Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mara Jill Herman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Mara, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Thank you for this opportunity to share. After producing several benefit concerts, The Moss Maidens marked my first full scale theatrical production and work of fiction. The new play, written by S. Dylan Zwickel, is inspired by the true story of a group of Dutch teenage girls who flirted with Nazis, lured them into the woods for a romantic walk, and murdered them. This dramatic play evokes the beauty and sacredness of the woods while amplifying feminist values and human rights.
The Moss Maidens was selected as one of 8 from 300 submissions for the 2023 SheNYC Festival. We were initially offered two performances with the potential of a third bonus show based on ticket sales. We earned that third performance and our production went on to make SheNYC history as the first in its eight-year existence to receive a second extension adding a fourth bonus show. All four performances were SOLD OUT. We also won Best Ensemble and Best Play in the SheNYC Arts Summer Theater Festival. You can read more about it here: https://www.marajillherman.com/the-moss-maidens
Danny Bristol
Mara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a passionate multidisciplinary Jewish artist who endeavors to help abolish anti-semitism, protect human rights and advocate for gender equity. I was recently selected for the second cohort of The Field’s 2023 Fiscal Sponsorship for Social Justice Arts Practitioners Program. I hope to make a tiny difference to that end in my lifetime. Recent producing highlights include Ruth Sent Us, Changemakers, Stronger Than Hate, and Caregiver Cabaret. I was featured on CBS Mornings with the Queens Theatre Senior Ensemble in 2022. Favorite performance credits include On The Town (Hildy), Guys and Dolls (Adelaide), All Shook Up (Miss Sandra), Rent (Maureen), and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Maria). International Tours include Disney On Classic (Mother Gothel) and Jesus Christ Superstar. I made my Carnegie Hall debut in We Are Here: Songs From The Holocaust with solo appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 54 Below, and Chelsea Table & Stage. Developmental highlights include The Band’s Visit, Sam’s Room, and The Bubble. I am featured on the 2022 concept album How To Repair A Mechanical Heart (streaming on Spotify/Apple Music/Amazon). I was a 2023 nominee for the Barbara Whitman Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. I am a native New Yorker and reside in Astoria.
For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers how you got into your industry?
I am a self-proclaimed Musical Theater nerd, the lovechild of cult films Wet Hot American Summer and Camp. Born on the Upper West Side and raised on Long Island, I belted out the refrain of “Tomorrow” from Annie as soon as I could talk. As a tween, I performed the entire album of A Chorus Line for my doting parents and reluctant dance partner sister. I was immersed in the cultural landscape early and was encouraged to pursue my passion with regular exposure to Broadway, community theater, and New York City’s vibrant artistic culture. My favorite word is community and when I discovered theater, I found my home. In high school, I produced, directed, and starred in music videos in the Student Television Arts Company (STAC) a la MTV’s Total Request Live. I spent summers memorizing Sondheim at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, which deepened my love for Musical Theater and solidified my college and career path.
What type of products/services/creative works do you provide?
As a performing artist, I will interpret your song or script with thoughtful analysis and deep passion. As a connector and community organizer, I produce live events, panel discussions, and music videos. As a creative producer, I operate at the intersection of artistic consulting, marketing direction, and general management. I will strategically plan your benefit concert, gala event or theatrical production and execute all phases of the process.
What problems do you solve for your clients?
I help clients with their big picture visions through strategic planning, education, and inclusion. If my client wants to learn more about the process, I will teach them. When you’re deep in the weeds of art-making, it’s a challenge to be both artist and publicist. I make that process easier for my clients by facilitating outreach, marketing, press, and promotion. We work together to nurture existing relationships, increase awareness among new fans/followers, bolster ticket sales, and cultivate community.
And/or what do you think sets you apart from others?
My art is my activism. I’m determined to exist in creative spaces that shine a spotlight on underrepresented people, are female-led, and allow me to be unapologetically Jewish. I view the arts as a change agent, an interactive experience between artists and audiences that teaches us to laugh, heal, and grow. In its greatest form, the arts leave a lasting impact and breed a culture of empaths.
