User:Howardpkagan/sandbox

HOWARD AND JANET KAGAN (Producers)

Maxolev Productions, the New York based production company of Howard and Janet Kagan, produces entertaining commercial shows with atypical heroes -- especially strong independent women.

The Kagans won a Tony Award for “Best Revival of a Musical” in 2012 for The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess starring Audra MacDonald. Ms. MacDonald won the Tony for “Best Actress in a Musical” for her role in that production in a triumphant return to Broadway from her work on television's Private Practice. The Kagans were also a producer of the musical Bonnie & Clyde in 2011. They are currently producing two shows for the 2012-2013 Broadway season: The Anarchist, a new play by David Mamet and starring Patti LuPone and Debra Winger opening December 2; and Hands on a Hardbody, a critically-acclaimed new American musical with music written by Trey Anastasio of the band Phish opening on Broadway on March 21. They are also developing several additional shows this season: notably, a revival of the 1972 smash hit Pippin, to be directed by Diane Paulus who directed Porgy and Bess and Hair, both of which won the Tony award for “Best Revival of a Musical”; Tuck Everlasting, a new musical directed by Casey Nicolaw of Book of Mormon and based on the hugely popular book by Natalie Babbitt; Bunty Berman Presents, a new musical about 1950s Bollywood written by Ayub Khan-Din the award- winning British creator of East is East, West is West and Rafta Rafta; and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an original pop opera created by Obie Award winners David Malloy and Rachel Chavkin.

Mr. and Mrs. Kagan both had successful careers on Wall Street for many years. They are members of the Advisory Board of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art known for its Party of the Year sponsored by Vogue. Mr. Kagan is on the Board of the non profit developmental theater Ars Nova, which launched the careers of many successful artists including Jesse Tyler Ferguson of the show Modern Family and created the surprise hit of the fall 2012 off-Broadway season Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Mr. Kagan is also a member of the Board of the Horace Mann School. Mrs. Kagan is a member of the Board of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation, and the Advisory Board of Children’s Rights Watch, a division of Human Rights Watch.