September Issue - PLSN.com

“Jere Harris has had his feet
firmly planted in the dual galaxies
of Broadway and touring production
since he first burst upon
the scene in the 1970s,” says
Patrick Stansfield, a past Parnelli
Honoree. “He’s had the savvy, vision
and knowledge to build PRG
resources large enough to be able to respond
to vast seasonal shifts of demand in
the show biz industry while still remaining
responsive to the daily needs of individual
productions.”
Harris started working in a theatre scenic
shop when he was in high school, and
worked his way up from there. His first touring
show was the ground-breaking Chicago,
(“Still the most fun I’ve had,” he says),
and he went out on his own while he was
still in his 20s (“We’d get a little money, buy
another table saw.”), eventually becoming
a founder of Production Resource Group,
one of the world’s foremost entertainment
technology companies that spans almost
every aspect of this business and covers
the globe.
“I’m a bit taken a back,” Harris says
about receiving the industry’s highest
honor, the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement
Award. “My success is not based on me, but
on the team of people I’ve been able to surround
myself with.”
His career has been trademarked by
his talent, people skills and solid business
sense—and those who know best point out
that rarely have all three been equally represented
in one person. Add to those qualities
the instincts that lead him to expand
into new horizons. Most people would
have been content to have his Broadway
credentials and been happy with that, but
Harris had a wandering eye, moving into
other areas before it was “cool” to do so.
“I would say that all the new markets
we’ve gotten into in the last 25 years,
the different projects we’ve done, has
paid off exponentially in the markets we
were already in,” Harris says of his history
of diversifying. “This industry is not
definable in a book or a two-year grad
program. It’s an industry that requires
experience. The more experience, the
more qualified you become.”
By KevinM.Mitchell
All in the Family
Born Jeremiah Joseph Harris on September
8, 1954, he came into the world
with theatre-imprinted DNA. His great
grandfather was a theatre manager in England,
and his grandfather was a company
manager for the great George Abbott. His
dad is four-time Tony Award-winning producer
Joseph P. Harris, whose 200+ Broadway
shows include Chicago and Dancing at
Lughnasa, among many others. His mom is
actress Geraldine Delaney Harris who was
featured in the likes of Guys and Dolls and
Silk Stockings.
With a pedigree like that, it is not surprising
that all four of Joseph and Geraldine’s
children ended up in the business.
It makes one wonder if it wasn’t the reverse
in a household like that—that there
was pressure to go into the theatre, not
run from it as perhaps the stereotypical
parent might advocate.
“They never encouraged us to be in
the theatre business,” Harris tells. “All of
us were free to do whatever we wanted.
Though I think they were a little surprised
when we did decide to go into theatre,
especially since we all ended up on the
technical side.”
Harris says he never considered anything
but the technical side, and instead
of flipping burgers like the typical 16-
year-old would do in the summer, he was
able to work for Pete Feller in a Broadway
scene shop. “He was one of the innovators
of Broadway theatre, and had a great
presence. There were a lot of characters
in the business, even more than we
have now, and being around those guys
I learned not only a lot about the craft,
but about life.” Harris would adopt from
Feller the elder’s renowned never say die,
always figuring out a way to make it work
philosophy. “We stayed days and nights to
make something work. His great love and
great passion for the theatre is a big part
of my success.”
He continued to work for Fellers during
college, but by the late 1970s he would
leave both when Theatre Now, the largest
Broadway theatre management company
during the 1970s and 1980s, offered him
a production manager job. He spent the
next seven years there.
“The sheer volume of shows we did
was pretty remarkable,” he says. “It was
at least 15 to 20 a year. But the highlight
was all the people I worked with. It was
an amazing group.” CBS President Les
Moonves was there, as was Paramount
head Gail Berman.
28 PLSN SEPTEMBER 2006
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