What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc?
My WHY is to connect and help people, which drives me to keep generating art. I am most proud of being a Jewish artist and activist. A coincidence recently happened in relation to The Moss Maidens. Back in 2018, I produced Stronger Than Hate: A Benefit for Tree Of Life Synagogue, to raise funds for the Pittsburgh congregation and the victims’ families who were attacked in the deadliest anti-semitic attack in our nation’s history. Then, on the same date as the opening of The Moss Maidens, August 2, 2023, the jury sentenced the neo-nazi shooter in the Synagogue attack to the death penalty. I’m determined to keep alive projects that respond to injustice and could help change the world.
Billy Bustamante
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
One of my favorite business coaches and mentors is Tony Howell of Tony Howell & Co. Tony is an artist and the CEO of a design studio/digital education company who lives by the mantra “Honor your past. Present your present. Design our future.” His course Email Excellence helped change my life. Research shows that the average person receives 88 emails a day and Email Excellence taught me how to maintain this volume with tools to pause my inbox, filter messages, and stay organized. With Tony’s guidance, I took ownership of my behavior with Mailchimp’s analytics: I cleaned up my contacts and learned who was inactive in my audience. I then wrote a check-in email with a whimsical theater reference: “Hey There! I noticed I haven’t heard from you in 525,600 minutes. Do you still want to be part of my world?” This outreach helped me purge and foster reconnection. One friend wrote back “Yes, please keep me on your list” and invited me for a free consultation of Balinese energy work. Her offer was an unexpected gift as my personal life was in turmoil at the time. As a result of this simple email, I gained much more than an efficient contacts list. Tony’s instruction set me on the path for emotional healing. Currently, my Mailchimp open rates hover at 70%. My readers don’t just skim but they engage. They write me back, update me on their lives, and take action within the community. With the technical use of merge tags and a compelling subject line (“You’re invited”), a recent Mailchimp campaign led to a feature on CBS Mornings. This is the power of email!
Gary Vorwald
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Get involved and contact your elected officials. When you look at what’s happening with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, artists are speaking out and demanding fair treatment, economic justice, and to share in the billions their product is generating. Corporate greed is pervasive. We need change now. We’re simply asking for better protections and to share in a piece of the profits so we can sustain a living with dignity. These necessary changes honor our contribution to the human process and creative economy.
During the height of the Covid pandemic, I did a lot of phone banking with the grassroots movement Be An Arts Hero. And my friend MatthewLee Erlbach paved the advocacy path with Arts Workers United. From Matthew, I learned that America’s Creative Economy is driven by over 5.2 million Arts & Culture Workers who generate $919.7 billion through over 675,000 businesses, in over 435 Congressional districts across the USA. Representing 4.3% of our GDP, our work generates more household income, jobs, and tax revenue than Agriculture and Mining combined, and $300 billion more than Transportation. Our institutions anchor, create, and sustain highly interdependent local commercial ecosystems across the country, grounding retail, transportation, tourism, hospitality, and millions of local jobs in our orbit. And most promisingly, we are a jobs multiplier, with a growth rate of 4.45%, nearly double that over the total U.S. economy.
While 53 countries have a Ministry of Culture, the USA is not one of them. That means we do not have a Secretary of Arts and Culture advocating for arts workers in Congress. Establishing this position would be an important step for society. It would enhance the way our policy makers and culture value artists.
Matthew met with the House Small Business Committee and educated both Republican and Democratic legislators by changing the paradigm that arts and culture is big business because we’re local business. Three key pieces of legislation that are useful and actionable include:
S2858: The Creative Economy Revitalization Act
HR2871: The Performing Artist Tax Parity Act
HR3054: The 21st Century Federal Writers Project Act
All three pieces of legislation would help independent workers and small businesses across the nation. The Creative Economy generates at least $1billion in each state. The most recent numbers are found here from 2021. Last year’s (2022) should be published soon.
Cathryn Lynne 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marajillherman.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marajillherman/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-jill-herman/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MaraJillHerman