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Sunshine boy BROADWAY DREAMS FULFILLED, DANNY KNAUB RETURNS TO THE BLUMENTHAL, BRINGING A PROFOUND PASSION FOR THEATER. by Page Leggett
PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN DRISCOLL
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heater public-relations guru Danny Knaub was living his best life in New York City and promoting touring Broadway shows when Covid hit. The extended hiatus eventually led him back to his parents’ home in Lake Lure. After a yearlong, unplanned sabbatical, Knaub got an unexpected call from his former boss, Wendy Oglesby. The Chief Marketing Officer at Blumenthal Performing Arts asked if he’d consider coming back to work at the place he started his career in 2008 as marketing and video coordinator. He wasn’t about to say, “No, No, Nanette.” In fact, “Once” was not enough for Knaub, who turns 40 this month: After nearly a decade working in New York and San Francisco, he’s back, this time as Blumenthal’s vice president of marketing. It’s “Nice Work If You Can Get It.” We sat down with the ever-optimistic Knaub to learn more about the Great White Way and what it’s like to come home again. Comments have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Was Broadway everything you thought it would be? Yes, Broadway has been my dream since I was a little kid. Moving to New York was one of the highlights of my life — getting to ride a subway every morning, eating bagels and working in Times Square. It’s fast-paced — it is constantly entertaining. The fact that I could just sit at work and go, “I want to see a Broadway show tonight,” blew my mind. There was a moment I actually struggled because I thought, “I don’t know what’s next — my dream came true.” But I don’t want to stop dreaming because that, to me, is my driving force. What was it like when everything shut down in New York? Scary, surreal — it was the first time I experienced almost a disconnect within our country. I was watching my entire city shut down. I was essentially confined to a very tiny apartment, just me and my dog. Obviously, the pandemic was awful, but I was grateful to be part of a city where we all had each other’s backs. Every day southparkmagazine.com | 39
