Theodore S. Chapin

Ted Chapin was chosen by the Rodgers and Hammerstein families to run their office.  He expanded it into the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, which is responsible for management of the copyrights created by Richard Rodgers and/or Oscar Hammerstein II. On his watch, there have been new major productions of their musicals on Broadway (seven Tony Awards for Best Revival so far), in London, and around the world. In addition, he brought in the representation of other extraordinary musical artists including Irving Berlin.  In addition to revivals, he has encouraged new Broadway productions, among them “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella,”  “State Fair,” “A Grand Night for Singing,” and “Holiday Inn” as well as major television productions “The Sound of Music Live!” on NBC and the multi-racial “Cinderella” with Whitney Houston on ABC.

Ted was the co-founder of the Encores! series at City Center, chairman of the American Theater Wing, and has been a host and interviewer on many television shows, including American Songbook at NJPAC, and Working in the Theater and Careers in the Theater for the Wing.  He appears in various documentary films on the musical theater.   He has created three programs for the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists series. In 2003 his book Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical “Follies,” based on his experience as the production assistant on the original Broadway production of the Sondheim/Prince musical, was published by Knopf. It won both an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award and a Special Jury Prize for Distinguished Achievement by the Theatre Library Association.

Currently he serves on several boards including New York City Center, Goodspeed Musicals, New Music USA, in addition to The American Theater Wing. He is an Emeritus Trustee of Connecticut College. He has been on panels of the National Endowment for the Arts, served as a judge for the Lotte Lenya Competition, was a speaker at the initial Kent Presents, and has been a guest lecturer at many universities including Yale, Columbia and NYU.  He has been honored with the UJA Excellence in Theater Award, the Leonard Harris Award from City Center, and has received awards from TDF, the Fred and Adele Astaire Awards, Career Bridges, and the Astoria Performing Arts Center.

His career began as production assistant for the Broadway productions of Follies, The Rothschilds, and The Unknown Soldier and His Wife, and associate to director Alan Arkin on the original Broadway production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys and the CBS-TV production of Twigs with Carol Burnett.

He continues as President and Chief Creative Officer of Rodgers & Hammerstein under Imagem ownership, following the sale to the Dutch music company in 2009.