In this ShowbizU interview, host Tim Kashani talks with Victoria Carroll about her unconventional path to becoming a senior marketing and sales professional on Broadway. Carroll recounts how a high‑school theater class sparked her love for the stage, leading her to study directing and playwriting at Bennington College and to pursue a series of internships—including a public‑broadcasting campaign for Sesame Street and work with Richard Frankel Productions. After graduation she faced the harsh realities of low‑pay, no‑benefits work, a stint at the nonprofit Partnership for a Drug‑Free America, and the disruption of a SAG strike, which left her searching for stability. A former press‑agent contact sent her a fax that landed her at Sereno Coyne and The Marketing Group, where she honed her theatrical marketing skills. Eventually Disney Theatrical Group recruited her to handle group and international sales, a role that took her around the globe selling productions like The Lion King. Throughout, Carroll emphasizes the value of internships, perseverance, and leveraging a diverse skill set, offering candid advice to aspiring theater professionals.
Victoria Carroll dons many a hat in her career, including working in advertising at Serena Coin, serving as account executive at The Marketing Group, and the national sales manager for the Disney Theatrical Group. And we have the Princess of Sardis.
Yeah.
Is your picture up here anywhere?
Not yet.
It's over there in the corner?
Apparently I have to— it's famous actors and other talent in the industry or living legends.
I'd say you're a living legend.
I'm trying to become one.
I'd put you in that box.
Soon enough. Welcome, welcome to my home. Thank you.
Speaking of living legends, how did your legend begin? Where did this journey start?
Well, I think it started probably in high school because I went to a private school where you had to take sports, and I'm not very athletic, so I took theater instead. One of the best things that ever happened to me is I auditioned for "Three Penny Opera," and I didn't get the part I wanted. And my drama teacher challenged me to write a play for the spring. And then after I wrote that play, I realized I didn't necessarily want to be on stage. I wanted to be behind the scenes. So I ended up going to college for directing and playwriting, which was an amazing experience. I went to Bennington College in Vermont, and you have to go get internships, and they help you. They call it fieldwork term, or FWT, and they have a big book of all the different internships available across the country, across the world. Well, my first internship, I worked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, part of their Save Sesame Street campaign. My whole plan, because I also speak Japanese, was to work in film and to somehow work for Sony. Like, that was gonna be the big thing. And then when I went to Los Angeles, I was just heartbroken because I felt like that was not my city. And so I was dating this guy, and his grandmother lived in Peekskill in Westchester. And so I did my next 2 internships living there and coming into the city. I worked for Richard Frankel Production on the show Tap Dogs and on Stomp and on Sound of Music. And then my senior year, I worked for a press agent on Chicago and Annie Get Your Gun. And that woman, Glenna Friedman, who was my press agent contact, after I graduated, first year out of school, could not get a job in the industry that paid and had health insurance. And I grew up on a farm. My parents were really poor. I did not have health insurance. And to me, it wasn't even about a job. It was about being insured so that if I was ever sick, I could go to the doctor. It was such a silly thing. Ended up working at Partnership for a Drug-Free America for a year. I really loved the nonprofit, so I kinda went back to that. And I did TV commercials exploring things like ecstasy and meth. And it was, I would interview people because I was around their age about their addictions, and I had an awesome year. But then the SAG strike happened. And we had a deal with SAG that if there was a strike that we would stop production, 'cause they gave us a lot of their talent pro bono, and it was just at a partnership. So when that stopped and I just sat there twiddling my thumbs, And thank God, I got a call from Glenna, my old— so I recommend internships from an educational standpoint across the board. She called me up and she's like, are you happy? And I was like, no, miserable. And I said, as much as I love entertainment, I don't want to shoot about drugs my whole life. So she said, well, come back to Broadway. And she sent me a fax. Faxes, remember faxes? And it was for Sereno Coyne. And for TMG. And as life would have it, I didn't know at that time when I was 22, but those would be my next two jobs over the next 10 years. So it was pretty incredible how life happens. People will always find you if you have the right skill set. I had a friend who left Disney, and I got approached, and they took me to lunch, and they said, listen, you know, we need somebody to do group sales and international sales. And I said, I don't want to do group sales. I do marketing. I don't want to work on just Disney shows. I want to work on multiple multitude of shows. And what ended up happening was they were pretty persistent. I went in for an interview. Granted, the person pursuing me was not my boss at the time. It was just somebody else who said, you really should check this out. You should go. You should put your resume in. And I did. And now I travel the world selling Lion King.
Legally, share with us one of the craziest, harrowing stories where you thought, and I decided to do this as a profession? One of those moments.
I will say that the opening morning of The Producers was one of the most challenging moments of my life. Opening night before, we had decided to give a gift which was literally a mannequin leg with flowers inside. So I remember being in the mailroom, you know, I'm in an evening gown. I have just gotten a ticket to see it because someone else gave up theirs because I was gonna go eat at Sardi's that night for the first time. It's again weird how life works, because if I had come here, I might have been princess much sooner. But at the Producers, I'm in formal wear, I'm on the floor in the mailroom taking a big plastic leg and filling it with regular flowers, which doesn't work because the water drips down the leg. So then I have to go buy dried flowers to stick it in the leg, all to like make sure it gets to Mel Brooks's home. Which I'm sure Anne Bancroft opened the door and was like, what the hell is this discombobulated leg? But it was always like those ridiculous moments where you're like, this is my job. And I remember my mentor told me, you'll look back on this and laugh. And I do. Absolutely do. It's just been an amazing career. Yeah, I was starving. I made no money starting out. I was paid nothing. My husband and I had 5 roommates. And we lived in Inwood, or what they call the Upper Upper West Side, up on 200th Street. And I used to look forward to Bagel Friday, because whatever bagels were left, I'd put in a paper bag and take home to eat all weekend. And I said that to them last night, and they're like, that sounds horrible. And I was like, it was. And it was awesome. I remember being an intern and walking by fancy restaurants watching people with bread baskets, thinking like, I can't wait till I can eat at a restaurant with a bread basket. Basket, you know. I couldn't afford Applebee's. So to now be princess of a restaurant like this, it's been a kind of cool journey.
