Jack Feivou ’87

Member of Adelphi University’s Profiles in Success program.

President and CEO of Fox Associates LLC and USITT Vice President of Conferences 

Walt Disney World is known as “the place where dreams come true.” Jack Feivou ’87 lived the dream for almost 20 years. Over the course of his career with Disney, Feivou had the opportunity to work on once in a lifetime projects including the 2000 Super Bowl Halftime Show and be a part of the Emmy Award-winning team that put on the 2005 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade.

“One of the most memorable events I worked on at Disney was Expedition Everest in 2006. It was a high risk and high visibility event,” said Feivou, of the first-of-its-kind media event where performers danced 36 stories above Times Square on the side of the W Hotel.

Feivou knows a thing or two about Mount Everest. In 2011, he hiked around Everest’s lower peaks. An avid climber, he has also ascended other mountains such as New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. “I enjoy climbing and being out in nature,” he said. “I love to get outside and be active.”

Not long after the success of Expedition Everest, Feivou was promoted in 2007 to general manager, entertainment operations for Hollywood Studios. In late 2009, he took the same position at Epcot, Downtown Disney and Disney Water Parks. In this role, Feivou led a cast of more than 800 in the day-to-day operation of various stage shows, atmospheric entertainment, photography operations, and character experiences. Feivou and his team worked tirelessly to put on shows that delighted millions of guests at “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Feivou, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Adelphi in technical theatre and stage management, began his career at the University. Feivou chose Adelphi for its “excellent performing arts program” and because of its proximity to New York City.

“The education I received at Adelphi was very strong,” he said. “The skills I learned were transferable to all different kinds of entertainment. I left Adelphi with all the tools I needed. I’m very grateful for the education I received from the University.”

After graduating, Feivou worked at the University as an assistant technical director under Randall (Randy) Kline ’77, the technical director of Adelphi’s theatre. “Randy hired his top students at Adelphi after they finished school. It was like a rite of passage,” he said.

From Adelphi, Feivou first moved to Boston, Massachusetts in the early 1990s to do freelance work. He then worked at Rites and Reasons Theater, which is part of the African American studies department at Brown University, where he became a technical director. Feivou also helped build and open Theater Works, a contemporary theater in his native Connecticut, and became the events and operations manager at Trinity College before he was offered a production manager position at Disney.

Little did he know, a few years later, he would return to Boston as the chief operating officer, director of artistic operations for the Boston Ballet. “It was a tremendous opportunity,” he said. “I had been working at Disney for a few of years when I was offered the position and I felt that I had to take it.”

Although he enjoyed the challenge of his role at the Boston Ballet, Feivou missed entertaining family audiences at Disney and seeing the smiles he helped put on their faces. “I went back to Disney because I longed to return to the place that reminded me, every day, why I decided to go into technical theatre and stage management in the first place,” he said.

Feivou’s experience at Disney prepared him well for his current roles as the vice president of conferences of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and president and CEO of Fox Associates LLC, which he began in January 2016.

As the vice president of conferences at USITT, an organization that promotes dialogue, research, and learning among practitioners of theatre design and technology, Feivou said his goal is “to engage our attendees so they’ll want to continue following the story we are telling.” As the president and CEO of Fox Associates LLC, Feivou oversees the operation of the Fabulous Fox Theatre, a performing arts center in St. Louis, Fox Theatricals in New York City which produces Broadway shows and other Fox business interests.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me,” said Feivou. “Every day I get to work with a nationally recognized venue and build on the respected entertainment brand that the owners and staff have cultivated over the past three plus decades. I am thrilled to be a part of the Fox family.”

Published August 2016