Bulletin News

Executive-in-Residence spoke on economics of Broadway

04/04/2024

Martin Borell ’74, who since 2014 has invested in and co-produced more than a dozen Broadway, Off-Broadway, London transfer and national musicals, plays and tours, shared his insight during an Executive-in-Residence at SUNY Cortland on April 5.

Since 2014, Borell has had a hand in “Jagged Little Pill,” “Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” “An American In Paris (Broadway, London, national tour),” “Anastasia (Broadway and national tour),” “Curvy Widow (Off-Broadway),” “American Son,” “Percy Jackson (national tour)” and the upcoming “Jagged Little Pill” tour as well as several more productions in development.

During the visit Borell, who divides his time between his home in Tampa, Florida, and New York City, engaged with both students and faculty in the Performing Arts Department.

During the afternoon, he lectured on “The Economics of Broadway” in the Voice Lab: Repertory class with voice trainer Lynn Craver, lecturer II, and department Chair Deena Conley.

Borell also took a backstage tour of the “Sweet Charity” musical set, where he had an informal chat with the student cast members. Following an afternoon tour of the campus that is much changed since he graduated, he attended that evening’s “Sweet Charity” performance.

Martin Borelli '74, left, accepts an appreciation award from President Erik J. Bitterbaum. Above, Borelli visits the "Sweet Charity" cast on set.

“We are very excited to have Mr. Borell visit with our musical theatre majors,” Conley said. “Mr. Borell’s impressive and extensive experience in the theater industry will certainly assist our students in not only learning about theater as a craft, but also, and just as importantly, theater as a business.”

At SUNY Cortland, Borell earned a B.A. in English education, English and secondary education. In 1982, he received a Master of Education in adult learning and organizational development from University of Maryland.

Borell has almost 25 years of experience providing consulting services to Fortune 500 companies and large public organizations, culminating in several managing partner positions with Accenture Ltd., the world’s largest technology and management consulting firm based in Dublin, Ireland. His expertise includes large-scale change planning and implementation, human and organizational performance improvement and leadership development and executive coaching. He retired from Accenture in 2002.

Since retirement, Borell has also been active in the not-for-profit world. A past board chair of the Florida Holocaust Museum, during his five years serving the museum he led the implementation of a best practices governance structure, a strategic planning process and the selection and on-boarding of a new executive director. To honor Borell, the museum established the Martin H. Borell Scholarship Fund to underwrite admission fees to the museum for school classes that might not otherwise be financially able to attend.

Borell currently sits on the boards of several nonprofits focusing on mental health and the performing arts. He helped other local nonprofit boards, such as the Florida Orchestra and the Florida Craftsman, with strategic planning and implementation.

The Executive-in-Residence program is supported by the Cortland College Foundation, Alumni Engagement and Career Services. For more information, contact Leadership Gift Officer Michele Artus at 607-753-4998.