Back in the Producer’s Chair

Rutgers alumnus Donald Clark Jr. Takes Another Shot at producing a “comedy that takes sobriety seriously.”

Rutgers Law School alumnus Donald Clark Jr. is stepping back into his role of producer with the debut of a theatrical dark comedy based loosely on the real-life experiences of a Chicago sports radio personality whose career and life were threatened after his DUI arrest.

Another Shot will make its New York debut at The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, on October 15. Clark CLAW'79 is offering Rutgers alumni discounted tickets with the discount code RUTGERS10.

This is far from Clark's first foray in the entertainment business. Clark, who was one of the producers of the Broadway play The Encounter that won a special Tony Award in 2017, also worked in filmmaking, serving as executive producer for Guest Artist, a film written by and starring Jeff Daniels.

A self-proclaimed Renaissance man, he says with a smile that his history of vocations followed a natural progression: from Fortune 500 litigator to general counsel for a religious denomination, to film and off-Broadway play producer and co-owner of the Chicago Magic Lounge—“where magic and sophistication intertwine.”

"In their own respective ways, they're all intellectual enterprises and communications enterprises," he said. "They're all about reaching people in different aspects of their lives."

After graduating from Rutgers Law School in Camden in 1979, Clark and his wife, Ellen, who earned a master's degree in library science from Rutgers, moved back to his hometown of Chicago. He began his storied career there, working for two of the city's largest law firms before hanging his own shingle. Next, for 15 years he represented the United Church of Christ, overseeing a successful landmark lawsuit in federal court in 2014 that struck down a North Carolina law making it criminal for clergy to solemnize same-sex marriages.

In 2015, after receiving the Arthur E. Armitage Sr. Distinguished Alumni Award from Rutgers, he retired from practicing law. Clark attended a magic show in Chicago, drawing him back to his childhood fascination with it. After speaking with the show’s creator, the two decided to go into business together and the Chicago Magic Lounge became a reality.

"I've been interested in magic since I was a kid," he says. "I sawed a woman in half in my day, but that was a long time ago."

Ellen, who earned her master’s degree in library science at Rutgers, has served as a librarian for many years. They live in Glenview, Illinois, and have two children and seven grandchildren. 

The couple have been generous supporters of Rutgers. The commons area on the third floor in the Rutgers Law building in Camden is named for Clark, as is the annual Donald C. Clark Jr. Endowed Law and Religion Lecture. He also supports an endowed scholarship and has taught for Rutgers Law as an adjunct faculty member. 

Ellen supports the Ellen Boates Clark Endowed Fellowship at the School of Communications and Information at Rutgers–New Brunswick.