Patricia Nicholson

Smart Founder and Principal

Patricia Nicholson founded Smart Marketing in 2005 to provide superior marketing and telemarketing services to small and mid-sized arts organizations.

Prior to founding Smart, Ms. Nicholson was Marketing Director for Chicago’s Goodman Theater. During her 6-year tenure, she oversaw subscription, single ticket, and group sales campaigns that attracted more than 250,000 patrons annually and generated in excess of $9 million per season. She oversaw all marketing efforts surrounding the company’s move to its new location in Chicago’s North Loop Theatre District. In her first season at the Goodman, the subscription base grew by 7%, and grew to nearly 27,000 subscribers during the season of the move.

Prior to joining the Goodman, Ms. Nicholson worked for 9 years at Arena Stage with Zelda Fichandler and Tom Fichandler, where she grew the subscription base from 15,000 to 18,500 in 24 months; and for 5 years at La Jolla Playhouse with Des McAnuff and Alan Levey, where she increased the subscription base by 75% in her first season. She has also served as Marketing Director for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Virginia Opera, and the Philadelphia Drama Guild.

Ms. Nicholson has worked with many of the most important artists of our time, including Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, Pete Townshend, August Wilson, Yuri Lyubimov, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Athol Fugard, Rebecca Gilman, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, Tom Lehrer, and Bill Irwin. She was marketing director for the world premieres of The Who’s Tommy at La Jolla Playhouse, Sondheim’s Bounce and August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theatre, Stephen Flaherty and Frank Galati’s Loving Repeating at About Face Theatre, and the American premiere of Yuri Lyubimov’s Crime and Punishment at Arena Stage.

In Washington, D.C., Ms. Nicholson was a Founding Producer of The Holiday Performance, an annual benefit to raise food for the Capital Area Community Food Bank. She has taught theater management and marketing at the University of Maryland and the University of California – San Diego.

Gabriel Zucker

Senior Manager

Gabriel Zucker joined Smart Marketing as a caller in 2009, and was promoted to Senior Manager the following year. He has been active in the arts for over 20 years. A member of Actors' Equity, his stage appearances include the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, Baltimore’s Center Stage, and several projects for the Discovery and Learning Channels. Mr. Zucker has also taught voice and movement, served as a casting director, and toured as an actor and musician. Prior to his foray into theatre and film, Mr. Zucker had a career in publishing. He spent several years at the helm of a creative writing program offered through McGraw-Hill’s Continuing Education Center, where he developed new assignments for the school, streamlined the curriculum for its Fiction and Non-Fiction writing courses, and helped students successfully market their work through his evaluation of their manuscripts. He has also worked in the legal industry as a tenants' rights advocate, as co-manager for one of New England's first cybercafés, and as Assistant Brewmaster for the Shenandoah Brewing Company.