Showtime Publications: Celebrating 25 Years with the Chamber

By Michael Anderson, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce

In high school, Bob Williams attended a performance of Man of La Mancha on Broadway, beginning a love affair with theater. But it wasn’t the performances, music, or acting that set him along his career path – it was the Playbills. These programs, lush with gorgeous artwork, detail, and care, would stick with Williams for years to come.  

In 1984, Williams would continue the longstanding Broadway tradition by establishing Showtime Publications, which produces theater programs for various groups around the country.  

Before launching Showtime, Williams was an award-winning reporter and ski columnist for the Staten Island Advance (1970-1980) and became one of the newspaper’s first theater critics. In 1984, Williams continued to seek ways to make his mark in the local theater industry.  

“I was living in New Brighton, and I wanted to produce something that I thought was needed on Staten Island. My family was a family of printers – my father was a newspaper printer, and my uncle headed the family printing business,” he said. “So, I thought I would print a program. I proposed it to the people at Staten Island Civic Theater, who were performing at Christ Church in New Brighton, and they liked it. Because of my knowledge of printing, I was able to produce it and print it. 

“I looked around to see who I could begin with. I approached Staten Island Civic Theater because it had a season schedule,” Williams continued. “We had seven shows during that first year. Staten Island Civic Theater opened with Oklahoma! and closed with Fifth of July.”  

Despite a productive start, Williams – a board member of the Staten Island Civic Theater and twenty-year theater & speech professor at Wagner College – knew he had to grow. 

“I did advertise in some theater magazines, but mostly it was word of mouth. I would keep an eye out for theater companies,” he said. “There was enough right here on Staten Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and with the local high schools and community theater.” 

Recently, Williams expanded Showtime to encompass a new venture – book publishing. While attending a meeting with a ski press group, Williams heard an attendee mention producing a book for a special occasion that would only cost a few hundred dollars. From his vast printing background, Williams thought this price was too low.  

“The new way of doing it was with computers. And (the group) was absolutely right. And I said, ‘Oh my God. Look what’s happened!’ The whole industry has been revolutionized,” he said. “With my background in theater, publishing, and printing, I figured I could expand our company to book publishing.” 

As a member and past president of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce’s Business Guild 2, Williams relied on those quality relationships to launch the first book, From Humble Beginnings…Success. The title features more than twenty Staten Island businessmen and women from BG2 who provide details about what it takes to reach the top. 

“I said to my Guild, ‘How about we write a book?’ I’ll publish the book, and it’ll cost hardly anything. And we did it. We did the whole thing in two months,” said Williams. 

Those connections are part of the reason Williams is celebrating 25 years with the Chamber in 2021. 

“It all comes down to one word about staying with the Chamber – relationships. People buy from people. They don’t buy from robots, e-mails, or websites alone. Being a member of the Chamber, we get to know each other a little better, especially when you’re part of the Business Guild,” said Williams, whose second book was aptly titled, Relationships: 14 Business Professionals Explain How Relationship Building Can Lead to Marketplace Success. “Being a member of the Guild was definitely an asset.”   

Locally, Showtime Publications is most well-known for its programs at the Hilton Garden Inn’s diverse Cabaret performance lineup. Williams benefits from Chamber members to help with that publication as well.  

“A number of people from my Guild and the Chamber advertise in that program,” he said. “The interaction from the Chamber has been invaluable.”