Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire will have new leaders
After an association of some 40 years, Terry James, the executive producer of the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, has announced his retirement this summer.
“I fell in love with this theater when I was just a kid,” James said in an interview. “It has meant everything to me.”
James, 64, is one of only two executive producers in the Marriott’s history, having taken over in 2000 from Kerry Walker, who began producing musicals around 1979. James oversaw one of the largest arts subscriptions bases in the country: some 30,000 subscribers, attending shows that played without any seasonal downtime. More than 300,000 tickets are sold every year.
As a point of pride, James proved that many big musicals, including “Les Miserables” and “Miss Saigon,” could be staged in the round, gaining intimacy without losing their spectacle.
James’ husband, Aaron Thielen, 50, currently artistic director at Marriott, also has announced his exit. Thielen now also runs an organization called Broadway Across Borders which brings musical theater to nations in Eastern Europe.
James, who previously both performed and served as both the musical director and an associate producer at the theater, said that plans for replacements have yet to be formulated by the hotel’s owners, the Bricton Group, but he said that he felt confident about the future of a theater known nationwide for the size and loyalty of its audience and as an employment mainstay for generations of Chicago musical-theater artists.
“It was an honor to keep the place going,” James said “and to offer a chance for other actors to experience what I experienced on that stage.”
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
