ALPINE, N.J.—What does it take to bring a Broadway show to life? For Wendy Federman, it takes vision, grit, and a lifelong love of performance. With dozens of major awards and decades in both business and the arts, Federman opens up about the twists in her career path—and why theater still feels like home.
Wendy Federman is a 16-time Tony Award-winning theater and film producer. She has also received three Olivier Awards, 16 Drama Desk Awards, 23 Outer Critics Circle Awards, and 20 Drama League Awards for her more than 100 co-productions.
She is a three-time GLAAD Media Award winner for The Inheritance, Company, and Thoughts of a Colored Man.
Federman served as a member of the John F. Kennedy Center’s National Committee for the Performing Arts, supporting the creation of new works and advancing Kennedy’s vision for the arts in America.
She was a 2019 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which recognizes Americans whose professional accomplishments and inspired service exemplify the ideals and spirit of the nation. In 2020, she received the Award of Excellence from the Capital Speakers Club of Washington D.C. Inc. for her artistic achievements and her role as a leader among women in the arts.
Hillary Viders: Your production company, Foolish Mortals, has an unusual name. How did you choose this?
Wendy Federman: I named it in memory of my famous uncle, Paul Frees, the voice of Boris Badenov, Jolly Green Giant, and the Pillsbury Doughboy. His biography [by Ben Ohmart] is Welcome, Foolish Mortals: The Life and Voices of Paul Frees.
HV: Were other members of your family involved in theater and entertainment?
WF: Very much so. My mother and aunt performed on radio, television, movies, and the Broadway stage from the 1930s through the ’60s. I dedicate every new production to the memory of my mother and her amazing soprano voice.
HV: When did you begin your own theatrical career?
WF: I began studying dance, singing, acting, piano, and guitar at a very young age. I began my theatrical life intending to be a performer, but I always had an eye for business. While earning a degree in behavioral science and management from New York University, I would work behind the desk at my father’s office. But I continued to take acting classes and attended auditions.
HV: What made you give up your theatrical dreams?
WF: My father suddenly died at 60, and I decided to follow the motto family first. So I joined my brother to become the third-generation owner and operator of a global floral ribbon manufacturing and importing company. I successfully ran the company from its New York City headquarters, attended sales conventions, and traveled globally to promote merchandise that appeared on the shelves of the top floral, crafts, and department stores.
But through it all, I still found time to keep up with my dance, singing, and acting lessons in order to maintain my connection to the entertainment world.
HV: How did your experience running the family business help you in the theatrical world?
WF: My experience in the business world proved invaluable when I started my career as a theatre producer. Like the ribbon industry, theatre producing is about a great product you believe in, finances in place, costs under control, and reaching your target market in order to achieve maximum sales. Business is business, but there really is nothing like show business!
HV: When did you transition from manufacturing to theater production?
WF: I sold the ribbon business in 1990 to spend more time with my young family. Since then, I have been a biofeedback therapist, operating stress management centers in New Jersey, and am a certified life coach, empowering my clients to achieve their dreams.
Theatre will always be my first love, and as luck would have it, the father of a child in my son’s playgroup happened to own two off-Broadway theatres. He realized my passion and understanding of the theatre world, and eventually asked me to co-produce the national tour of Legends!, starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans.
Since that first producer credit, I have never stopped producing shows. I am constantly attending readings and workshops of new and revival materials while traveling throughout the United States and London to look for that special play or musical that may have Broadway potential.
In the little down time I have, I read through the numerous play submissions that arrive through the mail.
HV: How do you get investors to back a production?
WF: You have a fiduciary responsibility to your investors and must be extremely concerned and cautious with people’s money. No matter what others may say, the project must mean something to me. I have to be able to speak passionately about it. We’re asking people to spend money, so we need to be sure the product is as good as it can be.
HV: You also support a lot of philanthropic causes related to theater arts. You’ve served as a guest lecturer for many charitable foundations and have spent countless hours mentoring aspiring producers, actors, and writers.
WF: I like to support and encourage interns and creative students of the arts, providing advice and guidance, enabling them to begin their own successful careers.
When my son was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I co-founded a new annual fundraising event, Broadway’s Got Guts, which directly benefits the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to finding the cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. I co-chaired the annual Broadway’s Got Guts event for four years.
Wendy Federman is a prolific Broadway and film producer, boasting an impressive repertoire that includes over 100 productions. Her work has garnered significant acclaim, earning her 16 Tony Awards, three Olivier Awards, 16 Drama Desk Awards, and 20 Drama League Awards.
Notable productions she’s been involved with include Hair, Pippin, All The Way, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Dear Evan Hansen, Hello, Dolly!, Angels In America, The Band’s Visit, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge!, The Inheritance, The Lehman Trilogy, Company, Leopoldstadt, Parade, and Stereophonic.
For a comprehensive look at her extensive body of work, visit her official website: foolishmortalsproductions.com.