Brendan Padgett ’04

DEGREES: B.A. in theater and dance; M.F.A. in dramaturgy and script development, Columbia University

JOB TITLE: Director of public relations, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

FAVORITE TRINITY MEMORY: Every January, Professor [Gerald] Moshell would produce anywhere from two to four musical theater productions that would run in rep once campus officially reopened. Everyone involved would come back to campus two weeks early with all of our music and lines memorized in advance. The expectation was that things be not just memorized but “cold, frigid, brrr”—a phrase that will live in my head rent free for the rest of time and usually was well matched with the temperatures. Many of my favorite Trinity memories are from spending those weeks holed up in Garmany Hall with those wonderful musical theater nerds.

What was your path to your current position?

In my final year of graduate school (’08–’09), I was lucky enough to have an internship in the Creative Development Office at Disney Theatrical Group. I was able to do dramaturgical work on Newsies and Peter and the Starcatcher, which both later went to Broadway. Lesson: There’s nothing wrong with being the 27-year-old intern! I also had been doing a lot of freelance dramaturgy and script reading but decided I needed a more stable career path. At the suggestion of a colleague, I met with the head of every department at Disney Theatrical. One of those meetings, with the vice president of public relations, changed my career path as I recognized the parallels between dramaturgy and PR that would allow me to have the job trajectory I was seeking while utilizing my skills in storytelling, editing, research, and consensus building. I remained with Disney through four positions working on the Broadway productions of The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Newsies, and Aladdin, plus a few movies during a brief stint in film PR. In 2016, a representative from the Kennedy Center reached out to a friend asking for recommendations for someone to lead their theater PR efforts, and they suggested me. In 2021, I transitioned into a different role as director of public relations.

What do you do in your position?

I often joke that what I do is “bring jazz hands to the people.” In reality, I get to help tell the story of America’s National Cultural Center [the original name of the center] and living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the thousands of artists represented on our stages, and national arts education programs that affect more than 1.4 million students across the country. I oversee the external storytelling—through traditional news media and our own outlets—for all nonclassical areas of the center, including comedy, dance, education, hip hop, jazz, social impact, and theater. Additionally, I work on nationally televised events including The Kennedy Center Honors.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

With nearly 2,500 performances and events a year, I am never bored. I have the great fortune of working with many of our greatest living artists, thanks to the brilliant artistic programmers at the center. This enables me to have creative fun (how many people get to say they have fun at work?) engaging with local and national media.

How did your time at Trinity help prepare you for your career?

I was able to take advantage of a range of courses across a number of disciplines, and a diverse knowledge base is very helpful in both the arts and PR. Equally important for my career is that in nearly every class I took at Trinity, we were encouraged to be rigorously creative, to look at subjects from new or different angles.

What was the most memorable course you took at Trinity?

In my first semester, I took a fantastic course on queer representations in Hollywood during the Hays Code era taught by Professor Rob Corber. I learned so much about cinematic storytelling and reading past the primary visual narrative.

Was there a professor at Trinity who was particularly influential?

I met Professor Gerald Moshell on my tour of Trinity! I was looking to transfer to a new college for my sophomore year, and I mentioned my love of musical theater to my fabulous tour guide, Jen Carvalho ’01. Mid-tour, she brought me straight to the Music Department to meet Professor Moshell. We chatted for a while about the musical theater program—then the only one of its kind among Trinity’s peer institutions—and we spent the next 30 minutes singing. My choice was made. During my three years at Trinity, he was a wonderful professor and mentor, and I would take part in 11 of his musical theater productions. Outside of classes and productions, his genuine care and affection for his students shone through, and he traveled to see many of our performances outside of Trinity. During my senior year, he even drove with two of my friends through a snowstorm to Providence, Rhode Island, to see a musical I had written!