In this ShowbizU interview, host Tim Kashani talks with theater writer‑director‑producer Andy Sandberg about his lifelong immersion in New York theater, his academic path at Yale (double‑majoring in English and theater), and the extensive extracurricular work that shaped his career. Sandberg recounts directing and writing in high school, managing over 40 college productions, and how a chance assisting role on Bill Russell’s evening of one‑acts led to his first producing credit on The Last Smoker in America. He draws parallels between running a collegiate a cappella nonprofit (the Whiffenpoofs) and producing a show, emphasizing the business side of theater. The conversation also touches on his later achievements, including a Tony‑winning production of Hair and directing projects like The Last Smoke in America and Craving for Travel, and introduces the mentors who guided his journey.
Not to be confused with the actor of SNL fame, writer, director, producer, and yes, actor, Andy Sandberg does it all. From winning a Tony for producing the revival of Hair to directing shows such as The Last Smoke in America and Craving for Travel, Andy discusses getting his start and juggling projects. Give us the day when you said, I want to do this for a living.
Gosh, I don't know if there was— I'm not one of those people who had a particular day. I kind of always had the theater bug. I grew up in New York, so my mother took me to theater growing up. I went to see Broadway, Off-Broadway, kids' theater, really everything. I did Shakespeare in middle school, and in high school continued acting. I went to an all-boys school, so I did shows simultaneously at about 3 different all-girls schools at the same time. And so I was juggling multiple theater projects, and I started directing as early as high school and also started dabbling in writing. And when you direct in high school and college, you produce by necessity. And I kind of knew all through college that my focus ended up being as much extracurricularly as it was academically. And that's where I really put my efforts and my energy. And I loved the classes I took and the professors I worked with, but most of my time and energy went into the 40+ productions that I did there.
You had the theoretical as well as the practical.
Exactly, exactly. I mean, I ended up— I double majored in English and theater. And it was a writing concentration within English. And in theater, though I did take some acting and directing classes, I actually focused more on literature-based things. Actually, up at Yale, the undergrad program is more lit-based anyway. I graduated and said, "Man, I want to keep doing for a living what I'm doing extracurricularly," you know. And the last show I directed up at Yale was a production of Sideshow, and it was our big commencement musical. And I met Bill Russell and Henry Krieger, who came up and did a workshop with us, and I said, "Look," I'm moving back to New York. I don't know what I'm doing exactly yet. I'm going to be auditioning, assisting, whatever I can do. And Bill Russell said, well, I'm doing this evening of one-acts with the composer Peter Melnick, and we'd love you to help out and assist us, assist our director at the time, Cheryl Keller. And one of those pieces was a maybe 20-30 minute version of a show called The Last Smoker in America. At the time, I didn't really know what a commercial producer did, and I was acting in a few projects and I was directing a few things and said, I want to stay attached to to this, and there was a director already attached at the time, so I said to them and their agent, if you'll take a chance on an unknown producer, I'd love to option this and work with you and figure out how to do it. And that was how I got into the producing realm.
Trial by fire.
Exactly. And their agent, you know, cross-examined me and said, okay, you're 22, where have you ever raised this kind of money? And I said, no, but in college I did manage my acapella groups, the Alley Cats and the Whiffenpoofs. And the Whiffs have really become a half-million-dollar nonprofit company that I was CEO and manager of for that year. And I said, you know, if I can sell a bunch of college kids in tuxes touring around the world, then I'd like to think I can sell theater, which I'm more passionate about.
And this was before Glee and before Pitch Perfect.
It was, yeah.
So you didn't have any of that going for you.
No, we didn't. We had the branding of, you know, the Yale Whiffenpoofs being an institution, but we didn't have, you know, the Sing-Off and Glee and all that stuff that has really put put a cappella on a different pedestal. I couldn't even tell you, you know, how extensive the way of travel and business has gotten since I graduated, but it continues to grow. I'll bet. But that, I guess, was my, my business experience in terms of managing a company, which is really what running a show is. Each show is an independent company.
Who have been some of your mentors who have helped you who helped you take this ride and also guided your career?
I was fortunate in college to study with Mark O'Donnell and Donald Margulies as writers, and two very different writers. I took writing comedy with Mark O'Donnell, and Donald Margulies I took two playwriting courses with, and he was an advisor of mine. And Hal Prince has always been an idol of mine, just spanning the career that he has had and the kinds of shows he's done as a director and producer. And though the industry has changed a lot since Hal started out in it, and I think he and I come at it from different perspectives for that reason, I just admire what he has done and the legacy he has left and, you know, the amount of respect he has earned from his collaborators and actors and designers and people who want to work with him. But really, I try to learn from everyone I work with, the good and the bad. You know, I learn— even the people that I like working with the best, they can continue to teach me new things even if I work with them on a regular basis. And even the people that maybe I'll say I'm not going to work with them again, but here's what I learned from that experience. So I don't know that I can single any one or two people out as my only mentors. I admire a lot of my peers and colleagues and people who are really just doing it. And anyone who can do it and still have a smile on their face and, you know, get kicked and beat up and then turn around and do a project the next day— I suppose that is one of Hal's most iconic statements, is that he always says, you know, he'd plan his first production meeting for his next show the morning after his opening of whatever previous show he had. So whatever the critics said, whatever the box office was doing, he was looking ahead. And that's not that he was ignoring what was there, and I think that is important to be always staying attentive to what you are working on but also looking ahead.
