llc industry theater producing and merchandising founded 1997 headquarters new york city new york u.s. key people founders michael rego matthew rego hank unger website www.araca.com the araca group is a tony award winning live entertainment merchandise and production company founded in 1997 by partners matthew rego michael rego and hank unger . first achieving notoriety as producers of the musical urinetown the company has gradually become more involved in merchandising following the success of wicked . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 founding and early productions 1.3 urinetown and financial success 1.4 wicked 1.5 other productions and marketing merchandising 1.6 current and upcoming projects 2 credits 2.1 broadway production credits 2.2 off broadway production credits 2.3 broadway merchandise credits 2.4 other merchandise credits 3 references history edit early history edit brothers matthew and michael rego met hank unger during a community theater production of the music man in 1985 . 1 michael rego and hank unger attended syracuse university together while matthew rego attended the university of michigan . after graduating college the three moved to new york to pursue theatrical endeavors . after several projects including a production of caryl churchill s cloud nine michael and matthew rego chose to attend graduate programs . michael rego attended new york law school while matthew rego pursued business at fordham university . after graduating the partners decided to once again try producing . 1 founding and early productions edit the araca group was officially founded in 1997 araca being the surname of the regos grandfather charlie araca . 1 araca s first off broadway production was skyscraper by pulitzer prize winner david auburn . the araca group also provided general management marketing and production supervision to a series of off off broadway productions including stephen belber s the death of frank . soon after the araca group produced the independent film 30 days . other productions included james naughton street of dreams directed by mike nichols the vagina monologues which included performances off broadway as well as in los angeles chicago san francisco toronto and london and an off broadway production of the laramie project . 2 urinetown and financial success edit during the intermission of a production of urinetown at the 1999 new york international fringe festival playwright david auburn called michael rego and insisted that the three partners see the show . after following auburn s suggestion the partners decided to produce it joining with dodger theatricals . 3 described by urinetown writer greg kotis as upstarts buccaneering producers eager for a horse to bet on the company was instrumental in attaching director john rando to the production and facilitating the move to an off broadway production in may 2001 . 4 the musical moved to broadway in september 2001 where it achieved much success both critically and financially receiving 10 tony award nominations and playing for 965 performances . 5 araca s second broadway production was terrence mcnally s frankie and johnny in the clair de lune which starred edie falco and stanley tucci . this production opened to critical acclaim and recouped its investment in a record breaking six weeks . the production was nominated for two tony awards . off broadway the araca group s production of debbie does dallas the musical opened for a six month run followed by productions in san francisco reno melbourne and johannesburg . 2 wicked edit the araca group next co produced wicked a musical based on the novel by gregory maguire that retells the story of the wizard of oz . premiering at the gershwin theatre on october 30 2003 wicked received three tony awards and is currently among the top grossing shows on broadway . wicked would go on to have subsequent productions all over the world including london germany australia japan and an upcoming debut in the netherlands . wicked has also had great success in north america with two tours and long running performances in chicago los angeles and san francisco . 2 other productions and marketing merchandising edit other broadway productions also produced by the araca group following the successes of wicked musical . these productions included match night mother the good body and the wedding singer musical . merchandising and marketing services were also expanded around this time to include many various broadway productions including the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee the pirate queen the farnsworth invention rock n roll the wedding singer musical passing strange and the west end production of hairspray . 2 current and upcoming projects edit araca continues to produce many off broadway and broadway shows . some of the most notable include rock of ages boeing boeing lend me a tenor a view from the bridge and the merchant of venice . the araca group also continues to provide merchandising services to many productions both on broadway and around the world . some of the most notable merchandising opportunities include jersey boys god of carnage guys and dolls catch me if you can the scottsboro boys and the book of mormon . 2 the araca group also provides merchandising services to clients outside of the broadway world . these clients have included the alvin ailey american dance theater reo speedwagon professional bull riders hobo skateboards her universe and new york knicks . 2 credits edit broadway production credits edit urinetown the musical frankie and johnny in the clair de lune which starred edie falco and stanley tucci wicked musical including national tours and international productions the wedding singer musical night mother the good body match the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee boeing boeing 13 the musical rock of ages lend me a tenor a view from the bridge the merchant of venice the spongebob musical off broadway production credits edit the vagina monologues the laramie project debbie does dallas fault lines broadway merchandise credits edit wicked musical the wedding singer musical the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee passing strange boeing boeing 13 the musical rock of ages next to normal 9 to 5 the musical guys and dolls 2009 revival god of carnage elf the musical catch me if you can the scottsboro boys the book of mormon other merchandise credits edit jersey boys in las vegas london and australia wicked musical national tours chicago los angeles san francisco london tokyo stuttgart melbourne and sydney dickens unplugged in london spring awakening london chicago musical australia peepshow in las vegas the toxic avenger off broadway ghost the musical london shrek the musical national tour 9 to 5 national tour references edit a b c mckinley jesse 24 january 2002 . advertise on nytimes.com big dreams of broadway fulfilled ; youthful group who bet on urinetown . the new york times . retrieved 13 july 2011 . a b c d e f http www.araca.com mckinley jesse 2 september 2001 . fitting a little show into a big house . the new york times . retrieved 13 july 2011 . http www.tcg.org publications at 2003 urinetown.cfm http www.ibdb.com production.php id 12936 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the araca group & oldid 717293475 categories companies based in new york citytheatre production companieshidden categories use dmy dates from july 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified 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