Meet the Staff

Nina Greene, Associate General Manager

By Jamie Brewer, Marketing Apprentice

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a theatre geek through and through. I spent most of my life around Broadway shows and only recently made the move here to Hartford. While I will always be a New Yorker in my heart, I am relishing the beauty and calm of New England and sharing this new adventure with my husband, Vince, and my almost-two-year-old daughter, Roxanne.

Tell us about the first time you experienced live theatre and how it impacted you.

Growing up on Long Island, my parents took me and my older siblings to see Broadway shows all the time. One of my earliest memories is seeing the original Broadway cast of Les Misérables, and my mind was completely blown. During the opening number, I remember crying because I loved it so much but had no idea why. After that, I was thoroughly bitten by the drama bug: I made a diorama for school with cut-outs from my souvenir program, the only music I wanted were cast albums, the only t-shirts I wanted were show shirts, and I had to put on “plays” for my poor family at every gathering. I can’t even imagine how many versions of “Castle on a Cloud” my poor family had to sit through.

How did you get into theatre management?

I graduated from college with a degree in playwriting and had moved back to New York City thinking I was going to be a writer, so naturally I ended up working full-time at Bloomingdales selling underwear. While I didn’t have the discipline to write even a monologue in my spare time, I couldn’t shake the draw of the theatre. The business woman in me found my way to the Performing Arts Management graduate program at Brooklyn College, and the rest is history.

Walk us through a day-in-the-life of an Associate General Manager.

One thing I love about being an associate general manager is that there is no day that is the same. Every day brings a new set of challenges, new projects to work on, and different problems that need to be solved. On a typical day, I work on different contracts, follow up with agents, put together budgets for all of our new projects, and keep the office humming. I also handle all the basic IT problems, so there is a lot of turning on and off of computers and calling people much more skilled than me to fix it.

You are new to Hartford Stage. What do you like about working here so far?

I absolutely love how connected everyone is here. I came from a commercial theatre background where different companies handled different aspects of getting a show on its feet. Here, we all work in the same organization – working hard for the same goal. There is a great sense of teamwork here that I never felt when working under commercial theatre. I also love working for a theatre with such strong connections to the community because I am so passionate about making theatre as accessible and inclusive as it can be. Finally, working for such incredible people is really an honor.

How do you prepare for a large-scale show like The Age of Innocence? What is that process like in the administration department?

It really is quite a juggling act. This show, in particular, was even larger than I had originally expected. You need to have lots of spreadsheets going at the same time to make sure you stay on top of things. Emily, our general manager, and I have had countless meetings leading up to opening night. I feel like I have spent the majority of the lead-up to opening night sending emails saying “just following up!” So many people involved leads to SO many phone calls!

What is the best part about your job?

I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I helped ensure that talented people can create art. When the lights go down on opening night, I know that in my own way I helped make that happen.

Do you have other talents or passions outside of working in theatre?

I like to play Dungeons and Dragons, have an encyclopedic knowledge of reality cooking competitions, can play five different instruments (though none of them well!), and love listening to podcasts. I am also a huge Disney nerd.

What is your personal motto in life?

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we may as well dance.”