#uf physics

This holiday season, give the pre-meds in your life the gift of an MCAT Physics review!

Kristin Harmel (BJS '01) interviewed John Pinckard to find out about the transition, his career and networking with other Gators.

Article by Kristin Harmel (BSJ ’01). Photo by Michael Simon.

John Arthur Pinckard planned to be a high school science teacher when he enrolled at UF in 1994. His life, however, took an entirely different path. Now a Tony-nominated Broadway producer, his show “American Idiot” opened in April. He’s also producing his first film, “Maam’s Crossing,” co-written by Sybil St. Claire (BA ’86, BA ’87).

Physics to theater — that’s a huge change; what inspired you to make such a switch?

I had gotten cast in my first play in college, and at the same time the physics program quit pissing around and got really hard. At first I thought I’d double-major, but it became a “Sophie’s Choice”; I could fail both or pass one. In fall of my sophomore year, I changed majors.

How did your parents respond?

Oh, I think the best description is jaw-dropping terror. I remember this long silence on the end of the phone. I recall my dad saying, ‘Well, that’s OK, son, the counselors told us we should expect you to change your major two or three times.’ I would hazard a guess that he expected this to be an experiment.

Instead, it became your life. Did you move to New York right after graduating?

No. I stayed in Gainesville. I’d decided I’d move out to L.A., but first I taught an intro to light and sound class, an SAT prep course and took a job as music director for All Children’s Theatre in Gainesville, founded by Sybil St. Claire. That fall she took a year off and I directed the fall plays.

How did you get to New York?

I was about to leave for LA when Susan Louise O’Connor (BFA ’97) rings me up. The show she’s in is transferring from off-off-Broadway to off-Broadway, and they needed a new lighting designer. I agreed to do that for three weeks; and then O’Connor was moving and needed a new roommate. I was offered three more shows when I was in town, through other Gators. I wound up as a temp at J.P. Morgan to keep afloat and decided to stay.

So at this point, you’ve acted, designed and directed. How did you move into producing?

After an acting gig in Vermont in 2002, I had a quiet, peaceful moment of clarity on the way home and decided I was done acting and done with taking most design gigs. I wanted to direct. On a whim, I went to a three-day seminar on the business of producing theater and had this moment of realization that it was exactly what I’d done at the children’s theater in Gainesville. So I decided to spend all the extra money I was getting from my job and began producing plays I wanted to direct.

You first produced “SILENCE! The Musical” at the New York International Fringe Festival.

The show remains the biggest success in festival history; we sold our entire run out before the festival even started. I started getting [invitations] to meetings, and doors started opening. I left my job at J.P. Morgan, opened my production office and was awarded a fellowship for early-career producers, where I was mentored by (legendary Broadway producer) Hal Prince and a committee of other producers.

Have you crossed paths with many Gators in the theater world?

Yes, and I’m trying to make it more a part of my life. Susan Louise O’Connor and Sybil St. Claire are still two of my closest friends. And Maria Gutierrez Martin* (director of development for UF’s College of Fine Arts) has been great about connecting me with other Gators I didn’t know.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned

That it’s important to listen and actually hear the other person. It matters because when you’re negotiating a deal or collaborating, there’s what’s being said verbally and what’s being meant. People sometimes mistake listening for hearing. I learned that lesson both at UF and in my time since then, and usually when I go astray it’s because I haven’t listened well enough.

Could you have foreseen the direction that your life has taken?

No. I often say that every major change in my life has happened in spite of my plans.

Alumni interested in the financial side of the entertainment business can contact John Pinckard at [email protected].

Thanks to the UF Alumni Association's Florida magazine for permission to reprint this article. Original article appeared in the Winter '11 edition of Florida and can be accessed at http://magazine.ufl.edu/2011/02/big-lights-big-city/.