David Carroll’s love of theater began at the age of 10 when his late father, Ford executive Bill Carroll, took him to see the theatrical production of “Guys and Dolls.” It was Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, his boyhood pal whom he worked alongside until retiring in 2018 and who came to see David in a local production of that same show not long after, who nudged him to blend his love of theater and Detroit.
The end result: The Nicely Theatre Group, a nonprofit company Carroll launched last January to stage theatrical productions. He’s self-financing the venture and hopes to inspire theater-goers (and online viewers in this pandemic world).