Ari Conte, a Marblehead native, was recently nominated for a Tony Award as a co-producer of the Broadway musical “Suffs” by Shaina Taub.
She has assisted on productions such as “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Greatest Showman,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and, most recently, “Tick Tick… Boom!” as a producer’s assistant. Her one-woman show, “The Women We Carry,” premiered at The Green Room 42 in New York City in June 2019.
Conte lived in Marblehead until she graduated from Emerson College in 2015. She then moved to New York. She said living in Marblehead has influenced her passion for the arts, and that her affection for theater and performing started at the Marblehead Little Theatre.
She said she owes her interest in theater to Henry Dembowski, who used to direct and run all of her shows at the Little Theatre.
“He absolutely just taught me what was so magical about theater, so that threw me into it,” she said.
Conte added that Marblehead has been a very big supporter of the arts, especially while she was performing at Marblehead High School.
“I always felt like I was putting on incredible theater, looking back, I don’t know if every school gets to have the sets and the costumes that we did and that’s because this town believes in art,” she said.
She said being able to grow up in Marblehead and have her creativity fostered at such a young age, and then moving to New York after graduating college gave her the opportunity to experience “the best of both worlds.”
Conte said five years ago, she started working as an assistant to Rachel Brosnahan, who acted on the TV show “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Brosnahan was a close friend of one of the producers of “Suffs,” so when she played some of the music from the musical for Conte, she thought she had to work on the show.
“She was amazing. She was like, ‘OK, well, why don’t you meet my friends?’ I ended up getting really close with this producer. Things shifted and changed with working and doing different projects and I ended up being a co-producer, which I was very adamant about doing five years ago. I was like, I want this to be my first co-producer role on Broadway,” Conte said.
Conte said “Suffs,” which has been in the works for 10 years, is about women’s fight to pass the 19th Amendment.
She said the musical was nominated for six Tony Awards, including for Best Musical. While it didn’t win Best Musical, it did win Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.
“My love for this show is so deep. I always thought it should be a Tony-winning show, so to finally see it, it’s amazing,” she said.
Conte said her favorite part of the production process is “getting to be a part of something much bigger than myself.”
She said in her role as a producer, it was very impactful for her to know that she helped to put on a production that is paying hundreds of artists and theater workers.
“I helped make this thing that might change people’s hearts and minds when they see it,” she said.
Conte said that to work in theater, it has to be more than a job — it has to be a calling.
“You have to do it for more than one reason, more than just inspiring, more than just the possibility of making money, because it has to have to go beyond that,” Conte said. “It has to be I can’t do anything else besides that. Because it’s really hard and it’s a really long road. But if you enjoy the road and the journey, then it’s worth it.”
She said as she moves through her career, she is looking to “flex her muscles as a performer.”
“I was super focused on producing this past year,” Conte said. “So, I might like to shift and see what performing is like. So I think being a multi-hyphenated theater-maker makes me a better theater-maker.”
Conte added that she hopes people come and see “Suffs.”
To learn more about Conte, visit her website https://www.ariconte.me/.
Visit www.suffsmusical.com for ticket information about the musical and more details.
