Barlow will form an entertainment consultancy group, and Hartman will open a new company, The Hartman Group, an entertainment media relations agency that will continue to play press rep for major Broadway shows and theatre companies.
Barlow-Hartman is currently represented on Broadway by 9 to 5 The Musical, Billy Elliot The Musical, Guys and Dolls, In the Heights, Next to Normal, Rock of Ages, West Side Story and Wicked.
Hartman and his newly formed Hartman Group will continue to represent all of the firm's current projects as well as other productions to be announced at a later date. The Hartman Group will begin operations on June 15 at 260 West 44th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY.
Barlow-Hartman Public Relations was incorporated and began business on June 14, 1999, and has since represented over 100 productions, which included Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as well not-for-profit theatre companies, celebrities and special projects in the theatre industry.
Barlow said in a statement, "I don't think it would be possible for me to love the theatre any more than I do. It always has been (and I hope always will be) one of the most important and enriching parts of my life. But I think this is the moment for me to take a step back and look at all of the changes that are happening in the theatre, and in entertainment as a whole, and figure out how I might best serve that which is so fundamentally a part of me. Taking this step to evaluate how I can best do this is going to facilitate that goal. To that end, I plan to open a consultancy group which will serve the theatre and the arts and bring the best of what I do and what I have learned to this ever-changing landscape." Hartman stated, "Creating Barlow-Hartman has been more rewarding than I could have imagined, however, if we remain open and conscious, the call to evolve inevitably sounds. Not only have John and I both evolved, the theatre industry and the very nature of media coverage has evolved as well. I'm very inspired to originate an agency with an emphasis on new media relations and developing projects and relationships that contribute to the vitality and relevance of this industry that I remain passionate about and devoted to."
The Hartman Group will continue to employ the current Barlow-Hartman staff, which includes Wayne Wolfe, Leslie Baden, Tom D'Ambrosio, Juliana Hannett, Michelle Bergmann, Melissa Bixler, Matt Shea, Lexie Pregosin and Frances Connelly. Holly Kinney will join the firm as business manager.
Past productions represented by Barlow-Hartman include The Producers, Movin' Out, The Full Monty, 700 Sundays, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Pillowman, The Woman In White, The Color Purple, A Chorus Line, Company, Legally Blonde, Radio Golf, Young Frankenstein, Gypsy, Boeing-Boeing, Noises Off, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Seussical The Musical, King Hedley II, Sweet Smell Of Success, The Graduate, The Wild Party Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Salome, Anna In The Tropics, Little Shop of Horrors and Bombay Dreams.
