What made you decide to set up your own theatre company?

I decided to start my own theatre company after touring in plays in the urban theatre market and seeing hundreds of thousands of people come out to support these non-union, non-Broadway shows. Shows like Beauty Shop which played at NY's Beacon Theatre for sixteen weeks and made millions. 

To begin with though, as far as I was concerned, they were over-the-top gospel themed dramedies, and I didn't want to be involved with them.  But after touring in a show that was produced for under $300k and was actually pretty funny and well-written (and earned $5,000,000 in 12 weeks) I saw an opportunity. This unique segment in entertainment was underdeveloped.

I see the urban theatre market like hip hop, which started in the community I grew up in, the Bronx.  It is something that began with Black folks in our community and spread out to entertain the world. At first the world didn't respect it, then it became pop music. What we are doing is creating the new American theatre experience... we are creating pop theatre. Tyler Perry's enormous success with the film Diary Of A Mad Black Women - which started as a play in the urban theatre market and went on to become #1 at the box office with $22.7 million opening weekend as a film - is testament to the power of this market.


Tell us about the Malik Yoba National Theatre.

The MYNT Company mandate is to create, acquire, produce and distribute content for the urban theatre market.  Currently, this market is primarily comprised of black women age 25-55 that make between $25-50k annually. They make up about 80% of our audience. There are about 1.5 million theatre patrons in 108 markets. We are in business to grow that. Audience development is a big part of our agenda not just in the Black community but all communities.

MYNT produces relevant, authentic, contemporary stories that give a voice to the voiceless. Our shows are produced for $400-500k and tour to venues that average about 2,500 seats. The casts generally don't have more than 10 people. We try to bring as much of the Broadway aesthetic as we can as far as staging, set design and overall sensibility because those are some of our roots. But at the same time, like hip hop, we make our own rules.

We also have school and community-based programs that aim to bring young Americans into the theater and we are proud to be one of the sponsors of The Hip Hop Theatre festival.

How much are you involved in the creative side of your productions now that you are running your own company? Do you find the work of balancing your role as a business person and a performer challenging?

The MYNT Company was founded in 2003 and we have produced two shows, Acoustic Chocolate and What's On The Hearts Of Men both of which I co-wrote. I also act in our plays so I am involved in all aspects of every production on some level - writing, raising money, marketing. Balancing building and managing a theatre company with my life as the actor is tricky.

I am only able to have a full time staff when I have a production going on, other than that my mother and sister help out! Most of the time it's just me out there selling my dream. The hardest part is finding people who will work as tirelessly as you will to build something out of an idea.

I hope that one day it will be easier but with building this company I know ulitimately we will become very successful and that is the vision I focus on. 

Does being on the business side of things effect what you do creatively? For example, do you take into consideration the marketing potential of plays as they are being written and produced?

Yes... even when I write or conceive a project, I start with the end in mind. I think about how I am going to sell it! I have been surveying our audiences over the last few years to find out what they are looking for. The shows  - especially our school based programs - are designed to help kids and build a future audience, as well as be profitable. So whenever I am coming up with ideas I have all these things in the back of my mind. But in a way all of it is creative to me. There are fundamental business practices that must be adhered to but even in that I feel I should be creative.

Because MYNT is a relatively young company, what marketing techniques have been most useful to you in establishing a wider presence for the organization? How has e-mail factored into your overall marketing strategy?

Unlike more traditional theater companies which use a lot of print marketing, we almost never do.  Traditionally, radio and word-of-mouth have been our primary means of marketing and this has been pretty effective. However, we have just started using PatronMail which has been great for us in getting the word out to people nationally. Although I've done national TV shows promoting my shows, e-mail gives us constant access to our base. We have not fully exploited its capabilities yet, but we will!

What are your long-term goals for MYNT? Where do you hope the company will be in say, ten years from now?

I hope that in 10 years from now we will be a major American arts organization and entertainment company at the fore front of the American theatre revolution.