ABOUT THE PRESS ROOM

Veteran Broadway press agents Jim Byk and Shane Marshall Brown are the founders of THE PRESS ROOM, a theatrical and entertainment publicity office based in New York City and launched in 2018. They are joined by Diane Vadnal as Director of Operations, Gerilyn Shur and Louisa Pancoast as Press Agents, and Maddie Greenberg and Christian Heino as Press Assistants.

The Press Room brings a fresh, collaborative approach to public relations—one that blends strategic insight with genuine creativity. We specialize in crafting thoughtful, bespoke campaigns that reflect the unique identities of our diverse client base. From Broadway and Off-Broadway openings, to national tours, and cultural institutions, we tailor each strategy with precision and care, ensuring every narrative lands with impact. We value honesty, clarity, and agility. We believe the strongest campaigns are built on trust and transparency—not only with the press, but with our clients and creative partners. Above all, we value the magic that happens when meaningful stories reach the right audiences at the right time. Whether launching a new production, maintaining a legacy brand, or navigating the fast-evolving media landscape, The Press Room is a trusted partner in shaping how the world experiences live entertainment.

Current Broadway clients include The Balusters, The Book of Mormon, Bug, Hamilton, Liberation and Punch. North American Tour: The Phantom of the Opera. Off-Broadway: AVA: The Secret Conversations, Beau The Musical, Heathers the Musical, The Monsters and Queens. Institutions: Barrington Stage Company, Drama Book Shop, Edgewood Entertainment, Hershey Felder Presents, Hugo Six, Manhattan Theatre Club, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, New York Classical Theatre, Out of the Box Theatrics, Rockefeller Productions, Rosie’s Theater Kids, Vineyard Theatre, and The Wooster Group.

Future Broadway includes American Prophet, Beat Street, Born for This, Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz, The Cowards: A Marvelously Queer New Comedy, Get Happy, Grace The Musical, The Harder They Come, Long Way Down, Regency Girls, Rutka, Shout Sister Shout!, Sidney, Sugar Daddy, and Working Girl The Musical.

Recent Broadway clients have included Eureka Day (Tony Award, Best Revival of a Play); Farinelli and the King; Paradise Square (Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical); Patriots; The Picture of Dorian Gray (Tony Awards, Best Actress in a Play, Best Costume Design for a Play); Prima Facie (Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play); Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends; Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women (Tony Awards, Best Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play); The Waverly Gallery (Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play); and A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical.

Off-Broadway clients have included Beyond Babel; Blue Man Group; Bowl EP; DRAG The Musical; Duke & Roya; Gloria: A Life; Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis; Job; Manhattan Theatre Club’s Bad Kreyòl, Dakar 2000, Vladimir and We Had a World; National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s Amid Falling Walls and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish; Sesame Street The Musical; Someone Spectacular; Stalker.

Regional: May We All at Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville; Miami New Drama’s award-winning Seven Deadly Sins. Special Attractions: the New York City premiere of Notre Dame de Paris at the Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center, SuperYou at Carnegie Hall. Streaming: Out of the Box Theatrics and Holmdel Theatre Company’s The Last Five Years; Swamp Motel’s Isklander Trilogy. Institutions: Southern California’s 3-D Theatricals, Playbill’s 2021 Pride Events, The Royal Opera House’s US Cinema Series, International: the Australian premiere of The Book of Mormon.

With previous offices, the team has represented over 100 Broadway and 150 Off-Broadway shows, including the Tony Award-winning productions of Death of a Salesman (2012); Red; La Cage aux Folles (2010); The Norman Conquests; The History Boys; Doubt; Avenue Q, and Proof. They have also represented Paula Vogel’s Indecent; Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella; Betrayal with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz; Twelfth Night/Richard III with Mark Rylance; The River with Hugh Jackman; The Cripple of Inishmaan with Daniel Radcliffe; Lucky Guy with Tom Hanks; Jerusalem with Mark Rylance; Hamlet with Jude Law; Macbeth with Kenneth Branagh; Gypsy with Bernadette Peters; The Scottsboro Boys; The Seagull; Mary Stuart; Disney's Beauty and the Beast; and Urinetown, among others. 

The office has led their clients to 294 Tony Award nominations, and 86 wins.

Institutional clients have included The Australian Ballet, Guthrie Theater, Signature Theatre (NY and DC), Soulpepper Theatre Company and The Stuttgart Ballet.

Film work includes Broadway press outreach for Birdman, Doubt, Nine, Dreamgirls, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges and Sweeney Todd.

With Keith Sherman, Byk represented The Tony Awards for CBS and Tony Award Productions from 1991-1996, and Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! for PBS.  

Byk, Brown and Shur are proud members of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM). Byk is a member of ATPAM’s Board of Governors.