Boneau/Bryan-Brown, for more than 30 years one of Broadway‘s busiest preeminent press agencies representing hundreds of shows with campaigns garnering 254 Tony Awards, is soon to have new principal ownership and a name change to Aperture Public Relations.
Formed in 1991 by press agents Chris Boneau and Adrian Bryan-Brown and quickly establishing itself in the forefront of a modern and influential style of Broadway publicity, Boneau/Bryan-Brown will now be helmed by Heath Schwartz and Michelle Farabaugh, press agents and longtime employees of the agency. Schwartz and Farabaugh have acquired principal ownership, with the Aperture rebranding effective June 1.
Schwartz and Farabaugh will lead Aperture Public Relations as Partners and Co-Presidents while Bryan-Brown will continue providing client services and Boneau will be an independent consultant. Deadline hears the decision to step back from active ownership was made by the two founders.
In a statement, Boneau and Bryan-Brown said, “We know Heath and Michelle are going to lead a new era in communications marketing for theatre — in New York, nationwide, and globally. With their extensive industry knowledge, experience and expertise, not only will they continue to offer timely unparalleled direction and support to the industry, but they will also drive innovation and redefine how theatre is promoted. We are so excited for the launch of Aperture.”
Said Schwartz and Farabaugh: “Boneau/Bryan-Brown has long set the gold standard among entertainment communication firms, serving not only as an industry leader but as an incubator for some of the most accomplished press agents working today. As Broadway and the media landscape continue to evolve, we embrace this next chapter with intention and vision. With our trusted team, Aperture will open the lens of opportunity to what’s possible for our clients, framing new perspectives and cutting through the noise to bring their stories into sharp and compelling focus. We are deeply grateful to Chris and Adrian for their years of mentorship and for the trust they’ve placed in us to carry this legacy forward.”
Current staff and clients are expected to remain in place. Those current clients include the Tony Award-winning Broadway productions Chicago, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Outsiders, and Six: The Musical; Off Broadway hits Mexodus and The Play That Goes Wrong; and institutions including Atlantic Theater Company, Audible Theater, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Classic Stage Company, and Paper Mill Playhouse. The company also serves as a consultant to The Broadway Cruise, The Cape Playhouse, International Literary Properties, and Lively McCabe.
Over the years, Boneau/Bryan-Brown has represented more than 400 theatrical productions on and Off Broadway, on national tour, and across the globe. In addition to the 254 Tony Awards, the firm’s clients have won 12 Pulitzer Prizes, 244 Drama Desk Awards, 178 Outer Critics Circle Awards, and numerous other recognitions.
Boneau/Bryan-Brown’s client list over the decades reads like at least several chapters in a Broadway history text, from Angels In America; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Beauty and the Beast; Sunset Boulevard, Company, Skylight, Titanic, Steel Pier, The Lion King, Art, Urinetown, Mamma Mia!, Take Me Out, Gypsy, Caroline, Or Change, Doubt, Jersey Boys, Ragtime, Fences, The Book of Mormon, Once, Motown The Musical, Something Rotten and Spring Awakening to Waitress, The Ferryman, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding and Prayer For The French Republic, among many others.
Schwartz began working as a press agent at Boneau/Bryan-Brown in 2004. Over his 22-year career, he has led the campaigns for Chicago, Harry Potter and the CursedChild, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and The Outsiders, as well as such past shows as Mean Girls, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Elephant Man, Living on Love, Pippin, The Heiress, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Stick Fly, Follies, The House of Blue Leaves, The Motherf*cker With the Hat, Fences, Next Fall, A Little Night Music, Shrek The Musical, and more. Other Broadway credits include the international hit Jersey Boys, which he opened and worked on throughout its entire 11-year Broadway run, along with Is He Dead?, The Farnsworth Invention, Frost/Nixon, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Drowsy Chaperone, Doubt and more, including productions on and Off Broadway for Manhattan Theatre Club and Signature Theatre.
Farabaugh joined Boneau/Bryan-Brown as an intern in 2012. In the years since, she has represented more than 160 shows on and Off Broadway, including the recent Broadway return of Mamma Mia!; the Tony Award-winning Best Plays Leopoldstadt and The Ferryman; David Byrne’s American Utopia; Mean Girls; The Notebook; Groundhog Day; Deaf West’s Spring Awakening; Here Lies Love; The Hills of California; and more. She currently works with Paper Mill Playhouse and has represented Audible Theater productions since Audible’s theatrical division launched eight years ago.
She also spent 10 seasons at Manhattan Theatre Club with shows including August Wilson’s Jitney, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cost of Living, and Constellations.
English (US) ·