BbB S1E4 - Producing without Hyperbole with Mark Rubinsky

Mark Rubinsky

It started by sorting screws and bolts as an apprentice at a Summer Stock Theater in Rhode Island.  By High School Mark was designing and turning coffee cans into spotlights, scrounging junkyards for lumber, and building scenery. College brought a paid gig in the Theater Department and work as a carpenter at Trinity Square Repertory Company and finally an escape to NY! First as a stage carpenter, electrician, sometimes handyman and dozens of Showcases. One Showcase paid off when “What’s A Nice Country Like You Doing in A State Like This” opened off-Broadway and a PA job became a Stage Management job.  Harry Chapin’s “Cotton Patch Gospel” was up next, and Stage Management became a career. Other favorites include Kander and Ebb’s “2 By 5” at the Village Gate, On Your Toes on the road and “Agnes of God.” “Tap  Dance Kid” and “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway to name a few.  (The list is long and that is what LinkedIn is for).

In the gaps between shows, Mark worked in “Business Theater” when an AEA Stage Manager was required, and the steady work and large budget became irresistible.  Before long, Makr was producing the Business Theater events. As an Executive Producer Mark produced shows and meetings that motivated thousands of franchise owners, sales associates, and business executives to sell hamburgers, planes, bulldozers, computers, TVs, cars, hair dye, candy, and lots and lots of pills. It was a blast!  Worked with mad scientists at Bell Labs and took Toyota Engineers on a 25,000-mile caravan across North America stopping at manufacturing plants, dealerships, and scenic byways, to hold events. Over 15 years he produced Canon’s Expo and Digital Solutions Forums, which included multiple stages and performances alongside copy machines, cameras, and medical imaging equipment. He supervised the building and installation of Media Labs and Briefing Centers for AT&T and Cisco Systems and Lucent in NY and London.

Asked by a friend to produce a commission he had written, Mark jumped at the chance and hired the perfect designer/collaborator for the job, Tony Castrigno. Combining multi-media with live performance, “Alexander Hamilton: In Worlds Unknown” ran for five months at the New York Historical Society in 2004.  When a business colleague had an idea for a show with Ballroom Dancers interpreting Rock and Roll music and Mark had to be involved and went on to produce a workshop of Ballroom Rocks and a Tour of They Called it Rock. He currently chairs the Board of Directors of the not-for-profit Works In ProgressNYC.

And now with his colleague, friend and now business partner, Tony Castrigno, Mark is dedicating this next era to helping artists realize their work on the stage, and bringing it to audiences, everywhere.

Find Mark at mttmtheatrics.com