Twenty years ago, Andrew Kato asked Jay Johnson, his partner of a year, if he wanted to leave New York to go on an adventure. “We packed up a U-Haul Beverly Hillbillies-style and moved into a small townhouse in Abacoa.”
Kato, then 40 and a powerhouse theater producer, and Milton and Tamar Maltz, the new owners of Jupiter’s community theater, found they shared a vision for what the theater could be. The Maltzes had the money, and they believed Kato was the man who could make it happen.
Now 60, Kato will celebrate 20 years at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre on Indiantown Road near State Road A1A in August. He and Jay still live in the 1,100-square-foot Abacoa townhouse.
“I don’t think people understand the depth of Andrew’s talent,” said Beth Neuhoff of Jupiter, a longtime Maltz subscriber and supporter. “In many ways, he’s like the Wizard of Oz pulling strings behind the curtain.”
The early days
Kato wasn’t new to Jupiter or to the Jupiter theater. A graduate of Jupiter High School, he’d worked his way through Florida State University as a waiter when the Maltz was the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, a celebrated jewel that brought A-list actors and directors to town to stage productions.
Kato served those stars — Charles Durning, Carol Burnett, Sally Field, Elizabeth Taylor and Dolly Parton — in Reynold’s private dining boxes. The diversity of the productions Kato saw (like Jim Nabors in “The Music Man”) and the people he served (like Liza Minnelli) would have dazzled most people into silence, but Kato wanted to absorb every morsel of information that would help him reach his goal to produce.
It took Kato almost eight years to complete his education while he worked at the theater. His father, a retired Air Force captain, and his mother, a flight attendant and professional puppeteer, instilled in Kato a strong work ethic but no financial support. His father died when he was only 55, and his mother developed dementia. One phrase she remembered and repeated was “I’m proud of you, Andrew.”
The Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre (eventually renamed the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre) was a go-to destination for Reynolds’ fans and a local landmark from 1979 to 1996.
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It reopened as the Carousel Dinner Theater in late 1996 but that short-lived venture closed within a year. Lowell “Bud” Paxson bought the property and donated it to Christ Fellowship Church in 1999.
Then in 2001, residents formed the non-profit Palm Beach Playhouse Inc. and bought the building for $2.67 million.
After a renovation in 2003, the theater opened as the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, a 554-seat, state-of-the-art regional theater on Feb. 29, 2004, named for its primary benefactors, Milton and Tamar Maltz.
During his time at the theater, Kato co-wrote a full-scale musical, “Switch!” His second musical, “Academy,” written with John Mercurio, won the New York Musical Theater Festival award. It went on to be a successful production here and in South Korea.
Road to New York
After graduation, Kato accepted a position as company manager in Portland, Maine. His next big break came because someone important liked the way he answered the phone.
Broadway mega-director Jerry Zaks brought Kato to New York. Then Margo Lion, an independent producer and a legend for her style and personality, taught Kato the finer details of their craft.
They produced “Jelly’s Last Jam” and “Angels in America,” Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
In 2004, Kato earned the role of producer of the Tony Awards, a gig he’d pursued for years. He kept that side hustle “from Wicked to Hamilton,” he says, a 13-year achievement that ended in 2014.
But in 2005, the Maltzes were in New York searching for a new executive director after a dismal first season. Kato was the second or third person they met.
“I saw the theater’s potential, but it was struggling,” Kato said. “With the proper care and with vision, I was convinced I could make it work.”
Kato believed the theater needed some TLC, and when Milton Maltz heard that, he and Tamar canceled the rest of the interviews.
The new and improved Maltz Jupiter Theatre on opening night. (Photo: Jason Nuttle Photography)
Investing in a community asset
Since 2002, the Maltz family has invested at least $30 million in the theater as Kato built it toward national recognition. But in 2020, as COVID raged, the Maltz team canceled its season and moved up its remodeling project.
It was a bold decision that paid off.
