Arapahoe HS & CU-Boulder grad. Previous Denver Center Theatre Company house manager. And now? Managing Director & Executive VP of Disney Theatrical Group

In a video marking the 30th anniversary of Disney on Broadway, Julie Taymor, the Tony-winning director of The Lion King, offered a vital PSA. “Going to the theater and being in an audience is something we forget is part of our history,” she said. “It’s part of our DNA.”

As the Managing Director and an Executive Vice President of Disney Theatrical Group, Andrew Flatt knows a thing or two about DNA. He’s part of that elusive code that continues to shape one of the world’s best-known cultural brands. Bu he also understands the deep, life-shaping stuff that  heater imprints on a soul.

As a Littleton-raised youth, Flatt performed in shows at Arapahoe High School. He went on to study theater at the University of Colorado-Boulder. That one-two, Flatt wrote in an email, “helped me understand who I am and where I was meant to be.” As did his time with two other Colorado cultural institutions.

“Working in publicity at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and as a house manager at the Denver Center Theatre Company further developed my sense of purpose that still rings true almost four decades later: to find new ways of making theatre and to bring new audiences to it.” Before this month’s arrival at the Buell of the beauty of a ticket-selling beast that began it all, we caught up with Flatt, who along with Thomas Schumacher and Anne Quart guide the organization responsible for Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King,  Aida, Aladdin and Frozen, to name only a handful of showstoppers. Our emailed conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

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Denver Center: How do you and your partners in this work “do” the tango between innovation and legacy? Is it a tango? 

Flatt: Ha! More like a non-stop foxtrot! But seriously, having the chance to work on some of Disney’s most cherished stories — but to reinvent them in ways that connect with audiences via live performance — is an incredible gift. In the case of this production of Beauty and the Beast, we’re of course telling the tale that audiences first saw in the animated film or the original stage production, but we’ve written new dialogue so that Belle has more agency in her own journey. We’ve also reimagined the look of the show, especially the costumes, to give the characters more depth and dimension. Keep your eye on the Beast, for example — his look has evolved to be much more contemporary but for a reason — the changes help the audience really see his humanity much more clearly than before. The constant iteration is part of the fun of working in theatre.

Denver Center: You taught a marketing course for years. Was there anything that consistently amazed you about your students’ preconceptions or misconceptions of the work?

Flatt: I taught a graduate-level marketing course for 12 years at Brooklyn College, where I had earned my MFA in Performing Arts Management. The reality is that the students always taught me more than I taught them — which is why I miss it. One consistent misperception the students had about marketing for the arts is that it’s possible to drill down an audience member’s decision to buy a ticket to a single source — an ad, a review, a recommendation from a friend — when in reality the psychology of how and why people attend a given production is extremely nuanced and differs from person to person, from show to show. Embracing the ebb and flow of the various reasons why patrons choose to go to the theatre is part of the joy of wanting to keep figuring it out.

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Denver Center: Disney Theatrical Group bridges two art forms — theater and film/animation. Any nuanced lessons you’ve gleaned about each in doing that work?

Flatt: The thing that’s the same between theater and film is that they both rely on compelling stories. As to some differences, filmmakers use close-ups to communicate nuanced feelings and emotions without dialogue. Because we can’t do that in theater, we need to find ways to deliver big emotion through things like music, lyrics and dance — songs exist in musicals because the emotions are so big that words alone can’t do the job.

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Denver Center: Do you recall the first time the word “Disney” had meaning for you?

Flatt: Absolutely. I’m a child of the ’70s, so I have a soft spot for classic Disney live-action movies like The Love Bug, Escape from Witch Mountain, and “The Parent Trap” (the original!). I recall seeing The Rescuers with my mother as one of the first times I went to a movie theatre. All of these films have that wonderful blend of good story, memorable characters and “we’re-all-in-it-together” goodwill that’s at the heart of so much that we do at Disney. My childhood dog Scamp was named after one of the puppies in Lady and the Tramp.

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Denver Center: What was your first “pinch me” moment at Disney? 

Flatt: I grew up to the music of Elton John. He’s a big hero of mine.  So having the chance to be in the room with him during the launch of Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida on Broadway is something I’ll never forget.

Sierra Boggess in Denver’s pre-Broadway debut of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Photo by Joan Marcus. (c) Disney

Denver Center: Do you still get a thrill and if so, is there a recent or unexpected example?

Flatt: After 25 years, I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t still feel the thrill. About 125 of us run Disney Theatrical Group on top of the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street in a space that used to be Flo Ziegfeld’s private club after the Follies performed in the theatre downstairs. How cool is that?! But what’s incredible is to be able to leave the office after a long day and walk straight into the back of the New Am to catch a few minutes of Aladdin, now in its 14th year on Broadway. Seeing the audience laugh and applaud is the best reminder of why we all work as hard as we do to deliver shows that become some of life’s best memories for people. Nothing beats that, and it never gets old.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) NewsCenter is the organization’s editorial platform for stories, announcements, interviews, and coverage of theatre and cultural programming in Colorado. We are committed to producing accurate, trustworthy, clearly sourced journalism that reflects our mission and serves our community.