Michael P. Price is the longest serving artistic director of a professional theatre in the United States. As the Executive Director of Goodspeed Musicals since 1968, he has produced more than 235 musicals, including 75 world premiers and transferred 19 productions to Broadway, including the world premieres of Shenandoah, Man of La Mancha and Annie. His productions have won 13Tony Awards and 33 nominations. He has also accepted two special Tony Awards on Goodspeed's behalf. In 2019, he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
Early life
Price was born on August 5, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of William and Sylvia Price, both of whom were Jewish. He was raised in a Jewish home in Chicago. He continues to strongly identify as a Jew and is active with a wide range of Jewish organizations. Price's first introduction to the theatre came from visiting family members who worked as actors. As a child, he acted in television commercials, including live commercials. He also learned from his uncle, a theatre manager in Chicago.
Price first joined Goodspeed Musicals for the company's first season in 1963, but left after a year. In 1968, Price returned to Goodspeed as the theatre's Executive Director—a role he held until 2014—with the goal of saving the then-struggling organization. Over his 45 years as Executive Director at Goodspeed, Price has produced more than 235 musicals, including 75 world premieres, and 19 Broadway productions. Price grew Goodspeed from a fledgling organization with only three full-time employees, a two-month season and a budget of less than $500,000 in his first season to a "musical-theater empire" with 65 year-round employees, a $12.5 million budget and a season lasting from April to December. Under Price's leadership, Goodspeed became the only theatre to ever receive two special Tony Awards for outstanding achievement. Price accepted the first special award on Goodspeed's behalf in 1980. He accepted the second—the Regional Theatre Tony Award—in 1995. Goodspeed productions produced by Price have earned 13 Tony Awards and 33 Tony nominations. A masthead editorial published in The Hartford Courant on January 13, 2014 credited Price's "inspired leadership" of Goodspeed for saving the institution and "making the Goodspeed a major center of musical theater." Price's Broadway credits include:
Price has served as Chairman of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and its successor, the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development's Culture and Tourism Advisory Committee since 1992 under both Democratic and Republican Governors.
