My time with Wil Elrick at Broadway Theatre League
- Matt Warren
- Dec 11, 2025
- 5 min read
Recently I lost a good pal —someone I’ll miss far more than I ever expected and much sooner than I ever imagined. This post is dedicated to Wil Elrick: to the ideas we built together, the creative strategies we shaped for Broadway Theatre League, and all the fun, chaotic, wonderfully human moments that happened in between. I didn’t know him for many years, but the time I did have left a lasting mark. Wil had a rare talent for making work feel like play. I’ve always believed that life circles back into itself, and wherever he is now, he’s carrying that same spark into new eyes and new beginnings. A spirit like his doesn’t fade out; it folds itself into whatever keeps the world interesting, meaningful, and full of laughter. I only wish we’d had more time. He is definitely one of the few I would consider for a true personal friendship.
My first memory of collaborating with him began on an ordinary morning when Suzanne Constance from sales stepped into my narrow office and asked if I could help Broadway Theatre League. They wanted a trivia segment—something fun, interactive, and unexpected. Normally, I oversee the station’s full visual identity: the graphic packages, the templates, and the tools producers rely on every day. Smaller one-off requests rarely make it to my desk. But the fact that they came to me meant they needed something more than a simple on-screen question. They (sales) wanted some personality. They wanted energy. They wanted something that felt like a game show moment. Maybe this was coming from BTL, but as I remember it, it was sales that was telling me what they wanted.
I shared a few ideas with Suzanne, and she arranged a meeting with Wil. I had created ads for BTL since 2018, but this would be my first time meeting him in person—August 2022.
In walked this big man with a smirk, a smile, and that unmistakable country accent that instantly put me at ease. I knew right away: whatever happened, this was going to be a good meeting.
He sat down and said, “Well… what do you have?” I think I jokingly prefaced it with a disclaimer that meeting with clients wasn’t my usual role and to bear with me—I’d do my best. I just wanted him to feel no pressure. This was simply an idea I thought deserved to be shown in person.
I pitched the concept of giving him a custom template—something with the sharp, distinctive edges of the Broadway Theatre League logo, something that could behave like a full game-show board: video windows, image reveals, animations, live shots, and unique transitions. A promotional package he could use again and again.
And that’s where our creative partnership began.
The concept was simple: Wil could send me any videos he wanted to feature, create as many trivia questions as he liked, and we would build every element into a dynamic, reusable template to help promote each show. He immediately connected with the idea, and we moved forward. From there, we began corresponding weekly, and our working relationship naturally grew.
For that season, I created a full three-monitor display along with a matching fullscreen graphic. I pulled all the show posters from the website and arranged them into a cohesive, high-energy visual that amplified the excitement in the room. Our correspondence went on weekly during that season and I wish I had more time for some of the conversations.
The Way Too Big For My Office Genie
One morning during the campaign, I walked into my office—this long, narrow little space that feels more like a decorative tomb than a workspace—and nearly jumped out of my skin. Standing beside my chair was an enormous cardboard cutout from Aladdin, easily eight to ten feet tall, with the Genie grinning right at me.
“Wil without the extra L,” I muttered to myself. “What have you done?” It was incredible… and completely impossible to fit anywhere in my office. I stood there imagining every ridiculous way I might display it. If I had a treehouse, a garage studio, or even a spare corner with two feet of clearance, I would’ve found a home for him. But I didn’t. And without a truck, there was no simple way to move him. Since it was a gift, I wasn’t about to toss him out either. So began the improbable quest to find a new home for the way-too-big-for-my-office Genie.
It quickly turned into comedy.
With my theatre connections around town, I started asking around. Eventually, Jeff Striklin—the theatre tech teacher at the Academy for Academics and Arts—lit up when he heard about it. This school is an elementary school magnet for theatre. He said the students would love it, that it would inspire them.
So we arranged a pickup, and off the Genie went to his new home. To this day, that towering blue cutout still lives in the AAA tech room, watching over the next generation of theatre kids.
Can you make a commercial using this picture?
One day Wil asked me if I could make a spot. He provided me with a picture of a purple sky and wheat field and said, "use this idea". He wasn't shy about letting me know his Director came up with the ideas and it was his job to stick with the ideas. Pulling out posters from wheat confused me a little, but it turned out great. The original picture is in the background he wanted me to use. It was overlooking a wheatfield. I ended up making a 3D extrusion of that logo for this spot. The use of the sign pole and graphics were all pulled directly from their website.
Gifts, Gifts and more gifts
Later that season, I walked into my office again to find Beetlejuice merchandise waiting for me. I was genuinely grateful. I knew Wil appreciated the work I was doing and couldn’t quite understand why I had volunteered for so much of it, but that’s how Huntsville theatre works—our community shows up for each other. Being able to support Broadway Theatre League was reward enough. I loved to be able to say I did something for Broadway Theatre League. I wanted to do more for them. Bragging rights to do those spots were reward enough.
Then Suddenly
Our conversations slowed down over the past year and a half due to a Marketing Department major change at WAFF. There was a time when I was the only one in the Marketing Department so I couldn't dedicate that kind of focus they deserved while in that transition. Wil never told me he was sick and when the position opened, I thought at first it was to be his assistant. I called my friend Chris Carter across the hall from them to ask about it. He told me that Wil was sick. It was the very next day we lost him.
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