Irene Gandy
Irene Gandy is an American theater publicist and producer. Notable for being the only African-American female publicist in the history of ATPAM., Gandy received the 2020 Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre.
Early life
Gandy was born on November 21, 1943, in Westbury, New York.Career
Gandy attended NYU briefly, before dropping out and enmeshing herself into New York City's downtown theatrical scene. In 1968, she began her publicity career working under Douglas Turner Ward and Robert Hooks at the Negro Ensemble CompanyIn the late 1970s, Gandy turned away from theatre briefly to work as associate director of Special Markets for CBS Records, supervising Earth, Wind and Fire, The Jacksons, The Isley Brothers, and Labelle, among other artists.
The bulk of Gandy's Broadway publicity career was spent alongside producer/publicist Jeffrey Richards, with whom she represented over 100 Broadway productions.
Gandy was publicist for the 1987 revival of Sweet Charity, and was on hand when Bob Fosse died in Washington D.C. prior to an out-of-town preview.
In 1990, Gandy served as producer of the national tour of Sarafina!. In 2012, she made her Broadway producing debut with Porgy and Bess, for which she received the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
In 2020, Gandy was appointed to The Drama League Board of Directors, and in 2023, the Drama League renamed its Drama League Stage Directing Assistantships program to "The Drama League Irene Gandy Directing Assistantships" program.