Main floor renovations include a redesigned lobby, a gift shop, a box office, a deeper and wider main stage and expanded orchestra pit. There are reconfigured stage lights and an LED wall for video elements, seating for 659, dressing rooms and offices and an exclusive space for high-end donors to mingle before and after performances.
A new third story added 30,000-plus square feet, nearly doubling the theater’s size to more than 63,000 square feet with the same footprint. There’s also more space in the newly excavated basement.
But it’s the “curtain wall” — three stories of angled windows on the southwest corner of the theater — that captures the spirit of the theater. It was Kato’s idea to add the windows, “to put across our mission that we’re the creators of our work,” he said. People can see the artists in rehearsal, see the passion as the art is being made. “The soul and heart of the organization on display.”
Maltz is a producing theater, which means that everything the audience sees on stage is created on-site. The just completed run of “Frozen” wasn’t a national production with sets and costumes provided by Disney. The costumes and sets were constructed right here.
For Kato, the new theater has fulfilled a 20-year dream. “How many people get to design a building?” Kato said. “I give huge credit to the (building’s) architect, Oscar Garcia.”
A second stage
This season, the theater opened The Island Theatre, a more intimate venue with seating for 199.
It’s designed to accommodate a plethora of acts; aerialists swing and twirl above your table and close-up, sleight-of-hand magic can be captured.
It’s also a space for cabaret and the new season boasts a tribute to Bette Midler on Feb. 12 and crooner Anthony Nunziata on stage for a Valentine’s Day show.
The total price tag for the upgrades has topped $42 million, plus another $5 million to finish the Island Theatre, but they’ve made the not-for-profit Maltz Jupiter Theatre one of Florida’s preeminent professional theaters and the state’s largest award-winning regional theater. More than 100,000 people attend each year, and the theater’s budget averages more than $8 million annually.
The theater has about 7,100 subscribers and serves more than 600 students a year in its after school, weekend and summer programs at its Goldner Conservatory. One of the last improvements planned is to expand the conservatory on the second floor. The theater has raised $4.8 million of the $5 million needed for the conservatory upgrades.
A key contributor is Roe Green, who recently made a $2 million gift to the Maltz for the conservatory.
“I adore Andrew,” she said. “He takes things so seriously and he cares about the legacy.”
A value of kindness
The theater is a magical place, Kato said, where “hearts get in sync.” The audience is part of each production, like a fourth dimension.
Kato says people “age in” to the theater experience, often coming to it later in life, as empty nesters find themselves with time to spare and more disposable cash.
Often, he says choosing theater starts with a positive childhood experience and Maltz loves to be that introduction for children.
Kids’ devotion to tiny screens is not an issue, Kato said. “Theater is the antidote to the screen.”
Kato’s eye for detail is one of the things that makes him successful, but his attitude is reflected in the theater’s mantra: “Talented and kind.”
When something goes wrong and needs a fix, Kato likes to promote forgiveness by saying, “Grace is falling down,” and imitating rain falling with his fingertips.
“I like to create an environment where people aren’t afraid to speak out,” he said.
“I’m rare as managing and artistic director,” Kato said. It’s true that two people usually fill the roles. Typically, one has a head for business and the other understands the nuances of art, and they work out what to do.
It takes compromise.
“But I only have myself to fight with,” Kato said with a laugh.
In theater, success happens when you achieve the correct balance of art and commerce. Kato has found a formula for it.
Theaters are supported by ticket sales and donations and the usual balance is 50-50, but the Maltz has tipped the scales to 60-40, with ticket sales providing more of the annual budget than donations.
“People say I am one of the most fiscally responsible managers they’ve worked with,” Kato said, which is a testament to his balancing skills.
“I think one gift I bring is a unity of vision,” Kato said. “The theater has a look or a font or a feel to it. I’m meticulous about details and that things are spelled out and I will make people do it over.”
But to balance that power, Kato said, “You have humility. Being open to the best idea helps. I let people know where the ideas come from. All the work gets put at my feet, but I give credit where it’s due.”
One mindset Kato considers is something we all should think about: “Be careful of the energy you bring into the building,” Kato said. “Let’s bring our best energy.”
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
