For two seasons, I served as the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre
Works, which was New York's only not-for-profit theatre devoted exclusively to the creation and development of new musicals.
From my appointment in October 2002 to my departure in July 2004 (when MTW's board voted to suspend operations because
of a lack of sufficient funding), I helped to re-imagine this unique company by revitalizing its Board of Trustees, rebuilding
its staff, renovating its public spaces, and expanding its core artistic activities to include more emerging writers, more
people of color and artists making a career transition.
I reactivated MTW's Reading Series, established co-producing alliances
with other theatres and producers, and created opportunities for many emerging artists to create and showcase new work and
network with each other.
MTW's distinctive educational programs grew under my leadership, including songwriting workshops
and a college-to-career transition program called Springboard NYC, which prepares the next generation of theatre artists for
working life in New York.
Most notably, I identified a dozen new musicals for development, including
five projects commissioned by a New Works Fund I created.
Eleven of these musicals have been picked up by other
theatres across America, including the Public Theater in New York, the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA), Paper
Mill Playhouse (Millburn, NJ), Theater Works (Palo Alto, CA) Human Race Theater (Dayton, OH), the Prince Music Theater (Philadelphia,
PA), the Sundance Theatre Lab, and the American Music Theater Project at Northwestern, as well as such commercial producers
as Fox Theatricals and Arielle Tepper.
Five of the shows I developed were also presented at the annual Festival
of New Musicals (sponsored by the National Alliance for Musical Theater), the New York Musical Theater Festival, and the Summer
Play Festival (presented at NY's Theatre Row).
To read more about the musicals I nurtured at MTW, please click here.
To read press clippings about MTW, please click here.
To return to the JOB HISTORY page, please click here.
