Veteran theater press agent Rick Miramontez is joining DKC Public Relations to create DKC/O&M, the first national Broadway and live-events PR agency, DKC president Sean Cassidy announced Thursday.
Top executives at Miramontez’s NYC-based O&M Co. will be joining him in the new venture, including VP Molly Barnett and creative director Andy Snyder.
In recent years, O&M has become one of the most successful agencies promoting Broadway productions, representing everything from the mega-budget musical fiasco “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” to the last three Tony winners for Best Musical: “Kinky Boots,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” and “Fun Home.”
The new DKC/O&M division will be headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Miami. The operation will be fully integrated into DKC’s national entertainment practice under the leadership of EVP and director of entertainment Joe Quenqua.
“DKC understands that our unique and eclectic client roster requires special attention and expertise,” Miramontez said in a statement. “This opportunity will allow us to provide our clients with all the resources of a leading, beautifully run national agency, while still allowing us to maintain the quirky, boutique spirit we’ve built our reputation on.”
Miramontez currently represents the Carole King bio-musical “Beautiful,” the Tony-nominated play “Hand to God” as well as upcoming Broadway productions such as “School of Rock,” “Bright Star,” “King Charles III” and the Lupita Nyong’o-led drama “Eclipsed.”
Other clients include The American Theatre Wing, MCC Theater, Jujamcyn Theaters, “Sleep No More”/The McKittrick Hotel, the Broadway-area restaurant Joe Allen and Carole Shorenstein Hays’ Curran Theatre in San Francisco.
“Rick is a true visionary who has shifted the landscape of Broadway and live entertainment over the past decade with the unparalleled success of O&M,” Cassidy said. “This is a major transformational move for DKC, establishing the entertainment division as a wholly unique practice with major footprints in L.A., San Francisco and NYC as well as arts and culture hubs throughout the country.”
Quenqua — who joined DKC two years ago from Walt Disney Studios where he created and had oversight of the first in-house global publicity department for Disney Theatrical Group — also recently helped recruit Dusty Bennett from Disney Theatrical and Blue Man Productions to run DKC INC!TE, the company’s full-service event production team.
DKC INC!TE will serve as an available resource for DKC/O&M clients offering their expertise for opening nights, media and premiere events from the design stage through complete staffing and execution.