Veteran producer Jean Doumanian brings immersive theater experience to New York City
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Jean Doumanian put Prince on TV for the first time and hired Eddie Murphy while briefly in charge of "Saturday Night Live."
She has produced TV, movies, and dozens of Broadway shows during a long career that spans to half a century and continues to this very day.
As one of the backers of "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway, she still shares in the profits eight years later, and at an age when most are long retired.
And Doumanian is still pushing the envelope.
"It has to be something I haven't done before and that has heart," Doumanian said.
We met at the home of her latest production in Midtown. "Nassim" is a play without a traditional script.
"It's something you've never seen before in theater, and that I've never seen before in theater," Doumanian said.
A different actor appears at each performance, without rehearsal, knowing nothing about the material.
Members of the audience get to participate in what Doumanian calls "immersive theater."
"Sometimes they're a little confused," Doumanian said. "But that's the fun of it, too."
Doumanian's latest production is just a few blocks off Broadway and much less elaborate than her most profitable show, but all of her work shares a sense of adventure that Doumanian said keeps her young.
"You get up and you have something to do," she said. "And it's something that you love and that's challenging, and it keeps you alert."
Doumanian's latest show "Nassim" is at City Center on 55th Street between 6th and 7th avenues in Midtown.
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