With roots as a stagehand at Arena Stage and the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington DC, Tony shifted into management in the 1970’s during the heyday of American contemporary dance, working with the renowned companies of Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis, and by extension introduction to legends such as Rudolf Nureyev, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Alvin Ailey.
A subsequent decade of performing arts center management involved setting up and programming the highly successful Flynn Center in Burlington, Vermont in the historic Flynn Theatre, followed by the presidency of New York’s City Center during a period of robust growth. During this period Tony was able to introduce to Vermont artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, composer/performer Steve Reich and the ballet of Maurice Bejart, and to the U.S. artists of the stature of Billy Forsythe’s Frankfurt Ballet, the work of Maguy Marin on the Lyons Opera Ballet, Sankai Juku and the Kodo Drummers from Japan, Russia’s Red Army Chorus and Australia’s Circus Oz. In both historic venues, Tony was instrumental in building restoration, operations and programming, fund development, and staff management.
In 1992, while completing an MBA at New York’s Columbia University, Tony established Micocci Productions, LLC, as an institutional frame within which to produce festivals and tours of significant productions to and from virtually every continent, and to advise clients ranging from New York’s Lincoln Center to the U.S. embassy in Moscow, the cultural office of the City of Kyiv, Ukraine, Japan’s Nissay Theatre, and the Tumshangilieni youth rescue and residency center in Nairobi, Kenya. For more than two decades, Micocci has coordinated periodic productions of numerous Japanese artists and festivals at New York City’s preeminent venues including Lincoln Center, City Center and Carnegie Hall.
For over a decade a touring division of “MicProds” focused on representation a broad definition of theater, including work by Mabou Mines co-founder Lee Breuer, puppet master Basil Twist, Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, STREB Extreme Action, juggler Michael Moschen and others, with a specialization of productions appearing at the world’s leading performing arts festivals, in Edinburgh, Moscow, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Jerusalem, Bogota, Paris, Madrid, Athens, Rome and elsewhere. A highlight during this period was international management and booking of the French mime Marcel Marceau through the last decade of his very active career, including his book publishing, a United Nations Ambassadorship, and extensive tours.
Tony’s association with academia began in 2005 with a lecture tour in arts management in Russia under the U.S. State Department – the first of four such tours – which resulted in publication of a definitive textbook on the international tour booking process titled BOOKING PERFORMANCE TOURS: Marketing and Acquiring Live Arts and Entertainment. In 2011 Micocci moved from New York City to New Orleans to join the faculty of the Graduate Arts Administration Program of the University of New Orleans where he remained for six years. Continuing professional activity during this period, he continued to advise Japanese producers bringing shows to New York, and teamed with the U.S. embassy in Moscow to produce a large scale celebration of Louisiana culture in Moscow and throughout Russia involving chefs, dancers, a film series and photography exhibition, and of course jazz musicians.
Tony was designated a Fulbright Specialist in Arts Management in 2014, under the auspices of which he conducted extensive research on the relationship of arts and society in Cambodia and the status and direction of arts management in that country.
Tony is a board member of the New York-based theater company established by longtime friend and colleague, producer/director Christopher McElroen titled the american vicarious.
In 2018 Tony and his wife relocated to Asheville, North Carolina, where he continues in arts management and is also indulging a range of personal passions, from playing the alto saxophone and change bell ringing, to fly fishing, tennis, wood crafting and restoration of a sailboat he built with his brother 40 years ago!
Tony’s daughter Alair is a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan where the drama is as intense as anything produced on any stage!
