BIOGRAPHY

Dan DeMello’s career in theatrical publicity began in 2003, under the mentorship of veteran Broadway and Off Broadway Press Agents Max Eisen, Shirley Herz, Kevin McAnarny, Sam Rudy, and David Gersten. In the six years that followed, he handled the publicity campaigns for esteemed theatre companies such as Irish Repertory Theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company, The Barrow Group, The Living Theatre, New Federal Theatre, Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, and Theater by the Blind (now Theater Breaking Through Barriers), among others.

In 2010, Dan began working independently, founding Dan DeMello Public Relations (DDPR). He has represented countless Off and Off Off-Broadway productions, consistently securing top-tier press coverage for them in one of the most competitive media markets in the country. In the decade that followed, he served as Press Representative for Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, The Working Theater, La Escuiliuta Night Club, Culture Club, NYMF, The Downtown Urban Arts Festival, and ten years of Nightmare NYC – Timothy Haskell’s critically acclaimed theatrical haunted house that garnered top tier press coverage from almost every major news outlets across the city. Notable venues that Dan has designed grand opening or launch campaigns for include Irish Repertory Theatre’s Campaign for a Permanent Home, The Living Theatre on Clinton Street, and more recently, AMT Theatre and Brooklyn Art Haus.

In the tech industry, Dan spearheaded the global publicity campaigns for Perry Street Software, securing widespread media attention for SCRUFF, one of the world’s largest gay social networking apps. The coverage he secured for the app in major cities across the globe, helped bolster its standing as a leader in its field. He also launched the publicity campaigns announcing StageWrite, cutting-edge software that is now an essential tool for blocking and choreography within Broadway Productions.

In the LGBTQ community (of which he is a proud member) he has represented NYC Pride, The Saint at Large’s legendary Black Party at Roseland Ballroom, The Wings Theatre, countless LGBTQ+ lead productions, companies, and performers - including legendary drag performer Lady Bunny, securing her first ever New York Times review.

In 2020 and 2021, as the Covid-19 pandemic crippled the theatre industry, Dan worked behind the scenes with GM Catherine Russell to push for Off Broadway’s reopening. As the city allowed the reopening of bars, gyms, and nail salons, the city failed to address the reopening of small theatres. Dan designed and spearheaded the publicity campaign for Russell’s organizing of various small theatres to sue the then Governor and Mayor of New York City to reopen. He crafted a narrative that spotlighted the inequities faced by these small venues and their vital role in the city’s cultural fabric. The campaign gained significant traction, securing coverage in several top-tier outlets nationwide and sparking a much needed conversation about the importance of small theaters in the city and beyond. On April 9, 2021, small theaters were allowed to reopen with social distancing and other protocols in place. The Theater Center was the very first to resume live performances safely - paving the way for Broadway's eventual return nearly a year later—an achievement hailed by Mayor Bill DeBlasio who attended Perfect Crime when Actors Equity approved the long running murder mystery as the very first equity production to resume performances in New York City.

DDPR clients have been covered by The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC News, NBC News, CBS This Morning, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The Verge, Wired, Mashable, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and countless others. He’s booked his clients on syndicated programs like The View and Kelly & Mark - and multiple clients have been featured in highly coveted newspaper columns like Sunday Routine and Vows.

Current clients include: Manhattan Repertory Theatre and The Theater Center – representing its long running productions Singfeld! A Musical Parody About Nothing, The Office! A Musical Parody, and Friends! The Musical Parody. He also represents Perfect Crime, the longest-running play in New York City history – and its recent groundbreaking introduction of AI powered real time translations of the show in over 60 different languages.

He has spent his entire life working in various forms of media: starting at age 10 when he became the editor of his 5th-grade yearbook. In his early teens he worked as a paperboy and was also a reporter and editor of his high school newspaper. Fascinated by all aspects of the industry, he even enrolled in the graphic arts department and learned how to run a four-color Heidelberg printing press. By 20, he was writing features for The University Of Massachusetts Dartmouth and was hired as the youngest correspondent for his hometown local daily newspaper, The New Bedford Standard Times, writing a weekly entertainment column covering the local arts scene in Southern New England. He later interned at ABC News in Providence, RI and also worked as a production assistant at “Good Morning America.” He loves what he does, and is grateful that he gets to live his dream of pursuing press coverage for actors, creatives and productions every day.