Paul Wontorek

Early life and education

Wontorek grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and was involved in theater during high school. At 18, he began school at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York as a journalism major. There, he wrote for the Fordham Observer, the school's newspaper, and interned at TheaterWeek magazine. After graduating, Wontorek worked as a graphic designer. Concurrently, he began his own independent musical theater magazine, Upstage.

Career

Early in his career, Wontorek was a freelance reporter for InTheater Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. He also worked as a stage manager on small musical theater productions in New York and was contracted for design work for various cast albums. Wontorek saw the ability of theater actors to be "stars" and began to formulate the idea for Broadway.com, a website focused on both selling New York theater tickets and releasing editorials about the show's stars. A year later, BroadwayBox.com, a spin-off site for discount theater tickets, was founded. In 2010, Broadway.com and BroadwayBox.com were bought by Key Brand Entertainment from Hollywood Media Corp for approximately $45 million.

Today, Wontorek runs the editorial and video production at Broadway.com. He is executive producer of the site's video content. Most notably, Wontorek hosts the online shows Show People with Paul Wontorek as well as The Broadway.com Show and has developed a large social media following, making him a respected voice in the Broadway world. Wontorek is often sought as a representative of the American musical theater scene and he himself has been interviewed by CNN, the New York Times, the LA Times, USA Today, and PBS among other new sources for his opinions and comments.