Culture

Kevin Kopjak stands at the PR epicenter for Bay Area theater


Prismatic Communications founder Kevin Kopjak with a t-shirt from the Hungarian production of The Phantom of the Opera, which reminds him of his late Hungarian father, Ladislav Kopjak, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Kevin Kopjak was still in grade school when he first fell head-over-heels for theater.

“I fell in love with theater back in fourth grade, when my class studied ‘Les Misérables,’” says the South San Francisco resident. “Even though I had no comprehension of what I was listening to, I was instantly captivated. It was at that moment I was bitten by the theater bug.”

Kopjak no longer stages one-man productions for his “patient parents in their living room,” but he’s still madly in love with theater. These days, he helps some of the Bay Area’s top theaters — Broadway San Jose, Berkeley Rep, ACT, Center Rep and Broadway SF among them — spread the word about their latest productions via Prismatic Communications. He founded the theater-centric PR firm in 2021, after spending decades under the wing of legendary Bay Area publicist Charles Zukow.

Q: What drew you to the theater world as a profession?

A: There is something about the liveliness of theater that has always been exciting to me. I love that every performance is a living, breathing experience shared between actors and an audience. There is a rush and unparalleled thrill to live theater that I knew I had to be a part of in some form.

Q: Were you a theater major in college?

A: I began college — at San Jose State — as a theater major, aiming to become a professional stage actor. (But) I began to doubt my talents and abilities as an actor, which made me realize that being on stage might not be the right path for me. I still wanted a career that tapped into my creativity, and that’s when I found my passion for marketing. There are tons of theater jobs that don’t involve being on stage — box office managers, stage crew, designers and dramaturgs to name a few.

Q: How did you get your first break in the biz?

A: After graduating college, I serendipitously stumbled upon Charles Zukow Associates, a boutique PR agency that specialized in arts and entertainment. Although they weren’t hiring when I first reached out, I persisted until Charly eventually brought me on board. I stayed with the agency for 18 years under Charly’s mentorship until his retirement in 2021.

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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment

      

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