Theatre Albany GM Justin Neal brings high energy to position

ALBANY — It may have taken a while for him to fill them, but Theatre Albany General Manager Justin Neal knew from the start that being selected to fill former GM — and local theater legend — Mark Costello’s shoes would be no easy task.

But as a group of 21 actors prepares for Theatre Albany’s season-ending musical “The Wedding Singer,” the energetic, mile-a-minute Neal has a year under his belt in the position and is looking forward to guiding the theater into its historic 90th season.

“I knew (taking on the GM position) was going to be a big challenge,” Neal, who grew up in the Atlanta area and earned a degree in Theatre from Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, said. “The theater did not have a GM for five or six years after Mark (who passed away recently) retired, but when the board decided to move forward, several people told me I should apply.

“I had been in seven plays after graduating and moving here, and I knew the ‘Theatre Albany family,’ had developed good relationships with the folks here. Fortunately, (the board) knew me, knew my credentials.”

Neal developed his taste for singing and, thus, musical theater in high school, and when he met a group of friends in Americus, he decided to seek a degree in Theatre at GSW. (He also earned a minor in Music.) At Georgia Southwestern, he immersed himself in his passions.

“During the five years I was in college, I was in about 30 shows,” he said. “I did some community theater, some shows at Georgia Southwestern, shows at the amazing Rylander Theatre. I checked a bunch of plays off my list.

“I also got to direct one show with the Sumter Players — ‘Jungle Book’ — and that’s something I want to do more of.”

When Neal and his wife settled in Albany in 2017 after college, he became a valuable volunteer and actor (“Wedding Singer” will be his eighth production) in the local theater. He worked first at Books a Million and then Men’s Warehouse before he brought his high-energy approach to Theatre Albany as its GM.

“I’m excited about Theatre Albany’s 90th season,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a big year. One of the things we’ve talked about doing is making all the needed repairs on the theater. This is an old building, and old buildings need to be fixed up. One of the primary projects I’d like for us to take on is to renovate the Black Box Theater that’s located upstairs. That will allow us to meet one of our goals of opening up space for other performances.

“We’ve found the caliber of shows that the community enjoys — we’ve had our first sell-outs — and we want to keep doing those kinds of shows. But we also want to bring more of a variety of shows, make theater more immersive, fully utilize the space we have. One of the things we want to guard against is being formulaic. I hope we can bring a fresh perspective.”

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher