road companies now bring in more revenue than Broadway does, it is hard to believe that their survival was ever threatened, but Wilkin insists that it was. “The truth is 35 years ago, the road was kind of barren. The centers didn’t exist, there weren’t many shows outside of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles,” he says.
To keep those performing arts complexes around the country filled with productions, Wilkin is involved — as an investor or producer — with the development of new shows, mainly musicals. “We’ve been involved in probably 350 productions over the course of 35 years,” he notes with pride.
For instance, Wilkin’s organization has been an early investor in Hamilton, so he will have a good night unday beyond his special Tony. “My wife saw it being read in a room and our hand was raised from that moment on,” he says. “It certainly had a meteoric rise and it’s certainly — no matter how you measure it — the most impactful production in Broadway’s history.”
While he could hardly predict that Hamilton would become the phenomenon it now is, Wilkin says, “There’s no question when I saw it at the Public (Theatre) that you left the room knowing that something incredibly important had occurred. It was seismic, there’s no question. Everyone is affected. It’s huge. When President Obama and Dick Cheney both go and like something, it’s remarkable.”
He calls this “one of the best Broadway seasons I’ve seen in the last five or 10 years.” From his perspective, the season has a lot more going for it than Hamilton. “I know for a fact that ‘On Your Feet,’ ‘Waitress’ and ‘School of Rock’ all will have tours. They’ve already been scheduled,” Wilkin confirms. “Throw ‘Hamilton’ into that mix and we’re already way ahead for the season.”
He remains optimistic about the future of theater, and of Broadway and the road, even as he begins to wind down his own career. “I’m 68 years old, so I’m a little older than I was 35 years ago. What I’ve chosen to do voluntarily is to empower a younger generation of leadership. I’m concentrating on training that next generation,” he says. “I want this to go on for many decades, not just for my life.”
The only suspense facing him about Sunday’s Tony telecast is whether he will be on it. “I don’t know what the plan is until they tell me. I’m guessing if I’m onstage, it will be during a commercial break and then they may or may not edit it and put it on air.”
Still, he has given some thought to an acceptance speech. “Well, I think what I would do is thank my family and my professional family, including John Gore,” says Wilkin. “What I would say is it’s been an incredible honor and the opportunity of a lifetime to be on the journey that I’ve taken and to be involved with this incredible Broadway community.”