Remembering Howard Pechet: The founder of Stage West

Howard Pechet, the founder of Stage West, died Aug. 2 at the age of 76. His family describes the death as rather sudden, saying they only learned of his illness this spring.

Pechet was a prolific theatre producer — so prolific he holds the Guinness World Record as the “Most Prolific Theatrical Producer in the World.”

Many people often wonder what a producer actually does.

His son Jason Pechet explained: “I’ll give you the line that he used to say to me. A director looks at the stage, a producer looks at the audience. And so that’s where it was always about picking the right plays, having the right season and choreographing, you know, the right season for our audience.”

Howard Pechet believed theatre should be as much about the audience as the actors; that belief became a life’s work that reshaped Canadian stages.

Born in Edmonton in 1948, Pechet was studying English literature when he stepped away from a PhD program to help with the family hotel business. That detour shaped Canadian theatre history.

“My father was getting his PhD in English Lit … but he was missing that artistic outlet,” recalls Jason. “He went and looked at these dinner theaters … and then brought that concept back to the Mayfield Inn in Edmonton. The first Stage West opened in 1974.”

From there, Stage West grew into a household name. “At one point, I think he had six. He had Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, and Palm Springs,” Jason says.

The theatres became known for big buffets and even bigger stories, welcoming audiences who might never have set foot in a traditional theatre.

Pechet didn’t just finance shows—he created them.

“Not only was he a producer, he actually wrote a bunch of the plays … about once a year, he would put together a brand new play … since the late nineties,” Jason explains.

In the early days, Stage West brought in celebrities to headline productions, forging connections internationally. And Howard himself stayed on the playbill—producing shows right up until this summer, when his name appeared as executive producer on Legend of the 80’s.

The reach of his influence was clear.

“Some of the phone calls that I got the week after his passing were … from old Hollywood stars, right down to people who had worked for him as a server or a dishwasher for 20 years … it’s been pretty incredible and very touching,” Jason shares.

And then there are the stories that reveal Howard’s competitive, charming side. Jason recalls one tale involving his father, his great uncle — Hollywood director Arthur Hiller — and an impossible-to-get ticket in New York.

The two men made a thousand-dollar bet on who could land seats to see Elizabeth Taylor. Neither succeeded, but Jason’s mother slipped the concierge enough cash to make it happen. After the show, they ended up at Sardi’s. Actor Jamie Farr — famous as Klinger on MASH — spotted Howard at a table and shouted across the restaurant: “Some idiot from Canada can get a table in this goddamn restaurant and I can’t!” Jason laughs: “My father looked over at my uncle and went, I got you.”

Moving forward, Jason and his brother David say they intend to continue their father’s legacy at Stage West.

You can see Howard’s obituary in the playbill for Shear Madness now playing at Stagewest.