Tommy Washbush
Jared D. Duymovic outside the Barrymore Theatre.
Jared Duymovic will take the reins from Steve Sperling at the Barrymore later this month.
Concluding a national search process that began last fall and attracted more than 30 applicants, the Barrymore Theatre has hired Jared Duymovic to be the new general manager of the nearly 100-year-old near-east side venue. Duymovic leaves his job as an agent with L.A.-based Cadenza Artists International to replace current GM Steve Sperling. Sperling ran the theater for more than 30 years and was instrumental in helping re-energize the economic hub in the Atwood corridor by renewing and renovating the theater itself.
Sperling brought more than 3,000 shows to the Barrymore, and created an “all come” theater environment with a stage that was equally welcoming to Patti Smith, Toots and the Maytals, Hunter S. Thompson, neighborhood middle school talent shows, and class graduation ceremonies.
It was that mission to draw eclectic entertainment while nurturing the Atwood connection that Duymovic is most excited to enter and continue. “One of the things that makes the Barrymore different from other venues in town is that it really, authentically is a come-as-you-are space,” he says. “I think the Barrymore’s role in the community is to reflect the community, to offer space for its community.”
Originally from Indianapolis, Duymovic, 42, and his wife, Rissa, moved to Madison in 2017 when he became the director of programming at the Overture Center. They live on the west side with their two children, who attend Memorial High School. In 2022 he became the vice president of programming and engagement at the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee before joining Cadenza Artists International last year.
In addition to niche artist programming and neighborhood connections, the Barrymore is an island of independence in the sea of Live Nation corporate entertainment in Madison. Understanding the importance of an independent theater is what Barrymore board chair Heather Good said was a priority in finding the right hire for the new GM.
“It takes a lot to maintain an independent venue anywhere,” she says. “We’re feeling really good about having (locally owned) Atwood Music Hall and The Bur Oak among others within blocks — and having the Barrymore anchoring it all. I’m interested in the Barrymore as being a place that the neighborhood is proud of.”
Good is confident that Duymovic will embrace guests in all the right ways, which means more than just the ticket. “He’ll want to remind everyone the Barrymore is here for you.” The job encompasses community engagement as well as theater operations and programming.
Filling the large shoes that Sperling wore for three-plus decades feels right to Duymovic. He says Sperling has been an industry mentor for him since he arrived in Madison. “Still, it’s daunting,” he adds. “He has such a love for the building and a love for the neighborhood. And he leaves it all in such good shape.” Duymovic says he plans to continue the theater’s instrumental role in producing the annual AtwoodFest.
As for Sperling? He says he’s happy with the choice. And he’s happy to have more time to attend concerts as a patron and to listen to his gigantic music collection on his vintage home sound system. He fusses at you when you ask him what his favorite moment at the Barrymore was over the past 30 years. “That’s the wrong way to think about it,” he says. “That denies a person the pleasure of being fully present for the show you’re watching now.”
When pressed, he said there were a couple of concerts, where he left his condor’s nest of an office at the top of the carpeted staircase high above the lobby to descend down into the theater to take a seat in the audience. “Just two,” he says. “Just two shows when I told the staff to leave me alone until the show was over.” That was for Ray Davies and for Emmylou Harris.
Duymovic appreciates those moments, too, the moments that aren’t the “best” of anything, but are simply the performance moments that give you peace, or make you see something differently. Or change your life the way only art can do. “Whether it’s the right chord, or the lyric that you never knew you needed to hear until that time, or connecting with a performer and feeling like you’re sharing a secret, this little view of a whole different world for just a few moments, I think is one of the things we all seek every time we [have] a ticket and go sit in a darkened room with our community.”
Duymovic takes the keys to the Barrymore on Aug. 31.
